Graham Cave State Park is a state park in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

consisting of located in Montgomery County. The park's namesake, Graham Cave, is a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

in St. Peter sandstone with an entrance wide and high and an extent of about into the hillside. The cave protects an historically important

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

archaeological site dating back to as early as 10,000 years ago. Visitors are allowed up to the entrance of the cave where interpretive signs point out significant discoveries. The park includes the Graham Cave Glades Natural Area which protects an area of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

glades with a rich diversity of glade

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. The park is adjacent to

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

from which the entrance to the cave can be glimpsed during foliage-free months.

History

In 1847, settler Robert Graham purchased the property containing the cave, and the land remained in the Graham family until it was donated to the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

for a state park in 1964 by Frances Graham Darnell, Robert's great-granddaughter. Robert Graham's son, D. F. Graham, sheltered hogs in the cave and became interested in archeology from the artifacts he found there. His collection of artifacts was offered by his son Benjamin to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, which investigated the cave in 1930. Benjamin's son-in-law, Wade Darnell, was persuaded to delay plans to enlarge the shelter for his

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

in 1948 so that archeological excavations could be made. The University of Missouri and the Missouri Archaeological Society excavated the cave between 1949 and 1961. The importance of the findings in that period resulted in the site being the first archaeological site in the United States to be designated a

National Historical Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1961. Frances Graham Darnell donated the cave and surrounding land to the state of Missouri in 1964 to be a state park. Artifacts recovered from the cave indicate that the cave's inhabitants used spears to hunt and fish. A ring of smaller stones surrounding a larger stone was found in the cave, suggesting that ceremonies were held. Pottery shows that more recent Native Americans also lived in the cave.

Activities and amenities

The state park offers access to the

Loutre River The Loutre River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in the United States. The Loutre River begins in Audrain County. It ...

for boating and fishing, hiking trails named Fern Ridge (), Loutre River (), and Indian Glade (), and camping facilities.

References

External links

Graham Cave State Park
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Graham Cave State Park Map
Missouri Department of Natural Resources {{authority control State parks of Missouri Protected areas of Montgomery County, Missouri Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in Missouri