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Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Parkapalooza 2008

A Benefit for

Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial Sate Park

Outdoor Education Programs At and About Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Sunday March 9, 2008 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Unitarian Church - 2615 Shepard Blvd

tickets $10 for adults, $15 for couples, $25 for families*

Join us for these fun activities!

ParkXperts - Single Elimination Tournament to Discover Who Knows the Most About the Park - Team Entry Fee $45 (includes admission) for three on team. Questions based on facts compiled and posted at the ParXpertsTournament Facts File

ParXploration - Hands-On Nature Activities for Kids and Families

Parktion - Silent Auction of Nature Themed Books, Collectibles and Art

Parkateers - Recognition of the Park and FoRB Volunteers Who Contribute to Stewardship and Education Projects at the Park

* Includes ligh t refreshments and one complimentary beverage (soda, wine or beer). Additional beverages available for purchase.

Schedule for the day

1:30 Event open for set up only - Set up committee sets up (want to volunteer?)

2:30 Event open for teams only to sign in and get ready, auction items to be dropped off

3:00 Event Open to the Public - Tournament and Auction Open, Hands-On Nature Activities (want to volunteer?)

6:00 Auction Closes, Tournament Finishes

6:15 Tournament Champion Team and Volunteer Recognition

7:00 Venue closed for clean up - Clean up team cleans up (want to volunteer?)

ParkXperts Tournament Fact File

Tournament Logistics

Eight 3-person teams will compete to see which team knows the most about the park - team members will be posted at registration, no substitutions will be allowed, though teams may compete even if all members are not present.

Each round will be 15 minutes or 30 questions, whichever comes first.

Each Question will be worth 10 points.

Questions will rotate through the categories, but will be selected randomly from within categories. They will be presented (read, shown or played) by the moderator, and the first team to signal they are ready to answer gets the first shot at the correct answer.

If the answer is correct the moderator will proceed to the next question. If the answer is incorrect, the answering team will lose 5 points and the other team will have an opportunity to answer the question with no penalty for a wrong answer.

Winners advance to the next round, losers are out of the competition (single elimination trials)

Questions will be based on information posted on this website's database with new and revised information posted up until one week before the event (March 2, Midnight).

Judges' decisions will be final

Tournament Schedule

3:00 - 3:15 pm Round 1: Teams 1 & 2

3:25 - 3:40 pm Round 2: Teams 3 & 4

3:50 - 4:05 pm Round 3: Teams 5 & 6

4:25 - 4:30 pm Round 4: Teams 7 & 8

Semifinals

4:45 - 5:00 pm Round 5: Winners of Rounds 1 & 2

5:10 - 5:25 pm Round 6: Winners of Rounds 3 & 4

Final

5:35 - 5:50 pm Round 7: Winners of Rounds 5 & 6

Tournament Database

The database would not have been possible without the contributions of park staff - Roxie Campbell and Kathryn Devany DiFoxfire. In particular, it relies heavily on the Natural Resource Management Plan prepared by Campbell in 2005. The contributions throughout the text are to numerous for us to cite every one. It also uses material prepared by David Sapp for the Boone County Historical Society, Meredith Donaldson,and various informal presentations by Randal Clark for the historical material.

All errors of fact or omission are the responsibility of Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. If you find errors in this database, please notify Jan Weaver - weaverjc (AT symbol) missouri.edu

The database will be updated at regular intervals to add material. As additions are made, they will be noted here with added material identified by a new font color for each addition.

Contents

History - back to contents
- Native Americans
- European Americans
  - 1820's - Early Beginnings and Land Deals
    
    The 1820 Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave-holding state. The first land grants were issued Missouri and Boone County in 1821. Columbia incorporated in 1826. Many early settlers were slaveholders from the whiskey regions of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
    
    In 1822-23, brothers Thomas and Gilpin Tuttle erict a grist mill near the Rock Bridge (though they did not own the land). The early road from their mill to what is now Providence Road roughly paralleled current Hwy 163.
    
