Elevator Building at the Carlsbad Cavern National Park, New Mexico
This is an unused linen postcard featuring the elevator building at the Carlsbad Cavern National Park in New Mexico. At the bottom left, the photograph is attributed to Kennicott. The code: 4A-H141 is found at the lower right corner on the frontside. The title is placed on the top margin. Linen cards were first introduced in 1930 and were popular until the early 1950s. They were made from a higher rag content paper and have a definite texture.
On the reverse of the card C.L. White, White City, N.M. is found along the left side margin. Along the center line is “Genuine Curteich Chicago, ‘C.T. Art-Colortone’ post card.” There is a blurb at the upper left corner: “Jim White, the discoverer and explorer of Carlsbad Caverns has his experiences written up in a book of thirty-two pages with 30 illustrations, of which 16 subjects are in beautiful colors, and a wonderful colored cover entitled: ‘Jim White’s Own Story.” Be sure and read these thrilling experiences of a lone cowboy three days under the world in Carlsbad Caverns. Born July 1, 1882, died April 28, 1946.”
The Carlsbad Cavens National Park, established in 1930, is located southeastern New Mexico about 18 miles southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The caverns are the main attraction of the park. Visitors entery the caverns by taking the elevator or hiking via a natural entrance. The limestone Big Room is the largest such chamber in North America. It is almost 4,000 ft or 1220 m long, 625 ft or 191 m wide, and 255 ft or 78 m high at the highest point. In 1995 it was recognized as a World Heritage Site.
The existence of the caverns had been known by Native Americans for hundreds of years but it is not known how far or if these earlier people went into the caves. The first modern cave exploration is credited to James Larkin White, aka Jim White, in 1898. He was a 16-year-old cowboy rounding up stray cattle when he thought he saw smoke from wildfire. He rode out to investigate but did not smell or hear crackling fire. When he got closer, he realized that it was not smoke but thousands of bats. Full of curiosity and keeping the caves a secret for a time, he returned, made a ladder using some rope, fence wire, and a hatchet to cut nearby shrubs. He held a homemade kerosene lantern in one hand and descended into darkness. Five days after his first venture into the caves, he returned with a Mexican boy about his same age. They brought food, water, fuel and homemade torches and began a 3-day exploration. The place names within the caverns are the names Jim gave them as he continued explore the caverns. The areas he explored are approximately the same areas of the cave that tourist trails cover today. For many years he was associated with the caverns in various capacities including Chief Ranger, 1926 - 1929.
A previous Thursday postcard, #353,on 31 May 2018, has a photograph taken inside the Big Room at Carlsbad.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Larkin_White
https://www.nps.gov/cave/blogs/jim-white-cave-explorer.htm
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