Around 1900, a teenage cowboy named James Larkin White began to explore the cave.
Jim White told his story in the 1932 book "The Discovery and History of Carlsbad Caverns." Here is a reading of his description of his first sight of the bats and the big cave:
"I thought it was a volcano, but then, I’d never seen a volcano -- nor never before had I seen bats swarm, for that matter. During my life on the range I’d seen plenty of prairie whirlwinds -- but this thing didn’t move; it remained in one spot, spinning its way upward. I watched it for perhaps a half-hour -- until my curiosity got the better of me. Then I began investigating …
"I worked my way through the rocks and brush until I found myself gazing into the biggest and blackest hole I had ever seen, out of which the bats seemed literally to boil …
"The more I thought of it the more I realized that any hole in the ground that could house such a gigantic army of bats must be a whale of a big cave … I crept between cactus until I lay on the brink of the chasm, and looked down. During all the years I'd known of the place, I'd never taken the trouble to do this. There was no bottom in sight! I shall never forget the feeling of aweness it gave me."
Jim White told how he built a ladder from rope, wire and sticks and returned to the entrance of the cave a few days later.
"I found myself climbing down, down, deeper and deeper into the blackness ... At last my feet touched something solid. I lighted my lantern, and found that I was perched on a narrow ledge, almost at the end of my rope -- literally and figuratively.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25