    In 1824 Nathan Glasgow purchased 800+ acres of land including the Rock Bridge and the Tuttles' mill for $1.25/acre. He added a tanyard in 1826 and a distillery and general store by 1827. Glasgow sold the "mill tract" of 11 acres which included the Rock Bridge, the mill and distillery to Gilpin Tuttle and Robert Barr in 1827 for $41.87. Tuttle sells his half later that year to John Kesier for $550. Barr sold his half to David Lamme two years later (1829) for $5250. Early land deals were clearly a profitable investment.
  - 1830s: A Period of Growth
    
    Mill tract owners John Keiser and David Lamme added steam power and a paper mill in 1834 and a post office in 1835. In 1838, Lamme hires renowned architect Brightberry McAlester to design and build a southern-style mansion house on the ridge overlooking the Rock Bridge valley. Transportation also improves with the first steamboat up the Missouri River in 1831 and early railroads being built in Missouri.
  - 1840-50s The Height of Industry
    
    In 1844, James McConathy purchased land including mill tract, added hog operations and tremendously increased whiskey and grist mill production. In 1848 he purchased the tanyard from Nathan Glasglow. By the 1850's McConathy's distillery is the 2nd largest producer of whiskey in Missouri (producing 17 percent of the state's whiskey and 37% of Boone County's industrial output). He also helped finance the construction a 10-mile long plank road from Columbia to Providence which passed within of mile of his mill. The $55,000 Providence Plank Road opened in 1856. Heavy maintenance costs caused it to foreclose in less than two years though it continued to be used at greater and greater risk for at least the next 10 years. It was sold in 1857 for $5700 and again in 1863 for $400.
    
    During this period, Missouri's population increased more than a 1000 percent with many German and Irish immigrants. Boone County's slave population is one of the highest in the state.
  - 1860s Civil War Era Difficulties
    
    The Civil War (1861-1866), the loss of slave labor after the 13th Amendment legally freed all slaves (1865), and McConathy's death in 1866 caused distillery operations to come to a grinding halt. In 1868 James Emmitt purchased the McConathy estate for $22,000. He sold it at a 25% profit one month later to his brother, David Emmitt, who plagued with difficulties, sells it back four years later (1872) at a $7500 loss. James then sells it to his son, David M. Emmitt, again at a profit.
  - 1870s A Period of Decline
    
    In 1874 David M. Emmitt re-established Rockbridge* Mills Post Office (McConathy had let the post office designation lapse). Emmitt sold two acres including the distillery to the Heibel brothers, though he continues to assist with operations. In 1876 Emmit upgrades the mill to turbine power and improved the dam on the upstream side of the creek In addition to mill operations the family grew diversified crops and added more fences. Steamboat traffic on the river declines as railroad traffic and bridge building increases.
  - 1880-1910s Prohibition and Anti-Whiskey Sentiment
    
    In 1880,after a 14-year dormancy, Emmitt reopened the distillery. A growing temperance movement and aging equipment kept production low, and the distillery never realized the productivity of the McConathy years. In 1889, the mill was destroyed by fire. James Rufus Emmitt (son of David M. Emmitt) and Adam Heibel rebuilt it in 1890 and purchased it in1895. They operated it until 1907 when it again caught fire and mysteriously burned the same year Boone County had voted to prohibit sale or manufacture of alcohol. With the closure of the distillery, other businesses closed or moved away. The post office, blacksmith shop and general store moved to Hwy 163 and Route N and was renamed Pierpont (French for "Rock Bridge"). The general store still exists and only a side addition and a large front porch have been added to the original building.
    
    During this same period, in 1893 David M. Emmitt and another man (perhaps his son) explored Devil's Icebox Cave (first record of any extensive explorartion of Devil's Icebox Cave).
  - 1910-1950s An Early Park, Small Farms, and a Big Fire
    
    The land changed hands several until it was bought by Mr. Calkins in 1922 who opened an amusement park complete with a merry-go-round, doll racks and other games and fairy floss (cotton candy). Calkins's idea to turn the area into a park was unsuccessful, but perhaps simply ahead of his time. In 1923, he sold the land to Dennis and Naomi Ingrum who built a smaller house near the base of the Rock Bridge and continued small-scale farming. Trucks and tractors began to replace horses and mules. In 1943 the mansion house, which was then owned by the Clay family, burned to the ground.
    
