In the southwest corner of the state 20mi east of Cave Junction lies a web of marble chambers bejeweled with stalactites, stalagmites and other wondrous calcite formations. Situated underneath 6,281ft Mount Elijah, the Oregon Caves attract more than 75,000 visitors each year.When the continental plates collided millions of years ago, the impact cooked up molten rock which pushed away the Pacific Ocean, created the Siskiyou Mountains and cooled into limestone and marble. Recent fossil and footprint discoveries have revealed the presence of grizzlies, jaguars and bats in the caves during the last ice age. No evidence exists of any Native American use of the cave system. The discovery of the caves did not occur until a 25-year-old hunter named Elijah Davidson chased his dog, who was pursuing a bear, into the mountainside in 1874. Davidson found his way out of the darkness by following a creek and returned three years later with his brother and a friend to explore deeper into the subterranean chambers. On the next trip he brought a teacher who wrote a letter to the editor of the Oregonian about the discovery. The caves, too difficult for the general public to navigate, were left to local explorers until July 12, 1909 when President William Howard Taft established the Oregon Caves National Monument. Official cave guide, ranger Dick Rowley, spearheaded a movement to make the caves more accessible to the public, with projects that included building a road, blasting wriggle holes into comfortable walkways, and mapping the caves. A 470ft exit tunnel from the Ghost Room was drilled in 1933 to avoid retracing steps. Since 1985, under the direction of the National Park Service, the caves have been undergoing restoration, with such projects as removal of rubble, restoration of broken formations, and the addition of new lighting that reduces evaporation caused by heat.Cave tours begin at the original entrance which Elijah Davidson crawled into in 1874, then continue in Watson's Grotto with commentary on how water seeped through marble to form the cavern.