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Altitude: m. ASL.
Region:
United States > Missouri
Cache type: Traditional
Size: Small
Status:
Ready for Search
Date hidden: 2012-08-18
Date created: 2012-08-20
Date published: 2012-08-20
Last modification: 2013-03-15 
481 visitors 
0 x rated 
Rated as: n/a
Cache attributes
Description
EN
Currently you are not allowed to climb on the rock, so this cache cannot be legally obtained. Will unarchive if that changes.
This Tower of rock has a long history of striking fear in the hearts of river boat crews throughout history.
The earliest European mention of this island is by Jacques Marquette in 1673:
"...we found ourselves at a river called ouaboukigou, The mouth of which is at the 36th degree of latitude. Before reaching it, we passed by a Place that is dreaded by the Savages, because they believe that a manitou is there, — that is to say, a demon, — that devours travelers; and The savages, who wished to divert us from our undertaking, warned us against it. This is the demon: there is a small cove, surrounded by rocks 20 feet high, into which The whole Current of the river rushes; and, being pushed back against the waters following It, and checked by an Island near by, the Current is Compelled to pass through a narrow Channel. This is not done without a violent Struggle between all these waters, which force one another back, or without a great din, which inspires terror in the savages...."The early Lutherans considered Grand Tower Island their Plymouth Rock and there are many small towns in the imediate area that still bear the names and the marks of the Germans who settled the area. There is a Saxon Lutheran Heritage Center very near by and in Frohna, there is a recreation of an early German Lutheran Village with many period artifacts.
On November 25, 1803 Lewis and Clark "Arrived at the Grand Tower a little before sunset, passed above it and came too on the Lard. shore for the night." The next day Lewis described Tower Rock made of "limestone & the same quality of the clifts heretofore described" and that there were "strong courants thus meeting each other form an immence and dangerous whirlpool which no boat dare approach in that state of the water…"
Tower Rock was quaried extensively and there was an intention to completely remove it from the river but President grant stepped in and saved the historic landmark.
When the Chester Guage is at 1 foot and the cape Girargeau gauge is at 7.3 feet or lower, you can actually walk out to the Tower and not even get your feetwet. Otherwise, a boat of some sort will be required to reach the tower. Along the western shore of the Island, near the northern end, there is a rope to assisst with an ascent to the top of the tower.
There is a geocaching.com cache on the island at the northern tip, hidden in an ammo can, that is not what you are looking for. You are seeking a cammoed pill bottle hidden in a hollowed, but still living tree on the eastern edge near the souther tip of the Tower. Bot caches are on top of the rock.
The climb can be a little scary, and is a little excerting, but does not require any special equipment, and can be managed by most people with an average strength and dexterity. Please think carefully about your own comfort level when thinking about this cache.
There are tics and poison ivy on top of the Tower Island, so come prepared for that as well.
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