1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 2: Not too long ago, I read a novel called Starling 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 2: House by Alex E. 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: Harrow. 8 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: This is a work of fiction, but it has footnotes 9 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 2: that reference local history research from that fictional setting, and 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 2: then there's also a bibliography that includes some entries that 11 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 2: are based on actual published research from the real world 12 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 2: that kind of tweaked to fit in with the setting 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 2: of the book. 14 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 1: One of those. 15 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 2: Semi fictional bibliography entries in this novel led to today's 16 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 2: episode in kind of a wandering way. The name had 17 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 2: been changed, but it was a reference to the story 18 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 2: of Floyd Collins, who got trapped in a cave during 19 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 2: the Kentucky Cave Wars, and this became a massive news 20 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 2: story and a huge local spectacle. So today's episode is 21 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 2: on the Kentucky Cave Wars, starting with some of the 22 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 2: history of Mammoth Cave. Since Mammoth Cave was central to 23 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 2: the Cave Wars, we'll also be talking about Floyd Collins 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 2: and the role that his story had in the eventual 25 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 2: end of the cave Wars. 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: Various caves are known as Mammoth Cave, but the one 27 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: we're talking about is in south central Kentucky, roughly between Nashville, Tennessee, 28 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: to the southwest and Louisville, Kentucky to the northeast. A 29 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: connection between the Mammoth Cave system and the flint Ridge 30 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: System was discovered in nineteen seventy two, and now all 31 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: of this is known as the Mammoth Cave flint Ridge System. 32 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: This is the longest known cave system in the world, 33 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: and we don't know just how big it is. About 34 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty five miles or five hundred eighty 35 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: seven kilometers of the system has been mapped across five 36 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: different levels. Today, Mammoth Cave is a National Park which 37 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: also includes about eighty three square miles or two hundred 38 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: and fifteen square kilometers of land on the surface. That 39 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: surface is home to forests and grasslands and rivers. Mammoth 40 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: Cave is also a World Heritage Site of Biosphere Reserve 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: and an International Dark Sky Park, and it was placed 42 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: on the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen ninety one. 43 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: The Mammoth Cave System is one of the natural wonders 44 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: of North America. Its formation dates back millions of years 45 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: as water hollowed out layers of limestone in the region. 46 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: There are all kinds of geological formations inside, including stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, 47 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: flowstone which looks like flowing water that's made of rock, 48 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: and cave popcorn, which looks like little knobs. The formations 49 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: really vary from one part of the cave to another, 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: depending on things like how wet or dry that part 51 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: of the system is. There are also underground rivers and lakes, 52 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: and all kinds of plant and animal species, many of 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: them adapted to living in darkness, like cave crickets, numerous 54 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: species of bats, and eyeless, unpigmented cavefish and crayfish. 55 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 2: There are multiple entrances into this cave system today, some 56 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 2: of them naturally occurring and some of them built by humans. 57 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 2: This includes an accessible entrance with an elevator which connects 58 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 2: to about half a mile of accessible trails. Because of 59 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 2: the risk of spreading white nose syndrome, which is a 60 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 2: fungal infection affecting bats, visitors who are able have to 61 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 2: walk over a decontamination mat when they're leaving the caves, 62 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 2: and people's mobility aids have to be decontaminated as well. 63 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: These caves have been known to the region's indigenous peoples 64 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: for thousands of years. People from the Eastern Woodlands cultures 65 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: explored at least three levels of the caves and used 66 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: shells to scrape and collect minerals from the walls. The 67 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: caves were also used as a burial site, and human 68 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: remains and funerary items have been found in Mammoth Cave 69 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: and other caves in the region. Descendants of the first 70 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: people to explore Mammoth Cave include the Cherokee, the Shawnee, 71 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: and Chickasaw, who were forcibly removed from this area in 72 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century. In more recent years, the National Park 73 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,799 Speaker 1: Service has worked with indigenous nations that have ancestral connections 74 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: to these caves to move bodies that used to be 75 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: on public display to parts of the cave that are 76 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: inaccessible to the public. There are also a lot of 77 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: cultural and religious objects still in the cave, and the 78 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: National Park Service asks visitors who find such objects to 79 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: leave them alone, but to document their location with a 80 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: photo that shows nearby landmarks, and also to tell a 81 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: park ranger, but not to post that photo on social media. 