Collins' initial venture and entrapment

Sand Cave at Mammoth Cave National Park

Collins hoped to find either another entrance to the Mammoth Cave or an unknown cave along the road to Mammoth Cave in order to draw more visitors and reap greater profits. He made an agreement with three farmers who owned land closer to the main highway. If he found a cave, they would form a business partnership and share in the responsibilities of operating the ensuing tourist attraction. Working alone, Collins explored and expanded a hole within three weeks that would later be called "Sand Cave" by the news media. Collins managed to squeeze through several narrow passageways, one of which was reported as being no larger than 9" tall, and claimed he had discovered a large grotto chamber, though its existence was never verified. He worked on creating a more practical entrance to the grotto for several hours a day and weeks on end in order to make it more accessible to tourists. On January 30, 1925, after several hours of work, his gas lamp began to dim. He attempted to leave the passage quickly, before losing all light to the chamber, but became trapped in a small passage on his way out. Collins accidentally knocked over his lamp, putting out the light, leading to misplacement of his foot on what seemed to be a stable wall of the cave. The passage shifted, and he was caught by a 26.5-pound (12.0 kg) rock that fell from the cave ceiling, pinning his left leg; additionally, torrents of loose gravel fell and completely buried his body. He was trapped 150 feet (46 m) from the entrance.

Discovery and rescue efforts

Neighbors began to worry for Floyd the next day, and sought out to find him. Though none of them were brave enough to take on the smaller passages it took to reach Collins, they were able to get close enough to communicate with him and learn he was trapped. His younger brother Homer was soon phoned to the scene, and was the only person able to make it through the small passages to get to Floyd before reporter Skeets Miller, Lieutenant Robert Burdon of the Louisville Fire Department, and family friend Johnnie Gerald crossed the boundary in the coming days. Homer brought Floyd food and liquids to retain his energy, and many ideas were thought up by locals and tourists alike as techniques to get Floyd out of the cave. On February 2, 1925, a plan was devised to hoist Collins from the cave using a harness, rope, and the strength of multiple men. This attempt failed and it injured Collins, pulling his torso directly upwards and against the ceiling of rock above him. Rescuers ultimately decided the best way to get him out was to dig out each rock that surrounded him and leverage the large rock off his foot.

Eventually, an electric light was run down the passage to provide him lighting and some warmth. Due to the attention the disaster gained, hundreds of inexperienced cave explorers and tourists stood outside the mouth of the cave. The cool winter air caused them to light campfires that disrupted the natural ice within Sand Cave, causing it to melt and create puddles of cool water; one of which Floyd himself lay in. On February 4, the cave passage collapsed in two places due to the ice melting. Attempts were made to dig the passages that led to Floyd back out, but rescue leaders, led by Henry St. George Tucker Carmichael, determined the cave impassable and too dangerous, which brought the decision to dig a shaft straight down to reach the chamber behind Collins.^[10] Collins survived for more than a week while rescue efforts were organized. The cave drew air inward, meaning no engineered equipment could be used to dig into the cave, as the fumes would suffocate Collins in the process. A 55-foot (17 m) shaft would have to be dug downwards with nothing but pickaxes and shovels. It was estimated that the team of 75 volunteer workers would be able to dig this shaft within 30 hours, at a rate of 2 feet (0.61 m) per hour. The first ton of dirt moved efficiently, though around 10 feet (3.0 m), the shaft became so narrow only two men could work at a time. By 15 feet (4.6 m), workers hit boulders under the surface and began to use pickaxes. A series of pulley systems were used to remove rocks from the hole, but the pace of work slowed as they dug nearer to Collins. A radio amplifier had been jerry-rigged to the copper wire that connected Collins's light bulb. A scientist believed the amplifier could detect vibrations whenever Collins moved. The amplifier crackled 20 times every minute, a hopeful sign that Collins might be breathing.

