Abijah Long

THE BIG CAVE

by

ABIJAH LONG

and

JOE N. LONG

Early History and Authentic Facts Concerning
the History and Discovery of the World
Famous Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico.

CUSHMAN PUBLICATIONS
2440 East 4th Street
Long Beach, California

© Copyright 1956 and 1958

by
Mrs. Abijah Long, Joe N. Long, Mrs. Lou M. Wood,
Mrs. Kaye I. Williams, Ira B. Long, Mac A. Long.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages not to exceed 300 words in connection with a review in a magazine or newspaper.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 58-13784

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition 1956
Second Edition 1958
Third Edition 1961

We Dedicate
This Book to the Millions of Visitors who will
Follow our Father's Footsteps as They Come
to See and Enjoy the Mighty Wonders of the
Carlsbad Caverns.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PICTURE CREDITS:

ROBERT NYMEYER, [FRONT COVER], [BACK COVER], PAGES [68], [90], [92], [94], [96], [98], [100], [102], [104], [106], [108], [112], [114], [116], [118], [120], [122] AND [124].

NEW MEXICO STATE TOURIST BUREAU, PAGE [110].

[COVER PHOTO]—Totem Poles in the Big Room
© by Robert Nymeyer

FOREWORD

(By the family of Abijah Long)

Prior to my husband's death in 1934, several of us had asked him to write, in his own words, the story of his early life, especially after moving to Carlsbad at the turn of the century.

He was reluctant to write of his experiences in connection with the Big Cave, as it was called in those days. But after considerable persuasion on our part he did sit down and write what happened in those early years following our move from Texas in 1901.

Since many historians today appear confused as to the actual beginnings of the Carlsbad Caverns, my children and I felt his words should no longer be for us alone, and we have therefore made them available in this form for all to read, and thus to know and understand more clearly just what happened during those early days of the cave's discovery.

My husband was always a very honest, though not always a prosperous, man. He was as good as his word, and in return he expected everyone else to be the same. At times, when he was forced to borrow money, he left only his word of honor and his promise to pay as collateral.

Nevertheless, we wanted to verify the facts in his story, and we have spent two years in tracking down many of the men who shared his experiences and in asking them to verify the incidents described.

We found many of them still alive and living in and near the charming community of Carlsbad. We found the people of Carlsbad friendly and courteous in every respect, and always eager to help us in our endeavor.

In gratitude for the kind assistance which met us everywhere, we wish to give our thanks to the friendly people of Carlsbad who so unselfishly assisted us in verifying my husband's account, especially the following:

Colonel Thomas Boles
"Dee" Harkey
Mrs. Simmonds of Happy Valley
Mr. and Mrs. John Queen
Johnny Forehand of Black River Valley
Mrs. Mary Queen Montgomery
Arthur Hoose
Wayne Crowder of Albuquerque.

We wish, also, to thank Robert Nymeyer, photographer of Carlsbad, who furnished the photographs of Carlsbad Caverns which we have used in the text.

Photographs of the lunchroom were furnished by the New Mexico State Tourist Bureau, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for which we are grateful.

We are also greatly indebted to various staff members of the National Parks Service who have made valuable suggestions to improve the technical accuracy of the manuscript.

It is our hope that persons interested in the Big Cave, now known the world over as the Carlsbad Caverns, will be enlightened as to the early history of the cave as told here for the first time by the cave's first owner, our husband and father, Abijah ("Bije"[A]) Long, and its subsequent development as described by his eldest son, Joe N. Long.

Mrs. Abijah Long
Joe N. Long (Jodie in the story)
(Mrs.) Lou M. (Long) Wood
(Mrs.) Kaye I. (Long) Williams
Ira B. Long
Mac A. Long
(Mrs.) Anda M. (Long) Brubaker.

Carlsbad, New Mexico
November, 1956.

[A] "Bije" was a nickname for Abijah. (Long "i" as in "hide.")

Part I
THE DISCOVERY

By ABIJAH LONG

1
We Move to Carlsbad

The distance from Goldthwaite, Texas, to Carlsbad, New Mexico, is slightly less than 400 miles—just a good day's drive in an automobile today. But in 1901 the automobile was something we heard about—something we read about, and friends of mine told of having seen a horseless carriage up in Dallas. People who did much traveling went by train or horse and wagon—or, they walked.

So when our family talked of moving West—talked of trying life anew "somewhere else," the question of how to go was considered. Train fare, we soon found, was much too high for us at the time. And with all our worldly possessions the freight charges would be excessive.

The answer—a covered wagon.

It was hard for my mother to leave Goldthwaite, and my wife was a bit fearful of the future in a strange land, but father and I thought our future was brighter if we tried anew somewhere else.

Besides my cousin, there were my two children, which completed our party of seven. Heading West over the vast expanse of open Texas prairie, I felt something of the thrill those early pioneers must have felt, although the fear of trouble was not present, for being ambushed by Indians was a remote possibility.

Just the same, there was an air of adventure in the journey, for none of us knew what the future held in store for us. We dreamed and hoped.

