WIND CAVE Rules and Regulations 1920

WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

The Black Hills of southwestern Dakota, scene of one of Custer's battles, famous for many years for Indian fights and frontier lawlessness, are chiefly celebrated in this generation for a limestone cave of large size and gorgeous decoration, the peaceful resort of thousands of interested visitors.

It is called Wind Cave from the current of air, often very swift, that blows intermittently in and out of its mouth, varying in speed and direction in response to changing conditions of atmospheric pressure. In former days the variability of this wind was regarded locally as extremely mysterious and gave rise to superstitious dread. One of the several current stories concerning its discovery has it that a granger named John Wells, while deer stalking in 1881, was attracted by a loud, weird whistling which proved to come from a hole in the rock not more than 8 inches in diameter, which, enlarged afterwards by blasting, is the present entrance to the cave.

An interesting feature of Wind Cave is the fact that sufferers from asthma or hay fever get instant relief from either of these diseases while in the cave. Several theories are advanced as to the cause of this relief; one is that it is due to the entire absence of vegetation within the cave; another is that it is due to the remarkably even temperature, which fluctuates only about 5°, from 42° to 47°, during the year; and still another is that it is due to an unknown ingredient in the air in the cave. No matter what the cause hundreds of people afflicted with these diseases each year seek the relief afforded by a visit to Wind Cave.

Wind Cave, which is 12 miles north of Hot Springs, was made a National Park, with an area of 10,522 acres, January 9, 1903. The area containing it, which is drained by the South Fork of Beaver Creek, has an elevation in the canyon of 3,700 feet. East of it the land slopes down rapidly to a wide valley of red shale. The cave is in the layer of limestone known to geologists as the Pahasapa limestone, Pahasapa being an Indian name for the Black Hills. This formation is here about 400 feet thick. Below it is a bed of hard sandstone and above it is a thick cover of soft porous sandstone. The beds all dip to the east at a moderate angle.

The walls and ceilings of the various passages and chambers which constitute the cave are elaborately covered with the formations common to most caves, which here result in tracery and carvings of the most elaborate and surprising description.

"The popcorn formation," writes a visitor, "looks, as its name implies, very similar to a lot of well-popped corn fastened to the walls and ceilings of the cave. In places the balls are smaller than peas; in others they are several times as large. The formation is usually pure white without the brilliancy that makes the frostwork dazzle the sight. Akin to the pop-corn work is the snowball. In various portions of the cave the walls and ceilings look as though boys had been snowballing the walls with snow just wet enough to stick and spatter.

"The frostwork forms the chief beauty of the cave. It is formed in the softest rock and in the upper parts of the cave; it is suspended or shoots up and out from the limestone in clusters of white tiny needles formed of infinitesimal crystals, reminding one of pine clusters. The coarsest threads of this formation are not larger than needles, and they decrease in size till the formation resembles the finest cotton. There is some of it in the cave which the guides call mineral cotton that would deceive anyone if away from the cave. Some of it, called Noah's Beard, hanging beyond the Pearly Gates, is several feet long and white as snow. When the calcium light is thrown on the frostwork, it flashes and scintillates like diamonds."

The predominating interest in Wind Cave lies in the masses of calcite, aragonite, and quartz, and in the geodes, stalactites, and stalagmites and a peculiar box-work formation. There are several known varieties of calcite and many of these are found in Wind Cave.

At one point within the cave there are two large, exposed geodes side by side, practically touching one another. These geodes differ in structure and content and it is believed by some that the geodes were formed at different times, perhaps thousands of years apart.

The cave consists of a series of long, narrow passageways having many variations in height and width, and opening into irregular chambers at intervals.

There are three principal divisions. The first, into which the entrance descends, is a long, narrow tunnel leading approximately southeast, nearly parallel with the road to Hot Springs and only a short distance east of it. This extends about 1,900 feet to an elaborate chamber called the G. A. R. Hall, which is about 360 feet lower than the entrance and about 330 feet below the surface of the ground immediately above. A few feet beyond the G. A. R. Hall the trail ascends by stairways to upper level of the cave, and thence through various other chambers to the Garden of Eden, which is the end of this route. From a point called the crossroads on this division there is a branch passage leading off abruptly to the northeast to another great chamber called the Assembly Room, which is at about the same elevation as the Garden of Eden. Here it joins the third division, which follows a northwesterly course to the Pearly Gates, a course nearly parallel to the long-entrance passage.

There are several branches, the largest leading upward into the Fair Grounds, a wide irregular chamber about 100 feet higher than adjoining portions of the cave. It is reached through a hole in the roof of a passageway from the Ticket Office.

