Ahem. Brant here. I took this from "Oz-Net's Non-Linear History of the Branson Area."

"Like many of the larger caves in the Ozark Mountain Country area, Marvel Cave has had a diverse history since its discovery. Originally found in the mid-1800's, one of its openings is a great chasm which locals thought to be a bottomless pit. At least one civil war deserter was known to be executed there by a local vigilante group, as well as serving as a bat guano mine, a national landmark, and a tourist attraction attached to what is known today as Silver Dollar City. The cave's original stakeholder, a Canadian businessman by the name of William Henry Lynch, called it Marble Cave because of his belief that there was a large amount of the rock to be harvested. Although no profit came of that venture, his daughters eventually began giving tours of the place, and its popularity grew until the site was leased for 99 years to the people who have developed the cave's area into what it is today."

And also:

"Today Silver Dollar City stands as one of the larger attractions of the Branson area. It would suprise many people to know that in the beginning, the real attraction to the area where Silver Dollar City is located is the cave which now serves as something to do while visiting the park. Part of the Silver Dollar City's authenticity can be traced to the fact that the area was indeed begun in the late 1800's as a waiting area for visiting tourists to look through what is today a national landmark, Marvel Cave (known as Marble Cave back then.) The proprietors of the City entertained waiting guests with a blacksmith shop and two or three other stores which did business and gave change back to the tourists primariy in the form of silver dollars. This unique currency spread to nearby communities, with which Silver Dollar City owes its original acclaim to. The remarkable part about Silver Dollar City is that although is has grown to engulf many hundred acres of its orginal site, and is nationally recognized now, its authencity remains as solid and real as it did when employees of the attraction didn't have to pretend it was the 19th century."

Hrm...so, a cave system which people originally thought was bottomless? And which the local Osage Indians referred to as "the Devil's Den" [1]? And which was bought out by an entrepeneur, who thought he could exploit and profit from its resources? This being the same man who wrote poetry about miners [2]? And who found nothing except bat guano, which was mined in place of the much-sought-after marble? And who eventually had his cave's popularity eclipsed by a "SilverCity"?

If you can't draw some lines right there...

ADDENDUM! I just realized another part of this is that Silver Dollar City is an entertainment attraction! Just like the "silver screen," i.e., Hollywood and LosAngeles. That fits almost too perfectly into the mythos of silver being the opposite of industry, fire, Chicago, et cetera. [Brant]

Perhaps we have located the lost Oneiros? [Rob]