    The first written record of the Devil's Icebox Cave exploration is attributed to Ben and William Yates - 1924 to 1926. The cave was mapped in the 1950's
  - 1960s Establishment of the State Park
    
    In 1961, nine-year-old Carol Stoeker of Columbia,MO was killed in a car accident. Her family with help from the community began a community effort to raise money for a park where children can play safely. The area around the Rock Bridge was selected and fundraising efforts and donations secured a major portion of the propterty.
    
    The local group sought additional help from the State Park Board who agreed to provide half of the $175,000 needed to secure the land. The Board determined that the lands contained natural resources of statewide significance and adopted the area as a state park in 1967.
    
    Additional tracts of land were added in later years.
- African Americans
- Industry
  - whiskey
  - tannery
- Agriculture
- Park Establishment
- FoRB

Ecology -back to contents

Location & Topography - The park lies within the Columbia and Ashland quadrangles (7.5 Minute Series Topographic, US Geological Survey) in portions of Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17 and 18 of T47N, R12W and of 1 adn 12 of T47N, R13 W. Its elevation ranges from 184 to 247 meters (605 to 810 feet) above sea level. Local relief equals 62 meters (250 feet)
Climate - The average annual precipitation is 99 cm (39 inches). May is the wettest month, averaging 12.7 cm (5 inche) and January is the driest month, averaging 3.7 (1.45 inches). The average snowfall is 63.2 cm (24.9 inches). Temperatures average -2.4 degrees C (27.6 degrees F) in January, the coldest month, and 25.2 degrees C (77.4 degrees F) in July, the warmest month. (Campbell 2005)
Soils - There are 14 soil types found in the park. Most of the uplands (prairie areas) have soils that formed from 1.5 to 3 meters (5 to 10 ft) of loess soil (fine grained, yellowish brown, extremely fertile loam deposited by the wind) covering the limestone bedrock. Due to good drainage, the Winfield soils (from loess) are only moderately weathered. There is also a layer of glacial till (unstratified, unsorted clay, shale, sand and gravel deposited by glaciers) between the limestone and the loess.
Many of the hillsides lack till and loess and their soils formed directly from the limestone parent material. Where the hills are steep enough, erosion has kept pace with soil formation so little soil is left above the rock. These are characterized by rock outcrops, shallow soil and chert residuum.
Along the Gans and Clear/Little Bonne Femme Creeks the soils are Freeburg and Moniteau formed from alluvium (sand and clay deposited by moving water)
Size - 2,273 acres (920 hectares)
Ecological Land Types
- Ozark Highlands Section - Outer Ozark Border Subsection - Most of the park
  - Rock Bridge Oak Woodland/Forest Low Karst Hills
- Central Dissected Till Plains Section (Claypan Till Plains Subsection) - Karst Trail Area
  - Grand Prairie Prairie Plain
Communities - Communities are interrelated assemblages of plants and animals found in a given area. Rock Bridge Memorial State Park contains 17 terrestrial natural communities (Campbell 2005)
- Forest
  - Mesic Limestone Forest - valleys, north and east slopes, limited distribution
  - Dry-Mesic Bottomland Forest - along the Gans and Clear/Little Bonne Femme Creeks, limited distribution
- Woodland
  - Dry-Mesic Loess/Glacial Till Woodland - uplands and sinkhole plain, limited distribution
  - Dry Limestone Woodland - south and west slopes and uplands, common
  - Dry-Mesic Limestone Woodland - upper and mid slopes, common
- Prairie
  - Dry-Mesic Loess/Glacial Till Prairie - sinkhole plain remnants, limited
- Glade
  - Limestone Glade - blufftops and south or west slopes, limited
- Cliffs & Talus (associated accumulated rock fragments at base of a cliff)
  - Dry Limestone Cliff - along creeks and outcrops, limited
  - Moist Limestone Cliff - north and east facing elevations, limited
  - Limestone Talus - base of Gans creek cliffs, limited
- Stream Edge
  - Gravel Wash - creeks, common
  - Streambank/Riverbank - along creeks, common
- Wetland
  - Pond Marsh - sinkhole ponds, common
  - Pond shrub swamp - sinkhole ponds, common
  - Limestone Spring - several in the Gans Creek Wild Area, limited
- Cave
  - Terrestrial Cave - all the caves
  - Aquatic Cave - Devil's Icebox, Polly's Pot, Connor's Cave