We completed our journey to Carlsbad, a distance of almost 400 miles, without any serious mishap. Oh, there were the usual little troubles of a sick horse which slowed us up one day, and an occasional steep hill which required we not only get out of the wagon to lighten it, but all help push as well.

Carlsbad had a population of less than a thousand in 1901,[B] and although Carlsbad was the legal name, having been officially changed two years before, everyone called the town by its original name, Eddy, and it was, and still is, the county seat of Eddy County.

[B] Population in 1950, 18,000.

The primary activity in and around Carlsbad in those days was ranching, with a growing interest in mining of various kinds. I noticed many people continually coming and going and thought that, since I would have to get busy at something pretty soon, I would try the hotel business.

So, shortly after my arrival, I took over the Schlitz Hotel, which was located near the railroad station at the corner of Canyon Street and Mermod Avenue. The hotel boasted a dining room, and a large part of the business came from many of the railroad workers, who, it seemed, always had a good appetite and who liked good food and lots of it.

That wasn't the only trouble I had, and after a few months I found I didn't know enough about the hotel business to make a go of it, so I gave it up. The name of the hotel was later changed to Bates, and some time after that it caught fire and burned to the ground.

The saloon business in those days was always good. Ranchers and miners would come into town after a rugged week in the hills and spend much of their pay for liquor. It looked to me as though this would be a profitable enterprise and I decided to give it a try.

My wife didn't like the idea at all and told me so in no uncertain terms. However, I kept at it for a while in spite of her pleas.

One day I took my small son down to the saloon to show him off to the boys. That did it. That was the abrupt end to my venture in the saloon business. My wife set up such a howl that in order to keep peace in the family I decided to give up the saloon. Her opinion was always best for the family anyway, and of course I was aware of the fact that this was not the most desirable environment in which to raise children.

So, what next? I had by this time acquired a few mules and thought I might be able to use them in some way. I learned that the Joyce Pruitt Company of Carlsbad was expanding its operations and was in need of additional help in doing some freighting.

I made a deal with them to do the necessary hauling and soon was quite busy.

One of the biggest of my expenses was for food for the teams, and I was anxious to cut down the feed bill as much as possible. As a result, at the end of each day I would take the mules out to pasture and let them rest and graze.

At this particular time I had the teams grazing near a place known as Donahue Springs, now known as Oak Creek Springs. Water from the springs was a necessity for the mules, and we used the water ourselves, as well.

While the mules were grazing there wasn't much for me to do and I used to explore the countryside wondering what else might lie in the vicinity. Others came to Donahue Springs for water since in that arid country water was not as plentiful as we wished it might be.

One day a man by the name of Sam Evans and a Mr. Brown and myself were exploring the countryside just to see what we might discover in the area. Hunters and miners in that section were always telling of some unusual find and anyone who went out of town kept their eyes open in search of something that might turn out to be valuable.

I suppose that is why Brown, Evans and myself were searching—just looking around to see what we might uncover.

At one spot there appeared to be a hole or cavity in the ground and I called to my buddies, "Hey, come over here. There seems to be a hole in the earth."

In that rugged country a hole in the ground isn't exactly unusual, but this one seemed to lead to quite a large empty space beneath it, and the tone of my voice must have told the others it was not just an ordinary hole, because they both came over to where I was right away.

"What do you make of this?" I asked as they both gave the hole an appraising glance. The three of us were puzzled because it wasn't just a hole in the earth, but rather seemed to be the opening to a large cavity underneath.

"What do you suppose this is?" I asked again.

"Any large animals around here that might have dug it?" queried Brown.

"Possible," I reflected. "Let's have a look."

I was eager to go below and learn more about this mysterious opening in the earth, but it didn't seem to me that Evans or Brown shared my curiosity. We looked for animal tracks in the vicinity, but couldn't find any.

"Who'll go in with me?" I received no response. It didn't matter. By now I was so curious that I decided I would go in alone, if necessary.

I went to my wagon and got a lantern and a ball of large fishing line. Then I picked up all the rope I had, including the rope I used with my mules, and hurriedly went back to the mysterious hole.

I'll admit I was quite excited, and by now Evans and Brown were, too, although it seemed to me they tried to hide their enthusiasm. Perhaps they were just a bit afraid of what might be down there in that strange cavity, yet didn't want to let on that that was so.

I, too, decided to play it safe, so I took the lantern and tied it on to the end of the rope and lowered it into the hole. All three of us bent over the opening and looked in to see what we could see.

As the light of the lantern showed on the sides and bottom of the hole I could see that it was a large one. I particularly wanted to see if there was any damp in the cavity, but the light didn't reveal any.

By this time I was eager to go below and explore our discovery. "Who'll go with me?" I asked. No response.

"Well, then I'll go alone," I declared.

And with that I fastened the rope around my waist, made sure it was securely fastened to the ground a few feet outside the opening, and got ready to go below.

2
A Big Cave is Discovered

The three of us talked over the matter of my descent and several safety precautions were formulated. About this time I decided I would be much happier about the whole thing if I could persuade one of the others to go below with me. At least one should remain on the surface at all times in case anything should go wrong.

"Sam," I said, "how about you coming down with me?"

He seemed to want to see what would happen to me first, I guess, so I then asked him if I went first would he follow. He said nothing.

