47| Buried in a Death Trap: Floyd Collins
In a world where everything seems accessible, it makes sense to also believe that everything is preventable. Everything can be helped.
But in the decades past that didn’t seem as likely, we didn’t have thoughts and ideas at our fingertips, or even the ability to call for help.
If you became trapped, you would be there until someone noticed you were missing. If you became trapped, you would be there until you could be located. If you became trapped, you would stuck there until you could be set free.
For one man, that freedom came in the agonizing depths of a cave, alone, in the dark, and smothered with rock.
And his death resulted in an impact that lead to the preservation of the most dynamic cave system in the world.
Welcome back to tragedy with a view.
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Mammoth cave, named for its size and nothing to do with the extinct prehistoric animal,
The park was established as a national park on July 1, 1941, after many eminent-domain proceedings. The park was named a World Heritage Site in 1981; an international Biosphere Reserve in 1990; further it has been named an International Dark Sky Park in 2021.
Mammoth cave formed due to a process called solution cave formation. This is caused by rain water absorbing carbon dioxide as it passes through the air and then the ground and forms a sort of acid.
This acidic water then passes through cracks in the limestone rocks that is beneath the ground surface in Kentucky and as more and more water collects in these areas, it dissolves the limestone, eventually, over millions of years, creating the massive cave system we see today.
Further there are new discoveries being made in mammoth caves all the time. Such as in February of this year, 2024, a part of a jaw and gills from a Glikmanius, which is an extinct shark which lived 300 million years ago, was found in the caves. This is a really unique find because the dating of this actually pushed the existence back to 50 million years earlier than originally thought.
Mammoth Caves National Park is one of the more unique places in the world, comprising of over 420 miles or 675 km of known underground passages, it’s no surprise that many reports of paranormal activity have been reported over the years.
Currently there are over 150 reports, with many coming from the park rangers who lead tours through the caves. So many that two rangers would go on to write a book, compiling some of the more common spirits of the park.
In the early 1900s, there were so many different caves in this area, that it would become known as cave city.
And with this abundance of caves, came tourists. Which also brought unethical competition which became the cave wars.
The cave wars essentially revolved around the fact that cave exploration and tours were a lucrative business venture, and EVERYONE wanted in on it.
Different people owned different segments of the caves, all of which had their own entrances, and many of which were connected, but hadn’t been fully explored yet.
As owners tried to battle each other for tourist dollars, a war, of sorts, erupted. Mammoth Cave was a name already established, and it was also well known and easy for visitors to have a conversation about.
Rival cave owners would hire people to line the streets with signs in an attempt to pull the attention away from Mammoth Cave, as well as any others, and bring the focus to their own cave tours. But it didn’t stop with simple advertisement.
Suddenly, workers were impersonating other cave’s tour guides or policeman, stating that the cave was closed when tourists came, others would harass guides while they were working to give the impression that the cave they were heading to was not safe, or it wasn’t good as another cave.
And, more violently, others would burn down the ticket stops.
Then, there was even a legal case of Edward’s v. Sims, where Edward’s had discovered a cave enterance on his property. This cave then traveled below the boundary line and crossed into this neighboring property, owned by Sims. Sims could not access the cave that ran beneath his property due to the entrance being on Edward’s land. So sims sued Edward’s for trespassing.
This case drug on for years, but ultimately, it was ruled that when you own land, you own what is beneath the surface layers and up into the sky. Therefore, even though the entrance was on Edward’s land, the length of the cave that was beneath the surface and past the property line was sims, and Edward’s was trespassing.
Mammoth caves has a significant number of caves and as they we’re originally owned by individuals, eventually they were purchased and compiled into what we know as mammoth caves national park, today.
Some of these caves include: of course, mammoth cave, diamond cave, salts cave, and sand cave.
According to the national guard, inside sand cave is a subterranean coliseum which stands 80 feet tall and particles of gold had been rumored to be found in the cave as well.
The cave was very difficult to maneuver through and would require someone who wasn’t claustrophobic and had experience in tight passages.
Today, the cave itself is closed, but walking along the trail to the entrance will give you an overview of the history we are going to deep dive on today.
