BONNE TERRE MINES EXPEDITION!

I first heard about Bonne Terre Mines through a dive shop in Springdale, Arkansas, where my family and I were buying scuba gear in the 1980's.  That dive shop was putting together a winter trip to go scuba diving in an abandoned mine in Missouri.  I was intrigued, but never got around to actually planning a dive trip there.  Fast forward almost three decades, and I find myself entering the double doors, seen in this photo, of DEEP EARTH DIVERS.

The parking lot of the location had the remains of an old ore car railroad track.  The only reason I knew what it was is because I had seen a similar contraption when I  stepped inside the Flooded Mine Train in Silver Dollar City, near Branson, Missouri.

The building shown in this photo, with the ore mine train in front, is where one buys their ticket to take a tour of the Bonne Terre Mine.  At this point, I should mention that I found out just a couple of years ago, that the Bonne Terre Mine experience is not restricted to just scuba divers.  These days, non-divers can also take a mine tour, provided they are able to walk.

This photo shows the entrance to the mine.  At first, it is just a gentle slope downward, and you are covered by a metal shed, with dozens of antique mine equipment on display. 

The gentle slope soon changes to a steep slope, and one must be able to navigate the 62 stair steps shown in this photo, if they want to see the mines. 

This is a photo of the young mam who was the tour guide on the day I visited, and he is standing beside an old ore car, full of examples of the ore the miners were extracting. 

No need to do a "StairMaster" exercise machine on the day you tour the mine, as your thighs will get an ample workout on the steps inside the mine!

The mine stays a constant 62 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, so heavy clothing is not required, as illustrated by the lady wearing shorts and short sleeves, in this photograph. 

This photo shows one of several elevated walkways that the visitor will encounter on their tour. 

You may have heard of a "chasing waterfalls", in reference to trying to find hidden waterfalls in the woods; in contrast, this is an example of "chasing calcium falls", which is what the cascade of white is on the side of the earth in this photo.  

Our guide pointed out the two shovels that had become embedded in this very large calcium falls. 

The shapes

taken on by the calcium falls can be reminiscent of the frozen icicles I have seen oozing out of bluffs along Ozark hillsides, 

This photo was the first glimpse of water we got on the tour,  Our guide told us that the water if 375 feet deep in some places!  I read that my scuba diving hero, Jacques Cousteau, dove here, and I am curious about how deep he was able to get with the equipment that was available at the time of his dive, several years ago.  I earned the specialty certification of "Deep Diver" during my training, but at the time, the deepest a recreational diver was supposed to go was 100 feet.  However, new diving technology, and nitrox breathing mixtures, have extended the limits of the recreational diver in recent years. 

This photo lets you see the columns that support the various levels of the mine.  Some of the columns are 50 feet high. 

Besides me, the only other people on this tour were the mother/daughter pair shown in this photo.  The daughter told me that her mom used to live in this part of Missouri, and had always been curious about the mine, but had never toured it.  It was interesting to hear her tell stories from long ago, about the people she knew who were associated with the mining operations.

Our tour guide also listened to her stories, and commented that many locals have concerns about the mine, and the possibility that if it collapsed, the town of Bonne Terre would be destroyed.  Those concerns may have been compounded by a television show on the History Channel, that had a segment about Bonne Terre Mine.  The title of the program was "Life After People:  Depths of Destruction". 

The guide also mentioned that some local residents are concerned that since the mine extracted lead, it might affect the town's drinking water in a bad way.  The guide said tests have shown no lead contamination in city water.  He said the blue color of the lake is due to reflections, and not contamination. 

The marketing brochures advertise that the visitor will see gigantic cavernous rooms, supported by massive stone columns.  This photo shows just such a room!

When we were about 120 feet below the parking lot, we came to the wooden deck that contained the scuba gear, as shown in this photo, as well as the blue tarp-covered structure that contained the scuba air compressors, and could be used for a staging area/dressing room,  for the divers going into and out of the water.