"We'll only stay down for a short while," I assured him. "Perhaps a half hour or so."

Sam did not like the idea of going down in such a place. I told him it was easy, so I made arrangements to go down into this cavity and I did.

After getting down in there I could look back out and talk to him, so I finally persuaded him to come down, which he did. That left Brown on top.

We prowled around in there for some time, exploring the cavity, being, as I remember, 75 or 100 feet deep.

When we got ready to climb out of our descension, Sam said to me: "How are we going to get out of here?"

A portion of the author's original manuscript.

I told him that was easy. He said, "Go ahead."

"No," I said. "You go first and then I will come out. It is easy for me."

Well, Sam made a trial to go out, but made a complete failure, coming back down the rope in spite of me, and said, "I guess we are in here for good."

I told him I could go out in less than two minutes.

He said, "Let's see you." So, out I went.

Sam would not try any more, so I sent Mr. Brown to Carlsbad to get a rope long enough that I might make a rope ladder out of it and lower it down to Sam.

Carlsbad was 28 miles away and, of course, travel was very slow with horse and wagon. I knew Brown wouldn't get back before the next day.

I called to Sam: "I'm sending Brown to Carlsbad to get enough rope for a ship's ladder. You'll be able to climb that all right and get out."

"How long do I have to stay down here?" was Sam's retort.

"Until he gets back with the rope," I answered. "Probably tomorrow."

"You mean I have to stay down here all night?" Sam's voice quivered with fear.

"Unless you have some idea of how to get out," I replied.

I brought my wagons and mules over to the hole and proceeded to get ready to spend the night there. In spite of Sam's anxiety he said he was hungry so I got some food from one of the wagons and lowered it down to him on the end of a piece of fishline. He still had the lantern with him. I don't know how much he relished his meal, but of course he had no choice; so, by the light of the lantern he ate his supper, such as it was.

Above, I fared somewhat better.

Sam was quite scared, and he remained squarely below the opening, which, by the way, was not over two feet in diameter. He had no desire whatsoever to take the lantern and go exploring by himself. I really do believe he meant it when he said he thought he was in there for good.

I didn't sleep much that night, and I don't think Sam slept at all. No matter how much I kept reassuring him that as soon as Brown returned from Carlsbad we would get him out, he still thought he'd never see the light of day again.

Early the next morning, before the sun was up, Sam was calling me and asking if Brown had returned. "Not yet," I replied, "but he will, probably some time before noon."

I, too, was getting a bit apprehensive, for I felt just a bit guilty about Sam's predicament, since I was the one who had persuaded him to go below—against his desire to do so. In order to slightly calm my nervous tension I decided to take a short walk around the area in hopes of making the time pass more quickly, for I now knew that I, too, would welcome Brown and the rope he would be bringing.

I didn't stray too far from our campsite and was looking around when low in the sky I noticed a large number of dark objects. They seemed to disappear on a hillside.

Curiosity got the better of me. Knowing there was nothing I could do until Brown returned, I decided to investigate.

As I came closer I noticed the dark objects were bats—thousands of them. They were, indeed, disappearing into the side of a hill—into an opening that was much larger than the one which at the moment was holding Sam Evans a prisoner.

Having spent the night in search of food, they were now returning at sunrise to spend the day in what appeared to be a huge cave.

I was almost awe-struck at the sight of so many of these little flying mammals, for I had never before seen anything like it in my life.

As the brightness of the dawn increased the stream of bats subsided, and in a short while only a few remaining stragglers were entering the mouth of their home.

Where could all of these bats go, I wondered. There must be an exceptionally large cave inside to hold so many of them.

I never have cared much for bats, but I was interested in seeing where they lived. As I approached closer the whole side of the hill seemed to open up. There, certainly, was an opening to something even larger inside.

Well, of course, I wanted to go in, right then, but I knew it would not be safe to go into such a strange place alone. I had no idea of what I might find, or what trouble I might encounter.

By this time the sun was well off the horizon and I thought perhaps I had better get back to Sam and console him lest he think I had deserted him. I looked up the old dirt road towards Carlsbad to see if I could see any signs of Brown returning, but all was quiet.

I reasoned he would spend the night in Carlsbad and get an early morning start for the return trip, which would get him here a little before noon or so.

"Sam," I called out, "how is everything down there?"

"Get me out," he pleaded. "I've had all I want of this. I'm never going into a cave again."

I was quite excited about the larger cave I had just discovered and, of course, I wanted to tell Sam all about it, but when he said he never wanted to go into a cave again, I figured maybe he was in no mood to listen, let alone share my enthusiasm.

The best plan, it seemed, was to get his mind off his predicament so I tried to get him to talk about other things. He kept talking about how dark and cold it was down there in the hole, and when would Brown come back so that he could get out and why was he so foolish as to listen to me in the first place.

All this time I was eager to return to the new, big cave where all the bats were, yet I didn't want to leave Sam alone any more as I could see he was getting madder all the time. So the morning dragged on for him and for me as well.

Every few minutes he would call out to me and ask me to look and see if there was any sign of Brown. I had to keep saying no, but to say anything else would have raised false hopes, and I just couldn't do that.

