CARLSBAD CAVERNS, NEW MEXICO

WHILE I WAS WORKING AS AN ARCHAEOLOGIST AT SALMO RUINS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL I TRAVELED TO A NUMBER OF SITES AND NATIONAL PARKS IN NEW MEXICO. CARLSBAD CAVERNS IS AN UNIQUE CAVE IN THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF NEW MEXICO. IT IS AN AMAZING CAVE WHICH ACTUALLY INCLUDES 117 KNOWN CAVE. THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 400,000 BATS THAT LIVE IN THE CAVE. THEY ARE MEXICAN FREE-TAIL BATS. EACH EVENING THERE IS A SWARM OF BATS THAT LEAVE IN A FUNNEL SHAPED SWIRL TO FEED ON FLYING INSECTS. THEY FLY AROUND FOR SEVERAL HOURS AND ROOST IN THE CAVE DURING THE DAY.

THE PARK HAS BEEN THE HOME TO NATIVE AMERICANS 1400 YEARS AGO AND IT IS IN THE CHIHUAHUAN DESERT. THIS CAVE IS ONE OF OVER 300 LIMESTONE CAVES FORMED BY AN INLAND SEA 250 MILLION YEARS AGO. BY 1500S THE SPANISH CLAIMED THE SOUTHWEST UNTIL 1821 WHEN MEXICO REVOLTED AGAINST HER AND CLAIMED INDEPENDENCE. MEXICO FOUGHT WESTWARD AGAINST THE US IN THE LATE 1840S, AND LOST THE SOUTHWEST TO THE U.S. IN 1850 NEW MEXICO WAS CREATED AND THEN FOR THIRTY YEARS THERE WAS A CONFLICT AGAINST THE NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE GOVERNMENT. CARLSBAD WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1888, NEW MEXICO. DID NOT BECOME A STATE UNTIL 1912.

IN 1923 ROBERT HOLLEY OF THE LAND OFFICE SURVEYED AND MAPPED THE CAVERN, GUIDED BY JIM WRIGHT. THIS CAVE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED BY RAY DAVIS. THEY ESTABLISHED THIS CAVE AS A NATIONAL MONUMENT. IN 1924 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY EXTENSIVELY EXPLORED THE CAVERNS. IN 1925 A STAIRCASE TO THE NATURAL ENTRANCE TO BAT CAVE WAS INSTALLED SO THAT PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE TO USE A GUANO BUCKET TO ENTER THE CAVE. THEY HAD A PARK INTERPRETER GO THROUGH THE CAVERNS AND POINT OUT SPECIAL FEATURES AND TELL US ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE CAVE AND HOW THE BATS FEED.

IN 1937 JIM WHITE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THE CAVE BEGAN SELLING HIS BOOK IN THE VISITOR. IN 1963 THEY CONSTRUCTED A BAT FLIGHT AMPHITHEATRE AT THE NATIONAL ENTRANCE SO PEOPLE COULD SIT AND WATCH THE BATS LEAVE EVERY NIGHT.

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