". . . Onondaga was at the time run by Bob Bradford," explains Onondaga Cave Manager, Richard Risor. "Two brothers, Dr. William and Lee Mook, leased property nearby and discovered part of the cave ran under their land. The Mooks secretly dug into the back of Onondaga. They decided their land extended to the halfway point in the Big Room, and they put up a barbed wire fence. That started an argument that almost became a shooting war the day Bob Bradford headed after Lee Mook with a rifle. . . ."

. . . Encounters at the barbed wire fence grew common and absurd. In 1934, Missouri senatorial candidate Harry S. Truman toured Missouri Caverns with an entourage of Democrats. On the same day, a group of Republicans toured Onondaga Cave. The parties met at the barbed wire fence and spent the afternoon slinging partisan mud. . . .