Near Sand Cave, there are of course other caves and entrances and one day, a tour guide by the name of Colleen Olson, was exploring parts of the system near Sand cave.
In 1992, colleen moved to Kentucky from Washington state and started her, what would become, 25 year long career as a ranger in Mammoth Caves.
Colleen was exploring with her friend Richard when they finally came to the entrance of sand cave. As you may have already picked up on, Sand Cave itself, doesn’t have a ton of walking room, except for at the entrance. This is because in 1925 the cave was sealed off for public safety reasons.
So Colleen and Richard are in the entrance when the toe of her boot catches on some rocks and she trips, falling forward.
Colleen reaches out her hands to help break the fall, when she is grabbed by the back of her shirt and yanked back upright. Not thinking much of this, Colleen turns to Richard to thank him for his quick reaction.
Only, when she turns and finally sees him, he’s all the way on the other side of the entrance. Meaning he could not have been the one to grab her and prevent her from falling. But knowing this caves history, instead, she thanked Floyd.
Floyd Collins, whose real full name was William Floyd Collins, was born on June 20, 1887 to Lee and Martha Jane Collins of Logan county Kentucky.
From a very early age Floyd loved to explore the caves he came across on his family’s farm land. Once he hit the age of 6 and on, if his parents couldn’t find him, they knew to look in a cave.
In 1917, Floyd would end up discovering a new cave on his family property.
This cave was given the name Crystal Cave and ran beneath his fathers land. With this, Floyd entered into the cave wars, but, he didn’t have much to account for.
To get to Crystal cave you had to travel down the long Flint Ridge road, which held several other cave entrances. Many visitors would be enticed by these other caves, which promised the same captivating experience as the others, and very few would make it to crystal cave meaning that Floyd never turned a profit.
But, Floyd then had another idea. He has discovered that a property adjacent to his family’s was owned by Beesly Doyel, and it had a cave entrance on it. This property was situated next to Cave City road, and would have to be passed in order to get to the famous Mammoth Cave.
This appeared to be prime territory that not many people knew about and was, according to Floyd, free for the taking. He would just have to convince Beesly to agree to a business deal.
Floyd approached Beesly and they soon entered an agreement that Floyd could explore the cave, and if it was deemed worthy, they would split the profits of the cave tours.
This cave was dubbed Sand Cave.
On January 30, 1925, Floyd entered Sand Cave, and as this was his initial, or first exploration of the cave, he only brought a kerosene lantern with him. He decided to go in during the morning hours so that, depending on how long his lantern would last, he would have the entire day to explore.
But he quickly found that he had to force himself through some pretty narrow passages. At one point he had to lay down on his belly, and inch himself through a passageway with one arm down to his side, and the other stretched overhead as he gently pushed the lantern ahead of him.
Once he got through this section, the cave opened up into the grand and beautiful room that was roughly 80 feet or 24 meters high.
The grand idea of finding a way to hollow out the narrow passage so that tourists could walk through began to take shape, when the lantern light flickered.
when Floyd checked the kerosene level, he found it almost empty. Knowing he was low on time and not wanting to get stuck in a cave he didn’t know without any light, he decided to head back.
So onto his belly he goes and as he is squeezing back through this passage, he loses grip on the lantern for a moment. As he wiggles to the side so he can reach back and grab it, his foot bumps into what you would assume is solid rock wall. It was actually a 27 ton Boulder, which is roughly 60,000 lbs or 28,000 kg.
This boulder pinned his left ankle down, successful trapping him in place. He had little room to maneuver, since this was the location where he moved inch by inch. No matter what Floyd did, he couldn’t get his ankle loose. Struggling more, a sudden, but slight collapse in the stone above him occurred, and debris buried his legs, though this seemed to be a bit loser as he could still shift about.
But then his lantern went out.
The following day on january 31, When Floyd’s neighbors noticed that he hadn’t returned home the night before, they decided to go looking for him. When Jewell Estes, the 17 year old son of the neighbor, found Floyd’s coat hanging on a rock outside of sand cave, they correctly assumed that is where he would be.
