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The Journal of Spelean History OFFICIAL PUBLICATION of The AMERICAN SPELEAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION
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THE l\IAJ\IMOTH CAVE .
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Vol.
I
No.3
Summer Quarter
1968
ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION
The American Spelean History Association is newly chartered as a non­
profit corporation for the study, dissemination and interpretation of
spelean history and related purposes.
All persons of high ethical and
moral character who are interested in these goals are cordially in­
vited to become members.
Annual membership is $5.00;
family member­
ship is $6.00.
ABOUT THE QUARTERLY
The Association anticipates the publication of the Journal of Spelean
History on a quarterly basis.
welcomed.
Pertinent articles or reprints will be
As a photo-offset process is in use. articles should be
submitted in a form which can be photographed for direct use, i.e.
single spaced, on
8%
x
11
paper and with adequate margins.
of rough drafts for preliminar
y
Submissions
editing is strongly recommended.
Line
drawings are no problem; photographs require special handling and the
editor should be contacted.
Dark clear xerox copies of books, etc.
reproduce well.
ABOUT THE COVER ILLUSTRATION .
As indicated in Meloy's article herein, Nahum Ward's account and
sketch map of Mammoth Cave was widely reprinted.
1815
This version of his
map appeared in Isaac Holmes' An Account of the United States of
America, Caxton Press, London
(1823).
-reast
At
one other version of
the Ward map indicates that the arrow indicates south,
on modern maps.
not north, as
This would imply that at that time, Mammoth Cave was
believed to extend beneath and beyond Flint Ridge.
-46-
The Journal of Spelean History
Official Publication of the American Spelean History Association
Dr. William R. Halliday, editor
1117 -36th Ave. E.
Seattle, Wash.
Volume 1, #3
July-September 1968
Table of Contents
Front Cover:
48
Nahum Ward's 1815 map of Mammoth Cave
Frontispiece
1811 map of Mammoth Cave
49
Early maps of Mammo th Cave,by Harold Meloy
59
i
The National Geographic Society s expedition of Carlsbad Cavern,
New Mexico, March 20 to September 15,
81
Association business and colloquy
-470 .
192
by Dana W. Lee
EARLY J.lAPS OF MA1.i1,iOTH CAVE
By Horold Meloy
Our editor chose wisely wh en he seleoted the oover
illustra tion for the initial i ssue of this journal.
He
used one of the three known versions of the little
known Eye Drau?ht map of Mommoth Cave.
All thr ee
versions are substantially alike and differ only in
sli ht variations in the w ording of the notes on the
faoe of the map.
A close examination of this map will
disolose info.rmution about the early history of the
o ave in addition to that heretofore publi shed.
Let us first look at the plaoe nDmes used on the
map.
Only four are noted, Viz., Narrows, Big Room,
Haunted Chomber, and Sick Room.
These are now known
Houohin's Narrows, Rotunda, Gothio
respeotively 8S:
Avenue, and Harvey's Lost Way.
In addition to these,
althou h not nomed, areas from Audubon Avenue to be­
yond Chief City ar e e osily looated on the map.
But the anonymous 'draftsman of the o ri inal map
Instead, he
had little reason to use plaoe names.
emphasized that eaoh passaRe oo ntained an abundant
amount of saltpetre, vihio h' \r"es a scarce a nd v alua'ole
commodity durin
the earl y part of the 19th oentury.
Even smell petre caves were sellin
for Rood money;
and ,this map purported to show a very large oave
whioh contained o ver 14 miles of possa es rich in
saltpetre.
3uch a oave would be even m or e v aluable if
ood woter supply was av ailable for use in prooess­
a
in
the petre earth.
Henoe, our draftsman looated on
the map six sprlnf's within the oav e, three of whio h
he desorioed as large springs.
3urely, this wa s a map made by an owner of the
oave to graphioally illustrate its v alue and to justify
a high asking price to a pr ospeotive purohaser.
But whi oh ovmer?
And whio h purchaser?
In 1808
the b rothe rs John, George and Leonard MoClean were the
oooupying owners.
They-had purchased the oave and 200
aores ot land by assignment from John Flatt, who was
the assignee of Valentine oimons, the or iginal owner
ot the o ave.
In 1808 the MoClean brothers sold
Dixon's cave end 44 aores of the ori inal 200 acre
traat to Ch arle s S. l.Iorton for
600. bOo ( 1)
By 18 10t the MoCl eans had sold by assignment the
remaining 156 aores, including the aave later known 8S
Copyri ht
(§)
1968 by Harold Ueloy
•
Uammoth C ve (but in 1808 known as Flatt's Cave), to
Flemin
Gatewood and Charles Wilkins for $3,000.00.
Gatew ood was a looal resident and presumably knew the
However, Wilkins lived at Lexington 140
oave well.
miles away and had little knowledge of the now famous
oave.
'lilkins wes a saltpetre me rohan t an d needed n ew
souroes of s u ply.
It is enti rely possibl e tha t the
Eye ]):rauRht map w as pr epa red t o induoe Wilkins to be­
come a joint purchaser wit h Gatewood and to pay what
must have been a tremendous prioe in those days for
pr opp-rty whioh Simons had purohased 1n 1798 at th e
rate of $40.00 for eaoh 100 aores.(2)
It is not known exaotly wh en Wilkins first saw
the Eye Draught map; but he must have had either the
original or a o opy of the original in his possession
prior to March 15, 1811.
On that date, his brother­
in-law, Dr. ji'rederiok Ridgley sent a oopy of the map
Miss Joan
to Dr. Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia.
Titley (3) l ooated the Ridgley oOPY of the Eye Draught
map in the archives o
the Amerioan Philosophical
SOCiety, Philadelphia, while doin
researoh wo rk on
the Revolutionary War letters of Dr. Ridgley.(4)
Flemint2' Gatewood negotia ted to sell his o ne-half
interest in Mammot h Cave t o Hyman Gratz of Phildelphia.
The sale was finally consuma ted on August 25, 1812 for
We have no knowl edge of the
the sum o f $10,000.00.
length of time durin
whio h the negotiati ons took place.
Probably they extended for months, perhaps for a year
or more.
Suoh a map cou ld have been sent by Gatewood
to Gratz to induce him to pay $10,000.00 for a half­
interest in the oave.
Another poss ibility is that
Gratz may have h ad a fi nanoial interest in the purohase
fr om tb e i,{oCleans and may have been furni shed a co py
of th e map as early as 1809 or 1810.
Before the full purohase price w a s paid, it is
likely that Gratz would ha ve demanded a olear reoord
title t o the land arid would not hav e been satisfied
wi th the asei
ments of ti tle. w hioh had been made by
the prior owne rs in aooorda noe wit h 100a1 oustom.
•
Pe fect in
record title w ould have taken some
time.
i'irst, the ba la nae of the purcha se price in the
amount of $70.93, prinoipal and interest, Whic h
imons
still owed on the original puroh ase of 200 aores was
paid to the Treasurer whose reoeipt wna then presented
at the Auditor's Office.
On January 4, 1812 Auditor
George l.Iadison issued his reoeipt for t he Treasurer's
reoeipt; an d on January 31. 1812, a Grant from the
50
Commonwealth of
en tucky, sipned by Go vernor Soott, wae
issue d to Valentine Simons f or the 200 aores of land
in Warren County, lying on the so uth side of Green
Ri ver " inclu ding two salt petre ooves."
Simons h ad previously moved from warr en County to
Hnrdin County Wh en he left the c ave, as hod the three
oCle ans.
Flatt h ad mov ed to Barren County.
Arrange­
ments were made for llil th e f ormer owners a nd their
wiYes to meet to ether to complet e t he for malitie s.
On Thursday, July 9, 1812, th ey met in Hardin County,
probAbly at Elizab ethtown.
Simons was paid the $116.67,
pr in cipal and interest, st ill due him from Flatt; and
Flott
he con veyed by deed the 200 Bores to Flatt.
o on v ey ed to th e MoCleans; a nd th ey conveyed to Charles
Wilkins nnd-Fleming Gatewood 156 aores , "including the
Salt petre Cave for merl y oa lled Flatt's cave, now
oa
' lled and k nown by the name of Mammot h Cave."
Two days 18 ter, these thr ee dee ds Were recorded
in the C lerk's offioe of Warren County, Kentuo ky, on
the oaths of Joseph B. Gatewood and Aylett H. Bruokner.
After Fleming Gatewood had oleared his title t o the
satisfaction of a Philadelphia lawyer, Gratz was re ady
to pay his money and acoept title.
Until more irtformation is av ailable, we oan only
speoulate as to whether the original Eye Draught m ap
was made to help persuade Grat z to puroha se th e one­
ha lf interest from Gatewood, or t o indu oe Wi lkins to
jo i n w ith Gatewood in purohasing t he o ave from the
MoCleans, or to help pro mote outside money for t he
purohase by Wilkins and Gatewood from the YoCle ans.
It is a ppar e n t that copies of this map were traoed
from the or i ginal an d that oo pies were traoed from
It may be assumed thBt Wilkins kept his o OPY
oop ies.
when Dr. Ridgley sent the Maroh 15, 1811 oo py to Dr.
Prior to June 11, 1811, E. L. duPont had a o O PY
Rush.
of this m ap C 5) Wh io.h Burton Fa ust (6) loo ated in the.
Eleutherian Mills Historioa1 Li brary at Wilmington,
DelaWare, and publish ed in his splendid history of the
saltpetre mining at USmmbth Cave;(?) and at least one
request was made for a oO PY of t he duPont oopy . (8)
Among the handv 1tten notes on the Ridgley o OPY
"At the BiB Room it is 100 feet w id e and 40
we find:
However. a parenthet ioal olause was
high.tf
50
or
The
th is sentenoe on th e duPont ooPY.
into
inserted
follows:
es
reads
oo'P
duPont
s a rm s entenoe on the
Y
"At the Big Room (to whioh it is oontemplated to
oonvey the water a nd ereot le aohes) it is 100 feet
wide a nd 40 or 60 high. tt
Fr om thi , it may be oon­
51
"
oluded that th e duPont oo y was
than th e Hidgley oopy and after
to ereot the leaohes (s altpetre
a nd to oonstruot water lines t o
made at a l at er d ate
the plans had been made
hoppers) in the Rotunda
them.
