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.
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.
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.
"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!