{"id":473,"date":"2014-02-17T20:40:14","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T01:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mattsteffen.com\/?p=473"},"modified":"2016-10-20T16:25:39","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T20:25:39","slug":"chasing-floyd-collins-ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattsteffen.com\/chasing-floyd-collins-ghost\/","title":{"rendered":"chasing floyd collins’ ghost"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"floyd<\/a>We would take a lot of family roadtrips around Kentucky as kids, one of my favorites was the trip to Mammoth Cave. \u00a0With over 400 miles of explored cave (and more added every year) it’s twice as big as the next largest. \u00a0The road leading into the park from neighboring Cave City is littered with roadside oddities, fun houses, go-kart tracks and souvenir shops. \u00a0It’s the kind of thing kids go crazy for, and I seem to have never grown out of. \u00a0It was here that 7 year old me first heard the story of Floyd Collins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Floyd grew up on Mammoth Cave’s neighboring Flint Ridge long before the National Parks service swallowed everything up. \u00a0Before there was Yellowstone or Yosemite to attract throngs of tourists, there was a string of privately owned, self explored caves in western Kentucky. \u00a0Family members would line the road side, flagging down cars trying to convince motorists that their cave was\u00a0the biggest, closest, most spectacular in the region. \u00a0It was a high stakes, cut throat game with families’ livelihoods on the line.<\/p>\n

Floyd was one of the best known cavers in the area. \u00a0He grew up in the caverns underneath the family’s farm and preferred it to most anything. \u00a0With investors acquiring the larger caves and using their wealth and influence to push the railroad and road building to their cave’s front door, making a living off the smaller, more remote caves became difficult. \u00a0Floyd believed that these smaller remote caves all linked into the larger system and he could bypass the main entrance, he just had to find the passage.<\/p>\n

\"floyd<\/a>In 1925 while exploring the newly discovered Sand Cave just before the parks main entrance, Floyd Collins found himself in bad spot. \u00a0100 or so feet under the surface, in a tight passage, Floyd knocked over his lamp and found himself navigating in complete darkness by memory. \u00a0Accidentally dislodging an overhead rock, his leg became\u00a0pinned to the ground and his arms were wedged to his sides. \u00a0Floyd was trapped.<\/p>\n

Family and neighbors began looking for Floyd when they realized he had not come home the previous night. \u00a0Word spread and people from all over began to congregate at the opening of Sand Cave. \u00a0 Radio newscasts were a new invention and broadcasters were reporting live from the scene. \u00a0Everyone was suddenly able to share in the tragedy of Floyd’s circumstance. \u00a0They tried to pull him out with ropes only further injuring him. \u00a0A larger collapse then occurred from the drilling of a parallel shaft. \u00a014 days after Floyd was first discovered missing, he succumbed to exposure, thirst and starvation. \u00a0It took another 2 months to recover his body.<\/p>\n

\"floyd<\/a>The story only gets more bizarre from here. \u00a0Check out Murray and Brucker’s “Trapped! \u00a0The Story of Floyd Collins<\/a>” for a riveting account of the tale. \u00a0It took only the first 5 pages for me to know with certainty that cave exploration will not be making my list of things to do. \u00a0This weekend I drove down to Cave City, KY and walked around in the woods looking for what was left of the history. \u00a0The trail back to Sand Cave is now wheelchair accessible and has interactive signage explaining the ordeal. \u00a0Tucked away off the beaten path is Floyd’s home and ticketing office that lead to the Collins’ money maker “Crystal Cave”. \u00a0The Mammoth Cave Baptist Church still stands next to the graveyard where Floyd’s body would eventually be laid to rest. \u00a0If you dig enough, there are always some strange, dark tales behind what appears to be a happy family vacation spot.<\/p>\n

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