A third version of the some map. slightly differ­
ent fro m the ·other two was publis hed in the 1853
edition of Jefferson's Notes on 'the 8tate of Virginia.
Dr. Wi lli m n R. Halliday seleot ed t he Jefferson version
as the oover i l lus tr a t i on for the Winter 1968 number
The Jefferson
pelean Hist ory.
of t he
ourna l of
Version more n early resem bles th e Ridgley oopy than
the duPont oopy and omits th e parenthetioal clause
found on the duPont oo py.
Look in
again at the map itself, i t is a pparent
th at the original of the Eye Drau ght map w as made at a
date prior to th e oonstruotion of the h oppers at either
the Rotunda or at Gothio Avenue.
However t the e arlier
hoppers l ooated just inside the entranoe are olearly
shown.
Extensive are as on. the map were designated as
oontaining glauber salta.
This in itself WOuld h a ve
added value to the oave, e ven in t he a bsenoe of salt­
petre; and it is a stron g pro bability that su oh was
sho\m for that purpos e.
Every line, every word, every fe ature.Eb own o n the
map is one that would enhanoe the monetary value of the
Why not th e name itself?
In 1798, the cave was
oa·ve.
oalled a s altpetre 08ve;
later it was known as the big
Cave; l ater as Flett's cave, whioh na me was in use in
1808.
But suoh a n ame as Fl att's Cave woul d not add
glamour nor denote an extensive oave to a non-resident
prospeotive purohaser.
The ovme r would need a. better
name -one th1.lt woul d stir theitnagin ation of a. moneyed
man.
Probably for that reason, the n ame lIammoth Cave
was ohosen, and that nam e was used on the map.
Little
matter if it oontinued to be known as Flatt's cave by
the looal reSidents.
..
This one has
Ciroa 1813 anot h er map appeared.
been called the Bogert Map, and from appearanoes was
made and us ed as a wo rkinR map for the saltpetre miners
It shows a
and t he mining op erations in the oave.
total length of passages more th an double that shown
on the Eye Drau ht map and inoludes all of the side
passages and their branohes as then known between the
entranoe and the cataraots.
Probably th e o riginal of
this map remained at Mammoth Cave in the p ossession 01
manager Arohioald .iJi.ller.
Undoubted ly, Wilkins had 8
oopy_
Anothar oOPY was sent to John G. Bogert in New
52
The So-called Bogert Map of Mammoth Cave
GREEN RIVER, OR MAMMOTH CAVl.
REFERENCES TO THE PLATE.
i. Mouth.
In di an Mummy.
2.
3. Right.hand Chamber.
.f.. Mountain Room; the entrance is (rom
m ou n tai n .
.
.
5. Little Room, with a spring and two pit s
6. Springs.'
the top of the
.
7. Sand Room.
8.
9.
Part of the Haunted Room.
Sick Room.
10. Haunted Room.
I t. Springs.
12. Horn Room.
Pit, 100 feet deep; and water falling seve t al hundred
feet.
.
14. Part of the Deserted Ch"mber, which tuns un der tho
Salt Rooms.
15. Deserted Chamber.
us. This tOOln runs under the De serted Cha mber
17. A large spring falls several hundred feet.
18. Gla ub er salts, (sulphat of soda) found here.
19. Mockason Room, .
20. A large room or pit, above fifty feet deep.
13.
'
.
9.1. Salts.
22. Ground Room
.
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.23. Bllsket Room
.24. Sembins Room.
5. Weeping willow; this room runs about a qual'ter
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mile, then returns to the same place.
26. ,two springs in two large sink holes.
27. Beekman's Room.
28. Miller's Room.
29. Hell's Gate.
SO. Devil's Chambel') supposed to be ten
mouth.
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53
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of a
miles from dle
York City Dnd is pr es e n tly
York H is t orioal S oo iet y .
in
the Library of the New
An en ravinF was made f ro m the B ogert oOPY and
publish ed in the I.led10al Reposit ory, 1815, v ol . 17,
o pposit e pa e 393.
Anot her oopy was made and sen t
to Hyma n Gratz at PhilDdelphia
who s en t a copy to Dr.
Samuel Ilit ohill, edi tor of the 11ed ioa 1 Reposi tory.
M1tohill aoknowledged t h o reoei pt of t he copy from
Grat z but did not publish it, as it wa s "s u b s t an tiall y
like t h at which we had received be fore f rom Mr.
Bo ge rt . " ( 9 )
Ano t h e r o opy WOE made, pro ba bly fro m the original
at .Mammoth Ca va, on Jan uary 11, 1817, b y 1. W. Egnew.
In 1950 thrs copy oould be seen it' the Tennessee His­
toric al SOQiety Library at Noshvil e.
The Sooiety's
oollections were later. moved to the Tennes s ee state
Lib rary, but the Egnew oopy o oul d not be l oo a t ed there
i n JanUlll'y 1968.
Thirt y feat ure s are named and l o o a te d o n the
Bo gert map, a nu m ber of t h em by n a mes no longer u sed.
Sembins Room, Devi l ' s Chamber,
Some of t hese are:
Beokman's Room, Bas ket R oom, Horn Room, and .Mookason
Room.
The upper part of the Cork sorew was t hen kno w n
a s th e Mountai n ROalD, and it \ s noted that " th e
entranoe is from the top of the mount ain."
The Bogert map was made a fte r the 1813 m ummy was
taken to ltammoth C ave and before t he mummy was moved
from i ts l oo ation in Br oa dw ay just beyo nd the Rot u nd a,
t o Gothio Avenue.
Pr i or to the fi ndin g b y Mi s s Titley
an d 1.1r. Faus t of oopies 0 f the Eye Drau ht map (which
o an be dated at least as e arl y as l811) the B o ge rt map
was the earliest known rna p of Mammoth cave.
Soon a fter t he Bogert map was publi shed , another
T he
map of the cave a pp e ar ed on t he Amerioan soe ne.
new :nap was not one prep a re d to pr omot e the s ale ot
the oave , nor on e f or the use of the miners.
Nahum
•
War d made his map for pu blioatio n.
ard visited the
o ave in Oo tober 1815 and s pe nt 18 hours in the oave
with hi s guides.
Thereafter he wrote a l ong desori p­
tive narrative of his experienoes an d travels within
the oave.
HiS map was made t o illu st ra t e his de s o ri p ­
tive narrative and to BlOW the reading publio the
It v s published and republished
va st nes s of t he oave.
in books, ma gazi n es , news papers, and b ro a d s i des t both
in Amerioa and in Europe.
ingle oopies Were s old in
bookstores.
The map was republish ed a s late ss 1873
in B osto n .
54
toO
Another Version of
the Ward Map
Plan of
" lhe (h'cat Cave
IT,Ta1,/,,.,,,
"iI.
,I,'
, r
Calmt!/,
r,-('"lui'/I1·
it
/!.
, '.
,
F,XI'L,\X,\';loxs--by ;\1,. "".0 .
A.·-mou!b of the: euv"" ,10 ('d high , 11Il.1 so tid.'.
B.-llop!l{'f.-whcrcsall-!>ctrc js'm:ule hy "Hl\in,,,,,, 0,:,: ..... ,\, . . "
Cl'l' ofth Cnv('-·-()xen nrc worked 2111i1cs in.
C.--Pi! 175 f('('! d""pln innn)' j ,lares In Ihi. !';l.lIlh.".
D.-·This :m,'iI contains upwllrd (If ei:tllt acre, '\I,,·r,·t! wi,!. ,"," .H .l. :
least 150 fCC't hi ;:h in the centre J ('niled tb c "Uti ril",
D,···Container! nbnllt six acrcs- l1u: 'I\'alls allllll,l at 1.,:1'1 1", I··.·' \'" t,
pendirllial' h ..i;;ht-ol)l' nrch.
F.·-'l'his clt:nn".. , alld nVl'lIUC lending 1o it \lIS 11<:\'('" cll'l.... ·.I"",,; i
cntl'r('c1 it-.I If{'n! In thl' "lid.
G.-Thi. is {'all.·,\ t\h\ second dlv.
H.-·'J'hc III�d "flhis chamber, ,i-hiclt b 1.I;on r"'l in cir"umf"r"lu,', j : 1
ic'!N aho,-e thc 1"'1'<:1 Ilf thc jl:\..ng{' 1 .. luliuj: I.. iI. You gu Ill' a 1':I.,·"g" 101.,­
tim! or n chilnn"y rClr -10 r.·,·( pCfl'"nclicuillr IIl'igh.
I.···At this I'lacc I found:l ccdn&'llulc 12 fcct \m,;. mill whirh wn, \wr.
'
fcclly oulIIl.
0.-1 went no farther limn thi_Jllln' mnch fll1bcr I,m1l:lll II:-.\'c I1;"U" 1
•
••
,
.• '
_
.
'
know 1I0t,
I,.-l rl)m the idc of u C;,,'c issued a linc $tr<aal or n-nt '. \\hitl.f.. ll,
GO {"ct.
n..-·(;r('('n Ili\'f�r pas'l's I\,'cr fbcs, \;rnnrlu: .• or lIe envc, S.- A lon ho.h' of ydl()\v ochre funml here. {"l'l dirmf'l.-r. a'H1 liJ r.'N It1;:.!.. 'l'.-A \'dy
· bc.iulif,11 dome, lIt least -10
st:mlinJ: uIlI\'unh .,1' (1:1 r.'(·,
, X....-. Hcre nrl.1 G or IS Inr;;c ':0IUII\115 of
PCTlh,'mliculnr hcil;ht-Ihc 1'11••, of whk I r" t 11l"h',t;lIl1l !m,iIlA n Will"t
1 h!'-' vlllll rllnlld 1ft jIfll:.1
hCIlIIliful
I).
is
nmbcr,-,"ltis
lb:n is ill c\e:lf ns
quantities ill nnd by tho 1' Cnhnnll of Slll1r ·l fl.Il.',llh.· l,nn! ('Ii/m';,I"
1\.·.·Tbc ,!lhmlllly
Z,.-FClIllloi no �)O.t.-N. Jiuo.
