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Discovery American
Indians of the area have many stories about a hole in the Black
Hills that blows wind. Tipi rings near the natural entrance indicate
that they knew of Wind Cave. In 1881, two settlers, Jesse and Tom
Bingham, were also attracted to the whistling sound of the wind
coming from the cave entrance. As the story goes, the wind was blowing
out of the cave with such force that it blew off Tom's hat. A few
days later when Jesse returned to show this phenomenon to some friends,
he was surprised to find the wind had switched directions and his
hat was sucked into the cave. Today, we understand that the direction
of the wind is related to the difference in atmospheric pressure
between the cave and the surface. |
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| McDonald Family
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| Stabler
Family
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Feuding
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| A National Park is Created
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Civilian Conservation Corps
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| Cave Exploration
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| Wind Cave Today The
mission of Wind Cave National Park is to preserve and protect the
natural resources. Wind Cave National Park is 28,295 acres. Because
of its relatively small size and because there are missing parts,
park managers must take an active role in helping the ecosystems
function as they might have in the past. This requires understanding
how everything in the park relates and how the naturally operating
system would have functioned. Park rangers work with researchers
to replicate that natural system using prescribed fires, bison round-ups,
and biological control of exotic plant species. | |
Several mining claims were established at Wind Cave, but the most
noteworthy one was by the South Dakota Mining Company in 1890. J.D.
McDonald was hired to manage the claim. The mining was unsuccessful,
but McDonald and his family realized they could make money by giving
cave tours and selling formations from the cave. They filed a homestead
claim over the opening and worked on improving a manmade entrance
and enlarging passageways for tours.
In
the summer of 1891, business was improving and more modifications
to the cave were needed. A man known as "Honest John"
Stabler formed a partnership with the McDonalds. The two families
created the Wonderful Wind Cave Improvement Company. Cave passages
were widened and wooden staircases were installed. A hotel was built
near the cave entrance and a stage coach provided rides to the cave.
During
the fall of 1893, J.D. and 
On
January 3, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the bill creating
Wind Cave National Park. It was the seventh national park and the
first one created to protect a cave. The parklands at that time
were small and there were no bison, elk, or pronghorn. They came
later as the park boundaries expanded. 
In
1912, the American Bison Society was looking for a place to reestablish a bison
herd. Because of the excellent prairie habitat around the park, a national game
preserve was established bordering Wind Cave. It was managed by the U.S. Biological
Survey. In 1913 and 1914, the animals began to arrive. Fourteen bison came from
the New York Zoological Society, twenty-one elk arrived from Wyoming and thirteen
pronghorn came from Alberta, Canada. 
Interest
in the wildlife attracted more visitors to the park and additional
improvements were necessary. Some happened in the 1920's but the
major work was accomplished by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
in the 1930's. The CCC camp was located in the park and operated
from July 16, 1934 to October 3, 1939. Some of the projects they
worked on can be seen today. These include roads, the entrance to
the cave, concrete stairs in the cave, the elevator building and
shaft, and other structures. 
In July of 1935, the game preserve became part of Wind Cave National
Park. During the early years of the preserve, the animals were kept
in small enclosures. Eventually, it was realized that they needed
more space. The 
During the 1950's and 60's, park wildlife was the focus of much
attention. Because of the lack of large predators, like wolves and
grizzly bears, the bison and elk herds had grown to the point that
they were literally "eating themselves out of house and home."
Park rangers began to evaluate the carrying capacity of the park.
Carrying capacity is the number of animals that can exist in a habitat
without damaging it. To solve the problem of overgrazing, the bison
and elk herd sizes were reduced. Park rangers began an active program
to manage the herd size. They began rounding up the animals and
shipping the excess live from the park to other parks and reserves.
Rangers also worked to improve the grassland by reseeding overgrazed
areas with native grasses and controlling exotic plant species.
In the 1970's and 80's, managers continued to focus on caring for
the wildlife and rangeland by building an understanding of how the
natural systems should function. The reintroduction of fire as a
natural means to improve the range and to limit the expansion of
the forest onto the prairie was researched. An active 
While
investigating the naturally operating systems, park managers realized
that the cave is not an isolated environment. What happens on the
land can and often does influence the cave. Understanding where
cave passages are located in relation to the land above helps us
avoid damaging the cave. For example, if the land is altered, it
might change the way water travels through the cave and change cave
formations. Exploration is important and is a continuous project
with several miles of new cave being surveyed each year.