This Fair Grounds chamber with its various galleries is said to be the largest natural underground chamber in the world. It is a large irregular T-shaped chamber covering an area of four or five acres of space, or rock, and ranges in height from 10 to 40 feet to the ceiling, and is the end of the medium length route now open to the public.

It is found that the main passageways and the numerous abrupt offsets northward closely follow the main lines of jointing of the limestones. The great sheets of rock constituting the earth's crust are broken by joint planes or cracks which usually extend in two or more directions. They have resulted from earth movements. While in most cases these cracks are not open very wide, they permit the passage of water underground, and therefore in some cases are important sources of water supply. Limestone is slightly soluble in water containing carbonic acid gas and soil acids, and in time water moving though the joint planes in this rock gradually widens them into channels or caves of greater or less extent. Most great caverns are in limestone and due entirely to the solvent action of water along joint planes or other crevices.

Wind Cave once served as channels for subterranean waters which now follow other courses. The outlet probably is in the great springs at the upper end of Buffalo Gap where the land is about 300 feet lower than the lowest part of the cave yet explored. In this cave the water has dissolved out the long channels along joint planes and, in places where probably the rock was exceptionally soft or soluble, it has eaten out the rock for some distance on the sides.

SECTION ACROSS THE EAST SLOPE OF THE BLACK HILLS UPLIFT, THROUGH WIND CAVE LOOKING NORTH.

In Wind Cave there is a general down grade to the southeast, which continues to the crevice into which the cave narrows at its southern extremity. The elevation here is about 3,800 feet, or 240 feet below the entrance, and about 200 feet below the surface of the ground immediately above. Just beyond Turtle Pass there is a cross passage which turns abruptly to the northeast, closely following a joint plane. It finally offsets a few rods to the southeast to another main joint, along which the eastern part of the cave has been excavated. This is reached at the Assembly Room, and it leads with gradual ascent about 900 feet to a chamber just above Pearly Gates, where the altitude is 3,842 feet, or about 300 feet below the surface overhead.

Here the passage dwindles to a crevice. This was the place where most of the water entered which dissolved out this branch of the cavern. The outlet was in a small crevice at the south end of Masonic Temple, about 36 feet lower than Pearly Gates. The Fair Grounds, a higher branch chamber, was developed by water coming in from other sources and exerting its solvent action along a bedding plane about 100 feet higher than the main channel.

The cave illustrates not only the results of solvent action of water on limestone but also of redeposition of some calcium carbonate of which limestone consists. This redeposited material constitutes the stalactites and various deposits on the walls, including the beautiful crystals of calcite which occur in superb groups and incrustations in places in the cave. It has been deposited by water dropping from the roof or trickling down the walls, mainly at a later time when the cavern ceased to be a water course, and infiltering water evaporated, leaving its dissolved material behind. The box work which is a characteristic feature in Wind Cave was produced by water depositing calcium carbonate in minor joint cracks in limestone of such character that when the rock crumbles out thin rectangular walls of the new deposit remain.

The water which made this cavern came from the surface through cracks which now are mostly covered by earth washed into them, but some are open, notably the opening at the entrance and some others nearby. Through these there is the remarkable circulation of air which has given the cave its name. At most times the air current moves from lower to higher levels and blows out at the entrance openings. At other times the movement is in the contrary direction.

Innumerable crevices and chambers which are not readily accessible have been explored, and the possibilities of development and enlargement of new trails seem almost unlimited. The extent of Wind Cave can only be guessed at.

When there is rain in this region water flows down the valley past the cave entrance, but it does not leak into the cave in any great amount, probably because dirt has filled the cracks in the stream bed. Doubtless, however, some of the flood water, as well as a small regular flow, goes into other underground passages in the limestone and finally finds an outlet in the great springs at Buffalo Gap. Therefore cavern making is still progressing in the region, but it is at a lower level than Wind Cave and keeps the latter drained.

THE WIND CAVE NATIONAL GAME PRESERVE.

The game preserve which occupies the northwest corner of the park was established by Congress under the act of August 10, 1912 (37 Stat., 293), in order to provide a suitable location for a herd of buffalo generously offered to the Government by the American Bison Society. This preserve occupies about 4,160 acres, or somewhat more than one-third of the present area of the park. The tract was selected after a careful examination of all the Government reservations and available public lands in the State as the one best adapted for a game refuge and suitable for the preservation of the various species of big game native to the region. The location on the southern slope of the Black Hills was chosen primarily because of its moderate elevation, comparatively mild winters, and abundance of feed. The natural advantages of the locality are emphasized by the fact that years ago this was a famous wintering place of the buffalo near Buffalo Gap, a few miles to the eastward. The tract is admirably adapted not only for buffalo, but for elk, mule and white-tailed deer, antelope, and possibly mountain sheep.