.....-'l.·be tl tteJ PIlS!''lg<'s I':I'S uml.-r Ihe ollle'fo,
Ilmr,
•••
•
f
-55-
Like the others before it, th e Ward map was made
without benefit of compass or accurate measurements.
Distances were flagra ntly exaggerated; and Ward un­
blushingly s hows three. of th e cave avonues passing
As the name "Mammoth
under the bed of Green Ri vel'.
Cave" had not yet e ntered common usage, Ward desig­
nated it as "The Great and Wonderful Cave in Warren
County t Kentucky." which it in fact was; and 1s­
except that a fter the oounty boundr1es were shuff led
around in 1825, the oave is now looated in Edmonson
County.
Two s ketoh maps of Malw.loth Cave are inoluded with
the Drake papers in the Draper lJanuscript Collection
at the state Historioal Sooiety of Wisoonsin.
It has
been suggeste
· d that these two ma'Ps m ay have bee
. n made
prior to 1811 an d perhaps as early as 1808.
Suoh
oould hardly be the oase.
The so-oa lled Drake Map
found at page 2 0 84 of the Draper Colleotion appears
to have been cO'Pied f rom the Ward map, and shows the
salt'Petre hoppers at bot h the Rotunda and at Gothio
Avenue-hoppers whioh were oonstruot ed a fter the
The nIJrs. campbell
drafting of the Eye Draught Uop.
oonjeotures" map found at page 2 0 80 of the Drap er
Colleotion
lso shows the hoppers at Gothio Avenue.
The Eye Drau ht msp remains the earliest known
map of l.{ammoth Cave and Ell.ows the earliest k nown use
If
of the na me "Mammoth Cave.
AOKNOWLEDGlvrENTS
iRni:fioant oontributions to the summary pr esented
herewith have bee n made by Eugene H. Oonner, Samuel W.
Thomas, Joan Titley, r/illiam R. Halliday, James F.
Quinlan a nd Burton Faust.
Oonolusions whioh may be
modi fied by further studies are those of the author.
Acknowledgment is a lso m ade for the assistanoe given
and information :fu rnished by the f ollOWing libr aries:
amerioa n Philosophioal Sooiety. Philadelphia; Historioal
Sooiety of Pennsy lvania, Philadelphia; New York Publio
•
Library and New York Histor ioal Sooiety Library. N ew
York Oity. Boston Publio Library; 8tate Historioal
ooiety of Wisoonsin, Madison. Wisoonsin; Indiana
State Library, I ndiana polis; Filson Club, Louisville.
X ntuoky Hi storioal Sooiety, ] ankfortt Kentuoky;
Lilly Library. Indiana University. Bloomin ton, Indiana;
and Newberry Library, Chioago.
56
NOTES
1. Contraot of Sale dated January 22, 1808, in the
Croghan Papers, Huntington Li brary, San Marino,
California; l ooated by Sa muel W. Thomas, Louis­
ville, Kentuoky.
See also:
Eugene H. Conner t, M. D. an d samue 1 W.
Th omas, Ph. D.
J ohn Cr oghan (1790-1849): An
Filson Club
Enterprising Kentuoky Physioian.
History Quarter ly. 1966, Vol. 40, No 3, pa ges
206-234. Louisville, Kentuoky.
2. Aots of the Gene r a l Assembly, Commonweal th o:t
Kentucky, 1797, C hap ter CCCXV; Aots 1798, Ch. LV.
3.
Librarian and Ass o o ia te Proiessor ot Modioa1 Biblio­
graphy, Sohool of Medioine, University ot Louisvill e.
4. Joan Titley:
A Sold ier Writes Home--17 76 , Letters
From the Revol utionary War.
The Fi lson Olub
Hist ory Quarterl . 1967, Vol. 41, NO. 4, pa e 297.
Louisville, Kent uoky.
6.
The ,h'ilson Club History Quarterly, 1967,
NO. 3, pa e 231
LO Uis Vi lle, Kent uoky.
Vol.
41,
.
6.
Btl.rton li'aust (1898-1967)'18 the author1ty on salt­
petre mining.
See:
The Journal of Spelean
'History. 1968, Vol. 1, No. 1, pa e 2. Seattle,
lIla shinp-ton.
7.
The H t e tory of Sa ltpetre Mining in
Burton Faust:
l.{Rmmoth Os ve, Kentucky.
The Filson Club History
1967, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp 5-20; No. 2,
Qua rterly"
pa p-es 127 -140; No. 3, pages 227-262; and No. 4,
pap'es 323-352..
Louisvill e, Ken tuoky.
8.
Faust.
9.
Mediaal Hepos! tory,
York, N. Y.
supra.
page 230.
1817,
18
t
page 188. New
•
57 loJ
Vol.
The National Geographic Society's expedition to Carlsbad Cavern, New
Mexico, March 20, to September 15,
1924; a diary and record of the
expedition, by Dana W. Lee.
Jim White. (leading),
Elizabeth Lee and Dana Lee in Carlsbad Cavern in
the spring of 1924.
Note the use of guano sacks for steps.
Willis T. Lee,
(0:;--
courtesy of Dana W. Lee.
Photo by
INTRODUCTION
It was in 1923 that my father, Dr. Willis T. Lee, first visited Carlsbad
Cavern.
As a geologist on the staff of the U.S. Geological Survey (Dept.
of the Interior) he had been sent to examine the site of a proposed storage
reservoir.
There he found so much limestone, gypsum, and small caves that
he doubted that it could ever hold water.
In discussing this matter with
local people, they told him about the huge caves in the Guadalaupe Moun­
tains nearby, and he arranged to be taken to some of them.
It was Jim
White who took him to the "Bat Cave", where he took some pictures.
These
pictures, and the excellent ones taken previously by a local photographer,
Ray
1924.
V. Davis, were published in the National Geographic Magazine January
Also in 1923, Mr.
Robert A. Halley made a survey of the upper part of the
cavern to determine the extent of the bat guano deposits for the U.S. Land
Office.
ment.
He reported that the cavern was worthy to be made a National Momu­
Dr.
Lee endo sed this recommendation and on Oct.
"Carlsbad Cave National Momument".
25,
1923 it was made
In the Spring of 1924, The National Geographic Society financed an explora­
tory expedition to Carlsbad Cavern, and appointed Dr. Lee as expedition head.
The National Park Service appointed him temporary custodian of the new momu­
ment.
I was a freshman in mechanical engineering at George Washington
University at the time, but Dad decided the experience at Carlsbad would be
valuable to me, so I postponed my formal education and became a member of the
expedition as photographer's helper, surveyor's rodman,
anything else needed.
My sister, Elizabeth (now Mrs.
truck driver, and
John Hopkins of 27607
Detroit Road, Westlake, Ohio) and my mother also went to Carlsbad, so it was
a family affair.
period
My
•
Dad was on leave from the U.S. Geological Survey for this
.
father died in 1926, from angina pectoris.
He thought that the blood clots
which finally proved fatal might have resulted from a fall he had in the cave.
I feel that his bringing the cave to national prominence was one of his best
contributions to posterity, although by no means the only one.
He was, for
instance, a pioneer in the use of aerial photography in the study of geology.
I cannot say that I have carried on in cave exploration, even though the six
months in New Mexico were the most memorable of my life.
husband do cave exploring in Missouri, though.
My daughter and her
My interest has been in
aviation-- I have been with the Federal Government's aeronautical and space
research organizations NACA and now NASA ever since finishing college as a
mechanical engineer.
There seems to be a lot of interest in the ladder we used to get down to
the lower level.
Jim White made it by twisting wire around wooden rungs
(just pieces of tree branch, as I recall it).
It hung free from the lower
70 feet or so and was not fastened at the bottom, so it tended to twist
around as one went down it.
Jim and his brother-in-law ''Wild Horse" Hill,
had descended this hole on a rope earlier,
but had not explored this level
thoroughly..
The amount of water in the Cavern has very definitely decreased - all the
I suspect that one important
springs are lower than they were in 1924.
factor is that air from the cave is pumped through the administration build­
ing to cool them in summe r and warm them in winter.
of water.
60
This must remove a lot
The oil paintings on the walls of the main lobby were made in 1924 while we
were there.·
There were two artists.
The other one painted his impressions,
or emotions, rather than rendering the formations realistically.
His name
was Murk, and we called his efforts Murk's Nightmares.
One of the reasons our surveyor, Mr.
Runyan, made a careful map of the cave
was to determine whether a tunnel into it from the bottom of the hill to the
east of the natural entrance would be feasible.
It was found that a tunnel
a·bout 1100 feet long (as I recall) sloping down at an easy grade, could be
dug to make an ent rance from the level of the plain east of the ridge.
never heard why the Park people decided on elevators instead.
I
Of course,
entering by such a tunnel would eliminate the spectacular descent,
but a
tunnel might have advantages as a service route from the dining and souvenir
area,
although it is n.ow some distance from where the tunnel
the far end of the Big Room,
would enter at
somewhere near the IIbottomless pit".
I have not heard much about other caves in the Guadaloupes.
has tickled my imagination for 43 years.
we saw was a conical hole in the rock.
One in particular
It is on top of the range, and all
A tin can thrown in could be heard
banging as it went down - to where?
My
diary describes this "deep cave" as being on the last ridge to the east
between Double Canyon and Gunsight Canyon.
We were told that a man was once
lowered 500 feet into this hole but never saw the bottom.
I would be interest­
ed to hear from anyone who has. information on this cave.
Sincerely yours,
Dana W. Lee
7503 River Road
Olmstead Falls, Ohio
Further Identification of Persons Mentioned in the Diary:
Carl Livingston
- Lawyer, banker and ranch owner of Carlsbad.
He was much
interested in archeology of the region as well as its
natural wonders.
Russel Runyan
Lee's party.
- Expedition surveyor, on leave from the Tophographic Branch, U.S.
Jim White
He was very helpful to Dr.
Geological Survey. - Co-discoverer and early explorer of the cave.
as our guide.
