September 24, 2005
It was a Saturday at Sonora Caverns, and not like any other Saturday as
the campground was full of both tent campers and RV'ers of evacuees from East
Texas escaping Hurricane Rita, there was a certain excitement in the air as
this was the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the decorated part of the
cave. Prior to that time mostly Mayfield's Cave as it had been known since it's
discovery was just another cave in West Texas with not much to see in the way
of formations.
Yes it was 50 years ago to the day that Myself, Steve Ditullio and Mike
Snelson did a reenactment on a ledge with a 45 degree slope called Devils'
Delight ledge above Devil's Pit with the aid of a safety rope unlike the
original group of 6 early explorers which included Jack Prince, Jack Allen,
Allen Cain, Pete Cobb, Claude Head, and Dan Sheffield. We rehearsed lines of
what we imagined cavers of 1955 would have been saying for every tour that came
through the cave that day. As each tour came into the room with the Devil's Pit
the guides would stop and turn off the cave lighting. We would proceed out of
the passage, across the ledge, even losing a foot hold and sliding a bit to add
to the element of danger and we didn't have carbide like they did in 1955 but
we had our electric LED lamps on low settings so that the visitors would see
just how it would have been (with a little imagination).
Then after making our way across this precarious ledge much to the awe
of the visitors we would carefully perched on the ledge and being safely
attached to the rope we would turn and talk to the people on the trail and do a
quick question and answer session.
When we excited the cave we were treated to a barbeque supper courtesy
of the owners of the Caverns. A perfect end to an enjoyable day in the cave.
But the real treat was to sit beside living legends like Carl Kunath, Bart
Chrisman, Bryant Lilly and Jack Prince and listen to their tales of early
exploration into caves of that era.
Other members of the PBSS who attended and helped the Caverns staff was Cindy
Ditullio & Barry Hayes.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: <jerryat...@aol.com>
To: <Texascavers@texascavers.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2005 6:03 PM
Subject: [Texascavers] Fifty Years Ago in Texas Caving :
Fifty Years Ago in Texas Caving - October 1955
The new part of Caverns of Sonora (Mayfield Cave) was discovered on 24
September 1955. Jack Prince of Dallas crossed the infamous Devils' Delight
ledge,
and the new section of Mayfield was explored back to the extraordinary
Helictite Room. With Jack Prince were Jack Allen, Allen Cain, Pete Cobb,
Claude Head,
and Dan Sheffield of Dallas. This wonderful discovery was the spark that
finally fired the interest of all the active groups in Texas. For the next
two
years, the cave was visited almost every weekend by cavers from all over the
state. For the first time, the various groups were working together and
getting to know each other. This interaction would soon culminate in the
formation
of the Texas Region of the NSS, the fore-runner of the present Texas
Speleological Association.
References: The Texas Caver; Fifty Years of Texas Caving (in press) by C.E.
Kunth.
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