Mammals Park Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name

Order	Family	Scientific Name	Common Name
Marsupalia	Didelphidae	Didelphis virginiana	Opossum
Insectivora	Soricidea	Blarina brevicauda	Short-tailed shrew
Insectivora	Talpidae	Scalopus aquaticus	Eastern Mole
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Myotis lucifugus	Little Brown Bat
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Myotis grisescens	Gray Bat (federally endang)
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Myotis keenii	Keen's Bat
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Myotis sodalis	Indiana Bat (federally endang)
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Pipistrellus subflavus	Eastern Pipistrelle
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Eptesicus fuscus	Big Brown Bat
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Lasiurus borealis	Red Bat
Chiroptera	Vespertilionidae	Lasiurus cinereus	Hoary Bat
Lagomorpha	Leporidae	Sylvilagus floridanus	Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Rodentia	Sciuridae	Marmota monax	Woodchuck (Groundhog)
Rodentia	Sciuridae	Sciurus carolinensis	Eastern Gray Squirrel
Rodentia	Sciuridae	Sciurus niger	Fox Squirrel
Rodentia	Castoridae	Castor canadensis	Beaver
Rodentia	Cricetidae	Peromyscus maniculatus	Deer mouse
Rodentia	Cricetidae	Peromyscus leucopus	White-footed mouse
Rodentia	Cricetidae	Microtus ochragaster	Prairie vole
Rodentia	Cricetidae	Microtus pinetorum	Woodland vole
Rodentia	Cricetidae	Ondatra zibethicus	Muskrat
Carnivora	Canidae	Canis latrans	Coyote
Carnivora	Canidae	Vulpes vulpes	Red Fox
Carnivora	Canidae	Urocyon cinereoargenteus	Gray Fox
Carnivora	Procyonidae	Procyon lotor	Raccoon
Carnivora	Mustelidae	Mustela frenata	Long-tailed Weasel
Carnivora	Mustelidae	Mustela vison	Mink
Carnivora	Mustelidae	Mephitis mephitis	Striped Skunk
Carnivora	Felidae	Lynx rufus	Bobcat
Artiodactyla	Cervidae	Odocoileus virginianus	White-tailed Deer

Birds Park Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name

ReptilesPark Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name

Order	Family	Scientific_Name	Common Name
Testudines	Chelydridae	Chelydra serpentina serpentina	Common Snapping Turtle
Testudines	Emydidae	Chrysemys picta bellii	Western Painted Turtle
Testudines	Emydidae	Terrapene carolina triunguis	Three-toed Box Turtle
Testudines	Emydidae	Terrapene ornata ornata	Ornate Box Turtle
Testudines	Emydidae	Trachemys scripta elegans	Red-eared Slider
Squamata - Sauria	Scincidae	Eumeces fasciatus	Five-lined Skink
Squamata - Sauria	Iguanidae	Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus	Northern Fence Lizard
Squamata - Sauria	Scincidae	Scincella lateralis	Ground Skink
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Coluber constrictor	Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Diadophis punctatus arnyi	Prairie Ringneck Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta	Black Rat Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Heterodon platirhinos	Eastern Hognose Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Lampropeltis calligaster calligaster	Prairie Kingsnake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki	Speckled Kingsnake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Nerodia sipedon sipedon	Northern Water Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Opheodrys aestivus	Rough Green Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Thamnophis proximus proximus	Western Ribbon Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Colubridae	Virginia valeriae	Smooth Earth Snake
Squamata - Serpentes	Viperidae	Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster	Osage Copperhead