He served
His wife was our cook while we lived in
the wooden buildings near the cave mouth.
These build­
ings were the bunk houses which had been built by the
California Fertilizer co. to house their men while they
dug out the bat guano.
Jim White's father helped by
gathering firewood and bringing it in on the backs of
burros.
He also used his burros to carry water from the
nearest spring in Walnut Canyon.
Jimbo White
- Jim White, Jr. then about four years old.
/0 '((
Vernon :Bailey
- At the time he was the Chief Field Naturalist of the U.S.
Biological Survey.
He spent several months as a member
of the .expedition studying the bats and other animals of
the region.
His report on his findings are to be found
in the September 1925 issue of The National Geographic
Magazine and also in his book "Animal L ife of the Carlsbad
Cavern" published as a Monograph of the American Society
of Mammalogists Number 3. 1928, b y Williams and Wilkins Co.
Baltimore.
Elizabeth
My sister, now Mrs. J.G. Hopkins of 27607 Detroit Road,
Westlake, Ohio - also called "Betty".
Mr. Mather
- Head of National Parks Service
Mr.
- An entomologist of Texas Experimental Station at Sonora
Babcock
Jacob Gayer
- Staff photographer for the National Geographic Society
Mr. Otto
Joe August
Party from Fox Motion Picture Co.
Eli Dunn
Ray Davis
- Carlsbad commercial photographer
Robert A. Holley
- Surveyor for U.S. Land Office
Mrs.
Joyce
- .Carlsbad social leader
Col.
Bujac
- Carlsbad resident
Bob Dow
- Carlsbad lawyer
Mr.
- Botanist - U.S.
Standley
Mr. Vost
.. )
I
Depa'rtment of Agriculture
- Custodian of El Morro National Momument
itO
Carlsbad Caverns, N.M.
March 24,
1924
We got into Carlsbad last Thursday, March 20, after a trip of 3 days and
3 nights.
We passed through a snowstrom on the way, but found Carlsbad very
Carlsbad.
They offered their aid in the furtherance of our project.
mild and bright.
We were met at the station by the Chamber of Cotmllerce of
to'the hotel that night.
house,
Friday morning, we went out to Mr.
and soon it was arranged to rent his house for the summer.
unpacked our things and got settled.
drove out to the caves.
In the afternoon,
We went
Carl Livingston's
We then
Mr. Runyan and myself
The road is in good condition for about half way.
Then it is merely a track, or rather a number of tracks, across the plain.
The worst part of the road begins about 3 miles from the caves.
Here we go
The road is just a place dug in the
straight up the sid! of the foothills.
rock and rocks piled up along the lower side to keep the car in the road.
The rocks are very jagged and the road steep and sidling.
combination imaginable.
managed to get the car up all right.
rocky road.
It is the worst
With the Ruckstee1 axle (on the Model T Ford) we
Then there is about three miles of very
Just a place over the rocks where the cactus has been taken out.
The cactus is very abundant and there are many varieties.
number of kinds of spiny plants that are very interesting.
caves Friday night and then returned in the morning.
Dad
things to take out and we went to camp Saturday afternoon.
hill without a stop.
Dad walked up behind.
There are also a
I stayed at the
bought a lot of
I went right up the
Sunday we went cave exploring.
Mr. Runyan and two men started the survey of a branch cave that we hope will
come near enough the surface to enable us to have a tunnel cut in.
a can of gasoline,
In carrying
Runyan spilt some on his clothes and the constant rubbing
of the can soon caused a rather severe burn.
Dad,
Jim and I went on through
a passage we thought might make a better trail, but found that it was too
rough.
We visited some parts that have not been entered for 8 years.
There
was an old cord on the floor that was so rotten that it fell to pieces at the
lightest touch.
the roof.
Some places we crawled under boulders that had fallen from
The cracks were just big enough to all,ow a man to get through. Then
when we had passed through and reached the cave itself,
we were unable to see
the roof in many places, even with a powerful flashlight.
Any little noise
reverberated through the passage and so we heard, rather then saw, the immense
size of that hole in the ground.
totem poles,
at the base;
We visited the big room and saw the big
many of which are 50 feet high while only about 2 feet in diameter
and also the domes, some of which are at least 100 feet high and
about as wide at the base.
We went into a little side room where there were
hundreds of little stelactites hanging f,rom the roof.
They were still form­
ing'and at one place the water flows down a stalactite in a stream the size
of a pencil.
There is a tin cup there,
unique fountain
•
.
and we all had a drink at this
Some of the trail is very steep and hard to climb.
are wires strung along and with the help of these,
way over the rocks to the top.
There
one is able to worm his
We came out about 3 o'clock.
Jim and I climbed
the ladder,
coming out, and then Jim started the engine and pulled Dad out in
the bucket.
Runyan and his helpers came out about 5 o'clock and we found him
65
so badly blistered that it was necessary to take him to town
•••
I loaded the car and drove out with two men to work the trail.
Monday,
we worked trail all day.
Tuesday
There are 6 men on the trail besides Jim and myself,
and one man is doing the cooking.
We filled gunny sacks with loose dirt,
tied them and then rolled them down the Den to make a trail.
place them in proper order, and they make a fine trail.
Two men would
We came out for
dinner and on the way back again took in a load of empty sacks.
March 26,
Today I again joined the road gang and filled sacks.
way down the far side of the Den.
were working,
but no one was hurt.
We made a trail part
Once a rock fell down to where the men
We climbed out each time today.
made it in less than a half hour from the far side of the Den.
first bats came out:
Only a hundred, and Mr.
Once we
Tonight the
Bailey was unable to catch any.
We took the temperature in the cave and found it to be 55 degrees F.
March 29,
On the 27th, Dad and I went down into the cave with the plate camera.
Exposures were made with both the flash powder and the magnesium blow-lamp.
They were all good pictures.
with Mr.
Dad went to town on the 28th, and I went out
Bailey to see him set traps.
camp and he set traps for skunks.
We went only into a canyon north of
We then went down the canyon and poked
into two little caves on the side of the canyon.
On the way back we looked
at the set traps and found a rock squirrel in one of them.
With parts of
the squirrel as bait, we set other traps and re-baited the old ones.
also set traps for mice and Kangaroo Rats.
News Reel arrived this evening.
of the cave.
decorations.
He
The man from the International
On the 29th we went to take moving pictures
We went to Shinav's Wigwam first and took four shots of the
We had the men who are working on the trail to hold the flares
and to serve as measuring.
The flares last one minute and are very bright.
From two to five flares are used to make the pictures.
The wind is still blowing a little today,
Last night we had quite a high wind.
The little shacks here shook under the blasts, and every loose piece banged
and flapped.
Mr.
Bailey came back tonight with a skunk and a ring tail that
he caught in his traps
Elizabeth and Mr.
•••
Runyan.
work for a time yet.
The man from El Paso came out today and brought
Runyan is
ill very sore and will be unable to
The big Hudson car had a great deal of trouble making
it here, and he is going to leave it below hereafter.
improved now.
The trail is very much
About the entire trail in the Den is laid in dirt sacks now.
In some places they are held by iron stakes set in the rock to hold them on
the steep hill.
Room.
roof.
Today they worked near the junction at the head of the Big
They hope .to improve the path where the rocks have fallen from the
March 30,
We went into the cave today and took more pictures.
and took the totem pole and nearby st.lagmites first.
1924
We went into the Big Room
Then we made several
66
II
z·
more shots including the Temple of the Sun and one of the domes.
went with us and served as the "life action" in the pictures.
went out to watch for the bats, but none came out.
Elizabeth
Tonight we
This is strange, for it
was a fine night for them.
April 2
When we woke up on March 31, we found the explanation for the failure of the
bats to appear.
frozen over.
It had turned cold during the night, and our wash water was
The bats know much more about the weather than men do.
That
Mr. Bailey set
day we took more movies of the Wigwam and of the "Big Room".
a trap for a coyote up on the ridge south of camp.
Betty and I drove into
town that night.
Next day, found that the cave that they had hoped would go
south really came east so that it is almost back to the main cave.
stayed on top and worked on the radio set, went out with Mr.
the Dodge car down
he road and back a couple of times to get used to it and
gathered some cactus.
cactus garden.
Today I
Bailey, drove
I got a fine big "melon" cactus and planted it in my
Mr. Bailey took pictures of the cactus wren on its nest.
Not a good pose but hopes it will show something.
The surveying party went
on into the passage, and found that it narrowed into a small hallway, rather
wet, adorned with many queer formations unknown in other parts of the cave.
They found rock macaroni strung from the roof, and queer white pebbles in
the water.
They had to wade once, and at one place water of considerable
depth can be seen through a crack.
They figured out their position on re­
turning, and find themselves to be 1000 feet south and a little west of the
Yet they climb all the way into the Big Room and out the
guano shaft.
regular way to get out.
Two and a half hours to get 1000 feet away!! It is
hoped that they will find a short cut.
of the big cave.
They are evidently on a lower level
They found fresh bat guano, so they must be near an outside
entrance, though perhaps it is this one at camp.
The trail gang went back
They have greatly improved the trail, in leaving only one mean
yesterday.
place, the hole under the fallen boulder.
There were 30 in camp a few days
ago, our highest number yet.
We are now only 10, as Dad has gone to town for
a day or so.
April 3
Last night the boys in the bunk house were startled by a loud thumping and
rattling of rolling stones.
They rushed out of the house and thought that
Mr. Bailey had fallen off the ladder while entering the cave.
They came
over here and found him safe so they began to look around to see the cause of
Finally they found that one of the burros had gotten his hind
the commotion.
legs tangled in an old bed near camp and in his struggles had started the stones
down the canyon and against the engine ho se.
Dad returned today and brought
He and Mr. Bailey got
out the skunk and photo­
some coal to use for cooking.
Dad got a roll of movies of the skunk and then the skunk took a
graphed him.
shot at the two shooters, but no direct hit was made.
surveyor today,
I went in with the
and helped run the line back into the small cave leading back
under the ridge south of camp.
It is very narrow but there are some unusual
formations and all of them rook so clean and unsoiled.
67
No wonder as they have
been seen but three or four times by man.
only about 75 appeared.
other parts.