82 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 2: The first Europeans to see Mammoth Cave arrived in the 83 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: area at the end of the eighteenth century, although there 84 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 2: are varying accounts about exactly who that was and exactly when. 85 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 2: The caves are referenced in a land certificate for two 86 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 2: hundred acres that was issued to Valentine Simmons on September fourth, 87 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 2: seventeen ninety eight. Based on this certificate, by then, settlers 88 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 2: knew that this cave system was a source of saltpeter 89 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 2: that's mentioned in that document. 90 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: In the early nineteenth. 91 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 2: Century, Mammoth Cave became a major source of saltpeter, which 92 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 2: was mined primarily by enslaved men and was used to 93 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 2: make gunpowder. This saltpeter mining operation peaked during the War 94 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 2: of eighteen twelve, and the land encompassing the cave entrance 95 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 2: really dropped in value pretty dramatically once the war was 96 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 2: over and the demand for saltpeter fell off. The term 97 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave first appeared in writing in a Virginia newspaper 98 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 2: in eighteen ten, and that was also about the time 99 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 2: that visitors to the Cave started publishing accounts of what 100 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 2: they experienced there. This was during the Romantic period, in 101 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 2: which literature, culture, and art had a big focus on 102 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 2: things like natural beauty, sublimity, and emotion. An enormous cave 103 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 2: system full of wonders, much of its seemingly undiscovered, fit 104 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 2: right in with that mindset. The first formal tour of 105 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave probably took place in eighteen sixteen, and over 106 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 2: the decades that followed, this land passed through a series 107 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 2: of owners who either ran the cave as a tourist 108 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 2: attraction or leased it out to other people to do 109 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 2: the same. One of these owners was Franklin Goren, who 110 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 2: bought the property for five thousand dollars in eighteen thirty eight. 111 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 2: Goren enslaved a seventeen year old boy named Stephen Bishop, 112 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 2: who worked for Goren exploring and leading tours of the cave. 113 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:03,239 Speaker 2: Gorean also in Bishop's mother and brother, and he leased 114 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 2: other men from there enslavers to work as cave guides 115 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 2: as well. About a year later, Goren sold the cave 116 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 2: and Bishop to doctor John Kron for ten thousand dollars. 117 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 2: Kron started building up Mammoth Cave as an attraction, things 118 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 2: like expanding a hotel that had already been built there, 119 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 2: connecting it to roads in the area, and laying a 120 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 2: pipe to a nearby spring to provide fresh water. He 121 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 2: purchased additional land, eventually totaling more than sixteen hundred acres 122 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 2: over time. He also hosted writers, artists, and performers at 123 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 2: the cave, including people like poet and essays Ralph Waldo 124 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 2: Emerson and opera singer Jenny Lynde. There were rumors that 125 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 2: saltpeter miners in the cave back when that was a thing, 126 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 2: had never experienced illness while working there, and from eighteen 127 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 2: forty two to eighteen forty three Kron tried to see 128 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 2: if the air in the cave could cure tuberculosis. He 129 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 2: had huts built inside the cave to house patients, and 130 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 2: thirteen people were meant to stay there for a year. 131 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 2: But while sea air, mountain air, and other varieties of 132 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 2: air were all attempted as tuberculosis treatments in the nineteenth century, 133 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 2: tuberculosis is really a bacterial infection, and this effort ended 134 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 2: early after three of the patients died. 135 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: During this time, Stephen Bishop continued to work as a 136 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: cave guide. He explored deeper and deeper into Mammoth Cave, 137 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: developing an extensive knowledge of the system. His efforts sound grueling, terrifying, dangerous, 138 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: or all three like. He lay a ladder across a 139 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: very deep cavern called the Bottomless Pit, which was so 140 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: deep that torches would disappear before they hit the bottom, 141 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: so he could crawl over to the other side and 142 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: explore what was beyond it. At one point he made 143 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: his way through an underground riverbed filled with silt, going 144 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: through tighter and tighter spaces until it finally opened out 145 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: into what he named Great Relief Hall. He found underground 146 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: rivers and built boats to explore them, and at various 147 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: points rescued lost or injured visitors. People traveled from all 148 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: around not just to tour Mammoth Cave, but to tour 149 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: it specifically with Stephen Bishop as their guide. In eighteen 150 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: forty two, Bishop drew a map of the cave system 151 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: from memory, which was then published in the book Rambles 152 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: in the Mammoth Cave during the year eighteen forty four 153 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: by a visitor by Andrew Clark bullet. In the book, 154 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: the map was credited to Steven Bishop, one of the guides. 155 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: This book was the first travel guide for the cave, 156 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: and Bishop's map remained in use for at least four decades. 