AmphibiansPark Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name

Order	Family	Scientific Name	Common Name
Caudata	Ambystomatidae	Ambystoma maculatum	Spotted Salamander
Caudata	Ambystomatidae	Ambystoma texanum	Smallmouth Salamander
Caudata	Salamandridae	Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis	Central Newt
Caudata	Plethodontidae	Eurycea longicauda melanopleura	Dark-sided Salamander
Caudata	Plethodontidae	Eurycea lucifuga	Cave Salamander
Salienta	Bufonidae	Bufo americanus americanus	Eastern American Toad
Salienta	Hylidae	Acris crepitans blanchardi	Blanchard's Cricket Frog
Salienta	Hylidae	Hyla crucifer crucifer	Northern Spring Peeper
Salienta	Hylidae	Hyla versicolor	Eastern Gray Treefrog
Salienta	Hylidae	Pseudacris triseriata triseriata	Western Chorus Frog
Salienta	Ranidae	Rana catesbeiana	Bullfrog
Salienta	Ranidae	Rana clamitans melanota	Green Frog
Salienta	Ranidae	Rana palustris	Pickerel Frog
Salienta	Ranidae	Rana sphenocephala	Southern Leopard Frog

Fish Park Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name
Arthropods Park Naturalist Records - Responsible for Order, Family, Common Name
Plants
Key Interactions
- Pollination
Seasons
- Mammals in winter - Schwartz & Schwartz 1981, Missouri Dept Conservation, University of Michigan
  - Migrators - Gray Bat, Red Bat*
  - Hibernators -Gray Bat, Little Brown Bat, Northern Long-eared Bat, Indiana Bat, Eastern Pipestrelle, Big Brown Bat, Hoary Bat, Woodchuck
  - Semihibernators - Opossoum, Red Bat*, Raccoon (lives off body fat, takes long naps, but will emerge), Striped Skunk
  - Food Storers - Short-tailed shrew (but will continue to glean), Eastern Gray Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, Beaver, Deer and White-footed mice (but will also browse), Prairie and Woodland Voles (but will also browse)
  - Browsers & Hunters - Muskrat, Coyote, Red and Gray Foxes, Long-tailed Weasel (but caches food), Mink (dens in bad weather), Bobcat (dens in bad weather), Whit-tailed Deer
Nutrient Cycling

Geology - back to contents
- Historical Geology -The landscape of southern Boone County has been evolving for hundreds of millions of years. The limestone bedrock was created in warm shallow oceans about 350 to 250 million years ago. It consists of the fossilized remains of the many sea creatures that lived in the area.
  About 100 million years ago the area rose out of the ocean for the last time as a swampy, flat plain with slow&endash;moving, winding streams running through it. The Missouri River actually ran north of Boone County, through northern Missouri.
  The Ozark landscape was first created about 50 million years ago, when southern Missouri started to slowly rise like a bubble. The streams of the area tried to maintain their same elevation and started to cut into the landscape, forming the Ozark-like valleys we now have.
  Starting when the land first arose from the oceans, the karst features of the area (sinkholes, losing streams, caves, and springs) were formed. Karst features are formed when rainwater at the surface combines with carbon dioxide given off from decaying plants and makes a weak carbonic acid solution. This mildly acidic water finds its way down through cracks and joints in the bedrock and dissolves the surrounding limestone. Over millions of years, these enlarged chambers are what formed the caves, spring and sinkholes of the area.
  About a million years ago, glaciers entered this part of Missouri for the last time and put the final geological touch on the area. At the northern border of Missouri, the glaciers were two miles thick. They plowed over the landscape, flattening everything in front of them and even changing the course of the Missouri River by pushing it southward to its current course. By the time the glaciers reached southern Boone County, they had greatly diminished. They no longer had the strength to flatten the land as they did in Northern Missouri, and so the Ozark-like characteristics of the area were retained.
  After the glaciers retreated, Northern Missouri became a vast prairie dotted with wooded streams. That is why the northern half of Boone County is more prairie-like, while the southern half marks the beginning of Ozark topography, with its many creeks and bluffs. (Clark 2002)
- Fossils
  - Crinoids
  - Brachiopods
  - Bryozoans
- Bedrock
  - General - the park is within the Ozark and Ozark Border Geologic Region of Missouri in a moderately dissected segment of the Springfield Plateau, covered by loess deposits (Hebrank 1989)
  - Quarternary alluvium is present along the channels of the Gans, and Clear/Little BonneFemme Creeks
  - Mississipian Chouteau Group Limestone bedrock is exposed from the confluence of Gans and Clear Creeks Creeks along the margins of the Little Bonne Femme Creek. (Middendorf et. al 1987)
  - Mississippian Burlington Limestone is exposed along the upper walls of the stream channels and along the gullies and channels flowing into the streams. (Middendorf et. al 1987)
  - the southeastern higher elevations, and the ridges in the northern part of the park are predominantly Pleistocence Loess. (Middendorf et. al 1987, Nigh & Schroeder 2002)
- Rocks - Naturally occurring aggregates of mineral grains defined by their origin - Igneous, Sedimentary or Metamorphic
  - Limestone - a sedimentary carbonate rock, predominantly Calcite or CaCO3, formed from the shells of marine animals or precipitated out of sea water; Calcite is transparent to opaque white when pure, leaves a white streak, has a choncoidal fracture and a hardness of 3 on the Mohs scale
  - Dolomite - Magnesium Calcite, a form of limestone (therefore sedimentary) with significant amounts of Magnesium replacing calcium
  - Sandstone - a sedimentary silicate rock, composed of tiny grains (sand) of quartz, SiO2; quartz is clear or white when pure, leaves a white streak, has a choncoidal fracture and a hardness of 7 when pure; sandstone consists of the sand particles cemented together, probably by lime, the individual particles are hard, but the stone itself is friable, or crumbly
  - Chert - a sedimentary silicate rock, with the chemical composition of SiO2, like quartz, but formed under conditions that do not allow large crystals to form, possibly precipitating out of seawater; it forms conchoidal fractures and was desirable for stone tools because of its hardness and its ability to be shaped by flaking
- Geochemistry
  - Weathering -Weathering can be physical or chemical.
    - Physical agents use force to open or enlarge fractures or cracks within the bedrock. They can include actual rock movements due to earthquakes or subsidence that cause rocks to break apart. Plants can grow into existing cracks and force rock apart from the hydrostatic pressure of roots. Burrowing animals can gnaw or dig out soft rock.
    - Chemical weathering agents cause rock to dissolve from the surface inward. Rainwater is actually slightly acidic from the natural levels of carbon dioxide in the air and it can dissolve the calcium carbonate in limestone or the magnesium carbonate in dolomite. Living organisms, including plant roots, produce organic acids which can also dissolve rock. Pollution, increased carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides in the air, all acidify rainwater and can dramatically speed up natural rates of weathering. Finally, the oxygen in the air can cause weathering by forming oxide compounds (various kinds of rust) with minerals on the surface of the rock.
      