I watched for bats tonight, but
Bailey fears that they have left this cave for
Mr.
April 8,
Sunday and Monday we spent in the Wigwam taking pictures.
posed in the pictures and Dad took them.
Elizabeth and I
He used hypersensitized film for
He also tried out the Panoram camera.
some and ordinary film for others.
With laterns for light, he used 14 and 28 minutes exposure, and with mag­
nesium flares one minute only.
parchment.
It was very trans
9
We found some lime formation as thin as
cent, and looked about like thin waxed paper
when a light was put behind it.
a spring.
It had been formed as a skim on the top of
Runyan has been surveying the land over the cave today.
extend Teeter's map of this region.
He will
I have been working on my radio set
today, as Dad and Mr. Bailey went to town I expect to get it going tonight.
April 9,
Radio set not working yet.
It would be unusual if it did.
over to the spring last night and shot one bat.
Mr.
Bailey went
Both the gun he was using
and the one Elizabeth jamme d, had jammed after a few shots so they had to use
regular game shells.
more.
He is going over in Garden Canyon soon and get some
I went out with Runyan today and held the stadia rod.
cold and very windy,
It was rather
a good day to work below rather than above the ground.
The men went to Walnut Canyon today and got 200 walnut ladder rungs.
Jim is
going to make a 200 foot wire ladder to get to the bottom of the "jump offlt
at the end of the Big Room
•
•
April 13,
Friday, Dad and I went over to Walnut Canyon in the A.M. and took pictures of
the canyon and of cactus and yucca.
In the afternoon I walked down to the flats
I gathered
and back after flowers and plants.
very .beautiful.
shot two bats and I shot one.
our cave.
25 kinds of flowers, all of them
That evening I went over to the spring with Mr.
Saturday,
He
Neither of the 2 kinds we got were the kind in
Dad and 1 took pictures in the Nursery and in the Wigwam.
That afternoon I drove the Dodge to town with the men and Mr.
we went out to the McKittrick Cave,
showed us where to go,
and then Mr.
Bailey.
18 miles west of Carlsbad.
We got 4 live bats, two new species.
Today
Jim White
Bailey, Elizabeth and myself went in.
Three of them were still in hibernation,
hanging from the roof by their hind legs.
stupid.
Bailey.
They were cold and stiff, and very
We picked them off the roof like one would pick apples from a tree.
Their long ears were curled in and they seemed only half alive.
One of the
thr e was only asleep for the day, so he was quite lively after we got him.
He bit Elizabeth t s hand and made her squeal.
The cave is a very low one,
and rambles along with only a little water formation of any account.
cramp from stooping over, and bumped my head on the roof twice.
into another cave near the first,
interesting as the first
•
•
I got a
We also went
but it contained no bats and was not as
•
68
April 14,
We took pictures in the ''Wigwam'',
the "Nursery" and the "Coyote Kennel" today.
Dad took two pictures with the Panoram camera and tried to make a movie at the
same time,
.
but the camera stopped half way through.
Later in the day he tried
three times to make a movie of the trail and wasted three flares, each time
the Sept camera jammed and stopped.
Runyan was mapping the Nursery today.
The Wigwam group is just a series of rooms connected by narrow passageways.
They certainly would be a hopeless maze to anyone without a light.
we went with Mr. Bailey up to the natural entrance.
bats, and Runyan and I used nets.
they found Elizabeth's.
Tonight
He and Elizabeth shot
Elizabeth and Mr. Bailey each hit one and
I got one alive, and hit three others with the net.
Sunday, April 20,
Dad and Mr.
Bailey went to town Tuesday night.
1924
Mr. Bailey was going to try to
go to Cottonwood C ve with Carl Livingston, but they did not go.
He came back
to camp Wednesday night alone, and said that I was to go in Thursday morning,
bring out Dad and Mr. Mather, the head of the National Park Service.
in and brought them back that night.
to Mr. Mather.
I went
On Friday we went in the cave to show it
We visited the principal parts and came out about 1 o'clock.
Two men from the Reclamation Service,
the president of the Carlsbad Chamber of
Commerce, and Carl Livingston had come out and had dinner with us.
In the
P.M. they discussed plans for drilling the tunnel and inspected the proposed
site for the tunnel.
movies.
Next day,
in evening.
We returned to Carlsbad that night (Fri.).
Runyan and Elizabeth went horseback riding.
Today we went to church, it being Easter Sunday.
camp in the P.M.
Went to the
Went to movies
Drove out to
Tonight we netted about 20 bats at the natural entrance.
Mr. Bailey will band them with wire and turn them loose.
Tuesday, April 22,
On Monday we went in and took pictures of the Wigwam Group, and of the trail
out.
That
We used flash powder as the magnesium for the blow lamp is gone.
afternoon Mr.
Babcock of the Texas Experimental Station at Sonora, Texas
came to camp bringing his wife and two children and also a friend of his and
his wife.
They got stuck on the hill so I went down and hauled up the load
of both Fords.
They had expected to camp here and see the Cavern, but Dad
would allow neither.
They went back this morning, except Mr. Babcock,
will study the insect life of the cave for about a week.
today with Mr.
Bailey and got several insects.
Washington's ranch, south of here.
stream that flows by the house.
who
He went in the cave
Dad and I went over to
He has a beautiful place.
There is a
Its source is two big springs and the pools
There are several little falls
are very deep.
Water is deep blue and clear.
along the way.
They call it Black River, but it is neither black nor a
riv'er....
Saturday, April 26 Wednesday morning we went in and took a few pictures in the-Big Room.
used his Panoram camera and 1 minute flares.
Dad had the pictures developed.
In the P.M.
Dad we went to town. One of the Totem poles is especially fine. 69
Thursday I spent at home mostly doing nothing.
Friday morning we drove back
In the P.M. we took a short walk down the
to camp bringing Mother with us.
Elizabeth painted some cactus blossoms in water color.
canyon east of camp.
That night we built a mescal
They were a sort of purple and very beautiful.
pit and had a roast.
best.
We did not know how to do it very well. but did our
We sued old sotol bushes for fuel, they make a fine fire.
After the
fire had burned for two hours we scraped it out of the pit, put the mescal in
and covered it with hot stones.
Tonight we went to see if it was any good and
found that all but one piece was burned to charcoal.
However, that one piece
was very good.
It smelled, looked and tasted somewhat like candied sweet
potato.
It was very sweet.
ing with Runyan.
We will try it again soon.
Today I went survey­
We poked into several passages, and mapped quite a stretch
of the Big Room.
Jim and Stone went down the wire and wood ladder that they
have made at the Jump Off.
They found a very beautiful part of the cave.
They think it is even better than the Wigwam in many respects.
bushels of little round stones, like marbles.
to the size of small shot.
eggs in a nest.
There are
They are from an inch in diameter
They are formed in little drip cups, and resemble
Tonight we caught lots of bats in nets.
them in the net at once.
I often had three of
Monday, April 28,
Sunday morning we took two small reels of movies of the cave bats.
a piece of cheese cloth and let them crawl up it to the top.
We put up
Most of them
Then Mr.
flew away before crawling, but enough performed to make a picture.
Bailey and "our gang" went up on the hill and built a mescal pit
•• •
Monday
I went up to the mouth of the cave with Mother and picked up arrow heads and
chips.
arrows.
I got two good ones, and she got one good one and several parts of
Dad, Elizabeth and Mother went to Washington's to take pictures, and
then on to town.
They left me to guard camp, I guess.
Jim and I went down
to the flats in the P.M.
cave.
He was looking for possible holes opening into the
I went along to see if I could get a rabbit.
After Jim went back I
managed to shoot a cottontail and a jack rabbit after several misses.
also killed a coach whip snake with stones.
to overtake it.
climb.
I then carried the rabbits and snake up to camp.
It seems worse than coming out of the cave,
for sure.
I had 7 3/4 pounds of rabbit on my back.
.cottontail 1 lb.
Some
although I can't tell
Jack was 6 3/4 lbs. and
In the evening we went to Oak Spring to shoot bats but
they were very scarce.
one small bat.
I
He was quite fast, I had to run
I only shot twice and hit nothing.
Mr. Bailey got
The rest of the evening I have spent reading newspapers over
a week old, and magazines older yet.
But we don't care.
We don't bother
what the rest of the world is doing, being too busy with our own affairs.
Wednesday, April 30,
Tuesday morning, Jim, Mr. Bailey and I loaded up the truck and started for
Slaughter Canyon.
On the way we stopped at Gypsum Cave.
As we approached,
an owl came out and Jim shot it on the wing with is 30-30 rifle.
When we
got to the mouth of the canyon, we ate dinner, then climbed up to a cave.
It was a large cave but only went in a few hundred yards.
70
It seemed to have
been filled up with slide rock.
Bill Taylor.
We camped that night at the goat camp of
We made our
They call him Filthy Bill and his shack looks it.
Jim
beds in the gravel under a tree. digging holes for our hips to rest in.
shot two bats at the water tank in the evening, a new species.
the air with a shot, but did no harm.
on our way at 5.
I sprayed
Today we got up at 4 o'clock and were
We visited another cave in the A.M.
Mr.
Bailey was very
much interested in this cave as it was the home of owls, white-throated
swifts,mountain sheep and deer.
with amazing speed.
The swifts darted in and out the entrance
You could hear them whiz by as they flew over your head
Dad, Elizabeth, Jim and
•
•
•
Thursday, May 1,
I went into the Big Room today and took 23 pictures.
We are going down it Monday.
I went to see the ladder at the Jump Off.
Went into Big Room with Runyan to survey today.
Friday, May 2,
Went down a sink hole to
within 2 feet of the level of the bottom of the Jump Off, but found no
passageway connecting it with the Jump Off ••• We let a lantern off the Jump
Off today and measured the rope, 80.4 feet.
by radio tonight when Mr.
Was listening to Los Angeles
He brought some bats with
Bailey arrived by truck.
He is going back tomorrow with the movie
hi m from a cave in Bob Dow's ranch.
I saw tonight in a paper
camera and the blow flare to get pictures of them.
from a very small town in Pa.
a few exaggerations.
an account of the Cave.
