CHAPTER 1 

 Location and General Features of the Cavern 



In the Pecos River Valley of southeastern New 

 Mexico, some twenty-six miles southwest of Carlsbad 

 and half as far from the Texas line, lies the most exten- 

 sive and spectacular cavern yet discovered in America, 

 if not in the world. Set in the foothills of the Guada- 

 lupe Mountains and the heart of the desert, its appeal- 

 ing interests have already attracted from all over the 

 country thousands of visitors whose numbers are ever 

 increasing with better roads and improved means of 

 access. 



The cave may be reached from the east by the Santa 

 Fe railroad to Carlsbad, or from the west by the 

 Southern Pacific to El Paso, or the Texas and Pacific 

 to Van Horn, Texas. The only automobile roads now 

 available are from Carlsbad, Pecos, Van Horn, El 

 Paso, Tularosa, and Roswell, but these conditions will 

 not long persist. With the Painted Caves at the mouth 

 of the Pecos and the Grand Canyon of the Rio Grande 

 near Presidio del Norte on the south, the Painted Desert 

 and Grand Canyon of Arizona on the west, and the 

 series of national parks,- — Rocky Mountain, Yellow- 

 stone, and Glacier,- — on the north, the scenic roads of 

 the future will not for long ignore this subterranean 

 wonderland. 



Before reaching the cave from any of the ordinary 

 lines of travel, a long ride over level stretches of desert 



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