About noon I noticed a cloud of dust on the horizon in the direction of Carlsbad, and as I watched it I could see it was getting bigger. That meant Brown was almost here. When I told Sam, he suddenly came to life again. I guess he felt like the condemned man who has just received a pardon.

Brown had gotten the rope, and we made a ship's ladder for Sam. We quickly lowered it through the small opening in the ground, and I never saw a man climb a rope ladder so fast before. Sam was mighty glad to see the light of day again.

Now that this ordeal was over I couldn't contain myself any more. I had to tell Sam and Brown of my discovery, and I wanted them to explore it with me. Certainly there was adventure ahead.

3
A Business Venture Appears

"Early this morning," I began, "while waiting for you to return, Brown, I took a walk around and noted a lot of bats going into a large cave,—a really large cave. Let's go have a look at it."

Sam didn't need to say a word. I could tell from his expression and his disappointment that he had no desire to go into any more caves, even if the entrance was on the side of a hill where he could safely get out.

"Not me," he exclaimed in no uncertain terms. "Damn your cave. I'm going back to Carlsbad, and the quicker I get started, the better."

Sam would have it no other way, and since I felt partially responsible for his feeling the way he did, I decided to take him back to Carlsbad.

However, I couldn't get my mind off the new cave. I had to know what it was like inside. So, I made immediate arrangements to return.

I didn't want to go alone, so I inquired around and found two men who said they would be interested in going back with me and explore the cave.

The three of us set forth on the 28 mile journey to Donahue Springs, Andy Fairchild, a fellow I knew only as Lynn, and myself.

Andy Fairchild Jacob "Jake" Lynn

They kept asking me about the cave, and I told them all I knew about it, that thousands of bats apparently made it their home, and that the entrance was quite large. That was all I could tell them because I had returned with Sam and Brown without even looking inside.

When we arrived at the spot both Andy and Lynn were quite excited. The cave was deep enough so that a rope ladder would be necessary in order to reach the bottom. I had brought back the same rope ladder we had used to extricate poor Sam, so we didn't have to waste time making another.

We soon had it securely fastened outside the entrance and then I said, "Well Andy, would you like to go first?"

"Heck, no," he replied, backing away. "You just went into one cave and said it was an interesting experience. Why are you afraid to go into this one?"

For a moment I thought I had another Sam on my hands. Then I realized he was right, and also that I had instigated this cave hunting party, so why shouldn't I lead the way?

If I backed out now, there would be no cave exploration, so, without a further word being said, I began to lower myself into the mouth of the cave.

Down, down, down I went. As I looked up I could see two heads peering down at me. They both wanted to make sure I reached the bottom safely. A moment later my feet touched a pile of rock on the floor of the cave. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything except the dim outline of the nearest wall.

"How ya' coming?" Andy shouted down at me.

"I made it all right," I replied. "Come on down, and bring that torch that is in the back of the wagon. It's black as night down here."

Lynn ran to the wagon to get the torch as Andy prepared to come down the ladder. He came down more quickly than I did, probably because I had blazed the way and he knew it was safe.

Before I knew it, Lynn had entered the opening and was coming down the ladder. In my excitement I forgot to ask him to remain outside for safety's sake. If the rope ladder should slip or in any way become insecure, we could never have gotten out and would surely have died in the cave.

But my attention was certainly not on safety at that moment. I was much too excited about what we would find.

We lit the torch, but the cave was so large that the light of our one torch didn't help much.

Our first concern was whether or not a bear or some other wild beast might attack us. We searched the floor of the cave for tracks, but not a sign of man or beast did we see. The floor of the cave seemed devoid of any evidence of any walking creature having preceded us into this mammoth underground cavern.

Occasionally a bat would sail by, missing us by inches.

With the dim light of the torch we looked around and were struck speechless by the immensity of the great cave. We inched along over the floor of the cave which at times was rocky and difficult. We encountered large boulders and had to climb over them.

"What do you make of it?" asked Andy

"Biggest thing I ever saw underground," I answered. "Seems like we're suddenly in another world. Notice that peculiar odor?"

Lynn, who had been the most quiet of our trio, spoke up. "Animals of some kind," he said. "But I wouldn't know just what."

As we proceeded further the smell became stronger and more pronounced. Our caution increased, for I know all of us expected at any moment to see some animal lunge out at us. We kept our eyes open and, with the torch held above our heads, were able to see several feet ahead of us. Beyond that the outline of any object was too dim for us to definitely make out what it was.

The animal odor was getting stronger. We were definitely nearing something, but just what I didn't know. As a result of this uncertainty we slowed our pace, stopping every few feet to listen for any sound, yet nothing did we see or hear.

At any moment I was sure we would see two moving balls of light race toward us, which would indicate the eyes of some wild animal, but as we progressed further inside the cave our fears were unfounded.

Finally the smell became quite pronounced and at the same time we came upon huge mounds of something which was unlike the rest of the floor of the cave.

I glanced upward, and on the walls and ceiling of the cave I had the answer to the smell.

"Bats!" I exclaimed. "Millions of them. This is where they live. And those mounds beneath them are the result of their living here. Why, there's enough fertilizer there to ..."