It was pretty good. only
I also saw in the Washington Star, under answers to
questions, a short synopsis of the big features of the Cave.
getting well advertized.
"hard-boiled" g
�logist.
It seems to be
The article in the Pa.paper spoke of Dad as a
I think that is a good joke.
Sunday, May 4,
Saturday.I went into the Big Room with Runyan for two hours.
work and then brought out the map and the blow flare for Dad.
out in 40 minutes from the Twin Domes.
the Ford,
the P.M.
Mr.
We did a little
We climbed
Bailey and I then came to town in
bringing a lantern and candles for exploring the little cave.
we drove out to the little cave,
rungs and tried to take movies of bats.
In
fixed the ladder by wiring on some
There were several hundred in a
cluster, but with only the blow lamp I fear the movies are under-exposed.
tried one flashlight picture too, but not much chance of success.
a rattlesnake den, but saw no snakes present.
and in the P.M.
came to camp, bringing Mr.
We
We went to
This morning we went to church,
Foster to help explore the lower
level.
Monday, May 5,
Started into the cave about 6:30 A.M.
Runyan, Jim and myself.
Party consisted of Dad, Mr.
We went right to the Drop Off.
Foster,
Dad and Mr.
Foster
climbed down the wire ladder, and then we let the camera and surveying
equipment down on a rope.
Then Runyan,
Jim and I c8lItedown.
The ladder is
made of 8 strands of wire on each side, and wood rungs wired between.
hangs over an edge and then hangs free for 70 feet.
71
It
It has a tendency to
It has done twist and one must be careful not to have it turn over on him.
We then turn.
it
let
that several times, but the people just hang on 'and
'
of the feature
The most dbti nctive
went exploring to see the big sights.
in are
Lower Level is hundreds of little round marbles on the floor. They
little groups where the water drips from the roof, '.and, in some cases much There are also several rooms'where the formation
resemble eggs in a nest.
The corridors run back a long is very fresh and of a pretty orange color.
ways but they are parallel to the Big Room, so it' is 'd(mbtful whether any
In the evening we watched the bats come out. will lead us near the surface.
They flew for I hour and 10 minutes and then we left wj:l.i1e they were still coming, although probably not as thick, Mr. Bailey E!stimated that they were coming out a thousand in five minutes, but I doubt if he could see them all as it was getting dark.
Friday, May 9,
. Wednesday I went with Runyan to the Lower Level to help survey.
Dad and Jim
Thursday I helped survey while Dad
went to take pictures of the birds eggs.
and Jim took pictures in the Big Room.
We rambled around in all kinds of
holes in the Lower Level.
I felt like a mouse in a big piece of Swiss cheese.
Holes everywhere!! One led to another and we were kept busy running into them
and measuring them.
And they were all just holes.
erosion holes in the gypsum and lime.
Today, Jim, Runyan and I went to survey.
Hardly any formation,
We started to run a hole and
found that it led way back so Jim laid string aiortg for us to follow.
just
He used
up two balls of twine and then came back.
We followed it and found that it
connected up with another part of the cave that ,we had mapped the day before.
There is one hole that we did not explore and so we , il1 have to go back there
later.
We hoped to finish there today, but if we keep finding new holes we
won't be through for a long time.
Mr. Bailey has been feeling poorly for three
days and this morning he went to town and took his baggage.
into the mountains, or he may go home tomorrow.
He may make a trip
I hate to see him leave, as
he always was doing something different and kept us amused.
Sat rday, May 10,
Runyan and I went to town Friday P.M.
We all went to ,the movies that evening
They were pretty good, but the titles were
to see the pictures of the cave.
terrible.
Credit was given the Geological Survey instead of the National
Geographic Society, and Elizabeth was called Dr. White's daughter.
Yetso·s Spring was called "a flowing stream, two miles underground"
Also
•
•
•
Tuesday, May 13
He took a lemon and
Monday, Runyan and I went into the Big Room to survey.
made lemonade for lunch.
The Whites came out about noon.
Today, Jim Runyan
I had crawled under a low place
and I went to the Lower Level to survey.
several days ago and found a place where no ceiling could be seen.
Today we
went back there and crawled up the hole.
of Doh's Kiva.
I came out in the Big Room in front
We found the flashlight batteries at the bottom of the hole
tnat I had thrown in from above, thinking that I would never see them again.
72
As it would be too risky to attempt to climb back, I went
on to the Jump Off
and climbed down the ladder again.
Jim was quite surprised to learn that the
Lower Level was under the Big Room.
It is deceptive, as the Room turns in
several places and you do not notice it. We finished mapping the Lower
Level,
running out several holes and finishing the main cave.
Mr. Gayer, the color
photographer, came out today with Dad but went back to send for a tripod that
he found would be needed.
I have put pieces of auto casing on.my shoes, both
I have now non-skid underpinning.
The rocks. eat up a pair
of shoes in short order. Not only the soles, but the sides of shoes, wear thin.
soles and heels.
Mr.
Wednesday, May 14
Gayer came out to camp this morning, but light was too poor to take auto­
chromes.
A party of movie men from the Fox company also came out to make
plans to stage a play in the cave.
They decided that it would be too expen­
sive at present, b1;lt wanted to take some movies of the cave anyway.
Dad took them in on an inspection trip to locate places to photograph.
not go in but practiced with our new.22 rifle.
I did
I shot a targets for a while
and then went out and got two rabbits, skinned and cleaned them, and took them
home.
We returned to Carlsbad in the afternoon.
Mr. Livingston got another
cowboy to take his place on the ranch so that he could be with us tomorrow.
Thursday, May
15,
We started early and went to camp.
We packed up the flares and movie apparatus
Livingston, Mr. Otto, the director,
Joe August,
n bundles and went in the cave.
We had 13 in the party:
Dad, Eliz., Mr.
the cameraman, Eli Dunn and
another man in their party, Ray Davis, Mr. Wills, Jim, Runyan and myself.
Pictures were taken of Yetso's pillarj
the Den, the room just before the Big
Room; Twin Domes, Temple of Sun, L ily Pads, Drop Off and Wire Ladder.
scene of the·Twin Domes,
was $60 worth of light.
the day.
15 flares were used.
Since they cost
They used about $200 worth of light and
film during
Joe August is a very good photographer, having been in the business
since the beginning.
my camera.
He filmed Bill Hart for 8 years.
I had to guess at the exposure.
I took 6 pictures with
F riday, May 16
The Fox people and our bunch started for McKittrick Cave this noon.
car Mr. Otto had gotten began to act badly soon after starting.
slow that we decided to send our car on ahead so that Mr.
pictures while the sun was good.
guided our car.
yards.
In the
$4 each, there
The hired
They went so
Gayer could take
I got in the other car and Mr. Livingston
We made slow progress for a while, stopping every few hundred
Finally they got the carburetor . fixed, and the engine worked O.K., but
soon we had a blow-out.
We put on the spare tire,
which w e suspected would not last long.
the spare was flat.
which was almost gone and
We had only gone about a mile when
There.was no pump in the car and so we were stuck for good.
Mr. Wells, Eliz., Joe and myself walked on ahead in hope of reaching- a ranch,
but we saw after going about 3 miles that the ranch was too far away.
me a lot about the movie folks and how the pictures were taken.
73
III
Joe told
He worked for
Bill Hart for 8 years, and.knew him well.
He married a girl who was only
after his money, and has never been happy since.
Hart's contract at one time
called for $7,000 a week and 60% of the profits on the films made.
The Fox
company owns theaters all over the world, and if he so pleased Fox could show
his films only in his own theaters and make good money.
Jo told me that they
used music a great deal to produce the required emotions in the actors.
He says
that they can make anybody cry by merely playing the proper kind of music.
A
violinist plays until he sees signs of emotion in the subject, and then
follows up his advantage.
Probably no two people would be moved by the same
music, each one crying at some particular strain or tune.
picture, they make two negatives of 75,000 feet each,
to about 6,800 feet.
and then cut these down
The cost of each picture is about $150,000 dollars.
Dodge came back about 5 o'clock,
came home.
When making a big
The
and we put our spare tire on the other car and
In the evening we went to see the movies of the cowboys taken on
the Livingston Ranch last month.
It was only a small part of the film, but
several of the boys were recognized.
Saturday,
Today we took our lunch and went to McKittrick Caves.
too in another car.
May 17
The movie people went
We went through the caves and saw what little there was
to see in about an hour.
The movie director did not seem much impressed and
I'm sure they seemed insignificant after our Cavern.
autochromes on the way back,
We had planned to take
but the light was not good and the wind blowing.
Tonight the fire siren blew and I went down a block towards town and found
that someone's garage got to blazing.
It was all out when I got there.
Tuesday,
May 20,
Sunday I went out to Sitting Bull Falls with Carl Livingston and the Fox movie
people.
It is 40 miles out at the foot of the mountains.
of the Falls and of a small natural bridge near there.
out with Mr.
They took some movies
Monday, Dad and I went
Gayer to take autochromes but did not get any pictures.
into Rocky Arroyo and found very large and perfect prickly pears.
Elizabeth and I went with Mr.
and 3 of cactus.
Gayer and took 5 color pictures,
We went up
Today,
2 of ocotillo
I went sWinuning yesterday for the first time.
They took
movies of the beach, but I stayed out when they were taking them.
Elizabeth
and I went in the water this afternoon and had a good time.
F riday, May 23,
Wednesday morning we drove to camp.
It was too cloudy to take autochromes, so
Mr.
In the P.M.,
Gayer drove back with the Ford.
Dad, Elizabeth and I went
into the Music Room of the Cave and took a dozen pictures.
a crack in the wall of Yeitso's Den.
The Music Room is
You can look off into the Den from it.
Thursday we took pictures in the corridor to the left of the Twin Domes and
in the Running Spring Room.
hole in a broken stelactite.
have it full.
The spring is a stream of water growing out the
You just set a cup under the stream and soon you
The formations all around it are fresh and dripping.
It is a
very beautiful and clean place.
Runyan has been using the range finder to get ceiling heights.
part so far is 160 feet.
across.
