Southern Agenda

A Caver’s Legacy


A century after the tragic death of Floyd Collins, an exhibit and special tours at Mammoth Cave National Park will recognize the plight of the local caver, who became a national obsession when he was trapped and died in a Kentucky cavern in 1925. The seventeen-day ordeal to first try to rescue him, then to recover his body, made headlines, creating a media circus that eventually inspired a movie and a 1996 musical, Floyd Collins, which will be revived in March at both Lincoln Center, in New York, and in Bowling Green. Collins got stuck as he explored a grotto he hoped to develop for tourists, and crowds soon gathered as rescuers struggled to free him. One newspaper reporter even crawled into a passage for an exclusive interview, winning a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage. “It was a massive news event,” says Molly Schroer, a modern-day park ranger. “Some accounts say thousands showed up. They brought their families and picnic blankets.” Importantly for Kentucky, the tragedy brought attention to Mammoth, the world’s longest cave system, leading to the national park’s founding. Collins’s courage also resulted in improved safety measures and endless interest in the caves, Schroer says. “People come here and find them fascinating. It’s the unknown and the darkness.”

nps.gov/maca