157 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 1: We're going to read a hilarious and only somewhat factual 158 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,839 Speaker 1: list of interesting facts from the beginning of the book 159 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: before we take a quick break. One accidents of no 160 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: kind have ever recurred in the Mammoth Cave. Two Visitors 161 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: going in or coming out of the cave are not 162 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: liable to contract colds. On the contrary, colds are commonly 163 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: relieved by a visit in the cave. Three No impure 164 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,359 Speaker 1: air exists in any part of the cave. Four reptiles 165 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: of no description have ever been seen in the cave. 166 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: On the contrary, they as well as quadrupeds, avoid it. 167 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: Five Combustion is perfect in all parts of the cave. 168 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: Six Decomposition and consequent putrefaction are unobservable in all parts 169 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: of the cave. Seven the water of the cave is 170 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: of the purest kind, and besides fresh water, there are 171 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: one or two sulfur springs. Eight. There are two hundred 172 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: and twenty six avenues in the cave, forty seven domes, 173 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: eight cataracts, and twenty three pits nine. The temperature of 174 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: the cave is fifty nine degrees fahrenheit and remains so 175 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: uniformly during summer ten. No sound, not even the loudest 176 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: peal of thunder, is heard one quarter of a mile 177 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: in the cave. 178 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 2: When I read those interesting facts in the book, they 179 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 2: made me laugh. Next, we'll get to a development that 180 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 2: changed Mammoth Cave significantly and ultimately led to the Cave Wars. 181 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 2: We'll do that after a quick sponsor break. Doctor John 182 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 2: Kron died in eighteen forty nine, perhaps unsurprisingly of tuberculosis. 183 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 2: He had no children, and Mammoth Cave was placed in trust, 184 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 2: with nine nieces and nephews forming the Trustees of the 185 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave Estate. The trustees continued to control Mammoth Cave 186 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 2: until it eventually became part of the National Park. Under 187 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 2: the terms of Kron's will, the people he enslaved would 188 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 2: be freed seven years after his death. There are several 189 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,599 Speaker 2: reports that Stephen Bishop was planning to move to Liberia 190 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 2: with his wife Catherine and their son Thomas once he 191 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 2: was freed. In eighteen fifty six, Bishop bought some land 192 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 2: and sold it at a prophet which may have been 193 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 2: meant to pay their way to Liberia, but then he 194 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 2: died in eighteen fifty seven at the age of thirty seven, 195 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 2: and we do not know what the cause of his 196 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 2: death was. He was buried at what's now known as 197 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 2: the Old Guide Cemetery, which is also the burial place 198 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 2: of the patients who died during the tuberculosis experiment. Stephen's son, Thomas, 199 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 2: is believed to have also died at a young age 200 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 2: because he vanishes from the historical record, but Charlotte later 201 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 2: married another Mammoth Cave guide named Nicholas Bransford. Bransford purchased 202 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 2: his own freedom in eighteen sixty three. Members of the 203 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 2: Bransford family, whose surname is that of their enslaver and 204 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 2: in some cases also their ancestor, worked as guides at 205 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave for generations while enslaved and as freeman in 206 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 2: so much of the work of exploring and mapping of 207 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was 208 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 2: carried out by enslaved and free black men. Two years 209 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 2: after Bishop's death, the completion of the Louisville and Nashville 210 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 2: Railroad made it much easier for people from outside the 211 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 2: area to get to Mammoth Cave before people nearby could 212 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,559 Speaker 2: walk or maybe ride a horse, but if they lived 213 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,559 Speaker 2: farther away, the primary mode of transportation was by carriage 214 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 2: or stagecoach, and that was both difficult and expensive. The 215 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,679 Speaker 2: railroad was faster, cheaper, and a lot more comfortable. Eventually, 216 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 2: the Mammoth Cave Railroad Company built a spur to take 217 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 2: people from the Louisville and Nashville Line or the LNN 218 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 2: directly to the hotel. There was a drop in tourism 219 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 2: at Mammoth Cave during the US Civil War, although we 220 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 2: know that both United States and Confederate soldiers visited the caves. 221 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 2: They signed their names on the walls using pencils in 222 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 2: rocks and knives, or by smoking the letters with candle flames. 223 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 2: Soldiers were also not at all the only people to 224 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 2: write their names on the walls of the caves. A 225 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 2: lot of other visitors did as well, and so did guides. 226 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,199 Speaker 2: There is one cave full of gypsum formations that look 227 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 2: like flowers, which Stephen Bishop named Charlotte's Grotto, and it 228 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 2: is one of the many places his name appears in 229 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 2: the caves. In Charlotte's grotto, he drew a heart and 230 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 2: he wrote Stephen Bishop, m Cave Guide, Missus Charlotte Bishop 231 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 2: eighteen forty three. Nearby he also wrote, Missus Charlotte Bishop, 232 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 2: Flower of Mammoth Cave. Those gypsum formations are so cool looking. 233 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 2: Travel to Mammoth Cave got even easier in the early 234 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,239 Speaker 2: twentieth century when automobiles started to become more widely available. 235 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 2: People could drive to southern Kentucky on their own schedule 236 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 2: and then explore the area on their own, rather than 237 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 2: relying on a train schedule and then trying to figure 238 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 2: out transportation once they got to where they were going. 