98 BUREAU or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Ibull. 76 



8TRATMAN CAVE (39) 



On the farm of Henry L, Stratman, 2i miles above the Eock 

 Island Railway bridge across the Gasconade Eiver, is a cave near 

 the top of a bluff facing the Gasconade. The entrance is 33 feet 

 wide and 35 feet high. Forty feet back the walls approach each 

 other, forming a doorway or short passage 5 feet wide. Beyond 

 this is a room 18 feet deep»^nd 9 feet across, with a rock ledge or 

 shelf on each side several feet wide and elevated from a foot to 2 

 feet above the earth floor. This room is well lighted. The earth at 

 the rear is 10 feet higher than at the main entrance. Behind this, 

 in turn, nearly shut off by a large column of stalagmite, is a third 

 room, 8 feet wide, whose earth floor rises rapidly. Were the stalag- 

 mite removed, there would be ample light for 20 or 30 feet farther, 

 or about 90 feet in all. 



Refuse, mostly shell, shows for 100 feet down the hill. There 

 is some shell in the cave, along the walls; but most of the floor is a 

 comparatively recent accumulation of roof dust and small fragments 

 of rock, and is quite dry as far as light penetrates. 



The entrance is much more easily reached from the top of the hill 

 than from the foot of the bluff. 



The trend and appearance of the reentrant side walls connecting 

 the present entrance with the straight face of the cliff indicates that 

 the earth in the cavern has a depth of 30 feet or more. Should this 

 prove to be the case, here would be a most excellent place to search 

 for evidence of occupation which, whether continuous or not, might 

 bridge the time from the modern Indian to the earliest inhabitant. 



Certainly no other cave in Missouri offers such facilities or induce- 

 ments for careful and thorough investigation with a view to deter- 

 mining the existence of an early " cave man " in this country. 



OSAGE COUNTY 



RIVER CAVE (40) 



This is at the foot of a bluff facing the Gasconade, 2f miles below 

 (xascondy. It has a solid rock bottom, rising steeply for a few feet 

 within the entrance, and a constantly flowing stream covers half the 

 space between the walls. 



ROCK SHELTER 



There is an excellent rock shelter, 50 feet long, over which the cliff 

 projects for 15 feet, in front and to one side of the entrance of River 

 Cave. On this is a slight depth of earth in which were found some 

 broken bones and shells. The site is an excellent one for camping 

 parties, but has no evidence of other than temporary use. 