I didn't finish the sentence. As far as the eye could see, which wasn't too far in that dim light, there were piles and piles of guano, which is the commercial name for fertilizer created by animals of this type.

Now our fears were ended, as we felt relatively safe from bats, even though there must have been millions right there over our heads. Now they were asleep, but shortly after sunset we knew they would suddenly come alive and head for the cave entrance, where they would fly off into the night in search of food.

By morning they would again form that black, funnel shaped cloud I had watched previously as they re-entered their home—a home that must have been theirs and theirs alone for countless centuries—if the huge piles of guano at our feet was any indication, and it surely must have been.

In places these piles of bat deposit reached almost to the top of the cave. Later we found that this guano reached almost a quarter of a mile in length and stretched some 75 feet in width. Some of the piles later proved to be over a hundred feet deep!

Even the crudest calculation would have shown that there was enough guano here to merit the cost and trouble of getting it out of the cave and selling it commercially. At that moment I decided to stake a mining claim on the cave.

We felt that for one day we had seen enough and were ready to head back to the entrance and call it a day. The bats were apparently the sole tenants of the cave, for we saw no evidence of any other living thing ever having invaded its dark, vast interior.

Lynn headed up the ladder first and I asked him to go to the wagon and get four small cloth sacks for me. When he dropped them through the opening, Andy and I went back to where the guano was and filled the sacks. I wanted to have the guano tested to make sure it was of good enough quality to make my contemplated mining operation worth while.

It would be silly to go to all the trouble of getting this guano to the surface and into Carlsbad, only to find that it was of inferior quality and not worth the cost and trouble of extracting it.

"How are you going to get this stuff up to the surface?" Andy asked as I was filling the sacks.

"By Ned, I don't know, but there's a way, and I'll find it."

As we wound our way back to the rope ladder, Andy and I each had two sacks of the guano, one in each hand. We made it up the ladder and out into the open again.

"Now I'm going to do something about marking this place, to show I've been here." A short distance from the entrance to the cave was a mescal pit, possibly left by Indians.

"Here, Andy, give me a hand," and with that we began gathering several large stones and placed them one on top of another until we had a pile some four or five feet high. This would have to serve as a marker until the claim could be completed.

"Well, what do you think, Lynn? Was it worth the trip?" I asked.

"Didn't know there were so many bats in the world," he replied.

"The size of that cave is unbelievable," was Andy's comment. "How big do you suppose that cave really is, anyhow?"

"That's anybody's guess. Maybe we saw it all today, and maybe we saw only a small part of it," was my humble answer.

"Bet that entrance is a busy place at sunrise and sunset," Lynn observed. It was clear to see he was more interested in the millions of bats than the size of the cave. "I'd like to get more torches and see more of that bat cave."

"Some day we will," I replied. "Right now we're heading back to Carlsbad. I'm not going to waste any time filing a mining claim."

And with that the three of us climbed aboard the wagon and headed down the hill.

4
The First Guano Is Mined

News spreads fast. Soon everyone in Carlsbad had heard about the big cave that Lynn, Andy and myself had been describing. Many of the people thought it was just a story we had cooked up and wouldn't believe us. Of course it was known there were caves in the Guadalupe Mountains in that area of the state, but no one thought the cave we described could be as large as we claimed it was.

My first job was to take care of my claim and I promptly attended to this important matter. I got the necessary papers in Carlsbad and returned as soon as I could to the big cave. I filled out one set of papers and placed them in the monument Andy and I had built. The duplicate set was taken back to Carlsbad and filed with the County Clerk.

Now everything was all set for me to begin operations. The guano, I learned, was commercially acceptable, which meant that I would have a market for the product, and that my time in bringing it out of the cave would not be wasted.

It took me several weeks to get all the details straightened out and find a crew of fellows who were interested in working on the job. It was more than simply going to the cave, taking out the guano, and hauling it back to Carlsbad.

Abijah Long's original claim to the Carlsbad Caverns

[Click here for original negative version.]

Amended Notice of "Big Cave" Mining Claim (Handwritten)

AMENDED NOTICE OF BIG CAVE PLACER MINING CLAIM

Notice is hereby given to all whom it may concern that A. Long, a citizen of the United States, over the age of twenty-one years, located what is called the "Big Cave" Placer Mining Claim which is hereinafter particularly described on the 28th day of March 1903 and thereafter to wit: on the 16th day of June A.D. 1903 filed the notice of the location for record in the office of the probate Clerk and office Recorder of Eddy County, New Mexico. Which notice was recorded in Book 1 of Records of Mining Claim at Page 149, and whereas, appears from said notice, as recorded, that the same is defective, in the fact that it fails to properly describe said Mining Claim as located. Now therefore for the purpose of amending and correcting, said location notice, I the said A. Long do hereby give notice that I located that certain Placer Mining Claim of ground in accordance with the Statutes of the United States, and the laws of the territory of New Mexico, the said 28th day of March 1903 in the County of Eddy, territory of New Mexico, which is by me called the "Big Cave" Mining Claim and which is particularly described by meets and bounds as follows, to wit: Beginning at a stone mound erected by me at a point about 20 feet west of the entrance to what is known as the Big Cave. Situated about in a Southerly course from Walnut Canyon and about one mile therefrom and about 25 miles in a southeasterly course from the town of Carlsbad, and about one mile in a southeasterly course from the Donahoe Springs, in the foothills of the Guadalupe mountains. From said stone mound, running north 300 feet to a stone mound, which is the northwest corner of the claim, running thence east 1500 feet to a stone mound, which is the northeast corner of said claim, thence South 600 feet to a stone mound, which is the southeast corner of said claim, thence running west 1500 feet to a stone mound, which is the southwest corner of said claim, thence north 300 feet to the place of beginning. Covering in all about 20 acres of land. Said claim contains valuable deposits of Petroleum, Oil Clay, Building Stone, Guano, Phosphates, and other kindred substances situate in the Eddy County Mining District. This amended notice is made by me this 19th day of November A.D. 1903.

