No scholarly research has been expended in this project. A number of old photographs have been uncovered, and thanks to the technology of stereo photography a number of positive identifications have been made. At present it is the only information available on areas not covered by Horn and Owen. McDonald, is probably the standard work on the subject, at least historically. The present tour routes were used then, and it is possible to start at the entrance and follow each guide step by step through the cave.Īlthough somewhat more vague in terms of locations, The Private Account of A.F.
Horn, 1901 each contain sections on the cave written in guide book form. Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills, Luella Agnes Owen, 1898 and Mazes and Marvels of Wind Cave, Edward C. This period produced a variety of literature that reveals a number of reliable clues for identification of these places. Through lack of use, the location and origin of many of these names have been forgotten. This is a distinct contrast with the old names in Carlsbad Caverns, NM, which with few exceptions are local, based on American Indian mythology. These names represent visitors from all walks of life (e.g., Old Fellows Hall, Tabernacle, Bishop Fowler's Retreat, Dante's Inferno, Milton's Study, Chopin's Nocturne) from the four corners of the Earth (e.g., Scenes of Wicklow, World's Fairground, New York Elevated Railroad, Union College) as well as the realism and humor the difficult places generated (e.g., Cliff Climber's Delight, Fat Woman's Misery, Ghost of She, Hard Scramble, Bridge of Sighs).
Everything was named, and little effort was spared toward variety and imagination. No better is this expressed than in the names given to places and things in the cave. Most famous was Mammoth Cave, Ky., and Wind Cave took pride in being able to offer substantial competition. But the few that were represented the ultimate in romance, mystery, beauty and adventure. There were few caves known at that time even fewer developed for tours. It could not have occurred at a more opportune time, for it was destined to become an integral part of the mainstream of this unique phase of growth. It was in this fertile environment that Wind Cave was "born". Few frontiers have ever experienced this trend toward tourism coincident with their growth. Not only was the region attracting miners and other commercial interest, but it was also luring tourists, visitors who would partake of its beauty and adventure. This growth, however, expressed itself in a most unusual channel.
This was wild country in those years, but there was the spirit of growth characteristic of any frontier. Although situated in the midst of a "civilized" country, it was among the last geographical frontiers on the American continent outside of Alaska. The circumstances surrounding the settlement and development of the Black Hills region results in an unusual course of events.
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