      The calcium, sodium and magnesium in carbonate rocks dissolved by rainwater is carried into the ocean . Marine organisms take up the calcium from the seawater in combination with carbon dioxide and fix it into their shells. These shells accumulate on the floor of the ocean and eventually form new sedimentary rocks. The sodium and magnesium remain to make the water salty.
- Karst is a landscape in which the dominant features are due mainly to the dissolution of bedrock and areas where caves, springs and sinkholes and losing streams are found. It results from the presence of limestone or dolomite bedrock in a humid environment. (Unklesbay and Vineyard 1992, Palmer 2007). In addition to the landscape features, karst rocks also have some distinctive characteristics which may show up in caves or rock walls exposed to the action of water. Spalling is when flat chips are shed from the surface of the rock. It is due to water infiltrating beneath the surface and then freezing and causing the surface rock to separate from the rock beneath. Dripstone forms when water infiltrates down to the ceiling of a cave and forms deposits of calcite (carried from dissolved rock above). When these get large enough they are called stalactites (from the top) or stalagmites (on the floor). There are other kinds of dripstone that form, since the water can follow a variety of paths once it leaves the rock - these include curtains, straws, organ pipes and a variety of other shapes
  - Caves: - Karst is responsible for most cave formation in the world including the cave in RBMSP. As rain falls and flows into creeks and streams, the water running in the surface stream percolates into the bedrock below. There it infiltrates and widens cracks running parallel to the stream above. Eventually the opening is large enough for a second stream to flow freely underneath the surface stream.
    