ABIJAH LONG

Filed for record November 19th 1903 at 3:20 o'clock P.M.

W. R. OWEN, Probate Clerk and Recorder.
By N. CUNNINGHAM, Deputy.

Charles Hannsz
Supervisor of transporting guano to Carlsbad

Much work had to be done before we could even touch the guano. The road up the hill, if it could be called a road at that time, had to be cleared and widened and in places leveled because it was so steep.

I had hired eight or ten boys in Carlsbad to assist in this work, and it was all carried out under the supervision of my brother-in-law, Charlie Hannsz. It proved to be no easy task to remove the large boulders, dig up thickets of cactus and other desert shrubs, and make the roadway smooth enough to allow heavily loaded wagons to pass smoothly.

At best the road was not very satisfactory, but it was the best we could do, so we had to use it.

Now that the road was done, the next part of the operation could begin. Since the entrance to the big cave was some distance from where the guano was located, I tried to figure out some way of making that haul much shorter.

On one of my trips into Carlsbad for supplies I heard of a man by the name of Victor Queen who might fit into our company. As a result I looked him up, since I had heard he had had mining experience.

"Had any experience mining guano?" I asked him.

"No," Victor replied. "But it doesn't matter much what you take out of the ground—the problems are pretty much the same."

"Well," I explained, "we have to haul this guano quite a ways to the exit, and I think there must be a way to abolish all that trouble."

"Can't you sink a shaft right over where the guano is located?" he suggested.

Victor Queen J. H. Lockhart

"It might be a tough job to tunnel down," I mused.

"Just use a bit of dynamite," was Queen's solution.

"I've never used the stuff, and I sort of hesitate to experiment. What do you know about it?"

"Used it in Mexico quite a bit. Saves a lot of digging time, and there's no need for danger if a man knows what he's doing."

"Believe that might be our answer. How about joining us?"

Next day Victor Queen was deciding just where to dynamite a hole through to the guano. He was assisted in this powder work by Arthur Sinclair and Johnny Forehand. Among the others who were loyal workers were John Queen, Victor's brother, Wayne Crowder, and John Lockhart.

Blasting the hole proved to be no easy task, but eventually we achieved our goal. This first shaft was sunk in 1903, and it seemed then that the major part of our effort had been completed.

Getting to the guano was one thing, and getting it out was another. When we got the shaft sunk we found we would have to build a platform underneath in order to more easily raise the guano from the floor of the cave to the shaft entrance.

What appeared to be a simple job at the start proved to be rather difficult and perilous, but under the supervision of Johnny Forehand and Arthur Sinclair the platform was completed and it turned out to be a good job.

Once again it seemed that the actual mining of the guano could begin, but again we had miscalculated. Attaching a pulley and a rope to the top of the shaft, we lowered an iron bucket, shoveled it full of guano, and the first load came out.

At this rate it would take forever to get a pay load to Carlsbad. We had to find a faster method.

Wayne Crowder, Sr. John Queen J. F. Forehand

By this time my finances were dwindling fast, and in order to continue I found I was compelled to seek outside assistance. Many people hesitate to have anything to do with a mining operation, figuring there is too much risk to merit any financial backing. But with us the mine wasn't guesswork because we could see the guano and knew there were many tons of it waiting to be brought to the surface and shipped to San Francisco.

As a result, I soon made a contract with the Ramsy Brady Company of Carlsbad whereby they would assist financially in the backing of the undertaking in return for a half interest in the profits.

With that important detail out of the way I was ready once more to give my full attention to extracting the guano which had so far remained in the big cave in spite of all our endeavor.

Now we were ready to complete the final stage of our operation.

Since the iron bucket was much too slow, we decided some quicker means must be found. We held a consultation and several ideas were suggested. The best seemed to be to build a track out of 2×4 lumber and construct a small car or wagon to run on this track. Matt Ohnemus of Carlsbad was assigned to this job, and he built us a strong and sturdy car which I was sure would serve us well for a long time.

It was similar to the hand cars used on the railroad, except that we were forced to use wooden wheels, the iron variety not being obtainable.

Our system was now changed. We would scoop up the guano in shovels and place it in sacks. Eight or ten sacks could be loaded onto the car and hoisted to the surface.

