Old Settlers Gazette 2012 - Page 50

An article about Maxey/Inca Cave and E.D. Tarbell’s planetarium first appeared inthe pages of the Gazette twenty-five yearsago (available online at www.OldStage-coachStop.org). The words in italics arethose of E. D. Tarbell from an unpublishedmemoir, first printed in that 1987 article.In this article, we reprise part of that infor-mation and add additional images and in-formation from conversations withMargaret Tarbell Wehmeyer.

Maxey Cave has appeared severaltimes in our feature of news from onehundred years past. The name derivesfrom early settlers in the area near pres-ent day Laquey. James G. Maxey camewith his parents, William and SarahNelson Maxey, to Pulaski County in1836 when he was nine years old. Thefamily acquired 160 acres by preemp-tion in Colley Hollow. James became afarmer, too, cultivating land onRoubidoux Creek, which included alarge cave. In 1873, during a disputeabout a mule, James shot and killedneighbor Samuel White. He was foundguilty of second degree murder andserved seven years of a ten year sen-tence. The cave passed out of the fam-ily but was locally known as MaxeyCave and became a favorite location forpicnics, Easter egg roasts, and spelunk-ing.The Tarbells had been coming fromKansas City in the summers to visit

Mrs. Tarbell’s parents, Thomas andMatilda Hunter in Devil’s Elbow, sinceat least the early 1920s. E. D. Tarbell en-countered Maxey Cave for the firsttime in 1937 when he met C. C. “UncleCummy” Smith, who lived near thecave in a log cabin. [Uncle Cummy out-side his log cabin is pictured in center ofpage. For a profile of Uncle Cummy, see theOld Settlers Gazette, 2008.]Mr. Tarbellwrote an account of that first meetingas they walked a path down thebluff from Uncle Cummy’scabin to the cave.Uncle Cummy described

all the wonders of thecave and of ancient arti-facts he had found whiledigging in the mouth ofthe cave. As yet, wecouldn’t see the caveentrance hidden by therock ledge until wecrossed the ravine, then ablast of cool air swept overus and ahead loomed a greatmaw, the largest mouth of anycave we had ever seen! We followed theold man into the cave and listened in raptawe as he told of the ape-like skeletons hehad found under a pile of huge rock slabsthat had fallen from the ceiling in the pre-historic past. After passing through thefour hundred foot entrance, we wentthrough a narrow passage into a great roomwhich Uncle Cummy called the “CathedralRoom,” much bigger and higher than theentrance room. This high vaulted dome wascircled with many fantastic onyx forma-

tions and clusters of bats. We walked overbeside a great fluted stalagmite and lookeddown into Devil’s Kitchen, sawtoothedwith many folded stalagmites, hanging likecolored draperies from the ceiling. Twowings forked away from the CathedralRoom, one going along Lost River, and theother up into Bat Heaven and beyond. Thecave was truly marvelous and was laterdestined to play an important role in ourlives.

The cave did, indeed, come toplay an important part intheir lives, becoming a“member” of the family.On one of those sum-mer trips in 1944, twoof Tarbell’s daughters,Marjorie and Mar-garet, bought thecave. Shortly there-after, Marjorie mar-ried and moved toSouth America aftermaking one payment.Margaret repaid Marjorie

that payment and becamesole owner of the cave at the age

of eighteen, paying it off in 1948.Mr. Tarbell was an architect in

Kansas City and an accomplished ama-teur astronomer. He had formed an as-tronomy club but it languished duringWWII. In 1944, he started constructingan observatory building. Completed in1947, it revived local interest and theKansas City Astronomy Club wasformed. Two years later, Tarbell retired,sold the Kansas City house, and

arranged to have the observatorymoved to Devil’s Elbow within 60days.

At dusk one evening in the fall of 1952,two men drove into our driveway at thelodge [Hiawatha Lodge in Devil’sElbow] and introduced themselves as Mr.Hammit and Mr. Sweet. Hammit ownedthe Stark Caverns near Eldon and KenSweet was his son-in-law. Hammit sug-gested the possibilities of commercializingMaxey Cave. After visiting Stark Cavern,Hammit and Sweet inspected Maxey Caveand wanted to talk about a lease. Afteragreeing on a twenty year lease, Hammitfurnished the money and began at once tobuild walkways and string lights...but in-stead of building a road down the steep hillto the cave entrance, they installed atramway...two cars pulled up and down bywinch and cables with rails laid on ties.They also built a good gravel road from thestate road [Highway NN] in to their sou-venir building and ticket office at the upperend of the tramway. Instead of using thename Maxey Cave, Mr. Sweet renamed it“Inca Cave,” a switch we hadn’t foreseen inleasing it to him.As time passed, many people asked us

why, explaining that the Incas were SouthAmericans. “Whoever heard of Incas inNorth America?” they complained.In the spring of 1953 came the grandopening. The idea of putting a plane-tarium inside the cave came up but thedampness would harm the delicate in-struments needed for such a project.Tarbell looked into building his own

The view looking out is equally impressive. The large opening and southern ex-posure allows for unusually deep penetration by sunlight, particularly in the win-ter. This offered prehistoric inhabitants excellent shelter. Pictured (l-r) are FrankThomas, Dale Tarbell, Uncle Cummy, and Mrs. Wilson.