The highest
The Twin Domes are about 60 feet high by 100 feet
The big Totem Pole is 38 feet high
•
•
•
74
t 7.0
Monday, May 26 Saturday we took pictures in the corridor running East from the Big Room past camp.
We call it Runyan's Runway, as it was the first place he worked in. We also took pictures in the Room beyond the boulder pile back of the Wigwam. Sunday Dad was much impressed with the new place, and got some fine views.
we went to town
.
•
•
Today, Runyan and I got up at 5 o'clock and came to camp. Got into the Hole by 8 and worked surveying until 4.
We have now finished up to the top of Yeitso's Den. Wednesday, May 28,
Tuesday, Runyan and I surveyed both sides of Yeitso's Den and took ceiling
elevations with the range finder, from the junction out to Yeitso's Pillar.
The roof was about 165 ft.
high along the slope from the junction to the Den,
and at one place in the Den the ceiling is about 260 feet.
the Den to the roo
of the cave is 300 ft.
From trn
bottom of
That night we saw big clouds of
bats going over the hill just after sunset, and so we walked up to see them.
They were coming out of the cave in a stream, milling around in the entrance
for a while in a funnel shaped cloud,
much more than 25 feet wide.
and then streaming out in a stream not
They would go south until just about over the
ridge, then turn right angles to the west,
then mill around until a large bunch
had gathered and then head off southeast and south.
Later they did not follow
this procedure but headed in all directions, each for itself.
I got up at 3:30 to watch them return.
This morning
I listened to them ripping through the
air until it got light and then could see them.
They were late in getting
Whey they drop into the cave, the air
in on account of a strong west wind.
ripping past the wings sounds like blowing on the edges of the leaves of a
book.
Today we surveyed the Music Room,
ran a traverse line to the shaft.
the main cave to the Big Entrance, and
We measured the shaft,
getting 173 feet.
Sunday, June 1
Last Thursday,
Runyan and I surveyed the cave from the shaft to the natural
The rest of the
opening and road ceiling elevations with the range f inder.
family came out in the afternoon.
Friday, we took Mother through the cave.
Although we boosted her in a few places and had
o stop and let her rest
frequently, she came through fine, and Elizabeth and I went off the Drop
Off and saw the Lower Level.
She thereby advanced from a mere member of the
Mantle Busters Lodge of the Royal Order. of Troglodytes (R.O.T.) to the Lower
Level Lodge.
She is the first white (or any other color) woman to penetrate
the depths of the Lower Level.
During the time we were in with Mother,
Runyan and Jim finished mapping the cave,
and after a half hours work at the
Runyan gave a whoop of joy and pranced back to camp, happy to
Big Entrance,
be through with the unpleasant job of t ying to map a thing which he could
only half see.
tourists.
That evening we came to town and Jim took in the first
Saturday,
Runyan and I took a vacation in celebration of the com­
pletion of our underground mapping.
in the P.M.
We loafed all morning and played tennis
Gayer took a few pictures of a yucca plant in bloom.
A heavy
rain Thursday night has brought the flowers and cactus blossoms out in full.
Gayer and Carl went out to the foot of the hill today and took about 20
pictures.
Several parties went to the Cavern,
75
/L(
and some were unable to get up
the hill.
evening.
We loafed all day, but went out to the Carlsbad Spring in the
It is a large spring, but not a thing of beauty.
Tuesday, June 10,
Last Tuesday,
Dad and I went to Big Canyon near the Texas State Line.
We
went up into the canyon quite a ways, until our way was blocked by a large
pool of water.
The canyon is very narrow and steep, and has a small stream
in the upper part.
The next day we went to Slaughter Canyon a nd took several
pictures and visited one of the caves there.
We came back to town Thursday.
The rest of the week I spent going out with Elizabeth to paint cactus blossoms
and helping Runyan blueprint his maps
•
.
breakfast and again in the afternoon.
to Avalon Lake.
Monday, Elizabeth,
Sunday I went in swimming before
In the evening we took our supper out
Dad and I went to Rattlesnake Canyon.
On the way back we got stuck in irrigation ditches and spent an hour or more
getting out.
Gayer and Carl have been going all over the country after
color pictures.
Gayer is now enthusiatic about the possibility of getting
color pictures in the mountains, and is planning to make a trip up to the
range.
Today,
Friday,
June 13,
Friday the 13th, we started surveying to locate the tunnel entrance.
The bill passed Congress,
and work starts as soon as possible.
An extra rodman
has been engaged and this afternoon we started running levels from the Big
Entrance to the Flats.
My job was holding an umbrella over the Y Level to
eep the sun from expanding the metal.
Arroyo to study geology.
Last Wed. Dad and I went to Rocky
He is studying the limestone stratae in reference to
the location of the big caves, and is puzzled as to how it lies in some places.
Thurs. we had planned to go to Queen and take color pictures, but this tunnel
business stopped that.
However, Gayer and Carl went anyway.
I drove the Ford truck to the cavern and back with supplies.
in time to join the family in swimming.
the time werre out here.
Thursday,
degrees in the sun and 110 in the shade..
enough to keep us wet.
were sent for our lunch.
of the Den.
I got back just
I sure will miss that water from
Have been surveying for the tunnel entrance all week.
ran levels down the hill to the flats.
Yesterday P.M.
June 19
Saturday and Sunday we
It was frightfully hot,
about 120
We had some water with us but not
None of us could eat the fried ham sandwiches that
Monday we ran levels from the outside in to the top
We went down the Entrance to the Drop Off at the Lip, and then
leveled across to a place near the ceiling inside.
from the entrance of the Big Room to th
Tuesday we ran levels
place where the tunnel will come in.
Runyan is going to get elevations between the Den and the Big Room by
angles.
vertic'
Yesterday we started the transit line from the section
corner on the hill and got as far as Station 8 under the Big Entrance.
Today,
we are in town getting shoes fixed and getting soaked up by going
swimming.
We have been having very hot weather.
People here say it is the
hottest and dryest spring that they have ever had here.
76
Dad got two movie reels
the other day, one from Fox Co.
and one from International News.
They were
International pictures
Dad's Sept camera films that were taken out doors were good,
shown in the local theater after the regular show.
were the best.
though of course quite short.
Friday, June 27
Busy all week with surveying for the tunnel.
the cave to the south end of the Big Room.
entire length of the cave,
We ran the transit line inside
Runyan also decided to level the
so we ran the levels over a ll the rough country.
He finished today and found that the elevations given on Holly's notes and
map are very nearly correct, just a few feet variation.
We met some diffi­
culties in leveling over the Den and below the Fat Man's Misery.
At one
place the level was taken off the tripod and set on a box in the trail.
Runyan then had to lean over from the front and read the rod while upside
doWn.
At other plates the level was set up in precarious positions, and
Runyan had to be a contortionist to get his eye around to the eyepiece.
Gayer and Carl got back from the mountains a few days ago and tell us stories
of dangerous trails and huge cliffs and canyons.
They are in the cave now
taking pictures with an 8 by 10 camera and using blasting machine to set off
He used 4 bottles at a time, and lays out about 1000 feet
the flash powder.
Yesterday,
of wire for each shot.
Jim took a bunch of tourists in the cave,
and after they left, another bunch arrived, so Elizabeth took them in.
They
were students from some southern school and made the trip as part of their
The weather continues hot and dry.
course in geology.
now we have had only one rain,
For over three months
and that for about a half hour in the middle
of the night....
Monday, July 20, 1924
Last Tuesday, the whole family and Carl went up to Sitting Bull Falls.
We
took pictures of the fal1s and of Last Chance Canyon and went into the cave
under the falls.
big cavern.
N. Mexico.
The cave is very small but just as pretty as anything in the
Thursday night Mrs. Joyce held a reception for Gov. Hinkle of
Big Doins,
The
band on the lawn and every big bug in town there.
next day we went to the Cavern to take in the largest party ever to go through
the Cave.
The register showed 124 visitors not counting guides and the people
who prepared the lunch.
There must have been 140 or more in there altogether.
Jim did nothing all day but stay by the engine and haul people in and out.
Dad, Rliz., Carl and myself each took in a bunch and Jim had several men
who also took in large parties.
Included in the party were: Gov. Hinkle of
N. Mex. and family, Gov. Neff of Texas and daughter, Maj.
Ft.
Bliss and wife,
General Howe of
two colonels and a lieutenant of the general's staff,
the Texas State Park Board, the Texas State Highway Commission, the New
M eXico Highway Commission, men representing both the Santa Fe and Texas
Pacific railroads and many other prominent men from several states.
in a bunch of 13 visitors.
I took
One old lady held up the entire bunch because
she had to be helped the entire way in.
J.B. Morris and his helpers served
lunch in the Wigwam and Ray Davis took pictures of the various groups.
half of the people refuse to go any further and had to be led out.
went on to the Big Room and had another picture made.
77
123
About
The others
The old lady I had
trouble with coming in would go no further and so I dragged her out alone.
The rest came out about 6 o'clock and we started for Washington's Ranch.
With so many cars on the road, progress was slow and when we got to the
bottom of the hill we found everybody watching Colonel Cummins who had a
He got a box and put the larger one in, and
He had caught another one
Dad gave him a sock to put the smaller one in.
got to Washington's at
We
pets.
as
before so he had 3 snakes with him
8:45, ate a good supper supplied by R.N. Thorne's committee and then listen­
rattlesnake in each hand.
ed to speeches from all the distinguished guests as well as Colonel Buj6C,
The next day we went to
Dad, Bob Dow and a very silent speech by Jim White.
McKittrick Canyon, then had lunch at Pine Springs.
and drove to Van Horn.
arrived.
Left Pine Springs at 3
It rained on the way in and got dark before we
Got in at 9, ate a good supper served in our honor, and drove to
the mass meeting at 11 P.M.
importance on the t ip,
Meeting consisted of speeches by everybody of
and broke up at 12:30.
dizzy head and could not ride home
123 miles.
80
Next morning,
Mother had a
we left her there and drove on home,
Mother and Elizabeth will come on the train today.
Saturday,
Tuesday spent in town.
Wednesday,
take pictures of the cave under the falls.
we were there.
