The book mentions Merit Cave only as one of the (many) men from Boone County who went to California in 1850--which is something you obviously know already. Other Caves mentioned (from the index) are Reverend Cave, Caroline Cave, E. H. Cave, Henry Cave., J. B. Cave, John Cave, Martha Cave, Mary Cave, Mary Williams Cave, Mildred Cave, Reuben Cave, Richard Cave, Sarah Cave, Thomas Cave, William Cave, and William S. Cave. Do any of those sound familiar? >>>>>>>>>>>>>Looking for any information as to the relationships between above individuals? Tom travelback4u@aol.com There were quite a few index entries for Henry, Richard, and some others, so I looked at a few.>>>>What other index entries are in this book about the Cave Famlies? These quotations are from information about early settlers (around 1815, when a treaty was signed with the Indians): "Wm. Graham, Reuben and Henry Cave, and perhaps some others, all from Madison County, KY., settled along the old Boone's Lick trail, or old St. Charles Road, leading from St. Louis to Franklin" (p. 130). "Around the present site of Columbia were...Richard and Reuben Cave,...John Cave,..." (p. 134). Henry Cave Senr. served on a grand jury in Smithton on August 6, 1821 (p. 160). Henry Cave, Sr., also appeared on a list of receipts and expenditures for 1824 (printed in the Franklin Intelligencer on January 1, 1825); he was paid 5.00 "as commissioner to view a road in 1822." Henry Cave was an original member of the Baptist Church of Columbia, organized in 1823 (p. 818). In a Fourth of July celebration at the town of Smithton in 1820, Reuben Cave, Esq., offered several toasts: "May the Constitution of the State of Missouri be formed to the satisfaction of its citizens" and "Col. Daniel Boon, the pioneer of the West--may his last days be his happiest, and may his posterity prosper" (p. 147). Richard Cave, it appears, had a mill: "Richard Cave's mill was on the farm now owned by Capt. David Guitar. It was put up about 1821 or 1822 and was a horse mill" (p. 736). Richard was also the first justice of the peace for the township of Columbia (p. 738). As to the 1850 gold rush participants, Merit is the only Cave listed. John, Robert, and Tyre Martin and Nathan Martin, Jr. are also listed. That's about all the information there is. >>>>>>>>>>>Tyre Martin, John, Robert and Nathan Jr. I'm looking for a possible connection to the Cave families in this information. Thomas W. Rogers travelback4u@aol.com Well, that's a sample. I don't find Tyre Martin mentioned in the same context with any of these Caves. However, note that Reuben and Henry Cave came from Madison County, KY; this is where the Sappingtons, Joneses, Harrises, and Martins who were related to each other came from, too. (You will find Tyre Harris as well as Tyre Martin in Boone County.) P.S. The book is History of Boone County, by Col William F. Switzler, first published in 1882 but recently reprinted by the Boone County Historical Society.