Roadside Attraction

Inca Cave and Tarbell Planetarium

Maxey Cave opens with a huge cave mouth facing southward into the RoubidouxCreek valley. The opening is 30 feet high and 70 feet wide. Lending scale to theimage is Mrs. Frank Thomas (l) and Margaret Tarbell. This picture was taken inFebruary of 1950. All pictures courtesy of Margaret Tarbell Wehmeyer.

planetarium instead. He had long envi-sioned such an installation not con-nected with a university that wouldattract school groups and the generalpublic.

The dome must be 24 feet in diameter,and there must be smaller rooms, an en-trance, an exhibition room, rest rooms, fanroom, and a small work room. HowardTerry came by and became interested. Terryhad built many concrete block buildings inthe booming area since the Fort was built.He knew our hardware stock was for saleand said, “I may just build it for yourhardware stock, let me take your sketchesand figure on it.”Delivery of the planetarium came months

before we needed it. Terry sweated with hisconcrete block work through the summerand I sweated making the wooden ribs ofthe dome in my garage at Devil’s Elbow.By the time I had the ribs of the dome fin-

ished, Terry had the roof on, with a circularhole 25 feet across in its proper place. I gotbusy on a construction tower in the centerof the hole and began erection of the dome.By November, the insulated dome was

finished, covered with sheet aluminum in-side and out. On June 4, 1954, we dedi-

cated the place with a formal open-ing. About a hundred friendscame out including thosefrom my old astronomy clubin Kansas City. We couldonly seat 52 people, so thefirst presentation was donein two demonstrations.During construction, a bigspeaker was installed at theapex of the star dome to benoisy when we wanted it, butinvisible. Quiet music, mostly clas-sical, played throughout the showbut we needed something more. A shortstorm seemed the answer. For thunder, abig sheet of iron was hung in the fan room.When shaken, it had a resemblance to dis-tant thunder. Lightning was easy to simu-late from the planetarium’s console.During the show, I turned down the stars

gradually and lightning played along thedistant horizon, then came a bright flash,lighting up the entire sky. Eventually, atape recorder of thunder recorded echoingagainst the bluff across the river at Devil’sElbow was used. In the spring after open-ing the planetarium, we moved the observa-tory up on the hilltop a few feet north ofour building, taking care to line up the twodomes to true North - South. Observingwas important to the planetarium shows,

especially to school and Boy Scoutgroups. Many school classes cameby appointment. One class camefrom Jefferson City but didn’tknow where to write. To findthe place, they hired an air-plane and spotted the domefrom the air.E. D. Tarbell was a man

with passion and vision. Hispassion for astronomy led himto build a twelve inch viewingtelescope. His vision includedbuilding a planetarium to share

that passion with students and the gen-eral public. Inside his brochure (thefront is pictured at right) he states,“Did you know there is a planetariumthat is not connected with a Museumor University, open to the public?” Tar-bell opened his planetarium nine yearsbefore the McDonnell Planetarium inSt. Louis’ Forest Park admitted its firstvisitor.The planetarium and observatory

were part of Inca Park and advertisedalong with the cave on Route 66, fourmiles away. Ken Sweet gave up thelease on the cave in 1961, after nineyears of operating the show cave. Mr.Tarbell kept the observatory and plane-tarium open until his death in 1968.

Old Settlers Gazette 2012 - Page 51

E. D. Tarbell’s observatory is noted onthis 1954 topographic map of Devil’sElbow. He built the 12 inch telescopewhile living in Kansas City and recon-structed the observatory after movingto Devil’s Elbow in 1949.

The Tarbell’s operated a small hard-ware store for a short time on the firstfloor of Hiawatha Lodge. The observa-tory was behind and to the left of thelodge. The rock castle in the fore-ground was built by Uncle Cummyafter he moved to Devil’s Elbow withthe Tarbells.

E. D. Tarbell

E. D. Tarbell pauses for the camera while sheathing thedome, prior to covering it with aluminum. Howard Terryconstructed the concrete block building. The snapshot wastaken on September 30, 1953. All pictures on this page cour-tesy of Margaret Tarbell Wehmeyer.