July 26
Dad and I went to S itting Bull Falls to
It rained on the way up and while
We took 4 pictures in the cave and then returned.
been a very heavy rain on the gyp.
There had
flats and we had to plow through water
in the ruts all the way home.
Thursday,
to take pictures of the bats.
They took Davis's speed camera.
Dad and Elizabeth went to the cavern
go as I had a pain in my back, caused by some strain.
I could not
Friday Dad and Carl
started for Queen, leaving me with my lame back in town.
They are going to
investigate the caves in the region of Queen.
I hate to miss this trip as
I have been looking forward to it all summer.
Last night Runyan gave a corn
roast at the Avalon Dam.
We had a victrola and had music and dancing.
This morning I took a picture of
a bat skin that I have removed from a bat.
It measured 11 inches from wing to wing and 4 inches from head to tail
. Tuesday, Aug.
When Carl and Dad came back from the mountains,
from one of the cave
12
they brought some human bones
and also some basket work made from sotol blades.
had some curious netting made from cording of fine workmanship.
a few days,
•
They
After resting
we went to the mountains again, this time Elizabeth and I alone.
The first day after arriving we visited the Cottonwood Cave.
It is a very
large cave, and has formations bigger than those in Carlsbad Cavern.
Moreover,
the cave is only about 1/2 mile long and the formations are in the front part,
right in daylight.
Dave McCollum keeps his goats in the cave during cold
weather, as many as 4,000 goats having been sheltered there at one time.
That
night the mosquitoes were very bad and we were miserable until ·we built
smudges to drive them away_
The next day we visited one end of Hidden Cave.
I.t has two entrances, one a long narrow crack and the other a hole 400 yards away.
We went in the hole and found a beautiful cave,
Dad took lots of pictures there.
although rather small. The next day we went to Deep Cave.
78
It is :Li way' out on the last ridge of the mountains to the: east betweert
-Dotibl¥'Caryon
,
and Gunsight Canyon.' We had to travel over an Indian Trail" that fd6ked11ike
, ") Iai - foot tt'ail rather than a horse trail,
but our horses knew' their"busin�;ss
�::\;
an�:bwe got along fine.
The cave was once visitedhYa niann!roking"'fo'r:"
ano.
, H , was lowered
'HI:f
500' feet' on a' rope but never saw bottDm.
We>weht't'O'{tJ1:et cedge
,
.
,
;} 'O'f" both canyons.
At' Double'Canyon I was
able to throw a rock'and:"hi:t!th'e
,', d', ,bottom., Since the canyon is about 1600 feet deep, you can see th-e waflJl are
.r'jalinost perpendicular. We rolled rocks off the, brink and they :Would bouAd off
the ,ledges and fall through the air for severalsecbnds' at a"time. ' The'next
:;day we visited the west' part oJ; Hidden Cave, slipping down a' rope- alioo.'i:')20
'f.eet long to reach it.
It is larger than the other part and Just": as' 'ptei::ty.
There are several unique things about this cave, one being a walF' ao6tJ.t"a foot
high and only 1 inch thick.
It looks like the Wall of China in miniature,
the way it bends and twists. The last day in the high country we visited
,:;,{f:t ,the'Giarit.'s Cave, wbere the skeleton of a man about 8 feet'lligh was:ond{found.
,::dWeYentered and found'it to be a very black cave,iUl theformat1o'Os<'beirig dark.
We::7found the bones and skull of a man in a small crack and dtrried;'tberit'out.
fri:Tha:£,P.M. we went to Dark Canyon and camped. Welfoundinscript1'6n. bnlca<
san4stone bluff· as far back as 1891. Carl says he f6und: 6ne'ther!:!'Jlat d'; 1845.
His)\name'fs there in several'places dated'l906; He'w s;born'aridf't-ai$ed" a.
,
We returned'to Carlsbad the next day
,$ snort distance away.
FOT':several'1days
bS;:(i(Wwe, have been busJ sorting and titling the 300 pictures or: the ca e"and;:'sur­
!tr/ rounding countrythat were sent' back from Washington.>; Yest rdaY ':Mf'.::,S't'andley
','Ucameto' look over the plants of the region.
Today rdrove'hiIl:{:out:to tds
.'
" ,
,:,i :;,j
;:'Lovington and out to the Carlsbad Spring. '
\
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Ust." 24; ; , ;,
. Sunday,' Aug
We went to the Cavern with Eliz. and Dad. We 'went\1ri'; and't'06k':14'pic1Hlfi3s
and I collected some samples of spring formations, coralline formation and
:':thtm ent back in the Runway and c ollected some of the very delicate, needle­
'
They are
so delicatetl:iat·aJ.thdugh: I'·wr pp i!d:i them
:like' crystal formatiorts;
soft
rags
and
packed
them
in'a
box',;! fear" heYifiJl: e· r\iifted1i'!: Th'!+c1
in;'
.\ Runway is v ry difficult to negotiate
It riarrows';b,:! a (:ra R'-)artd"y U;wa, k
b'on, formations left at a certain level by w ater . ' At p18ces to\1·H:>ok'down'
between your legs andy6u see a crack; about 30 feet::be16w 1'8 another:L18yer
of: formation and you- see doWn' beyond it. Nobody has ever been':'6own ' ttiEd:'e.
I
Sj would like to explore it. Nextmornfrig: I niounted"arid':phbfo raphe'd a\:baf'J.'
i'l!)('rr 'With whigs spread; Mr. Standley arid I returned'" toUCarlsoad.'J iii'-' tfi :ni orniiig.
Di6> and Elizabeth, stayed to take'a few more pictures';'" WespacKed p and·- then
\,:started"to El Paso , inett ing Dad and Elizabeth: 6nthe'roaa'>�' ,:xi" , c: ;i'r:: :;oj);i:
,:
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- <;Monday ; "S Pt r;:l"
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Saturday; two' Army aviators, Lieuts Long and:.schnIH1jer r (?) damej irl;)aCplane
c
to see the cave. Sunday:lwe' took' them 'and Mi:P{nkley ":thEr;genera4Ii)iHiIH!t'l:n­
tendent of the National Momuments of the Southwest, through the cave. We went
Nellie Linn went with us, and Carl went
everywhere except the lower level.
with a party of about 15 friends, including Bob Dow. Jim must have rushed
them through, for he had about 100 people and they started down the bucket
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79
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about 10:30 and were all out at 4:00.
Davis was there with his flares. He
lit one at the Twin Domes and then ran with it to the Totem Poles. Today we
went out to see the aviators off and to see them take Elizabeth for a ride.
They had broken a shock absorber in landing, so had fixed it with a rope.
Elizabeth t60k a flight of about 20 minutes and then took Nellie Linn up for
a little longer. They were both thrilled to death, although Elizabeth was a
In landing with Nellie, artother shock absorber,
little sick for a short time.
so it was decided to stay another night.
In the P.M.
I went out and helped
fix the shock absorber, and put on the spare tire, for one of them had a
mosquito thorn in it. This evening we went swimming with the Lieuts., had a
picnic supper and went to see the cave and Carlsbad movies which Mr. Linn put
on for our benefit.
We went to a dance tonight at the Armory.
Wed., Sept.
Next day,
Sept.
10,
2, I went out in the morning and helped the aviators start the
motor, and swing the plane into
Wednesday, Sept. 3, we went out
e wind. They got off without any trouble.
the Bass Bat Cave in Dark Canyon 6 miles
below Thayer's Ranch.
Carl and
went in the Ford and Dad and Mr. Foster in
his Dodge.
On the way, one of the springs on the Dodge broke and we got a
yucca stalk and tied it under the spring to keep the car up off the axle.
It is only a small dirty hole,
We went on in the Ford and went in the cave.
and has only a few formations. It was once worked for guano, but soon abandoned.
We got back that P.M. and had a rough ride of it fo r I was i n th e Dodge
We
sold the Ford Thursday for $300.
That night we went to a dance at Westfal1s
Friday nite Dad and I went out to the Cavern to take
and had a fine t ime
photos of bats.
We got fairly good results, the best yet, anyway, for the
.
.
bats started out at 6:15 P.M.
preparatory to our trip home
•
We packed up all our stuff the next two days
.
•
Santa re, Sept. 15, 1924
Saturday we set out in the morning with Mr. Vogt and Mr. Weil, a lale_man.
,Monday, we drove to Albuquerque,
W. went to Mr. Vogt's ranch for lunch
looked around the Harvey House and the curio .tore, and then drove to Santa
Fe.
Here we looked around the town and in the museum in the afternoon, and
'
went to see Mr. Newett of the museum and Mr. Shu.ter, the artist who i.
painting Icenel 'from the Cavern.
He had, two done and will do more later.
Today, Dad and Elizabeth are going on a trip to the big volcano that i_ the
I am leaving for Washington this afternoon
main feature of the proposed par k
so as to get there in time to apply for a job at the Bureau of Standard••
I have gotten my
Thu. ends the most wonderful 6 month. of my life .0 far.
introduction to the Southweat an d I find it about the mOlt interesting place
I have ever been.
I gues. I have caught the Weltern Fever.
I hate to go
back to the crowded East and I certainly' will come back here at the fir.t
opportunity.
So long, New Mexico, but
Good Bye.
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GO
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Meeting of the Society
The first annual meeting of the Americtta Spelean History Association
nnual convention of the
will follow the history session of th
National Speleological Society.
This
J'ill be at Springfield, Mo.,
late on the afternoon of Friday, Augu t 23,
1968.
The general meet­
ing will be followed by a Board meeti g for election of officers and
any other business which may be brougf!t before the Board.
Book Notes
Chuck Pease was the successful bidder for the Winterbottom collection.
He now has numerous duplications for sale or trade.
Presently he is
moving around as an officer-candidate in the Air Force.
Letters
should be addressed to:
Charles R. Pease, Jr.
7 Cadwe 11 Road
Bloomfield, Conn.
The last word received from Red Watson indicated hope that the reprint
of Hovey's Celebrated American Caverns might appear by the end of the
year.
(Because of the urgency of completion of thiS issue in time for the
annual meeting, other items normally on this page will be postponed
until the Fall issue.)
-81,:"