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Imagine
exploring the depths of the earth miles from the entrance of Wind Cave.
Imagine
squeezing through a tight passage and finding a delicate cluster of frostwork, or a large, dark, unexplored
room.
Wind Cave is one of the most complex maze caves in the world
making it challenging to explore and very easy to get lost. Even with
121.25
miles [195.13
kilometers] of passages explored, only a small fraction of what is beneath the
rolling hills of Wind Cave National Park has been found! EARLY
EXPLORATION
 In
1881, Jesse and Tom Bingham, were deer hunting in the area of Wind
Cave. They noticed an 12 x 10 inch [30 x 25 cm] hole. Air rushing
out of the hole knocked the hat right off of Jesse's head! The Binghams
saw the windy entrance as a curiosity and had no other association
with the cave.
In 1890, the
South Dakota Mining Co. filed a mining claim for Wind Cave and hired Jesse McDonald
as manager. Because the cave had no valuable minerals the company quickly lost
interest. Jesse McDonald stayed on as a homesteader and, with the help of his
two sons, Elmer and Alvin, developed the cave for visitors.
Alvin McDonald was the first true explorer of
Wind Cave. He had a great deal of enthusiasm and explored the passages around
today's tour routes. He kept an account of his explorations and activities in
a diary, helping us better understand the early history of the cave. On January
23, 1891, at the end of a long day, Alvin noted in his diary, "..have given
up the idea of finding the end of Wind Cave". The McDonalds explored about
8 to 9 miles [13-14 km] of cave passage with the explorations ending in a cavern
called Rome.
LATER
YEARS Wind
Cave became a national park in 1903. During it's early years few passages were
explored. In the 1960's David Schnute was invited to Wind Cave. During their explorations
they made an exciting discovery off the room called Rome. He, along with Herb
and Jan Conn (who have explored over 60 miles [97 km] of passage at Jewel Cave)
found a tight passage that "spilled" over into miles of passage beyond
the previously known limits of the cave. This small passage is known as the Spillway.
In 1965 the known length of Wind Cave was 10.53 miles [16.95
km].
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, explorers discovered
lakes and larger rooms such as Half Mile Hall. During the summer of 1970, one
of the larger lakes was found just beyond previously discovered Calcite Lake.
Windy City Lake is 200 feet [67 m] long, 50 feet [17 m] at it's widest and around
28 feet [9 m] deep. Today the location of six lakes is known. They are approximately
500 feet [152 m] below the surface, at the water table. EXPLORATION
TODAY The
focus of cave managers is to protect the passages for future generations to enjoy
and study. Exploring the cave informs the park staff of the location of passages
so that they can be protected. When exploration conflicts with preservation, preservation
comes first. Delicate and unique features of the cave are avoided sometimes sacrificing
knowledge of what's beyond.
Many people inquire about the
possibilities of exploring Wind Cave. It is important to remember that these passages
have been undisturbed in a silent splendor for millions of years. As people begin
crawling through passages dust is raised and brilliant white formations may become
covered in reddish brown sediment. Even the most careful cavers may accidentally
break a formation while negotiating a tight passage.
As
a National Park, Wind Cave has the difficult mission of protecting the cave for
future generations and allowing people to enjoy and study the cave today. Because
of this, undirected and unsupervised underground activities, including exploration,
are prohibited. Exploration involves experienced cavers who are participating
in established projects as a part of a comprehensive organized program. If you
wish to learn more about exploration contact a park ranger. SOUTHERN
COMFORT Most
discovered passages at Wind Cave lie underneath one square mile. Many attempts
have been made to find passage beyond this square mile, but passages always seem
to pinch off. Its almost as if there are walls on all four sides keeping Wind
Cave within a square.
On September 28, 1991 several explorers
went to explore a possible lead beyond the "Silent Expressway", in the
southwest corner of the cave. This trip involves a 4 hour squirm from the entrance
with many tight and nasty crawls. During their exploration they found a passage
off the "Looney Tubes" that led to a sharp squeeze named "Les Miserables".
This led to a huge passage, named "Southern Comfort", 600 feet [200
m] long, 50-100 feet [15-30 m] wide, and 30 feet [10 m] tall. These passages went
650 feet [220 m] further south than any other passage in Wind Cave! Wind Cave
is no longer square! New discoveries were made in this room including a new form
of boxwork.
Exploration involves more than just finding
a passage. Survey equipment including a compass, measuring tape, and inclinometer
(which measures the slope of the passage) are used to map the cave. Also careful
notes and sketches are made to record things found in the passage.
Newly explored passages harbor the untouched beauty of the unique and delicate
formations that decorate them. During one exploration trip an exciting formation
was recorded in a report. "It is a helictite bush that if not the biggest
ever seen by man has to be a close second. The bush starts near the ceiling and
continues behind a rock and then down to the floor. The total height is about
six feet, the width being about three feet, and it is about two feet thick."
The formation was named Emperor Maximus I.
Through the
years of exploration many discoveries have been made. In the historic sections
of the cave remnants of the past, such as the Chicago Tribune newspaper from 1892,
can be found intact in the protected cave environment. Skeletons of rats, bats
and birds have been found in the cave as well.
The first report of exploration in Wind Cave
was in the fall of 1881. Black Hills pioneer Frank Herbert said
he was "talking with Charles Crary in Custer [and] he told
me about hole in the ground where the wind came out screeching ...
he had been in there and explored it some and left a ball of string
unstrung along its route." After this several people managed
to squeeze through the natural entrance to enter Wind Cave.
In 1959 exploration trips conducted by the National
Speleological Society, a group devoted to the exploration, study
and protection of caves, resulted in new passages being mapped within
the vicinity of the tour routes. Their explorations renewed interest
in exploring and studying the unique passages of Wind Cave.
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