This long storage box of dozens of scuba diving air tanks, is a reminder to say that Bonne Terre Mines is the world's LARGEST fresh-water dive resort!  It is open all year, with a constant water temperature, and 100 foot visibility.  When divers are underwater, they will see mammoth architecture, ore carts, scaffolding, grating, staircases, pillars, slurry pipes, calcium falls, and an elevator shaft. 

But, as I mentioned earlier, many of these sights are visible to the above-the-water visitor as well.  Such visitors get onto the pontoon boat shown in the photo, and (after putting on a life jacket), enjoy a cruise around Billion Gallon Lake.  I was told the lake has one, and only one, fish! 

This photo shows the pontoon boat we are in , with the floating dock from which we departed, located to the left. 

There are 17 miles of navigable shoreline on this underground attraction!

The French phrase "Bonne Terre" means "good soil", and you can see some of that soil in this photo of an air shaft that we traveled under.  If you know your Missouri history, you will remember that this part of the state was originally settled by the French in 1720, after lead ore was discovered.  It was this lead ore that caused the mine to be a target of Confederate General Sterling Price, during the Civil War.  The mine was a strategic icon for his goal of capturing Missouri for the Confederates. 

Most of the visitors to the mine are not local, as the town of Bonne Terre, Missouri, only had a population of 6,864 people in the 2010 census.  I think the town motto is very clever, because it says, "Good Earth, Good People"!

This photo shows our pontoon

boat approaching the landing dock, as we finished our boat tour. 

If you are a scuba diver, you will probably recognize the items in this photo as the lead weights that fit around the divers waist, to help them achieve "neutral buoyancy".  One's buoyancy is affected by their body size, percent of body fat, and the thickness of their wet suit.  I took the photo because to me, it was ironic to see such an extensive lineup of LEAD weight, in a LEAD mine!!  I was curious if the lead in these weights actually came from this particular mine!

When I inquired about why the two columns shown in this photograph looked difference  from the other columns, the reply the tour guide gave was not particularly "comforting".  I understood him to say that those two columns had shown some structural "issues", so they had been encircled with steel cables for additional support.  I suppose that is understandable since the  building of the mine started in 1864!  There is a long history of ore mining in Missouri---Bonne Terre Mine was the first in the network of St. Joe Minerals Lead Mine Company, which produced 70% of lead used in the USA!

There is an underground garden in the mine, made possible by the addition of "grow lights".  Although it is small and experimental now, there is a very LARGE underground structure in London, England , that is being used to grow fresh greens for a population of millions.  That is because the bomb shelters that were built to protect British citizens from Hitler's bombing raids, are now being used for a very beneficial purpose!  They are an underground garden that supplies fresh produce for the people in the city above them!  This concept serves the visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health ( www.FirstPlace4Health.com ) memory verses that says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."  Genesis 50:20

There have also been at least two weddings in this underground garden, with one of them being the wedding of the couple that bought the mine.  When Doug and Cathy Goergens bought the mine in the 1970's, water had filled about 88 miles of passages, with its three lowest levels being completely flooded.  After extensive pumping, the walking surface is now at the floor of Level 2. 

After the hour-long walking tour, and as we climbed the stairs to exit the mine, I pondered how many people must have used these steps since the mine closed in 1962.  I was also curious if these steps were ever underwater when the mine flooded after the pumps were turned off in 1962!  Thankfully, present day pumps maintain the lake level at a constant depth, to facilitate the boat and walking tours. 

In answer to this scuba diver's question, "Who's with me?", the reply is "Bunches!".  That is based on the fact that Bonne Terre Mine was named America's best underwater attraction by the readers of USA Today!

Bonne Terre Mine was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and if you would like to add it to YOUR list of places visited, just call 1-888-843-3483,  or log onto www.bonneterremine.com  .    I know it will give you "MILES OF SMILES"!   Tricia

WEST POINT EXPEDITION!

