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Colossal Cave is a large
cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
system in southeastern
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, United States, near the community of
Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numer ...
, about southeast of
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
. It contains about of mapped passageways. Temperatures inside average year-round. Previous names include 'Mountain Springs Cave' and 'Five–Mile Cave'. The cave is an ancient
karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
cave, classified as "dry" by guides (though this is not a speleologic term). The meaning of this is that its formations are completely dry, or "dead", and do not grow. This is because the cave was formed by water depositing limestone, but this source has disappeared. It instead feeds the "active" nearby ''Arkenstone Cave'' that continues to grow formations. Colossal Cave was used from 900 to 1450 AD by the
Hohokam Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...
,
Sobaipuri The Sobaipuri were one of many indigenous groups occupying Sonora and what is now Arizona at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman or O'odham group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora (the Pimer ...
, and
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
Indians.


Early History of Colossal Cave and the Mountain Springs Ranch

According to David Leighton, historian for the
Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...
newspaper, in 1876, a man named Sidney H. Ramsey, a native of Louisiana, was owner of the Mountain Springs Station, a stage stop approximately 22 miles east of
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
, in the foothills of the
Rincon Mountains The Rincon Mountains (O'odham: Cew Doʼag) are a significant mountain range east of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, in the United States. The Rincon Mountains are one of five mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson valley. The other ranges include ...
. This station was likely of recent construction because it was along a new road from Tucson to Tres Alamos, a farming community in the San Pedro Valley. The station was "abundantly supplied with water by a living spring and stream of delicious water and excellent grass and plenty of wood for campers are all about." It also provided "first-rate meals prepared to order...and (was) always supplied with hay and grain." Within a couple years, E.H. “Hank” Bridwell had taken over the Mountain Springs Ranch, which now included the Mountain Springs Hotel and Mountain Springs Station. Around 1879, Solomon Lick a former Union soldier and a partner took over the ranch. They advertised it as “The finest summer resort for families and winter resort for hunters and sportsmen in southern Arizona…Mineral springs are nearby and special accommodations are provided for families, there being six excellent rooms, well furnished.” The ranch's dairy provided fresh milk, butter and eggs for the guests. In January 1879, Lick along with a few companions came across what was believed to be either an old mine or cave with Lick and party exploring this large cavity for about 500 feet from the entrance. Soon after, an exploration team, guided by candles placed in a small board, visited the cave, with the local newspaper reporting what they had discovered: “An arched entrance three feet wide and four feet high…At the mouth of the cave the air was terribly foul…discovered to be from the large deposits of bat excrement all through the cave…The finding of ashes and other indications of fire, evidently very old..(and) no doubt one of the haunts and resting places of the Apaches…Bones of all kinds lay scattered around, no less than 500 deer antlers being seen and other evidences of life destruction and feasting…They brought out with them many beautiful specimens of stalactites and some fine deer antlers which they brought with them to the city.” In 1884, the local paper reported that “The Mountain Springs Cave” was still for the most part unexplored and that the greatest distance that had been explored up to this point was a half a mile. A few years later, this underground chamber is believed to have been used as a hideout by train robbers who held up the Southern Pacific Express, Train Number 20 on two different occasions. On the first heist the men made off with $3,000 in currency and the second time with gold and silver Mexican dollars. By 1890, William Shaw had taken over the Mountain Springs Ranch and that year, along with soldiers from
Fort Lowell Fort Lowell was a United States Army post active from 1873 to 1891 on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. Fort Lowell was the successor to Camp Lowell, an earlier Army installation.http://www.oflna.org/fort_lowell_museum/ftlowell.htm Fort Lowell, ...
explored the cavern for five hours utilizing candles and magnesium wire to illuminate their path through the underground chambers. They were awed by the finger-shaped and kidney-shaped stalactites and stalagmites that occurred in large quantities and the holes that were so deep they could barely hear the rock dropped down when it hit the bottom. The first decade of the new century saw the formation of an enterprise to excavate the bat guano in the cave which led to the boring of an approximately 75-foot tunnel to access this commodity. It's believed seven carloads were taken and shipped to Los Angeles before it was exhausted. In the 1910s, a group proposed significant development of the cavern for tourism and also the construction of a railroad spur from nearby Vail but nothing resulted from this effort. In December 1917, after Jim Westfall and Alfred A. Trippel laid claim to the cave and the land surrounding it, for the possible creation of a tourist attraction, Trippel asked Lynn Hodgson an amateur spelunker, to explore the cave. After the survey, Hodgson told Trippel that “the cave was colossal,” and Hodgson later claimed this is where the name “Colossal Cave” comes from. Another possible source, according to Mr. Leighton, was from Byron Cummings of the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
, who had explored the cave around the same time and may have given it its name.


Colossal Cave Mountain Park

Today the cave is a popular tourist destination as part of Colossal Cave Mountain Park.Colossal Cave (showcaves.com)
/ref> The park also features two other caves, named Arkenstone and La Tetera, which are protected and are being studied by researchers. Other park attractions include: * La Posta Quemada Ranch Museum – exhibits focus on the human history and the natural history of Colossal Cave Mountain Park and the Cienega Corridor region, with special emphasis on the park's caves. * Civilian Conservation Corps Museum – history of the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
activities in the park * "The Cowboy" – a bronze sculpture of a
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
by Buck McCain, reflecting the park's history as a ranch * Horseback trail rides * Picnic and camping facilities * Butterfly garden


See also

* Cienega Valley (Arizona)


References


External links


Colossal Cave Mountain Park
– official site * {{Coord, 32, 03, 54, N, 110, 37, 51, W, display=title, source:GNIS Tucson metropolitan area Landforms of Pima County, Arizona Parks in Pima County, Arizona Museums in Pima County, Arizona Sonoran Desert Caves of Arizona Show caves in the United States Civilian Conservation Corps museums