Jewell crawls into the cave and finds Floyd alive 60 feet or 18 meters beneath the surface, and then retreats to let his family know who then contact Floyd’s brothers Homer and Marshall.
Once Homer and Marshall hear about Floyd they bring food and water in to the cave for Floyd so they can keep him alive while they figure out what to do.
At this point, no one was willing to crawl into this tight space to try to free Floyd from a boulder that had already collapsed down.
February 1
Homer was the first to really try to do something, and he crawls back as far as he can in the cave and attempts to dig Floyd free. He was unsuccessful inside of the cave, but outside the cave things were starting to happen.
Locals were gathering trying to figure out how to help and many were hopeful they would witness Floyd coming out of the cave.
MArshall offered $500 USD to whoever could free his brother, but no one came forward. $500 in 1925 is equivalent to nearly $10,000 usd today, in 2024. The rescue efforts were not being lead by one specific person and therefore anyone who did try to help received mixed messages and found the efforts to be really disjointed.
Still, people showed up with food and water and offered to take it in to Floyd, but once inside the cave they would find it too nerve wrecking as it was much tighter and darker than they thought. Many of these volunteers would then stash the food in cracks and bail before they ever got to Floyd. Further, they didn’t communicate this to anyone.
Feb 2, so The 4th day, Floyd is clearly declining. He isn’t able to keep warm, he’s shaking and parts of his legs have gone numb. His mental state is swaying from bouts of extreme stupor and being completely aware of what is happening. Maybe even over aware and a bit panicky.
As word spread above ground, a journalist from the Louisville courier journal by the name of William miller, also known as skeets, decides to take on the story.
When he arrives to the cave he talks to Homer and starts asking him questions and Homer was likely fed up at people being nosey and not actually helping Floyd, and he tells skeets that if he wants to know what’s going on, he will have to crawl inside the cave and find out for himself.
Skeets is a small statured man, which is part of the reason what he got the nickname skeets. Short for mosquito, skeets also had a habit of not leaving things alone, which made him a reliable reporter.
Once inside the cave, skeets sees the condition that Floyd is in and instead of interviewing him right away, he takes some time to talk to Floyd like a human, bring him food and water and try to find a way to free Floyd.
This same day, lieutenant Robert Burton from the special police and fire rescue team arrives and decides the best course of action is to just pull Floyd out.
Using a harness around Floyd’s chest, the extremely painful attempt is unsuccessful.
Also arriving on this day is Floyd’s caving buddy John Gerald, who also climbs in to be with Floyd and attempts to dig Floyd out, again.
By this point, nearly 200 people are outside the cave for observation purposes, not rescue help, and two vendors have arrived. One sells hot coffee and snacks, and the other offers first aid.
February 3rd, or On day 5, Floyd’s story became the top news story on a national level.
In an attempt to help, three men from Woodson and Kraft monument company out of Louisville Kentucky arrive and offer to essentially chip away the rock where it is trapping Floyd’s ankle.
At this point, Floyd’s friend John had kind of taken over the rescue process and when they presented John with their idea, John was extremely concerned that the impact from chipping away at this rock would cause things to shift more and potentially collapse, and refused to let them try.
Remember, Floyd’s foot knocking into the boulder was what caused it to shift, so it is completely understandable that John would reason tools would cause things to shift as well.
But, this decision rippled through the people there trying to help and divided them between people willing to take the risk, and those who were unwilling. But John had some other ideas he hadn’t been able to work on yet.
This day is also the first that a rescue shaft is brought up. this idea is brought forward by the superintendent of the Kentucky rock asphalt company, hang with me on his name- Henry St. George Tucker Carmichael. Carmichael was an educated and trained engineer.
As Carmichael discusses the options and location with Floyd’s brothers, both Homer and Marshall feared that the digging of a shaft would impact the ground too much and would cause a collapse- much like John feared with chiseling the rock away.
But, they do put the men to work clearing away rocks at the entrance of the cave so that access to the channel Floyd is stuck in becomes easier. They also have some volunteers go in to help remove the rubble from Floyd’s legs, and this process goes smoothly.
Skeets and some other volunteers then offer to run basically an extension cord from a 32 volt generator, connected to some light bulbs into the cave to Floyd so that at least he has some light and this also provides a source of warmth.