When I signed up for a Road Scholar trip ( www.roadscholar.org ) in the Hudson River Valley, and started working on my travel itinerary, I knew I wanted to visit the famous college called West Point that is located in that area.  I found out that to get to tour West Point, I first have to get to the village of Highland Falls, New York, as that was the access point for tours of West Point.  When I made it to the address my GPS directed me to, I felt reassured that I was in the right place, when the first structure I observed was this large edifice, labeled as the West Point Museum.  It was not until several days later that I learned that this building I was admiring is a somewhat recent addition to the campus.  The building was originally erected in 1933, to house a small, Catholic women's college.  The Catholic college was for females only until the late seventies, when males were allowed to enroll.  (Apparently, the change to co-educational did not go well, as the college closed just a few years after males were admitted.)  It has just been in the last few years that the building was acquired by West Point and made into the West Point Military Museum (www.usma.edu/museum ).  It is said to have the oldest and largest collection of militaria in the Western Hemisphere!  As much as my instincts said to dash up the steps leading into the building labeled with the words "West Point", I remembered that when I looked at the website for West Point ( officially called "The United States Military Academy) the instructions said it was mandatory that I go inside the Visitor Center, to schedule a tour of West Point. 

When I looked around a little more, I spotted a building that said "Visitors Center".  ( Not being familiar with military symbols, I did not realize that the Coat of Arms above the Visitor Center letters meant "West Point" !)  Once inside the Visitor Center, a query at the front desk directed me to an area on the right where folks stood in line to purchase a ticket to tour the West Point campus.  After showing my driver's license, I was able to be placed on a tour scheduled to go out in one hour.  Since about 3 million people per year visit West Point, I felt fortunate to not have a very long wait.  This large number of visitors is understandable in view of the fact that West Point is just about 50 miles north of New York City.  ( I had read that it is possible to sign up in advance and pay for your ticket on the Internet,  but I had not taken that option, since I was not sure which day was going to work for me to visit.)

(Author's Addendum in 2020 :  I am using this photograph of a West Point "warrior" as my visual aid for one of my First Place 4 Health ( www.FirstPlace4Health.com ) memory verses from Judges 6:12 that says, When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."  )

The hour I had before my tour started gave me the opportunity to explore the exhibits inside the Visitor Center.  Since the tourists like me do not get to go inside an actual dormitory, a "pretend" dormitory room has been set up to give visitors an idea of what student housing looks like.  I learned that freshmen cadets are called "Plebeians", since that word originally referred to the lowest class of Roman society.  The sophomores are called "Yearlings"; the juniors are called "Cows"; and, the seniors are called "Firsties" .  If you notice the predominance of the color gray in the wardrobe closet, you will understand why West Point students and alums are collectively referred to as "The Long Gray Line".   The exhibits, along with a review of the website ( www.WestPoint.edu ) explained that all cadets live on campus for the entire 4 years, in one of seven barracks on campus.  The facility is described as a four-year, co-educational, federal service academy.  Tuition for cadets is fully funded in exchange for an active duty obligation upon graduation.  About 1300 cadets enter each July, and about 1000 graduate.

I was surprised to learn that West Point has cadets from foreign countries, as well as the USA.  In the case of foreign students, their country of origin must pay for the tuition, and not the USA.  As an example of the success the Academy has had at teaching their students, it is widely known from media coverage, that the presidents of the countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Philippines, have been graduates of West Point.   Likewise, "The Long Gray Line" includes two Presidents of the USA, one president of the Confederate States, numerous famous generals, and 75 Medal of Honor recipients!

Once a visitor has paid their fee for the tour, and been given their time-stamped ticket, they wait in the Visitor Center parking lot to board the tour bus that will take them on their journey.  Since the entire military reservation encompasses 15,974 acres, a mere "walking tour" is not possible in the two hour excursion covered by the ticket.  Another reminder of the "War on Terror" happened when the bus stopped at the Thayer Entrance Gate, and was boarded by an armed military policeman, who looked at every person's identification, as well as comparing their photo ID with a direct look at their face.  You can find out more about the identification required for the tours by visiting their website at www.WestPointTours.com .

I was thankful to add the West Point Chapel to my "list" of military chapels visited.  In previous years, I have had the opportunity to visit the chapel at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as the Air Force Academy Chapel, in Colorado.  Needless to say, there is a striking contrast between the Gothic Revival style of the West Point Chapel, versus the very modern design of the Air Force Academy Chapel!