Owing to the presence of the cave, springs and surface waters are almost entirely lacking in the central part of the park. Permanent water in springs and small streams is found chiefly along the boundaries, especially near the north line. To overcome this disadvantage, due to scarcity of water, and to provide an adequate supply for the animals even in the driest seasons, control of the water rights along Cold Brook Creek was secured by the purchase of an 80-acre patented holding within the park, adjacent to the north boundary, and three tracts comprising, respectively, 60.11, 160, and 156.94 acres adjoining and exterior to the north boundary of the park; the combined area of the latter three increasing the total area of the park to 10,899.22 acres.

Under the appropriation provided by Congress, an inclosure was built under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture in the northern part of the park and west of the main road which passes the entrance of the cave. The preserve is inclosed with a substantial woven-wire fence 8.67 miles in length and 88 inches in height, strong enough to hold buffalo and high enough to prevent the escape of deer and elk. The area within the fence includes some of the best grazing land in the higher part of the park, some of the open timber, and also some of the bottom lands along Cold Spring Creek, where the animals have access to an abundant supply of water. The stretches of grazing land in the open groves of yellow-pine forest form a picturesque feature of the higher ground in the park, while the timber and the small canyons afford shelter to the game during severe storms. The headquarters of the preserve and the residence of the warden are located on the main road near the northern entrance of the park and about a mile north of the cave.

The preserve has been stocked with buffalo, elk, and deer. The nucleus herd of buffalo placed on the preserve by the American Bison Society was generously furnished by the Zoological Society of New York and comprised 7 bulls and 7 cows. These animals were separately crated and shipped in two steel express cars under the charge of three attendants from New York City to Hot Springs. After a 2,000-mile journey, which occupied four days, they arrived at their destination in safety on November 28, 1913, at 9.30 a. m. By noon the unloading was completed and the crates, lashed or chained on motor trucks and wagons, started on the last lap of the journey. Darkness came on before the park was reached, and it was 7 o'clock before the teams reached the place where the buffalo were to be liberated. A bonfire was built, and in the uncertain light thus furnished the crates were unloaded and the animals released from their narrow quarters. An interesting account of the transfer of the animals may be found in the annual report of the Bison Society for 1914 (pp. 39-50). During the spring of 1914 there were 4 calves, but none in 1915; the following year there were 6, and in 1917 there were 7, making a total of 17 calves in the four years of the existence of the herd. The losses during this period included a bull and a calf in 1915 and one bull in 1917. In order to have the herd increase more rapidly and at the same time provide for an exhibition herd near the headquarters of the cave, 2 bulls and 4 cows were transferred from the Yellowstone National Park in June, 1916. On January 1, 1920, the buffalo numbered 55 with a nearly equal number of bulls and cows.

The nucleus herd of elk consisted of animals transferred from Wyoming and the Yellowstone National Park. In March, 1914, a shipment of 21 elk was made from Jackson Hole, Wyo., followed in February, 1916, by 25 more from the park, forwarded from Gardiner, Mont. In the latter year 23 calves were born, and in 1917, 11. The losses thus far have been only 7 animals. On January 1, 1920, the herd included approximately 105 head. The preserve is admirably adapted for elk, and the abundance of grazing and the comparatively mild winters make it possible to maintain a considerable herd with little or no expense for winter feeding.

The herd of antelope was the gift of the Boone and Crockett Club of New York, and consists of young animals captured near Brooks, in western Alberta, and transferred in two shipments. The first consignment of 13 head arrived in October, 1914, and the second, of 9 head, in the autumn of 1916. These animals have become acclimated rather slowly. Nine fawns were born in 1916 and several in 1917, but the losses included 4 in 1915, 4 in 1916, and 3 in 1917, so that the total was 15 on December 1, 1918. On January 1, 1920, the antelope numbered 18. The antelope, one of the most distinctive mammals of North America, is at the same time one of the most difficult to rear in captivity. Unless it can be preserved on Government reserves it seems doomed to early extinction, as its numbers have been decreasing rapidly in recent years. The only other Government reservations which have any antelope are the Montana National Bison Range and the Yellowstone National Park.

Deer were formerly common in this region, but at present there are only a few native mule deer within the limits of the park. The game preserve is well adapted for the mule deer and the white-tailed deer, and other species native to the West. Deer and possibly mountain sheep will no doubt be introduced in due time so that visitors will have an opportunity of seeing a representative collection of the characteristic big game of this region.

UNDERGROUND SURVEY OF CAVE IN WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA. (click on image for a PDF version)