1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE; 



144^ 



MORE ABOUT THE WIND CAVE OF THE 

 BLACK HILLS, SOUTH DAKOTA. 



I forgot to say in my last that Minnekatah 

 is the name given by the tribe of Sioux In- 

 dians, meaning hot water — minne, water, 

 and katah, hot; and the Indians had the 

 same opinion that the white people have 

 now, that these hot springs possess rare med- 

 ical qualities right from the hand of the 

 great Father direct. A great battle was 

 fought between the Sioux and the Cheyennes 

 for these same hot springs; and Battle 

 Mountain, the highest peak in the Black 

 Hills, was where this battle took place. This 

 mountain is plainly visible all along the 

 route from Hot Springs to the cave. Of the 

 100 miles that have been explored already, 

 less than a dozen miles have been mapped 

 out by the guides and fitted so that visitors 

 can get through comfortably. Of the 3000 

 chambers, the largest one, called the Faii*- 

 grounds, is said to cover three acres. I con- 

 fess that, when I looked over the Fairgrounds, 

 even with the help of the magnesium lights, 

 it did not seem to me as if there was more 

 than .one acre; but, of course, there have to 

 be supports for the rocky roof at intervals, 

 not far apart, or the whole of it might come 

 down. The largest room in Mammoth Cave 

 is said to be only two acres.* The reason 

 why visitors are not conducted over more 

 of the 100 miles is the expense of fitting up 

 paths and passageways so one can get 

 through comfortably. The cave seems to 

 have been formed by paralleling crevices or 

 fissures side by side, running up and down, 

 with but little regularity. Now, besides up- 

 and-down crevices there are eight tiei's of 

 chambers, one above the other; and the wa- 

 ter rushing through these crevices, and eigbt 

 stories, through ages, has worn off the sharp 

 corners, forming the strange figures that now 

 impress the traveler. It seems to lie much 

 like the galleries in an ant-hill; or, if you have 

 never seen a torn-down or partially torn-down 

 ant-hill you might liken it to an enormous 

 sponge. Wind Cave is unlike Mammoth Cave 

 in its decorations, in several respects. First is 

 the curious box work seen almost all through 

 the cave. It resembles a good deal the box 

 work in a postoffice or secretary. This queer 

 formation is supposed to have been brought 



*This great chamber was discovered by George 

 Stabler, in 1892. One stormy day, when no vi.sitors 

 were expected, this guide, with a little exploring 

 party, started out with a large ball of twine, fastening 

 the end where it had already been explored. Before 

 they reached the end of the ball they came to this 

 great underground cavern. At one point an elephant's 

 foot sticks down through the ceiling as if the great 

 beast had broken through. 



about something like this: This rock or min- 

 eral, by the action of water or something 

 else, cracked to pieces so as to form cubes. 

 These cracks separated enough to let in wa- 

 ter with highly charged minerals. These 

 minerals were deposited, and finally became 

 petrifactions, hard and shiny like agate. 

 Well, some different kind of water must at 

 some later time have dissolved and washed 

 out the rock, leaving this agate petrifaction 

 sticking out like the cells of a honey-comb, 

 except that the cells are squai'e instead of 

 being six-sided. This box formation is found 

 almost all through the cave. Some of the 

 boxes are just about as large as those in a 

 common secretary for filing away letters. 

 Others are large enough to make a good-siz- 

 ed book-case. Some of them stand horizon- 

 tally, so they might held books or letters, 

 while others look straight down on you from 

 the ceiling overhead. Then there is another 

 formation all through the cave, which looks 

 like popcorn. I forgot to say this box work 

 is many times almost transparent, and at 

 other times it is shaded or decorated with 

 different colors or shining crystals. The 

 nucleus of the box work is said to be dolo- 

 mite. As you go down into the ground, as 

 in Mammoth Cave the air becomes warmer: 

 but here we have to go down 500 feet to find 

 a change of temperature of only one degree. 

 I am told that people afflicted with asthma 

 recover instantly on going down into the 

 cave. The air is said to be more highly 

 charged with oxygen, like that in Mammoth 

 Cave, than that outdoors. I know this: That, 

 although I was not feeling at all well at the 

 time, I made the trip (lasting about three 

 hours ) w ithout the least bit of fatigue. I think 

 we sat down and rested only once. Everybody 

 who goes into the cave is required to give 

 his name and residence, on a book. This is 

 done in order to make sure nobody is lost by 

 accident. So far every one who' has eveV 

 gone down into the cave has come out all 

 right. The government does not allow any 

 intoxicating liquor to be sold within twelve 

 miles of the entrance. Hurrah for Uncle 

 Sam! We hope he will keep that up, and 

 keep going a little further. There is no ne- 

 cessity whatever for any artificial stimulant 

 in making the longest trip through the cave. 



There are about a hundred different and 

 named curiosities there, connected with some 

 fact in history. I can mention only a few 

 of them. The Bride's Chamber is one of the 

 first, 155 feet from the mouth. A young 

 couple wanted to get married, but the girl's 

 parents objected; but she finally promised 

 her mother that she would not 'marry any 

 man on the face of the earth, without the 

 mother's permission. You see this did not 

 include the underground cavern. 



When I gave a description of Mammoth 

 Cave in Gleanings for May, 1885, I men- 

 tioned there a Bride's Chamber story almost 

 exactly like the above. Our guides, however, 

 were so positive that a couple did get mar- 

 ried in Wind Cave, as I narrated, that I 

 think both stories are likely true. This 

 young couple who were married in Wind 