239 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 2: And this, along with a construction of more roads and 240 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 2: highways in the area directly fed into the cave wars. 241 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave was a huge draw, but this part of 242 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 2: Kentucky is full of other caves. Aside from the tourism 243 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 2: driven mostly by Mammoth Cave. The way most people supported 244 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 2: themselves was through farming, but the soil and climate meant 245 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 2: that this was difficult and mostly on a subsistence level. 246 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 2: Finding something you could turn into a show cave on 247 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 2: your own farmland or on land that you could buy 248 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 2: or negotiate permission to be on meant another easier, potentially 249 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 2: much more lucrative way to make a living, but this 250 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 2: also came with its own difficulties. Even if the cave 251 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 2: on your land was truly beautiful and interesting, you wouldn't 252 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 2: get many visitors if it was way out of the 253 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 2: way or hard to get to. Plus, Mammoth Cave had 254 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 2: such an established name that it was hard to compete with, 255 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 2: so as people looked for other caves, they were hoping 256 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 2: to find one that was connected to the Mammoth Cave 257 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 2: system so that they could conduct their own Mammoth Cave tours. 258 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: George Morrison was one of the people who tried to 259 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: do this. He had arrived in the area in nineteen 260 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: fifteen and was initially looking for oil. When that didn't 261 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: work out, he decided to get into the cave business. 262 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: He bribed one of the workers at Mammoth Cave for 263 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: their keys so he could get in on his own 264 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: and explore and try to figure out where he might 265 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: make an entrance from the surface. He was eventually caught 266 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: doing this and banned from returning. That did not stop him, though, 267 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: and eventually he found a place that he thought he 268 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: could blast into from the surface through a sinkhole on 269 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: land owned by a man named Perry Cox. This did 270 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: get him into Mammoth Cave, which he confirmed by finding 271 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: the signatures of Mammoth Cave guides on the walls, but 272 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: it turned out that the rights to this part of 273 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: the system were owned by la In Railroad. This was 274 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: a temporary setback, though. In nineteen twenty one, Morrison bought 275 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: two thousand acres of land that did not have those 276 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: rights issues with the railroad and again blasted his way 277 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: through a sinkhole. Once again, he found signatures left by 278 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: guides who would have come in from the original Mammoth 279 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: Cave entrance. By nineteen twenty two, he was advertising this 280 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: as the new entrance to Mammoth Cave, and he built 281 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: a hotel on his land as well. On March fourteenth, 282 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three, some of Morrison's guides found a flow 283 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: stone formation that would become known as Frozen Niagara. It 284 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: looked kind of like Niagara Falls, frozen over in the wintertime. 285 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,919 Speaker 1: Frozen Niagara wasn't something you could get to on the 286 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: tours from the other Mammoth Cave entrance, so this became 287 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 1: a big focus of Morrison's advertising. Unsurprisingly, Morrison's creation of 288 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: a new Mammoth Cave brought him into conflict with the 289 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: Mammoth Cave as State, and they wound up in court 290 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: over in in nineteen twenty six, a judge ordered Morrison 291 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: to add a disclaimer to all of his advertising materials, stating, quote, 292 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: we do not show any of that part of the cave, 293 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: which prior to nineteen oh seven was generally known to 294 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: the public as Mammoth Cave. That portion of the cave 295 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: can only be seen through the old entrance. But a 296 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: year later Morrison was found in contempt for not doing that. 297 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 2: The Kentucky cave weres also went way beyond the dispute 298 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 2: between Mammoth Cave Estate and George Morrison's New Mammoth Cave. 299 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 2: By the nineteen twenties, more than twenty caves had opened 300 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 2: for visitors in the area, and their owners and their 301 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,160 Speaker 2: managers went to great lengths to try to bring in 302 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 2: as much business as possible. There were so many road signs, 303 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 2: a lot of them intentionally deceptive and confusing. They would 304 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 2: kind of mention Mammoth Cave, but they would really direct 305 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 2: visitors somewhere else, or they would promise that if you 306 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,360 Speaker 2: just followed the sign you would get some quote genuine 307 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 2: visitor information. Cave operators hired people who became known as 308 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 2: cave cappers, possibly for the caps that a lot of 309 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,240 Speaker 2: them wore. Cave cappers waited by the roads and handed 310 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 2: out so called official literature and gave people directions to 311 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 2: their cave rather than one of the Mammoth Cave entrances. 312 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 2: They'd hop onto the running board of the car, trying 313 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 2: to get to newcomers before anybody else and convince them 314 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 2: of where they needed to go. Or maybe they'd tell 315 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 2: people that there had been a collapse or a disease 316 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 2: outbreak or some other calamity at Mammoth Cave, but don't worry. 