Sue Blesi, a historian, dug up the bizarre story of a man who was buried alive for a week in a pit with poisonous snakes and an alligator to draw visitors to the Silver Star Court motel and restaurant on Route 66 near St. Clair, Missouri.
Blesi, who recounted the tale in the Washington Missourian newspaper, said Dutch Dunnell pulled off the feat in 1962.
Paul and Cora Smith owned the business. “Little Dutch” told them if they would have a pit built, he would spend two weeks in it with approximately 200 snakes, including diamondback rattlesnakes, cobras, blue indigo snakes, copperheads, a deadly mambo nerve snake, and an alligator.
This stunt would serve as a drawing card of the motel, luring customers off the Mother Road.
In 1992, Don Cox recalled having told Dutch that, “If you’re crazy enough to do it, we’re crazy enough to build it.” A box, 4 feet wide, 7 feet long and 8 feet deep, equipped with a ventilation fan, was built by Elmer Cox and Rolla Parks.
Billboards were made up announcing, “Little Dutch, Buried Alive With Snakes!” and “The 13th Greatest Freak in the World!”
The motel charged 25 cents admission to see Dunnell living with the reptiles. He reportedly spent a lot of time chatting with visiting children during the stunt. The motel’s owners handed down food to him during his time underground.
Dunnell had planned to spend two weeks in the pit, but persistent rain cut short those plans. He reportedly was bitten several times by the snakes but showed no ill effects (he probably had himself injected with venom to gain immunity).
Dunnell’s stunt recalls an era in where businesses enticed visitors from Route 66 by implying danger and exotica of poisonous snakes and potentially fatal other critters. Reptile zoos dotted the Mother Road until the interstate highway era. Ones that come to mind were near Erick, Oklahoma, and Lela, Texas. There undoubtedly were more.
And the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, continues to keep rattlesnakes in a cage in its gift-shop area.
Dunnell set up his snake act all over the Midwest and South. He eventually died in Oklahoma.
The Silver Star Court closed after the opening of Interstate 44 and eventually was demolished. The complex also was known for a time as Midway Cafe and Motel. Little else seems to be known about the motel, except it was listed as eight miles west of St. Clair on Route 66.
Above is a vintage postcard image of the Silver Star Court.
(Image of a venomous pit viper by Bill Morrow via Flickr; postcard image of Silver Star Court motel near St. Clair, Missouri, courtesy of 66Postcards.com)