    If the water table drops, then the walls, floor and ceiling of the underground stream become the walls, floor and ceiling of a cave system. The cave system, similar to the surface stream above, has main channels and side channels branching off, only the branches exist in three dimensions instead of just two as on the surface. Because of the peculiarities in the bedrock, more or less resistant beds of rock, or existing cracks and fractures, the underground stream system will not be exactly like the surface system and may even drain a different area or watershed than the surface system. (Weaver and Ethington 2007)
    
    The Devil's Icebox Cave has 6.25 (10 km) of mapped passeges lying under both the Ozark Highlands section of the park and the Central Dissected Till Plains section. It ranks third of all Missouri Caves in biological diversity (Elliot 2004) and is the home of the Pink Planarian (a globally ranked species of concern) and the federally endangered Gray and Indiana bats.
  - Sinkholes:
    - Collapse sinkholes -Sometimes the underground stream enlarges its channel enough so that there is not enough bedrock between the ceiling of the stream and the surface to support the weight of the span over the stream. When this happens, the ceiling falls into the stream channel or cave, forming a sinkhole. Collapse sinkholes are usually steep sided and typically have large rocks or boulders in the bottom, depending on how recently the cave in occurred. In some cases, an opening can form leading into the underground system allowing animals, plant material, and even humans to enter into the cave. Sinkholes tend to be round, but can have an elongate shape if the weakness extends along the length of the underground stream or cave. Occasionally you can have trains of sinkholes along a major stream channel or cave system, so that parts of the ceiling are left intact but stranded between two or more sinkholes leaving the remaining rock as a bridge from one side of the stream system to the other. Collapse sinkholes in the park are the karst window (the area between Connor's Cave and the Rock Bridge) and the Devil's Icebox Cave Entrance. (Campbell 2005, Weaver and Ethington 2004)
    - Doline or Subsidence Sinkholes - Gradual solution of the rock or the collapse of small spaces produces a depression in the topography, but rock and soil remain above the bedrock. They don't have cave passage directly below them, there is not an opening to the surface, and if they hold water - as in a sinkhole pond - it is because the soil lining the depression can hold surface runoff. The majority of the sinkholes in the Pierpont Karst Sinkhole Plain are doline sinkholes. (Hebrank 1989, Palmer 2007)
    - Pit caves - these may be intermediate between the collapse and subsidence sinkholes. Polly's Pot is an example of this kind of sinkhole. For now the surface rock is intact and it is a subsidence or doline sinkhole, but someday there should be a collapse.
  - Losing Streams: These are surface streams that lose water. In other words, there is less water flowing in them than you would expect given the area the stream drains. In this case, there are probably rather large cracks or fissures leading to the underground stream and the water just follows gravity to a lower elevation. Sometimes the situation is so extreme that the water disappears altogether, though it may resurface later in the channel where the channel has become low enough to intersect the water table. (Weaver & Ethington 2007)
  - Springs:
Water - back to contents
- Streams
- Surface Watershed
- Cave Watershed
- Springs
- Ponds
Park Management & Recreation - back to contents
- Missouri State Park System
  Mission: The fundamental mission of the Missouri State Park system is three-fold.
  - To preserve and interpret the finest examples of Missouri's natural landscapes
  - To preserve and interpret the finest examples of Missouri's cultural landmarks
  - To provide healthy and enjoyable recreation opportunities for all Missourians and visitors to Missouri.
  The Division of State Parks manages 83 parks and state historic sites for resource management and interpretation, historic preservation. It preserves landscapes and cultural features of at least statewide or regional significance and provides appropriate or compatible recreation. The parks host 17 million visitors annually, their economic impact is worth $538 million, and 22% of visitors come from out-of-state. The primary source of funding is the 1/10 1 % state sales tax, with additional revenue generated by park fees for special services and by federal grants. The 1/10 of 1% sales tax permits the park system to operate without charging fees to visitors (unlike park systems in many other states)
- The Missouri State Park Advisory Board was created by Executive Order 86-26 on Nov. 12, 1986. The board was created to advise the Missouri Department of Natural Resources regarding management policies and public services provided in the state park system.
- Not-for-Profit groups that work on behalf of state parks: State Park Foundation, Missouri Parks Association
- Mission of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park (Campbell 2005)
  - to preserve and interpret the park's significant geological, natural and cultural features;
  - to establish and cultivate the park's role as an integrated link in a chain of islands of open space in an expanding urban area;
  - and to provide compatible educational and recreational opportunities while maintaining the park's natural wild character
- RBMSP's feature of statewide significance is its karst features, including the longest cave in any Missouri State Park. Other significant features are forested stream edges, sinkhole ponds and glades.
- Wild Cave Tours - established in 1981
- Trails
- Prairie Restoration
- Glade Preservation
- Invasive Species Management
- Wild Area
- Trail Bikes
- Horses
Environment - back to contents
- Water Pollution - Through most of the 1800's and 1900's landuse in the watershed was primarily agricutural and the major pollutants would have been hog and cattle waste, and possibly sediment from crop production. The transition to residential and commercial development in the last few decades has raised concerns about human waste (from septic systems) and runoff from suburban yards and from impervious surfaces from roads, roofs and parking lots.
- Climate Change
- Invasive Species
- Light Pollution
- City Regulations
- County Regulations
- State Regulations
- Federal Regulations
- Endangered Species
  - Federal and State-listed endangered Gray Bat Myotis grisescens. This bat lives in caves in the area and comes out at night in the summer to eat insects along local streams. In Missouri its numbers have declined in places where the trees along the streams have been cut and when large amounts of pesticides and herbicides have been used. The Devil's Icebox Cave supports a maternal colony of gray bats, mother bats give birth to and raise their young in the cave in teh summer. For this reason, the part of the cave used by the bats is closed in the summer. About 13,000 gray bats (mothers and babies) are estimated to use the cave each summer.
  - Indiana Bat
- Species of Conservation Concern (Missouri Department of Conservation)
  - Pink Planarian, Kenkia glandulosa. This is a one-inch long pink flatworm that is not known to occur anywhere else in the world other than the Devil's Icebox Cave. It is designated S1G2G3 - which means critically imperiled (S1) and globally imperiled (G2). It may be sensitive to groundwater pollution (like many aquatic invertebrates). The waters it lives in drain the Upper Bonne Femme Creek and the Pierpont Karst Sinkhole Plain.
Skills - back to contents
- Map Reading
- Compass Reading
- Fossil ID
- Plant ID
- Animal track ID
- Animal ID
- Animal Poop ID
- Animal Shelter ID
- Cave Etiquette & Safety
Citations and Sources - back to contents

