Utah’s lost treasure: The 15-ton slabs torn from Hansen Cave in 1893

Hansen Cave’s Tourist Destruction and Mining Devastation

Hansen Cave in Utah tells a sad tale of greed and ruin. Martin Hansen found it in 1887 while tracking a cougar through American Fork Canyon.

Soon after, he led tours for 25 cents, and folks broke off bits as keepsakes. When that failed to pay, the Duke Onyx Company moved in.

They pried huge slabs from the walls, hauling away two train-cars of rock before learning it was just worthless calcite, not valuable onyx. By then, the damage was done.

The cave stood stripped bare, with no laws to stop it.

Today, you can see this cautionary tale firsthand at Timpanogos Cave National Monument, where the scars of early mining still teach us why we must protect nature’s wonders.

A Cougar Hunt Led to Hansen’s Unexpected Cave Discovery

Martin Hansen found a hidden cave in October 1887 while tracking a cougar in American Fork Canyon. He saw strange footprints in the snow while cutting timber and followed them to an opening in the limestone cliffs.

Hansen was the first person to write about the beautiful flowstone formations inside.

He named it Hansen Cave, but later called it the “Cave of Buried Rivers” because the calcite looked like frozen waterfalls.

The cave had pure white and amber-colored formations that grew undisturbed for thousands of years.

Tourists Paid Two Bits to See Underground Wonders

Hansen spotted a money-making chance with his cave and started giving tours in 1888. He charged 25 cents per person to guide visitors up the steep mountain trail to see the underground rooms.

His “Cave of Buried Rivers” tours included walks through several chambers lit by lanterns. Hansen told his customers about the basic rock formations as they looked at the stalactites and stalagmites.

The tours drew curious locals and travelers willing to make the tough trip up the canyon.

Visitors Broke Off Souvenirs With No One to Stop Them

Tourists often damaged the cave during Hansen’s tours. Many broke pieces of formations to take home, using hammers and tools they brought along.

Hansen couldn’t stop the damage even though he led each group himself. The prettiest and easiest-to-reach formations slowly vanished as visitors chipped away at them.

No laws protected caves in 1880s Utah, leaving the delicate rock formations completely open to damage. Some people carved their names into the walls or took whole stalactites home.

The Cave Tour Business Flopped After Three Years

Hansen closed his tour business by 1891 after seeing it wouldn’t make money. The out-of-the-way location and hard mountain climb limited how many visitors would make the trip.

His 25-cent fee was too small to pay for the time spent guiding groups. Rough mountain weather often forced him to cancel tours, cutting into his earnings.

After Hansen quit the business, the cave sat open to anyone who wanted to enter, causing more damage from visitors with no guide.

Chicago Businessmen Thought They Found an Onyx Goldmine

The Duke Onyx Company from Chicago heard about the cave in 1892 and saw a way to get rich.

Company men thought the flowstone formations were valuable onyx, which sold for high prices in furniture and building markets.

They quickly hired local miners William Wadley, Isaac Wadley, and John Devey to take out the stone. Onyx sold for top dollar for luxury items like mantlepieces, countertops, and fancy furniture inlays.

The company planned to ship the rock to Chicago for processing.

Miners Used Clever Tricks to Break Away Massive Slabs

The mining crew used a smart but harmful method to remove the cave formations. They drilled holes into the flowstone walls and stuck dry wooden pegs throughout the chambers.

When they poured water on these pegs, the wood swelled with great force, cracking away large chunks of the cave walls. This trick let them remove whole slabs weighing over 15 tons each.

The miners worked through the cave rooms, going after the biggest and most beautiful formations first.

Two Train Cars of Cave Rock Left the Mountain

Mining went on strongly through 1892 and into 1893. The crew took out enough stone to fill two whole railroad cars with cave material.

Moving these huge slabs needed teams of men and special gear to carry them down the mountain. The miners went after the most beautiful formations, taking entire rooms of their natural beauty.

They built wooden tracks to slide the heaviest pieces out of the cave and used horses to pull them down to the railroad station in American Fork.

The “Valuable Onyx” Turned Out to Be Worthless Calcite

The Duke Onyx Company got bad news after testing their rock.

The beautiful formations weren’t valuable onyx but common calcite, which had almost no commercial value. Calcite wasn’t hard enough or pretty enough to make the luxury items that real onyx was used for.

The company quickly quit the mining work after finding out their mistake.

The high costs of getting the rock out of the remote mountain location made the calcite completely unprofitable, leaving the company with big money losses.

Local Stories About the Cave Stone Never Checked Out

Stories spread that the cave rock ended up in famous buildings. Some locals said the stone showed up in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Others claimed it became part of the Salt Lake Temple.

No records back up these stories, and experts think they’re unlikely since the calcite was poor quality for building. Most of the rock probably sat unused at railroad yards or went into local building projects.

The mining company didn’t have money to ship the worthless stone very far after losing so much.

The Once-Beautiful Cavern Stood Stripped to Bare Walls

Hansen Cave suffered terrible damage from the mining.

The once-clean chambers were gutted, with bare rock walls where beautiful formations had hung for thousands of years. Piles of broken rock and trash covered the floor where miners had broken away the largest pieces.

The natural beauty that first drew Hansen and early tourists was completely gone. The mining company left behind drill holes, broken formations, and tool marks throughout the cave.

What took nature thousands of years to create vanished in less than a year.

Hansen’s Ruined Cave Sparked a Protection Movement

The destruction of Hansen Cave created momentum for protecting other nearby caverns.

When explorers found Timpanogos and Middle Caves in the same canyon in the early 1900s, conservationists pointed to Hansen Cave as a warning.

The stark contrast between the devastated Hansen Cave and the pristine new discoveries shocked visitors.

This comparison motivated early conservation advocates to seek legal protections before commercial interests could damage the newly found caves.

Their efforts led directly to the creation of Timpanogos Cave National Monument in 1922, preserving the remaining caves for future generations.

Visiting Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah

Timpanogos Cave National Monument at 2038 W. Alpine Loop Road preserves Hansen Cave, which was commercially exploited and stripped bare by tourism and mining before protection arrived.

You can book cave tours for $2-12 through Recreation. gov up to 30 days ahead.

The standard 55-minute tour covers three caves with 16 people max.

The Introduction to Caving tour follows Martin Hansen’s original route using helmets and headlamps, limited to 5 people for $15-22.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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