317 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,959 Speaker 2: They know another cave this is just as good. And 318 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 2: then there was the vandalism and the violence, like digging 319 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 2: up one another's access roads and destroying other cave operators signs, 320 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 2: or covering up somebody else's billboard with your billboard, even 321 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 2: vandalizing the cave's themselves. On July eighth, nineteen twenty one, 322 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 2: the Owensboro, Kentucky Inquirer reported from Cave City, saying that 323 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 2: lem Ferguson, who worked at Mammoth Cave, had shot Clell Lee, 324 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 2: who worked at a Great Onyx Cave, in the back 325 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 2: during an argument. This paper described these two men as 326 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 2: in the taxicab business, which might have been a reference 327 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 2: to their driving visitors to each of these caves. There 328 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 2: are still plenty of places in Mammoth Cave area, and 329 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,239 Speaker 2: really anywhere in the world that draws a lot of 330 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 2: tourists that advertise visitor information or other services but turn 331 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 2: out to be kind of shady at best. But the 332 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 2: situation in south central Kentucky in the early twentieth century 333 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 2: was extreme. And that's where we get to the story 334 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 2: of Floyd Collins, which we're going to talk about after 335 00:20:50,080 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 2: a sponsor break. William Floyd Collins, who went by Floyd, 336 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 2: was born in Kentucky on June twentieth, eighteen eighty seven. 337 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 2: Starting in his childhood, he explored the land that was 338 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 2: part of his family's farm and other farms in the area. 339 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 2: He found cave entrances and figured out what was beyond. 340 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventeen, the Collins family started operating Great Crystal 341 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 2: Cave on their property as a show cave, but this 342 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 2: was really too far away from anything else to get. 343 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 1: A lot of visitors. 344 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 2: The Collinses took some of the same steps as other 345 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 2: cave operators to try to attract business. Among other things, 346 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 2: Floyd's brother, Andy Lee Collins, was charged with paying somebody 347 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 2: to burn down a competitor's signs. But one of their neighbors, 348 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 2: Beasley Doyle, had another cave known as Sand Cave, which 349 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 2: was just off Cave City Road, and it was in 350 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 2: a great location, a spot that people would pass by 351 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 2: on the way to Mammoth Cave. Collins made an agreement 352 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 2: with Day, getting permission to explore the cave and construct 353 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 2: an entrance, with the two of them splitting the profits 354 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 2: if it all worked out. On January thirtieth, nineteen twenty five, 355 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 2: Collins was working his way through the cave, trying to 356 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 2: find places that would be good for visitors, and he 357 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 2: said he found a spot on the other side of 358 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 2: several extremely narrow passages where the cave opened up into 359 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 2: something much larger, But his lantern started to falter and 360 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 2: he decided he needed to turn back. We haven't mentioned 361 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 2: this yet, but while the first battery operated flashlights and 362 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 2: headlamps and things like that were invented at the end 363 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 2: of the nineteenth century. Most of the exploration in these 364 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 2: caves was being done with things like torches or candles 365 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 2: or kerosene lanterns, And if your light went out, especially 366 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 2: if you were deep at all within the cave, you 367 00:22:55,119 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 2: could wind up absolutely disoriented, in complete darkness, absolute like 368 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 2: there's no daylight coming in from anywhere at all. Right, 369 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,479 Speaker 2: you're your eyes can't adjust because there's nothing for them, 370 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 2: nothing you couldjust too right, Yeah. With his light fading, 371 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 2: Collins tried to hurry back to the surface. He was 372 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 2: moving through a very narrow passageway, lying on his back, 373 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,399 Speaker 2: pushing himself inch by inch with his toes when he 374 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 2: knocked his lantern over. I'm stressed just reading this. As 375 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 2: he kept trying to push himself along in the dark, 376 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 2: he accidentally dislodged a stone weighing about twenty seven pounds 377 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,159 Speaker 2: that's roughly twelve kilograms, which pinned his ankle. 378 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: This was at a really awkward angle to try to 379 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: get free, and as he tried to dislodge that stone, 380 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: more rock crumbled and fell down around him. 381 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 2: The next day, people realized that Collins hadn't come home, 382 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 2: and somebody went out to sand cave to look for him. 383 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 2: They found his coat hanging outside. A boy named Jule Estes, 384 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 2: who was seventeen, was the only person around who was 385 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 2: small enough to get through these very narrow spaces in 386 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 2: the cave, and he was able to get in, reached 387 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 2: Collins and learn that he was trapped. This spawned a 388 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 2: huge rescue effort and a massive news story, attracting crowds 389 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 2: of onlookers in what was eventually described as a carnival atmosphere. 390 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 2: Crowds grew from hundreds to thousands of people, with local 391 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 2: setting up stands to sell refreshments and souvenirs. A remote 392 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,160 Speaker 2: radio station was set up on site, and Charles Lindberg, 393 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 2: not yet a famous pilot, was one of the people 394 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 2: on hand to fly photographs from the scene to newspapers 395 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 2: in Chicago. Locally, one of the reporters was William Burke Miller, 396 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 2: known as Skeets because people said he was no bigger 397 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 2: than a mosquito, and he worked for the Louisville Courier Journal. 