The sacks, of course, were sewed across the top before being placed on the car. Johnny Forehand proved to be a master at sewing these sacks. He was fast and accurate, and many of the other fellows learned to speed up their sewing by watching Johnny.

I was really quite fortunate in having acquired such a fine bunch of fellows to work on the operation. They all seemed to adapt themselves quickly and well to any job assigned to them, and furthermore they seemed to take an interest in their work.

One of the big reasons for this was that all the men knew there wasn't too much work in that section of the state, and therefore they were eager to keep the jobs they had. Also, the cave seemed to possess a certain degree of mystery for the men and they felt a certain amount of daring and adventure connected with the whole operation.

Working with guano can't be classified as a glamorous operation. The very nature of the substance—bat deposit—has a rather disagreeable odor and it takes a while to get used to it. Also, there wasn't much circulation of air in the big cave with the result that the smell had been bottled up there for centuries and we were getting the full effect of it.

From time to time fellows would quit or leave for one reason or another, and whenever a new man started in he would comment on the odor, and then we were conscious of it, but otherwise we grew so accustomed to it that we didn't notice it.

The men were human, and just like men everywhere, I guess. They worked hard during the day, but during their off hours they liked to partake of the pleasures men normally like.

Of course we were 28 miles from Carlsbad, so the fellows couldn't go that far to spend their evenings. They were, therefore, forced to provide their own entertainment in our own camp.

Life in and around the big cave was never boring. There was something happening every minute. New men, it seemed, were the target for pranks, and my boys soon became adept at staging them!

5
Life at the Camp

New men were always nervous about going into the cave. A mine is one thing, but a cave! And people back in Carlsbad were continually enlarging their yarns about the adventures we were having in the "big cave" some 28 miles away. As a result, all new men who came to work had illusions about this mysterious cavity in the earth where bats dwelled by the millions.

The boys thought new men were fair game—for anything. Take for instance the time a new man came out to work at the cave and the boys decided to have some fun.

They asked the tenderfoot if he would go down into the cave for a shovel, and the man obeyed. As soon as he reached the bottom, a voice boomed out of the darkness: "What are you doing down here?"

The man, not knowing anyone else was underground at the time was so scared he could hardly talk. Finally he uttered, "Why, I have—a—well—I have come to get a—a shovel!"

"Now lookee here," boomed the voice again. "I've lived in this cave nigh on to 50 years, and now you guys think you're going to take it away from me. I'm going to kill you!" With that a gun fired at close range.

The new man, scared out of his wits, fairly flew up the ladder and headed for open country, as fast as his legs would carry him. As far as I know he is still running, for none of us ever saw him again.

Another time we had a young Mexican boy working in the cave sewing sacks. One day he got upset over something and suddenly decided to quit, saying, "Me voy, me voy!" (I am going, I am going.)

It was really nothing serious, and we pleaded with him, trying to explain to him that the matter was not important, that we liked him and wanted him to stay as we needed him. Furthermore, it wasn't easy to get men to remain at the cave.

Our pleadings were of no avail, for he started out and we couldn't stop him. He jumped on the car and began to pull the ropes and in that way propel himself to the top of the cave.

Ropes in those days were not too well made and they wore out fast. He didn't know, and, in fact, we didn't either, that the rope on the hoist was ready to snap.

Up he went, almost to the top, and then—snap. Down came car, Mexican boy and all, right smack into a waiting load of guano. He was covered from head to foot—just a leg sticking out.

He didn't move, and we were sure he had been killed. We started digging and soon uncovered a very much alive but very scared little fellow. The guano had cushioned the fall.

Apparently he thought we somehow caused the fall to prevent his escape, for he never tried to run away again, and soon became one of our best workers.

Incidents like this were not good for the morale of the men. The pranks, of course, were harmless as far as danger was concerned, but natural risks were always present.

Sometimes the pranks were meant to be harmless, and they were to the men, but it worked a hardship on us who managed the mine. I remember one day Victor Queen, who at that time was in charge of operations, had to go to Carlsbad for supplies.

"Johnny," he said to his brother, "I'm leaving you and Wayne Crowder in charge while I'm gone. Keep the men busy. I'll be back as soon as I can make it."

Wayne was a good worker and always reliable, but like lots of men he enjoyed a good laugh and often went to long ends to get it.

"Johnny," he said, "you engage the Mexicans in conversation. I'm going to fix up a ghost and we'll have a little fun with them."

While Johnny Queen was talking to the Mexican workers about everything he could think of, Wayne made a large paper man, then tied a string to it and dangled it from the roof of the cave in a dimly lit section which hadn't been explored too much.

The Mexicans were quite superstitious about the cave, and Wayne knew he would get quite a rise out of them when they saw this ghost-like figure rising out of the semi-darkness.

He didn't have long to wait. Signaling to Johnny that the scene had been set, the conversation stopped and the Mexicans were sent into the cave in the vicinity of where the ghost had been rigged.

Panic broke loose. Every Mexican in the group quit, scampering out of the cave and heading for Carlsbad. They were scared. But so were Johnny and Wayne. They knew how hard it was to get men to work in the cave and, with this mass exodus of workers, they would be in for a hard lecture from Victor when he returned and found what had happened.