The finished planetarium, which was originally called the“Theater of the Sky,” stands next to the observatory housingTarbell’s handmade 12 inch telescope, which was moved tothe site from Devil’s Elbow.

E. D. Tarbell operates his planetarium machine during one ofthe sky shows for a group of students. The stars movedacross the sky from dusk to dawn, all within half an hour,The show also featured a violent thunderstorm.

This group of students, noticeably all boys, from Crockervisited the Tarbell Planetarium on March 16, 1955. We do notknow if this was a trip for a certain class nor do we knowany of the names. Maybe a reader can provide details.

Inca Cave was not the first commer-cial cave in Pulaski County. B. F. Scottbegan development of Pike’s Peak Cave(aka Indian, Kraft, Roubidoux) in thevery early 1900s. It was located onHighway 17, two miles north of Way-nesville at the confluence of RoubidouxCreek with the Gasconade River. How-ever, its main attraction wasn’t the caveas much as the dance hall and saloonconstructed in its large entrance room.A resort developed on the groundsaround Onyx Cave in eastern PulaskiCounty on the Gasconade, near Route66 and Highway J, by the 1920s. Thecave was touted as an attraction in ad-dition to the accommodations, fishing,and swimming. Apparently, guestswere provided lamps and allowed towander at leisure through the cave.Inca was a show cave in the modernsense with tours, electric lights, andfanciful names for formations. Signswere posted along Route 66 advertisingthe cave, emulating Lester Dill’s highlysuccessful promotion of Meramec Cav-erns. F. L. Hammit and Ken Sweet werealso operating Stark Caverns. The daysof leisurely trips on old Route 66 whichallowed for sidetrips were about over.The new four-lane bypassed the Buck-horn-Laquey section by 1960, movingcars faster and farther from the StateRoute NN turnoff. The coming Inter-state 44 would not slow the traffic.Hammit and Sweet let the lease on theInca Cave site expire in 1961 and wentout of the cave business entirely, sellingStark Caverns in the mid-1960s.

Old Settlers Gazette 2012 - Page 52

Six mileS west of Waynesville, missouri, 14 milesfrom Ft. leonard Wood, mo, 4 miles off Hiway 66.HalF Price to military Personnel.T/m Service - entrance approached by a thrillingride by cable car. Government inspected and approvedfor safety.FooT PaTHS - Provided for those who prefer towalk to the entrance.elecTric liGHTS - large 1ood lights and dramaticlighting effects bring out the hidden beauty of the un-derground passages and rooms.Guide Service - efficient, courteousguides, well schooled in caveology, conducttours thru the cave every twenty minutes.Onyx fOrmatiOnS - every cave formationknown to geologists are found in profusion.GOOd walkS - Good dry walkways aremaintained for viewing the caverns in completesafety and comfort. no squeezes.larGe rOOmS - :e largest cave in mis-souri. One of the <ve largest in the unitedStates.Picnic GrOundS - free to the public forrelaxation and enjoyment in the heart of themark twain forest.Gift ShOP - complete selection of decals,pennants, onyx and other souvenirs of the caveand the Ozarks.

OPen daily - 8 a. m. to 6 P.m. c. S. t.length of tour, 40 min. tours every 20 min.

Inca Cave brochure courtesy of Van Beydler, printed in the Old Settlers Gazette, 1991.Show cave visitorshippeaked in the 1950s-1960s.To be competitive, a caveneeded a unique feature(or more) to set it apartfrom the others. Incatouted its cable car ridewhich descended the bluff150 feet to the cave en-trance. Visitors rode insmall cars on the “Inca Ex-press” (left). The cogwheelmotor house is at right.Courtesy of Margaret Tar-bell Wehmeyer.

One of the first features encountered in-side was the speleothem “Big Chief,”(left) so named to fit the Inca theme.After a 36 year ownership, Margaret Tar-bell Wehmeyer sold the cave and 15buffering acres to the Missouri Depart-ment of Conservation, as her wish wasthat the cave would not become furtherdegraded. The Department of Conserva-tion promptly renamed it Great SpiritCave. MDC erected a chain link fencetopped by barbed wire and later a hugebat gate. The cave is no longer accessibleto the public and is managed habitat fortwo endangered species, the Grey andIndiana bats.

Photo at left by Gerald Massie, courtesyof the Missouri State Archives.

Old Settlers Gazette 2012 - Page 53

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If your fishing has beenslow, take these hints: (1) ifyour fish is too small, get aphotographer to draw inmore fish; (2) dress for suc-cess with hat, tie, coat, and atwelve foot pole; (3) if youcatch nine catfish, nail themto the wall for proof; and (4)if the fishing is no good, col-lect driftwood and tip yourskimmer.

Pictures courtesy of Jan andTerry Primas.

Fishing on the Gasconade . . .a century ago

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