The Big Cave / Early History and Authentic Facts Concerning the History and Discovery of the World Famous Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico

After the guano operation had been going on for some time I could see that it wasn't turning out to be as profitable as I had originally thought it would be. With the vast quantity of guano under ground, and with our efficient method of extracting it, I wasn't able to realize what I felt was a sizeable profit from the time and effort involved.

Of course there were lots of factors that entered into the operation which do not meet the eye. For instance, when the guano was brought to the surface it was filled with moisture, and I was paying the freight charges to San Francisco by the ton.

Yet when the guano arrived in San Francisco, the Hawaiian Fertilizer Company would pay only for guano that was dry. So, when I found I was paying freight on unwanted moisture, I stopped that in a hurry.

I built a series of drying racks or platforms in the western section of Carlsbad and let the guano remain there until it had dried out. This kept a pay load from reaching market and was one more operation which ate into the profits.

The freight to San Francisco at that time cost me $9 per ton. The guano was $2.25 per unit, $1 for phosphoric acid, and $1 for potash per ton.

One answer would have been to find a closer market, as that would have cut down the high cost of freighting, but there was no other market, so we were forced to continue sending the guano to San Francisco.

With some products the manufacturer sets his price, based on cost of production, but with us we had to accept the market price at the time, or else not operate.

When these problems were becoming more complex and I couldn't see any good solution, a man by the name of Patterson who lived in Carlsbad offered me $500 cash for my equipment and the work I had done at the Big Cave. I immediately accepted his offer.

And then, what did he do but turn right around and hire me as foreman! So, for some time after that I continued the operations at the cave, but of course not as owner.

It seemed as though the extraction of the guano was not intended to be a paying proposition, for the Big Cave changed hands many times after that.

Little did any of us know then that the Big Cave, known in later years as the Bat Cave, would some day be worth millions as a sight-seeing attraction and would completely dwarf the income derived from the guano operations.

Of course that eventually came about, beginning in 1923. President Coolidge proclaimed the area Carlsbad Cave National Monument in October of that year, and a great amount of publicity during the years that followed prompted thousands of tourists from all over the world to come to see what some writers have termed "The Eighth Wonder of the World."

Former Owners of Carlsbad Caverns

1905—Santa Fe Railroad. (Owned east portion over Bat Cave. 40 acres.)
1906—C. F. Hagan sells one half to H. F. Patterson of Carlsbad.
March 26, 1906—T. W. Teague of El Paso.
April 19, 1906—The El Paso Guano Fertilizer Company.
April 21, 1908—G. M. Cooke.
September 12, 1909—J. D. Lanford sells to Carlsbad Guano Fertilizer Co.

T. A. Blakely held a patent to the east wing of the Carlsbad Cave, where the guano beds were worked extensively. In 1942 the Government purchased this tract from Mr. Blakely.

Well, that's my story! That's how it all began. I'm glad to see that the Federal Government has taken over supervision of the Big Cave and has made it available to people from every land in order that they might enjoy its unsurpassed beauty which first greeted us 'guano miners' back in 1903. It is gratifying to me to have been a small part of the early history of the Big Cave, now more appropriately called "Carlsbad Caverns" and known all over the world.

I am also grateful for the privilege of having known and worked with these men, many of whom grew with Carlsbad and turned out to be prominent citizens of the community.

Times may change, but the great caverns will remain for countless centuries to come, just as they have been for years without number. Now, in the hands of the government, their preservation is assured, so that your children and my children and their children after them will be able to witness, unmarred and unchanged, these wonders of God's handiwork.

And you'll be thrilled just as we were, when you see them for the first time, and you'll marvel, as we did, that anything in the world could exist, so strange, so large, so utterly beyond description.

Man may build his temples and his shrines, but as you stand there, a mere midget in any of the several mammoth rooms, you will feel a certain humbleness come over you, and you cannot help but feel closer to your God.