On this day the national guard also shows up, but not to assist with the rescue, but to manage the crowd of people now hovering outside the cave.
And then when lieutenant Burdon returns, this time insisting to pull Floyd out even if they have to remove his foot to do so, he and John get in a huge fight over this.
John has already set in motion the idea of using jacks to try to prop up the boulder that is trapping Floyd’s ankle, but they pretty quickly figure out that two of the jacks are too large to wedge into the tiny space and the smallest jack that they have is actually too small and every time they try to use wooden blocks to prop it up the block slip out, which makes the jack useless.
Skeets was the one who was working with the jacks and was continuously visiting Floyd throughout these days and as Floyd can see that he’s getting more and more frustrated Floyd finally convinces him to take a break and come back the next day and try again.
During the times that skeets was visiting with Floyd, he intermittently did interviews with Floyd as well.
Despite everything that’s going on and all of the failed attempts and plans that have not come to fruition. Floyd is in positive spirits on february 4th.
However, it is on this day that John starts to notice signs of the cave ceiling, not handling the amount of people coming and going from the cave well. All the people results in, of course, friction from bodies, passing against the rocks, but also body heat, adding heat and moisture to the cave all which combines to lead to deterioration And a high chance of collapse.
Despite the fact that John has significantly more cave experience than skeets and Lieutenant burdon, they both try to pacify John and assure that nothing bad is going to happen and they can continue doing what they’re doing.
But by 4 AM two volunteers who had entered sand cave to provide Floyd with some food notice that the ceiling has a large crack in it, and that there are large rocks and debris that appear to be coming through those cracks.
They quickly deliver the food to Floyd and then leave the cave and as they are exiting, the crack opens and rocks fall through. This collapse of the ceiling effectively creates a barrier between all of the rescue teams, all of the volunteers and Floyd, who is now alone with very little food and very little water.
John and some other volunteers try to start digging through the rubble and as they go, they try to prop up the sides of the rocks and the caves, but due to the already weak walls of the cave with several days of rain the structure is too compromised and a second collapse occurs. This time John gets caught up in the collapse and while he is overall OK they realize how dangerous this idea is.
It is decided after this that the passage way from the entrance of the cave is just simply too dangerous and there’s no way that they will be able to get to Floyd or get Floyd out from this route.
Finally, on the 6th day, Februrary 5, the governor of Kentucky at the time, William Fields, organizes a rescue crew placing a general from the National Guard, Henry Denhart in charge.
In coordination with this The engineer Carmichael creates a plan for a 6’ x 6’ vertical shaft to be dug down to rescue Floyd.
And general Denhart is pretty much making this rescue the top priority that Kentucky has ever seen. In a press conference, he states it is now up to you men to drill through the ground directly to Floyd’s side. Spare no expense, the purse strings of Kentucky are open.”
Because there was a large conversation needed about where to place the shaft it wasn’t until 1:30 PM that workers actually started on the shaft. Because there was concern about the cave collapsing and killing Floyd. The only tools allowed were pics and shovels.
Because of this many companies from all over the country decided to send supplies to sand cave, and the area was not only overrun with people, but now supplies.
In addition to this, the group of men selected to work on this shaft was 75 strong and they would be digging all day every day until they reached Floyd. The idea would be that teams would work in shifts and switch out about every 45 minutes to an hour so that the work could stay continuous.
Carmichael predicted that it would take them 30 hours to reach Floyd, which would mean that they were digging at a rate of 2 ft./h or .6 meter per hour.
This was based on how the first four or 5 feet went, but they neglected to remember that at first where the men were digging through mud and muck would also come a time would dig through rocks mixed with that mud and then solid rock.
The shaft was only big enough for three people to work at a time, but still 7 pm they had Doug down 7 feet or 2.1 meters but they rate slowed to only 1 ft./h.
around february 6th, After a week of being stuck in the cave, there are nearly 400 cars parked along the road waiting for news about Floyd, and the shaft is progressing slowly and has reached 17 feet or 5.1 meters. The news and reporters at the site are causing everyone to be on edge. Homer and John continue to argue with the people managing the shaft and are therefore banned from the area.
