More than a million years ago, a large freshwater lake covered Meadow Valley, the area along U.S. 93 between Caliente and Panaca. Later uplifting and faulting of the terrain caused the waters to drain, leaving behind a thousand feet of sediments and gravel. During the most recent ice age, rivulets of rainwater and snowmelt carved gullies out of the softer sediments, siltstone and clay, creating the maze of towers, crevices, and canyons at Cathedral Gorge. Mrs. Earl Godbe, an 1890s resident of the nearby mining camp of Bullionville, was among the first visitors to appreciate this sculpted landscape. The eroded siltstone spires reminded her of European cathedrals, leading her to suggest the name Cathedral Gulch, later changed to Cathedral Gorge. Over the years, the buff-colored cliffs also served as a unique backdrop for Biblical pageants and other open-air dramas. In 1911, Nephi and Elbert Edwards, two teenage boys from Panaca, began exploring the nooks and crannies of Cathedral Gorge, and they and their brothers built a series of ladders through cave-like crevices and crawlways. In the early 1920s, the Edwards families led the movement to preserve and protect the Gorge, which became a state park in 1935. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the original camping facilities, including the stone water tower near the picnic area and the ramada at Miller's Point, one of the best observation points and trailheads in the park, and other facilities, including several nature trails, were added later.