The Historic Area is the location for Jewel Cave's 1930s era interpretive programs (available mid-June through late-August only.) Rangers in period Park Service uniforms present interpretive programs and Lantern Tours similar to those presented when the NPS first began its work at Jewel Cave in 1933. The original cabin, built by the CCC in 1935, has been restored and is open to visit. There are trails to explore in this area. Plan to spend a little time and enjoy the monument.
Original Entrance
Early Jewel Cave History
It was 1900 when Frank Michaud, returning from the Alaskan gold rush of 1898, met his brother Albert in Libby, Montana and headed to South Dakota together. The Michaud family had a homestead west of Custer. In route to the homestead, they entered Hell Canyon where their horses were spooked by a strange sound coming out of the hillside near the top of the rimrock. The brothers found a small hole with a cold blast of air coming out. Having no equipment with them at the time, they returned to the site later with some tools and dynamite to enlarge the opening. What they discovered were crawlways and low-ceilinged rooms coated with beautiful calcite crystals sparkling like "jewels" in their lanternlight.
The Michauds probably hoped this hole in the ground would turn profitable for them and filed the "Jewel Tunnel Lode" claim in Custer on October 31, 1900. There is no commercial value of calcite crystal, so they hoped to develop this natural wonder into a tourist attraction. During the following decade they constructed a trail within the cave, built a lodge up on the rim of Hell Canyon, and even organized the "Jewel Cave Dancing Club" in 1902 in hope of attracting tourists to visit their cave. However, a lack of people in this region, and the difficulty of travel here, with no graded roads to the cave and the scarcity of automobiles at that time made the tourist venture anything but a financial success. Frank Michaud bought out Charles Bush's share of the cave in 1905 for $300. For a while, Frank continued to work at the cave, exploring and keeping up the annual assessment work. The news of Jewel Cave did spread.
Frank and Albert Michaud
Jewel Cave National Monument
In 1908, word of Jewel Cave reached beyond the Black Hills to Washington, DC, where it caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. On February 7th he declared Jewel Cave a National Monument. The Michaud brothers eventually moved away and their family sold the claim to the government for about $500.
In 1928, a group of businessmen formed the Jewel Cave Corporation and provided tours to the public. This lasted until 1939. The National Park Service began administering the monument in 1933 and Rangers from Wind Cave came to the monument in the summer.
The Civilian Conservation Corps established a camp at Jewel Cave in May, 1935. Twenty-five men, with a budget of $1500, accomplished several projects for the Park Service. A three-room cabin and comfort stations were built. Sewage and water connections were completed for the cabin and public campground. The cave entrance was altered to provide easier access, and a surface trail of approximately 800 feet was made. A new stone stairway was also constructed. The Michauds original log building was removed at this time.
Stone stairway built by the CCC.
In 1939, a National Park Service Ranger was stationed at the monument and began conducting cave tours and providing visitor services. The cabin became home to the monuments first permanent ranger in 1941. Except for a brief period of closure during World War II, NPS rangers staffed the cabin and cave tour operation. Then, in the late 1950s, significant discoveries were made within the cave, which lead to development of a new visitor center and cave tour route.
Recent History
At the beginning of 1959, approximately 1/2 mile of Jewel Cave had been discovered. Even though the cave was beautifully decorated with calcite spar crystals, the tour route was short, and some wondered whether this small cave was truly of national significance.
Then a geologist by the name of Dwight Deal enlisted the aid of two rock-climbing enthusiasts, Herb and Jan Conn, to help him explore within Jewel Cave. The Conns were particularly dedicated to exploring and mapping the cave, and by 1961, they had extended the known length of the cave to more than 15 miles. The National Park Service was interested in developing additional tour routes for the public to visit.
The initial discovery of the "Scenic Area" of the cave took place in 1961. But because the original boundaries of the National Monument dated back to a time when most of the cave was unknown, the "new" areas within the cave were actually outside of those boundaries, under U.S. Forest Service lands. In order to proceed with plans to develop a new tour route and visitor center, a land swap with the Forest Service was accomplished in 1965 changing the monument boundaries.
Construction of the present scenic area cave trail, the elevator shafts, one elevator, the visitor center, maintenance area and parking lot began in 1966 and took nearly 5-1/2 years to complete. The Scenic Cave Tour route and visitor center were first opened for touring on May 28, 1972.
Exploration of the cave continues, providing park managers with an increasing amount of information to use for future protection of this impressive resource.
Last Updated February 15, 2004
Web Author Belinda Fox
e-mail merrith_baughman@nps.gov