398 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 2: Miller's small stature meant he could squeeze into the cave 399 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 2: and interview Collins directly, and he earned a Pulitzer Prize 400 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 2: for his reporting. On February second, eight members of the 401 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 2: Kentucky National Guard were deployed under the command of two 402 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,120 Speaker 2: lieutenants to try to excavate the area where Collins was trapped. 403 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 2: These men were chosen because they were the smallest ones 404 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 2: in their unit. More members of the National Guard came later, 405 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,360 Speaker 2: both to try to help with the rescue and to 406 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 2: try to maintain order among all the spectators and the rescuers, 407 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 2: who were often arguing what the best course of action 408 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 2: would be to try to rescue Collins. For a while, 409 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 2: people were able to get to Collins and deliver food 410 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 2: and water. Electric lights were strung into the cave connected 411 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 2: to a generator, both to provide light for rescue and 412 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,200 Speaker 2: to provide a little bit of warmth in the very 413 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 2: chilly cave. Rescuers tried to pull Collins out using a harness, 414 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 2: but that didn't work. They managed to get a lot 415 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 2: of the rubble cleared away from him, but he. 416 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 1: Was still stuck. 417 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,959 Speaker 2: Then the weather became very wet, and on Wednesday, February fourth, 418 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 2: part of the cave's ceiling collapsed, blocking off access to 419 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 2: where Collins was trapped. Afterward, one of the National guardsmen 420 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 2: was assigned to Floyd's brother, Homer, to try to keep 421 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 2: him from going into the cave. They were afraid that 422 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 2: he would either get in the way of rescue efforts 423 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 2: or become trapped himself, and at that point it was 424 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,400 Speaker 2: not possible to reach his brother that way. There wasn't 425 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 2: anything he could do. By February sixth, so a week 426 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 2: after Collins had become trapped, rescuers abandoned the original entrance 427 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 2: to sand Cave and started trying to dig a new 428 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 2: shaft to get to him. Diggers worked around the clock, 429 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,719 Speaker 2: and a field hospital was set up to treat minor injuries. 430 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 2: The National Red Cross also arrived to feed the rescuers. 431 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 2: By the seventh there were fifty members of the National 432 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 2: Guard trying to maintain order, and both Homer Collins and 433 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 2: Floyd's caving buddy Johnny Gerald had been banned from the 434 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 2: scene after repeated arguments about the best plan for saving him. 435 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 2: The crowds of spectators were not the only thing that 436 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,439 Speaker 2: was out of control. This had become the biggest news 437 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 2: story in the United States, and the number of reporters 438 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 2: continued to swell with journalists arriving from almost every state. 439 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 2: Some of their reporting was heavily sensationalized, with a big 440 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 2: focus on the disagreements among the rescuers, of which there 441 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 2: legitimately were a lot, also accusations that the rescuers were 442 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 2: not doing enough to get Collins out of the cave. 443 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 2: But some of the reporting was also just false, either 444 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 2: reporting on rumors that weren't true or printing stories that 445 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 2: were just made up. Because of the ongoing atmosphere of 446 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 2: deception and trickery that had long been part of the 447 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 2: Cave Wars, there were people who thought this whole thing 448 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 2: was some kind of publicity stunt, and that Collins was 449 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 2: either hiding somewhere outside the cave completely fine, or that 450 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 2: he was already dead. After the Associated Tress reported on 451 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,160 Speaker 2: the rumors, a military Court of Inquiry was convened at 452 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 2: Sand Cave to investigate these allegations. The court ruled that 453 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 2: Collins was in the cave on February fourteenth. In my opinion, 454 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 2: this was a colossal waste of time and effort. 455 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: By that point. 456 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 2: By February fourteenth, though, Collins had probably died while rescuers 457 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 2: had not been able to get to him. They had 458 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 2: been able to hear him, and they had been able 459 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 2: to hear him coughing as of the thirteenth, but that 460 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 2: was really the last that anybody heard from him. A 461 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 2: fifty five foot rescue shaft finally broke through to where 462 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 2: he was on February sixteenth, and his body was found 463 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 2: at three forty two pm. Doctors who examined the body 464 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 2: gave differing estimates for when they thought he had died, 465 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 2: but he had probably survived trapped in the cave for 466 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 2: a little more than two weeks. Initially, Collins's family didn't 467 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 2: want his body removed, and a funeral was held at 468 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 2: the mouth of Sand Cave with about five hundred people 469 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 2: in attendance. Then their rescue shaft was sealed off. The 470 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 2: cave was reopened on April twenty third, nineteen twenty five, 471 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 2: and Collins's body was removed, embalmed, and buried on the 472 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 2: Crystal Cave property. The Collins family later sold Crystal Cave 473 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 2: to doctor Harry Thomas, who exhumed the body, put it 474 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 2: in a glass topped coffin, and used it as a 475 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 2: tourist attraction. Collins's body was stolen two different times in 476 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 2: the late nineteen twenties. The story of Floyd Collins and 477 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 2: his attempted rescue were later turned into a number of novels, 478 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 2: a musical, and a movie. 