Collins' death

On February 11, 1925, tests showed that Collins' light bulb had gone out, meaning there was no way to tell if he was still alive. The 55-foot (17 m) shaft and subsequent lateral tunnel intersected the cave just above Collins, but when he was finally reached on Monday, February 16, by miner Ed Brenner, he was "cold and apparently dead."^[11][6] Having been appointed as the members of a coroner's jury, Floyd's friend, Johnnie Gerald, and a few other acquaintances of Floyd were allowed to go into the lateral tunnel and positively identify the body. Dr. William Hazlett and Captain C.E. Francis, a National Guard medical officer, were then unsuccessful in an attempt to reach the body, but Brenner went in front of them to the body and was able to follow their examination instructions for the official death declaration to be made.^[11] It was estimated Floyd had been dead for three to five days,^[6] with February 13 being the most likely date of death.^[12]

Media attention

NPS marker describing Carnival Sunday and indicating the location of the barbed wire barrier constructed to keep people away from Sand Cave during the attempted rescue of Floyd Collins.

Newspaper reporter William Burke "Skeets" Miller from The Courier-Journal in Louisville reported on the rescue efforts from the scene. Miller, of small stature, was able to remove a lot of earth from around Collins. He also interviewed Collins in the cave, receiving a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage^[13] and playing a part in Collins' attempted rescue. Miller's reports were distributed by telegraph and were printed by newspapers across the country and abroad, and the rescue attempts were followed by regular news bulletins on the new medium of broadcast radio (the first broadcast radio station KDKA having been established in 1920). Shortly after the media arrived, the publicity drew crowds of tourists to the site, at one point numbering in the tens of thousands. Collins' neighbors sold hamburgers for 25 cents. Other vendors set up stands to sell food and souvenirs, creating a circus-like atmosphere. The Sand Cave rescue attempt grew to become the third-biggest media event between the world wars. (The biggest media events of that time both involved Charles Lindbergh—the trans-Atlantic flight and his son's kidnapping—and Lindbergh actually had a minor role in the Sand Cave rescue, too, having been hired to fly photographic negatives from the scene for a newspaper.)^[13] Since the nearest telegraph station was in Cave City, some miles from the cave, two amateur radio operators with the callsigns 9BRK and 9CHG provided the link to pass messages to the authorities and the press.^[14]

Burials and exhibition of body

Floyd Collins' final grave, with epitaph

Mammoth Cave Baptist Church, established in 1827 - the cemetery to the left of the church is the burial ground of famed cavers Edmund Turner and Floyd Collins.

With Collins's body remaining in the cave, funeral services were held on the surface. Homer Collins was not pleased with Sand Cave as his brother's grave, and two months later, he and some friends reopened the shaft. They dug a new tunnel to the opposite side of the cave passage and recovered Floyd Collins' remains on April 23, 1925.^[13] The body was taken that day to Cave City for embalming at J.T. Geralds and Brothers funeral home. Following a 2-day visitation at the funeral home, on April 26, 1925, his body was transported to the Collins family farm^[6] and buried on the hillside over Great Crystal Cave,^[15] which Lee Collins renamed "Floyd Collins' Crystal Cave." In 1927, Lee Collins sold the homestead and cave to Dr. Harry Thomas, dentist and owner of Mammoth Onyx Cave and Hidden River Cave.^[6] The new owner placed Collins' body in a glass-topped coffin and exhibited it in Crystal Cave for many years.^[13][16] On the night of March 18–19, 1929, the body was stolen. The body was later recovered, having been found in a nearby field, but the injured left leg was missing.^[13][16] After this desecration, the remains were kept in a secluded portion of Crystal Cave in a chained casket. In 1961, Crystal Cave was purchased by Mammoth Cave National Park and closed to the public.^[16] The Collins family had objected to Collins' body being displayed in the cave and, at their request, the National Park Service re-interred him at Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky in 1989.^[13][16] It took a team of 15 men three days to remove the casket and tombstone from the cave.

Works cited