I was thankful that my tour included an opportunity to get off the bus, and go inside the chapel.  The interior of the chapel demonstrates the characteristics of Neogothic architecture, by its inclusion of a ribbed vault design, and pointed arches in the windows. 

In contrast to the hilly location of the chapel, there is a gigantic flat area below it, called the Plain.  The Plain is the central parade ground and it is the current location used by the cadets for their military reviews ( i.e., parades).  So when you hear there will be a "military review", it does NOT mean students will be going over paperwork assigned from their military professors!  In the past, the Plain has been used for mounted Calvary maneuvers, a football field, and an encampment for summer training. 

Although guests are asked not to walk on the Plain, we were able to get off our bus and sit in the viewing stands that are used by spectators when military reviews and special events are being conducted.  This gave an opportunity for our  knowledgeable tour guide (pictured standing on the concrete curb),  to tell us a few fascinating personal stories about some of West Point's more famous graduates. 

The periphery of the Plain is home to several pieces of military artillery mementos.  This photo shows a canon from the Civil War, and our guide pointed out that the end that shoots out the cannon ball, is buried into the ground, signifying the mindset that we must never take up arms between the states, ever again.  History shows us that numerous West Point alums were officers in both the armies of the North and of the South, including Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. 

This photo shows the view from a hill of the West Point campus, over the Hudson River, that  is called Trophy Point.  This stage and amphitheater are the incredibly scenic venue for numerous special events, including weekly concerts by the Army Band in the summer.  I happened to be visiting the campus on July 3rd, so the Army Band was in full-blown dress rehearsal of their Rock n' Roll numbers for the big Independence Day Concert/Fireworks Celebration planned for the following day.  Since July 4, 1802, was the date that West Point officially started operations---just six years after the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776---the soldiers had TWO very important dates to be remembering on July 4, 2015!

One of the prominent monuments at Trophy Point is called Battle Monument, and as you can see in this photo, consists of a column surrounded by canons.  It was dedicated on May 30, 1897 by the surviving Civil War veterans.  It is said to be one of the largest columns of granite in the world, standing 46 feet tall, and 5 feet in diameter.  There are inscriptions of the names of Civil War soldiers, and the canons are inscribed with the names of various Civil War battles. 

The view from Trophy Point is absolutely magnificent, and makes this quote from the 1841 visit by Charles Dickens, completely justified, when he said, "It could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground more beautiful can hardly be."

The beauty of God's creation on the outside, is matched by the beautiful symmetry of His Word---The Holy Bible---inside the Cadet Chapel.  It was in the chapel that I saw this copy of the CADET PRAYER:  "O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of Human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth.  May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural.  Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish.  Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life.  Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.  Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.  Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life.  Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service.  Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer.  Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country.  All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all.---Amen  (written by Clayton E. Wheat)

The three words spelled out in the stained glass windows of the Cadet Chapel---Duty, Honor, and Country---are also written out on the Coat of Arms of the United States Military Academy.  The human figures portrayed underneath those words are all famous leaders from the Old Testament, and their names are also spelled out: David, Nathan, Jepntnah, Aaron, Moses, Hur, Gideon, and Joshua.  There is something to be learned from studying the stories of each of those Biblical characters, but the one most meaningful to me is Joshua, because a cousin I had who mailed me a letter while he was serving in the military, in the Middle East, told me Joshua was his favorite book from the Bible to read for strength.  Joshua 1:19 says, "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Because of the soldiers who have  trained at West Point, (as well as ALL our military service members!),  we can have the freedom to explore our beautiful nation.  As I travel around this great country of ours, I give thanks for our U.S. service personnel, as well as thanks to our God,  and it gives me "MILES OF SMILES"!!  Tricia

MEMORIAL DAY EXPEDITION!

