Tyson Spring Cave facts for kids

Tyson Spring Cave is a cool underground place in southeastern Minnesota. It's found in Fillmore County, a special area called the Driftless Area. This region has lots of caves and sinkholes because of its unique rocky ground.

Tyson Spring Cave is a "solutional cave." This means it formed when water dissolved rock over a very long time. It's owned by the Minnesota Cave Preserve. This cave is super famous for something amazing: ancient bones from the Ice Age!

Most of this huge cave is about 120 feet (36 meters) underground. It's also very long, stretching about 3.5 to 5 miles (5.6 to 8 kilometers). This makes it one of the longest caves in the United States.

Exploring Tyson Spring Cave

After the War of 1812, some land that included the cave's natural entrance was given to a war widow. In 1862, she sold the land to Mr. Harper Tyson. People in Fillmore County would use wooden boats to explore the cave.

However, they could only go about 800 feet (244 meters). After that, the passage was completely underwater. It was impossible to go any further without special gear.

New Discoveries Underground

In the 1980s, a local cave explorer named Roger Kehret started moving rocks near the entrance. He hoped to lower the water level. In 1985, two divers, Larry Laine and Steve Porter, used SCUBA gear. They dove through the underwater part and found that the cave continued!

Soon after, Roger Kehret and Dave Gerboth helped John Ackerman. They removed more rocks, which lowered the water even more. This meant people could finally enter the cave without diving gear.

John Ackerman was the first non-diver to go deep into the cave. He explored alone and eventually reached the very end of the cave system. He shared his exciting findings with scientists. For the next 20 years, not many people entered the cave. This was because it could only be reached when the water levels were very low.

Protecting the Cave

In 2006, John Ackerman bought the land above the cave. He also bought the rights to 143 acres of the underground cave system. He owns the Minnesota Cave Preserve. The preserve then built a 124-foot (38-meter) entrance shaft. This new entrance makes it safe to get into the cave.

They also put a gate at the old natural entrance. This stops people from going in without permission. Now, only scientists, certain nature groups, and members of the Minnesota Caving Club can enter. Access is carefully managed to protect the cave.

Amazing Ice Age Bones

In 2008, John Ackerman and two other cave explorers found something incredible. They discovered an ancient antler from a stag moose! This discovery led to finding more than 175 bones from animals that lived during the Ice Age.

Finding Ancient Animals

In 2008, Ackerman and other cavers were digging in a side passage. They found an old bone. John took it to David Mather at the St. Paul History Center. David thought it was from an elk or moose, but he wasn't sure which.

The bone was then sent to Chris Widga at the Illinois State Museum. Chris identified it as an antler from a prehistoric Stag-Moose (Cervalces scotti). This was the first time a stag-moose bone had ever been found in Minnesota!

Soon after, Chris Widga was looking at the spot where the antler was found. He then discovered the skull of an ancient saber-tooth cat (Homotherium serum)! This was the first time a saber-tooth cat had been found in the Great Lakes region. The closest place they had been found before was in northern Arkansas.

Dating the Bones

Scientists at the Rafter Radiocarbon National Isotope Center in New Zealand used radiocarbon dating. This method helps them figure out how old things are. They found that the saber-tooth cat lived about 27,000 years ago.

Paleontologists were very surprised when a lab at Penn State successfully got DNA from the extinct saber-tooth cat. This was a huge scientific achievement!

Since the stag-moose antler and saber-tooth cat skull were found, more than 175 ancient bones have been discovered. These bones are between 27,590 and 26,200 years old. They have been found in Tyson Spring Cave and Bat River Cave.