James W. Gough and Frank Johnson

Portrait of James W. Gough.

NPS

During the summer of 1913, a group came to visit Hansen Cave that included fourteen-year-old boys James W. Gough and Frank Johnson. While the group explored Hansen Cave, the two boys became bored and began to examine the ledges around the cave entrance. They soon realized they could not climb back the way they had climbed up and scouted around for another route back to Hansen Cave.

Gough noticed a rock with mineralization on it and having seen similar looking rocks in mines, he and Johnson began to dig around the rock. They thought it might indicate the existence precious metals, but as they dug, the rock fell into a dark hole where they could see daylight coming in from another opening. Moving toward the light, they worked at clearing away the debris around a large boulder that fell into the void that was the entrance to Timpanogos Cave. The boys explored the cave until they reached a deep pit.

Unable to cross the pit, they returned to Hansen Cave, informed their group of what they had discovered and the entire group explored the new cave. A log was brought in from the surface to enable everyone to cross the deep pit, and the group reached "The Heart of Timpanogos" that day. They resolved to come back later, and in two weeks with rope, string and carbide lanterns in tow, traveled as far as "Father Time's Jewel Box." As time passed, a landslide occurred in the area and the entrance to Timpanogos Cave was lost.

 

Portrait of Frank Johnson.

NPS