Media Alert: Passing of Orion Knox, Jr. one of the original discoverers of Natural Bridge Caverns

Orion Knox, Jr., legendary cave explorer and gentleman, passed away on December 31^st at the age of 81. In addition to being one of the discoverers, he helped develop Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest show cave in Texas, with tens of millions of guests experiencing the nature, wonder, and majesty he found in 1960.

Knox never stopped discovering, continuing to explore, photograph, and survey the massive Natural Bridge Caverns system over the years, as well as many other spectacular caves around the world. Orion was a gifted photographer and surveyor producing many award-winning cave maps. He also was a leader in the caving community on a state and national level.

He met his wife, Jan, through the local grotto at University of Texas in Austin. Together they became a surveying team and worked on Harrison’s Cave in Barbados and Kartchner Caverns in Arizona, Natural Bridge Caverns plus numerous others. Knox worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife as a park planner and later becoming the head of the Historic Sites branch in Texas Parks.  He worked on the first restoration for the Battleship Texas. He said that crawling in the battleship was similar to caving. A special commemoration will be held in the near future at Natural Bridge Caverns to honor Orion’s legacy.  Memorial donations can be made to Texas Cave Management Association (which helps preserve caves in Texas) or the Texas Nature Conservancy.