FORESTRY. 



EDITED BY DR B. E. FERNOW. 



It takes 30 year*- to grow a tree and 30 minutes to cut it down and destroy it. 



WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK. 



H M. R1SELKY. 



Wind Cave National Park, near Hot 

 Springs, South Dakota, is the most recent 

 Western wonder of interest to tourists in. 

 that wild and rugged country. The bill 

 establishing this park, which was recently 

 passed by Congress, sets aside about 9,000 

 acres of land in the Black hills district of 

 South Dakota, and confers jurisdiction of 

 the same on the Secretary of the Interior, 

 with full power to lease the big cavern 

 underlying a part of the lands ; also to lease 

 portions of the lands on which buildings 

 may be erected for the accommodation of 

 visitors. Homesteaders who have acquired 

 rights in this tract of land, are to be al- 

 lowed to select other lands in lieu thereof, 

 within the boundary of the State. The pro- 

 ceeds arising from the leasing of the cave 

 and surrounding tracts are to be paid into 

 the Treasury, and it is the intention of the 

 Interior Department to use this fund in 

 beautifying and improving the park. 



These lands are of the same nature as 

 those in the Yellowstone National Park, 

 except that the geysers which produced the 

 wonderful cavern underlying a large part 

 of the Wind Cave National Park have be- 

 come extinct. By constructing a dam 

 across one of the canyons near the cave, an 

 artificial lake can be formed, which in it- 

 self will not only aid in making the place 

 attractive, but will afford ample water pow- 

 er for an electric lighting plant to illu- 

 minate the cave. . 



The Wind cave was first discovered in 

 1877, by an old character named "Lame 

 Johnny." Johnny was one of the many 

 who, in the early days of the Black hills, 

 got their living by holding up the Dead- 

 wood-Cheyenne stage coach. He was after- 

 ward invited to a necktie party one night, 

 and never lived to contest the claim of his 

 priority to the discovery of the cave. In 

 1884, while a cowboy was riding through 

 the gulch his horse became frightened, and, 

 stopping to learn the cause, the cowboy dis- 

 covered an oval shaped hole, 8x10 inches, m 

 the bottom of the gulch, through which the 

 wind was rushing with great force. Be- 

 cause of this • peculiarity the cave was 

 named Wind cave.. The hole was blasted 

 out large enough to permit entrance to the 

 single chamber, and there the development 

 of the cave rested until 1890, when parties 

 located the ground as mineral claims. Men 

 were put to work exploring and blasting 

 out other chambers until, at the present 



time, fully 100 miles of passages have been 

 opened up and 3,000 chambers, varying in 

 size from 12 x 12 feet to over 3 acres, have 

 been discovered. 



There are 14 different routes in the cave, 

 but only 3 have so far been opened to the 

 public, at an expense of $25,000 ; the Garden 

 of Eden, the Fair Grounds and the Pearly 

 Gates. The thousands of persons who have 

 come from all parts of the world to see 

 this wonder pronounce it unlike anything 

 else on the globe, differing in formation 

 and scenery from all other caves. Geolo- 

 gists claim it to be an extinct geyser; and 

 Professor Merrill, of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, claims that the formation is un- 

 known. There being no geological names 

 for these formations, the guides have 

 named them boxwood, popcorn and frost- 

 work. Wind cave also contains the form- 

 ations of other caves, such as stalactites, 

 stalagmites, geodes, quartz and calcite crys- 

 tals, and mineral-bearing rock. The cave 

 is formed of fissures, or crevices, running 

 parallel to each other, 50 to 300 feet apart, 

 and connected by side passages. It has 

 been aptly likened to a sponge. There are 

 8 different tiers of chambers overlying one 

 another, some of which are large enough 

 to enclose the Congressional Library at 

 Washington, and most artistically deco- 

 rated with ferns, grasses and feathers of 

 pure white lime and gypsum, studded with 

 glistening crystals of the same formation. 

 The cavern known as the Fair Grounds is 

 a good illustration of this. It covers more 

 than an acre of space and is about 40 feet 

 from floor to ceiling. 



In the first of the above mentioned 8 tiers 

 of chambers is found the water formation, 

 beautiful, clear stalactites, or icicles, hang- 

 ing from the ceiling, and some connecting 

 with the stalagmites on the floor. The 2d 

 tier is the frostwork, a bank of snow, 

 composed of tiny, fine, needle-like crystals 

 of the purest white, 54 °f an i ncn to 2 

 . inches deep. The 3d tier is the delicate 

 boxwork, the prevailing formation of the 

 cave. In the 4th tier the boxwork is heav- 

 ier and of transparent color. The 5th is 

 the popcorn formation. In the 6th and 7th 

 tiers, the boxwork is still heavier, with 

 geodes and all colors of crystals ; and in the 

 8th tier, which is 500 feet below the en- 

 trance, the formation is heavier than any- 

 thing seen before, is indigo blue in color, 

 and dazzling to the eyes. 



The cave is perfectly dry and the air 

 pure, sweet and invigorating, especially to 



226 