479 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: And this whole thing. 480 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 2: Also became part of a big push to turn the 481 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave area into a national park, something that would 482 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 2: at least ideally bring an end to the kind of 483 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 2: destruction and trickery and risk that had been part of 484 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 2: the cave wars. Tmouth Cave National Park Association formed in 485 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty four, and Congress approved the establishment of the 486 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 2: national park on May twenty fifth, nineteen twenty six. Actually 487 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 2: creating this park was a long process, though The Mammoth 488 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 2: Cave National Park Association bought the Mammoth Cave estate property 489 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 2: from John Cron's heirs and donated it to the federal government. 490 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: The L and N. Railroad had also bought up a 491 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: lot of cave rights in the area, controlling them as 492 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: a subsidiary called Colossal Cavern Company. The railroad donated these 493 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: rights as well. George Morrison tried to put off selling 494 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: his new entrance to Mammoth Cave, but he did ultimately 495 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: do so for two hundred ninety thousand dollars in nineteen 496 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: thirty two. 497 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 2: But beyond these big land purchases and donations, the process 498 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,880 Speaker 2: of turning this area into a national park required the 499 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 2: acquisition of more than forty five thousand acres from roughly 500 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 2: six hundred landowners. Some of these people willingly sold their land, 501 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 2: but others refused. The Kentucky National Park Commission, established in 502 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty eight, was endowed with the power of eminent domain, 503 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 2: allowing it to condemn property that people did not want 504 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 2: to sell. Over the course of acquiring the land for 505 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 2: the National Park, more than two thousand people were displaced, 506 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 2: and a lot of people thought the compensation they received 507 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 2: was not enough and wouldn't allow them to start over 508 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 2: somewhere else. This was all particularly difficult for black residents 509 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 2: of the area, who faced racism both from community members 510 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 2: and under the law when they tried to move somewhere 511 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 2: else after being displaced from their land around Mammoth Cave. 512 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 2: As this was going on, cave operators from outside the 513 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 2: future parkland were still caught up in competition and infighting. 514 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 2: Many caves in the area were increasingly damaged, both through 515 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 2: operators vandalizing way another's property and mining out pieces of 516 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 2: cave formations to sell as souvenirs. Cases were also still 517 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 2: making their way through the courts in connection to all 518 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 2: of this, like Edwards versus Sims in nineteen twenty eight, 519 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 2: which was between LP Sims, who was operating Great Onyx 520 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 2: Cave and FP Lee, who thought some of this cave 521 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 2: was under property he owned. The Kentucky Court of Appeals 522 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 2: ultimately ruled that the owner of the land above it 523 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 2: owned the cave, even if the entrance to that part 524 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 2: of the cave was not on their land. In nineteen 525 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 2: thirty three, the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in the area 526 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 2: to construct facilities that would be needed for this land 527 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 2: to become Mammoth Cave National Park. The Civilian Conservation Corps 528 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 2: was a new deal, aarrow work relief program meant to 529 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 2: help the United States recover from the Great Depression while 530 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 2: also improving public lands and parks. The Civilian Conservation Corps 531 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 2: work at Mammoth Cave went on until nineteen forty two. 532 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 2: The CCC was racially segregated, and the work at Mammoth 533 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 2: Cave included CCC Camp five ten, one of Kentucky's three 534 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 2: Black CCC units, whose members included descendants of the Bransford family, 535 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 2: some of whom had lost their land through eminent domain proceedings. Initially, 536 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 2: all of the CCC units at Mammoth Cave were housed 537 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 2: at a former country club that had been abandoned for 538 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 2: years and had become kind of run down and sad, 539 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 2: but the black workers faced ongoing racism and harassment from 540 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 2: the white workers. Eventually, the white workers were moved to 541 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,640 Speaker 2: other campsites in the park, while the black workers were 542 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 2: left at this former country club that people found really 543 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 2: just not a great place. Over time, though the Core 544 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 2: remodeled and revitalized this former country club. They turned it 545 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 2: into a CCC camp that was described as very respectable. 546 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: And quite modern. The CCC's efforts at Mammoth Cave included 547 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: work in the caves and on the land above it. 548 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: They worked on reforesting the land that had been used 549 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 1: as farmland, and also built roads, trails, campgrounds, and other 550 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 1: park facilities. They also acted as firefighters, and Camp five 551 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 1: ten reportedly spotted and fought more than half the fires 552 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: at Mammoth Cave during their time there. 