In 1892, a petrified man was discovered near the entrance to Wind Cave. Or so it was claimed. The petrified man proved to be a great hoax-probably invented by promoters of what was then a privately owned cave. Many Black Hills citizens were deceived by this stone-craved fraud.
Newspapers of the day called Wind Cave's petrified man "perfect in every detail." The Hot Springs Star reported the effigy was examined by a group of physicians, who pronounced it, "a genuine petrifaction of humanity."
The fake petrified man was put on display at the cave for a month. It was then moved to Hot Springs sideshow tent, where for 25 cents the curious could take a peek. Then "Wind Cave Man" was exhibited throughout the country.
The "petrified man" wasn't the only publicity stunt staged at Wind Cave. In 1893, a physic named Johnstone led a group of observers into the cave in search of a previously hidden needle. The clairvoyant found his needle alright; but must have temporarily lost his powers when he and the group became lost two days in the cave's maze of tunnels!
The "Wind Cave Man" was certainly a deception, but a human skeleton found inside Diamond Crystal Cave was the real thing! Developers of the cave found the skeleton in 1929. They determined it to be that of a small Indian boy who fell to his death through the cave's opening 400 years ago.
The biggest of the nine Black Hills caves is Jewel Cave. It is the fourth largest cave system in the world, with 69 miles of tunnels so far discovered. Here and elsewhere cave explorers find new chambers and passages each year. These cave crawlers are the last explorers of natural Black Hills, the last who can hope to say, "I was there first."
Some Black Hills caves may yet prove to contain over a thousand miles of passages, and if so, it maybe that all the Hill's caves are connected. One theory says it might be possible to walk, or crawl underground from Wind Cave to Deadwood. Such a journey would be made in the cool 48-degree temperature our caves maintain year around.
10/01/03