2002-10-03

Springfield - Meramec caverns, Jesse James & Indian wheels

Finally, after all the barn advertisements, I visit the Meramec caverns! Lester Dill, promoter extraordinaire and heir apparent to the great P.T. Barnum, opened Meramec to the public in 1935. He went to every extreme to make certain no one could possibly miss his cavern. No barn wall was safe from his advertising prowess. He is even credited as the inventor of the bumper sticker!

Reflections on water flowing through the caverns give the illusion that it is much deeper than it really is.

During the Civil War the caverns provided the source material for an ammunition factory supplying the Union army. It was raided and destroyed by Confederate guerillas who had among them a soldier who would later become one of the most infamous outlaws of all time: Jesse James. After the war Jesse James used his extensive knowledge of the caves to hide himself and his gang from the law. One time the sheriff thought he had Jesse cornered in the cave and rather than risk a shootout he decided to wait at the opening and force Jesse to choose between surrender or starvation. Three days passed and there was no sign of Jesse and no response to his calls so the sheriff, guns drawn, went inside to bring him out. But Jesse wasn't there. The sheriff found only the gang's horses. The sheriff blamed his deputies and accused them of being drunk, asleep or both and letting the outlaw escape in the night. The accusation of incompetence stuck for seventy years. It was only after an unusually severe drought that the water level dropped in the cave and Lester Dill noticed an unusual air flow coming from a previously submerged opening. There had to be another entrance to the cave that no one knew existed. He swam through the frigid water and discovered a large series of rooms and in the largest of these rooms was a shocking find: The rusting strongbox that Jesse James had stolen in a robbery. There were also tools and weapons. Jesse James had known of a secret opening to the cave. It was too small for his horses but his men could squeeze through. At last the secret to his escape was revealed.

I stopped at the gift shop to pick up a sticker for my bike but found, to my utter shock and disbelief, they had no stickers of any kind- not even a bumper sticker. What is the world coming to? Lester Dill must be spinning in his grave!

They did have something else unexpected. A small mouse was running and hopping frantically around the store and no one seemed willing to catch it. I picked it up and released it outside. The woman behind the snack counter offered me a free brownie as a reward. It's nice to have an outcome like that where everyone, including the mouse, comes out ahead.

The Riverside Reptile Ranch and Jesse James trading post in Stanton. A sign outside reads, "Jesse sez why go else whar to git robbed when you are already at Jesse James trading post."

One thing you won't find along Route 66 is a Royal Enfield dealer. Oops, I take that back, here's Interstate Motorcycles in Rolla, Missouri with a whole fleet of Royal Enfields.

Royal Enfield was once a British company and their advertising today emphasizes that heritage. The company struggled and eventually went belly up and all that was left were the colonial factories that had been opened in India. These were nationalized by the Indian government and just like most government offices kept right on going despite all economic sensibility. But there's a happy ending to this story. They have recently been revitalized with private funding and the quality of their motorcycles has improved. It appears this historic brand may not only survive but even prosper. Like the Russian Urals that are imported in the U.S. the Indian Royal Enfields are a design largely unchanged for decades sprinkled with a modern improvements. Think of it as a brand-new forty year old bike.

Bill "Slam" Dunkus and his wife, proprietors of Interstate Motorcycles.

So I was wrong about the Royal Enfield. Hey, anyone could make that mistake. But you can be sure you won't ever find an Ural dealer anywhere on Route 66! I haven't seen an Ural since Siberia. Yes, sir, that's a safe bet. What's that you say, Bill? You're going to carry the Ural too?

Stop by and tell him I said hello. Anyone with the character and nerve to carry Indian and Russian motorcycles gets a tip of my helmet.

Drove through towns called Cuba and Lebanon today. Where do they get these names?