It was not until I started reading some of the news releases being circulated about the sesquicentennial (150 years) of the Civil War, that I found out the origin of the Memorial Day holiday. I knew that when I was growing up, my relatives would refer to it as "Decoration Day", and decades ago, "Decoration Day" was also a time they would have "dinner on the grounds" at some small rural church with a cemetery beside it. This month I learned that the holiday we now call Memorial Day, had its origin immediately following the end of the Civil War. (As you may recall, the Civil War was fought from 1861 - 1865; hence the sesquicentennial will run from 2011 - 2015.) The first known observance in the north was May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, New York. In the South, there is a record that a Decoration Day was celebrated on April 25, 1866, in Columbus, Mississippi. By 1868, general John A. Logan (Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic) issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" should be observed nationwide. It was observed nationwide for the first time on May 30 in that same year. May 30 was chosen because is was NOT the anniversary of a battle. I had always felt a connection with the Civil War, because of the many oral traditions passed down in my family, telling of our relatives who fought in the Civil War. I knew my mother had been instrumental in working with a veterans organization to get an official marker for the grave of her grandfather who fought in the civil war, so I decided I needed to make a pilgrimage to that cemetery to see the marker for myself. My sister and I traveled to Pickins Cemetery near Green Forest, Arkansas, recently, and photographed the Rudd family grave sites, including the special bronze marker shown in the top photograph of this collage. The lower photo shows the educational tool that is being used in the state of Arkansas to teach Civil War history. You can get a passport of your very own (along with directions on how to use it to "earn" a commemorative coin or patch of the Civil War Sesquicentennial) by visiting http://www.arkansascivilwar150.com/ .

Even though my great grandfather, Civil War Veteran Benjamin Rudd, died long before I was born, I always felt a tangible connection to him because of the hand-woven items his wife made that have been used in our family's homes for generations. When Benjamin Rudd returned home after the civil war ended, he married a woman almost twenty years younger than him, which explains why she was still alive when I was born. She was a prolific weaver, and made the woven rug and pillow case shown in this photo collage, as a baby gift for me, shortly before her death in 1950. My mother often told the story of how her Granny Rudd received a small government pension (I think it was $25/month), because she was the widow of a Civil War Veteran. What is interesting about this, I think, is that her husband had been a soldier for the side that "lost"; yet, when the nation came together at the end of the war, all soldiers were considered veterans of the United States of America---not just those soldiers who fought on the side that "won". Furthermore, mom said that each month, her Granny Rudd would give a portion of that check to my grandmother, Mrs. Grover Parrish, (the former Effie Rudd). The top photo of this collage shows me, my daughter-in-law, Stacy, and my son, Grover (named after his maternal grandfather) holding the hand woven rug and pillow case made by Julia Rudd, the widow of a civil war veteran. Julia's tombstone (also at Perkins Cemetery) is shown in the lower photo of the collage.

This photo collage shows some of the many woven items that Julia Rudd made, that I have scattered around my home. Last year, I had a professional in the field of textile art, look at some of the items to teach me more about them. She seemed to be most fascinated by the history of the fabrics that were used to make the multi-colored rugs. (see middle left photo for a close up of these strips). She said these were most often made from old clothes that were no longer wearable, and hence were torn into strips that became the "yarn" that makes up the body of the woven item. I recall visits to the home of my great grandmother, Julia Rudd, and climbing the steep stairs to the second story room that contained the wooden loom where she made these items. I remember as a child, the loom seemed huge to me, appearing to take up an entire room with its framework.

There is a verse in the Old Testament (Joshua 4:6a) that starts out: For your children will ask in time to come, "What do these stones mean to you?" And you will say to them............. the words I have written above to tell the story of THEIR connection to the Civil War through their ancestors, Benjamin Rudd and Julia Rudd. Thanks to the Christian foundation laid by these ancestors, I have had an abundant life, full of God's many blessings. 

A cemetery is a kind of open-air museum, and gravestones offer tangible links to the past.  A visit to a historic cemetery can trigger curiosity about people and places and what really happened. Cemeteries reveal information about historic events, religions, lifestyles, and genealogy.   For example, on another visit with family members to a cemetery near Lead Hill, Arkansas, we noticed many of the tombstones showed that the person's death took place around 1918, before the person had reached old age.  These deaths were probably related to the Great Flu Epidemic, that swept across the United States around that time.   I heard my mother speak of people she knew near Lead Hill, who died during that flu epidemic. 

Why not use the days around Memorial Day,  to discover the meaning of some of your "family stones"??!! Miles of smiles! Tricia