But with this, the media, being unable to get a good response from anyone, brings to spread words of doubt. Not doubt that they can remove Floyd alive but doubt that Floyd is in the cave at all.
on February 7, The national guard is forced to put up a barbed wire fence because people refuse to listen to the rules that they can’t be in the working area. And with this, others start to look for nearby cave entrances to find a back way to Floyd.
With the huge media presence, a person from every state, with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska since they were not yet states, is at the location.
By February 8, Everyone is hoping to see Floyd come out of the cave, with 10,000 people arriving, dubbing this day carnival Sunday.
Which feels so disrespectful to me- that people are coming and celebrating at the location of a man who, to everyone’s knowledge is still stuck inside a very tight passage, 60 feet or 18 meters underground with no food, no water, and no one to be with.
And Floyd is absolutely still stuck. The shaft, at this point was only 23 feet deep or 7 meters.
But as this day rolls into the night, people start pointing fingers and placing blame. Lieutenant burdon even states that he believes some of the men who were trying to help are “guilty of nothing short of murder”.
Again, rumors start to circulate saying that this is a publicity stunt to get more people to crystal cave, and that Floyd isn’t in the cave at all.
This, unfortunately becomes such a loud rumor that the police are forced to investigate the claim. Others try to start blocking the ability for the rescue to continue, and the military has to step in to prevent this.
Even so, the shaft seems to be progressing at a snail pace. Due to rain and a cold front coming in, workers even are beginning to tire and slow down.
By the 12 of February, Floyd has been trapped for 13 days and it has been over a week since the cave collapsed, meaning he’s been without food and water.
The shaft reaches 48 feet or 14.6 meters and the sides constantly need support as without it, they are also caving in.
By 10 pm the following night, feb 13, the shaft has only gained another 4 feet, making it 52 feet or 15.8 meters in depth.
The following day, Feb 14, the shaft only gained another 3 feet making it 55 feet or 16.7 meters deep and with the sides of the shaft collapsing, those digging begin to move laterally in an attempt to reach Floyd sooner.
But, the rain doesn’t help the situation at all. Heavy rain and natural run off allows 2 feet of water to collect in the bottom of the shaft that is regularly being pumped out in an attempt to continue digging.
on February 15, The rescuers are so close to Floyd by this point that word spreads and 5,000 people return to the area to await Floyd being pulled free.
But at 1:30 pm on feb 16, when they finally break into the cave and find Floyd. He has died. Based on their quick survey, he had been dead for over 24 hours, and from the sinking of his eyes they know it is from the combination of exposure, dehydration, and starvation.
Because his leg was, obviously still trapped, the decided to leave his body as to not risk any more lives, and they allowed the shaft to collapse as the last rescuer abandoned the shaft.
Now you might think that this is where Floyd’s adventure ends. But you would be wrong.
In 1927, 2 years later, crystal cave and the property which sand cave was on were purchased by doctor Harry Thomas. He intended to use Floyd as a tourist attraction, so he had Floyd’s body exhumed and put on display in a glass top coffin. This coffin was then placed in the center of crystal cave along with a tombstone that read “greatest cave explorer ever known.”
On September 23, 1927, someone attempted to steal Floyd’s body, but they failed.
Then on March 18, 1929, someone was successful in stealing Floyd’s body. When police used bloodhounds to track the thief, they found Floyd’s body in a field. However he was missing his left leg. Ironically, this was the same leg that was trapped inside the cave.
In 1989, Floyd’s body was permanently laid to rest by the national park service.
But his story would go on to inspire multiple books including Trapped by Robert K Murray and Roger W Brucker and the Life and Death of Floyd Collins, authored by his brother Homer and John L Lehrberger. As well as a musical called Floyd Collins and the 1951 Hollywood film ace in the hole.
Further, Floyd’s endeavor and death brought a huge amount of notice to mammoth caves area and set the ball rolling for what would ultimately become the preservation of the caves and the establishment of the national park.
The interviews that skeets took with Floyd would be circulated and would earn him the Pulitzer Prize.
