If you do get a chance to stop by this quaint town, you must visit the famous Mark Twain Cave. In Tom Sawyer, the characters, Tom and Becky, end up in the cave, lost, scared out of their minds and running from Injun Joe who was bent on silencing them--for good. If you haven't read this classic, stop, buy it now, read. It's available here in Hannibal at most EVERY location. Twain sure knew how to spin a story. Not only did he master humorous writing, he perfected suspense. He is my inspiration.
The cave is a balmy 52 degrees all year round. Some spots are as slim as a couple of feet, others are pretty wide. After the snaking twists and turns of the cave, you can see how easy it would be to get lost inside. It has been confirmed that after the infamous outlaw Jesse James robbed a train in St. Louis, he hung out in the cave for several weeks. His handwritten signature in one of the veins of the cave has been authenticated.
The entire hilly town of Hannibal rests on an intricate cave system. In 1967 three boys entered "Murphy's Cave" near Bear Creek about a mile from the Mark Twain Cave. When they never came home, the police were notified and it led to the largest underground search party in history. They were never found.