They pleaded with the frightened men, but it was useless. They had seen that white figure with their own eyes. They had heard the cave was haunted; now they knew that what they had heard was true. Come back to work? Not in that cave! Some picked up their belongings, while the others were in too much of a hurry to get out of that section of the country.

When Victor returned and learned what had happened, he nearly fired John and Wayne on the spot. Needless to say, John and Wayne had learned their lesson, and they were much more careful about what they tried on the workers in the future.

On one occasion a man by the name of Priest came out from Carlsbad to see the cave and learn how guano was being taken out. The boys were always ready to oblige anyone like this, so they told him to get on the car and they would take him down.

The car hadn't gone very far when the steel cable on the drum slipped a bit and the car suddenly dropped about a foot.

Priest was so frightened he began to pray. The boys thought that was quite an incident, seeing a Priest pray on a cable car going after guano, and they always got a bang out of telling it.

That car contributed its share of incidents at the cave. One other time we had just received several hundred empty sacks and were preparing to send them below where the men could fill them with guano.

Generally the workers in the cave would walk the ladders when they wanted to go into the cave or come out. But this time there were three boys who decided they would get a free ride as long as the car was going anyway with the sacks. So they jumped on.

Sitting gaily on the sacks they appeared ready for a thrill, so they called out to the whim man, "Let 'er go!"

He did.

The boys were asking for a fast ride, so he decided to give it to them. He forgot to take into consideration that the weight of the several hundred sacks plus the weight of the three boys was too much for the car, and as it gained momentum in its downward plunge the brake gave way.

The car was now falling freely of its own weight, and in an instant would crash at the bottom, totally wrecking the car and possibly killing the three boys.

I happened to see the whole thing, being right there at the time, and before I could think what was happening I had instinctively grabbed a 4×4 timber close by and rammed it into the whim.

Smoke billowed from the 4×4 as it hit the whim. The car slowed up just as it hit the bottom.

From our position at the top of the shaft we couldn't tell how hard the car had landed, nor could we tell if anyone had been badly hurt.

Just as I was about to call down, I heard one of the boys call up, "Can't you take it a bit slower? We'd at least like to have a little conversation on our way down."

I knew from that jesting that there couldn't be too much damage, otherwise he couldn't joke about it. We soon learned that no damage had been done since I had injected the 4×4 into the whim just in time. There were a few bruises, but that was all.

Life at the cave was somewhat rugged at first because we didn't have many of the comforts of home. At first we would sleep in the wagons, then we brought out some canvas tents from Carlsbad and this made living much more comfortable.

As operations continued I had hoped to build some sort of small house and move my family out to be there with me. But my time was so busy in the early phases of the operation that I had little time to think of anything but getting the guano out of the ground.

Artist's conception of Long's move to Big Cave area.

After a while things became more or less routine and I could then think of some more permanent living quarters for myself and family. My brother-in-law, Charlie Hannsz, also had more spare time now that the roadwork was done and the initial construction chores had been completed.

Since he was a fine carpenter, I let him have the job of building more permanent living quarters.

We found the most satisfactory type of housing was what we called tent houses. These consisted of boxing plank for the floors, with the wood also extending about half way up the side or wall of the house. The upper half of the wall was canvas, as was the roof.

These houses were relatively easy to build, and served our purpose adequately. After the first house was completed, we built another for my father, A. B. Long, and my mother. Then we built another for Charlie Hannsz and his family, making a group of three houses.

My wife made our place quite comfortable inside. She was an immaculate housekeeper and she had the knack of knowing how to make our little tent house look like a home. I felt quite contented living there.

The food problem was a difficult one, for all our supplies had to be brought out from Carlsbad. At first my wife did all the cooking for the men, but this job soon became too much for her, especially as the operations at the cave grew and more men joined the force.

Eventually the men had to make other arrangements for their meals. Most of them did their own cooking, or they would divide up into small groups and take turns cooking for the rest. The Mexicans would cook their own meals off by themselves as they seemed to prefer a different menu from the rest of us.

This section of the state was good for cattle grazing and this was quite an industry in itself at the time. There was a man by the name of Simms who had quite a herd near the cave and sometimes during the night we could hear these animals near our camp.

One morning, as the boys were entering the cave to go to work, they discovered that one of the cows had fallen into the cave. In trying to reconstruct what had happened, it looked as though one cow had hooked another, causing one to fall into the cave.

Artist's sketch shows family cabins set up near cave's entrance.

The boys butchered the animal right there, carrying the cow out piece by piece. I have often wondered if Simms ever knew that we were enjoying fresh steaks from one of his herd!

Often on evenings or Sundays the boys would get together and hold what they called a Kangaroo Court, thus helping to pass the time away. First, they would select one of their number to serve as judge.

Then, from the group, one of the fellows would be selected for some misdeed he had committed while on the job that day. After the testimony was heard, his fellow workers, who served as an impromptu jury, would decide the verdict, which was most always "guilty," and the judge would impose the sentence, such as requiring the guilty culprit to take a small pail and a coal oil lantern and go back into the deep recesses of the cave alone and return with the pail full of water.