Old Spanish Cave - in Stone County, Missouri - near Reeds Spring
My Recollection of Old Spanish Cave
by Night Eagle
The Old Spanish Cave, near Reeds Spring, in Stone County, Missouri is real. It is NOT an urban legend or Ozarks folklore.
I visited the cave as a child in the 1960s.
I was in the 3rd, 4th or 5th grade at Abesville Elementary. Thus, the years would have been 1964, 1965 or 1966.
My mother, a farmer, and I went one afternoon to visit the man, who happily mentioned that the land he owned had a cave. As I remember the events, it seems the previous owner had told him about the cave, but had apparently never had any intention of opening the cave to the public.
My mother had went to see the couple about some farming matter and the cave owner brought up the topic of his new cave.
At the time Fantastic Caverns, near Springfield, Missouri was gaining fame as a cave in southwest Missouri with their ride through jeep tours. Silver Dollar City had only been up and running as a tourist attraction for a few years. Marvel Cave, near Silver Dollar City, was beginning to attract visitors. Branson, Missouri had the Baldknobbers musicians and there was talk that people like Buck Owens and Roy Clark might open music theaters in Branson. It was the mid -1960s and Taney County's business optimism was leaking across the county line into Stone County.
The man, who talked to us about his cave, mentioned his desire to try and open the cave to the public. The story we were told is essentially that Spanish conquistadors took refuge in the cave. The story claimed they had either one or three treasure chests of coins or jewels. Mystery takes over and at that point, it seemed people weren't certain what happened to the soldiers or their wealth. Naturally, Old Spanish Cave was the last supposedly confirmed sighting of the soldiers and the treasure. Folklore suggests that either the soldiers buried the wealth and never came back for it or left the wealth there with the intention to return.
Although it was late in the afternoon, my mother and I did have the opportunity to step inside Old Spanish Cave. There was no grand public entrance. Literally, it was an arch shape opening in the side of a rock hillside. To a farmer walking by, the opening would of looked just like a large hole in a moss covered limestone cliff.
There was a small black yard gate at the entrance that the owner used to keep trespassers out. Unlike Missouri's famous caves, this one had not been as thoroughly explored or developed. There was still some sunlight, so we stepped inside the first chamber.
Inside Old Spanish Cave in the 1960s
About 10 feet inside the opening there was a nice deep hole. When you are eight, nine or ten years old a 10 foot hole can look like it is 100 feet deep. My knee high to a grasshopper mind measured the hole at about 20 to 30 feet across and probably about 10 to 20 feet deep – keep in mind – these were the measurements of an excited grade school kid looking down into a really deep hole, with the story of Spanish Conquistadors hiding their doubloons away in the Missouri hills.
I remember to the left of the massive hole in that center chamber was a pool of water about three feet wide and probably about two feet deep. The pool of water, supposedly kept the relative cool temperature throughout the year.
There were some tool shaped pieces of wood that could be seen in the bottom of the big hole, which could suggest someone might have at one time been digging in the cave.
My mother and I only went into the first chamber, while the landowner serving as the proud tour guide told us the story about the cave and explained that he had hopes to explore and open all the cave to the public. The entrance and chamber of the cave, actually seemed spacious. It had no lights, so the setting sun served as the persistent indicator that our time would be limited to look around the cave.
One possible reason for the confusion on the location of the cave could come from the amount of caves in Missouri. Around the late 1960s one of the popular tourism slogans stated:
“Missouri The Cave State.” Growing up in Stone County I knew several kids and landowners who mentioned that they had caves on their property. Supposedly the entrances of some caves were wide enough you could easily walk into, while others were holes in the ground that a small dog would have problems going into or out of.
I remember the cave was on private land, near Reeds Spring. I believe the cave was only a couple of miles past the Coon Ridge Coffee Shop before you reached the city limits of Reeds Spring.
In looking through my Galena Bears yearbooks from 1962 through 1976, I found there were advertisements for Old Spanish Cave for the years 1969, 1971 and 1972, which suggests the cave must have been open for a time to the public.
Is there gold doubloons and jewels in Old Spanish Cave ?
I like to think so.
I'll compare just to make sure the info is exact.
