If you’re looking to do something fun the day after Christmas with the family, take a trip by the Saint Louis Science Center and check out a cool exhibit from the permanent collections. In addition to some other cool stuff, including pieces from the former Museum of Quackery, there is a whole room dedicated to the donation of Ruth and Lee Hess, who operated Cherokee Cave back in the mid-Twentieth Century before it was closed due to the construction of the Ozark Expressway (I-55).

Many readers might know that the Cherokee Cave, which I believe should more historically accurately be called the DeMenil Cave, is part of a larger cave system that is attached to the Lemp Cave and therefore the Lemp Brewery. When Lee Hess began excavating a wall of clay in the passageway that connected the two caves, he hit prehistoric bones.

He contacted the American Museum of Natural History, and famed paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson came out and excavated hundreds (thousands?) of bones of ancient peccaries and other extinct animals. He wrote a layperson’s article about his excavations, and how he lived in the DeMenil Mansion during his time in St. Louis.

I had always assumed the American Museum of Natural History took everything, but obviously it turns out that the Hesses kept some of the finds, and thanks to their generosity, we are able to view some of the collection here in St. Louis.

Joe Light, whom I know, also lent the sign from his private collection.

It’s very cool, and I hope the Science Center puts more of its collection out on display; there is so much more in storage–over 100,000 items–and I think it’s worth getting it out in public view.