553 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 2: Mammoth Cave National Park was dedicated on July fet nineteen 554 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 2: forty one. Although many of the caves that connected to 555 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 2: the Mammoth Flint Cave system are now part of the park, 556 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,799 Speaker 2: there were still multiple other show caves operating in the 557 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:40,919 Speaker 2: area after the national park opened. Intense competition among these 558 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 2: caves continued for about another two decades, and at that 559 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 2: point most of the owners started trying to work with 560 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:52,840 Speaker 2: each other in a more collaborative way. According to a 561 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 2: local news article from twenty twenty one, there are still 562 00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 2: eight privately owned show caves in the area. However, even 563 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 2: though the Cave Wars ended, you can also still find 564 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:09,279 Speaker 2: signs that maybe reference Mammoth Cave but direct you to 565 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:12,640 Speaker 2: a more out of the way souvenir shop or something similar, 566 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 2: rather than to the actual national park. 567 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,479 Speaker 1: Crystal Cave was one of the caves that became part 568 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: of Mammoth Cave National Park, and the National Park Service 569 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: cut off public access to Floyd Collins's coffin in nineteen 570 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 1: eighty nine. Members of the Collins family asked for him 571 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: to be respectfully buried, and now he is buried at 572 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: Mammoth Cave Baptist Church. And that's the Cave Wars. Do 573 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:38,280 Speaker 1: you have some listener mail? 574 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 2: I do I do it actually maybe has a little 575 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,319 Speaker 2: bit to do with geology, kind of like today. This 576 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 2: is from Vicky, and Vicky wrote about the Lackey Fisser 577 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 2: eruption episode. Vicky wrote, Hi, Holly and Tracy, I just 578 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,040 Speaker 2: listened to your recent episodes on the Lackey Fisser and 579 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 2: then the behind the scenes for that episode. I'm a 580 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,399 Speaker 2: longtime listener and recently came back from a week long 581 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,760 Speaker 2: vacation in Iceland. I too share your appreciation for Iceland. 582 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,439 Speaker 2: It's truly spectacular. There was so much information to take 583 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 2: in on my trip, and unfortunately I may have missed 584 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,800 Speaker 2: some important pieces of history and facts that my guide 585 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,239 Speaker 2: shared with the group over the week, including perhaps the 586 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 2: Locky Fisher. So I had a chuckle when, after halfway 587 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 2: through most of the episode on the Locky Fisher, I 588 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 2: realized that Kirkie Byer Cloister was in fact one of 589 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,280 Speaker 2: the towns I stayed in. Shout out to the Magma 590 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 2: Hotel and that there is a shortened name for this 591 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 2: hard to pronounce town, Cloister, So thank you for that. 592 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 2: I really struggled with even attempting to pronounce the names 593 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,000 Speaker 2: of the town's waterfalls and geysers that I visited while there. 594 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 2: I could also relate when Tracy mentioned how hard it 595 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:51,880 Speaker 2: is to pronounce Icelandic words, even after much practice. Before 596 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 2: my trip, I tried to learn some basic Icelandic phrases, 597 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 2: but ultimately didn't feel super confident about even attempting to 598 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 2: say simple greetings and I Land, despite all the practice 599 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 2: I did for the many months leading up to my trip. 600 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,719 Speaker 2: I hope you'll consider doing future episodes regarding Iceland and 601 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 2: in particular the folklore and traditions Tracy. I also want 602 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 2: to mention I was super excited when you mentioned the 603 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,360 Speaker 2: town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts in a recent behind the scenes 604 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 2: I live in northeast Massachusetts, and during the pandemic, once 605 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 2: restrictions had been lifted, I actually took a many vacation 606 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:26,160 Speaker 2: to the Berkshires and state a couple of nights in Pittsfield. 607 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 2: Vicky goes on to ask when we will be announcing 608 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:36,280 Speaker 2: our next podcast trip and sends pictures of a sweet 609 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,640 Speaker 2: cat called Abby, who Vicky lost about a year ago, 610 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 2: and a picture of a cat mural from downtown Reykievic. Yeah, 611 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 2: this cat mural from downtown Reykivic is fabulous. 612 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 1: You accidentally have stumbled upon a thing I wanted to 613 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:54,800 Speaker 1: ask you about which I'll do and behind the scenes. 614 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 2: Okay, okay, so yeah, thank you so much Vicky for 615 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:04,760 Speaker 2: these pictures. We have not announced our next podcast trip. 616 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:09,040 Speaker 2: We have in fact, not talked about what is happening next, 617 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 2: for when or anything like that. I think we've been 618 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 2: kind of just focus on the next thing, which is Iceland, 619 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 2: and not the thing after that. So thank you so 620 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 2: much Vicky for this email. If you would like to 621 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,239 Speaker 2: send us some notes about this or any other podcast 622 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 2: or at history podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com, and you 623 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,440 Speaker 2: can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app and 624 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:41,160 Speaker 2: wherever I'll do you like to get your podcasts. Stuff 625 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 2: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 626 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:48,919 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 627 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.