Campbell, R. 2005. Rock Bridge Memorial State Park Natural Resource Management Plan. Mo DNR

Clark, R. 2002. The Geology and Biological Diversity of Rock Bridge. A Talk Presented to the Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Elliott, William R. 2003. "Missouri Cave Life Database." Unpublished. Missouri Department of Conservation.

Hebrank, Arthur W., 1989. Geologic Natural Features Classification System for Missouri. Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Middendorf, M. A. , Whitfield, & J. W., Robertson, C.E. 1987. Geologic Map of the Rock Bridge Area, Boone County, Missouri. MO DNR Div of Geology and Land Survey. http://www.dnr.mo.gov/geology/statemap/jeffcity/jc8705.htm

Nigh, T. & W. Schroeder. 2002. Atlas of Missouri Ecoregions. Missouri Department of Conservation. P. 138

Palmer, Arthur N., 2007. Cave Geology. Cave Books, Dayton, OH. ISBN-13:978-0-939748-66-2

Schwartz, C. W. & E. R. Schwartz. 1981. The Wild Mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press and Missouri Department of Conservation

University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html

Missouri Department of Conservation. http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mammals/index.htm

Unklesbay, A.G. and Jerry D. Vineyard, 1992. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Mo. ISBN-0-8262-0836-3

Weaver J. & R. Ethington. 2007 In: Warm Little Planet -Lab Manual for MU Honors Science Sequence1

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This webpage was last updated on April 16, 2008

FoRB Office

Outdoors Building
200 Old 63 South, Suite 204
Columbia, Missouri 65205

(573) 815-9255

Contact the FoRB office at
Mjdonlsn@aol.com

Contact the Park Office at:
(573) 449-7402
Check trail conditions at:
(573) 442-2249

The Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park (FoRB) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to promote understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the natural and cultural resources of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park and to aid in the preservation of the park. All photos are the property of the webmaster unless otherwise noted. All webmaster photos may be freely copied and used for educational and/or personal non-profit use.