BLACK GOLD

Black gold is pouring from a hole in lower Grand Canyon. The black gold in this case, however, is not coming from some new wildcat well, but is being brought to the surface from the depths of one of the largest caves thus far discovered in the region-a cave once occupied by millions of bats who built up vast deposits of rich guano. The cave might never have been found if Harold Carpenter hadn't decided to quit the business of freighting bananas into the United States from South America, and came to Boulder City, Nevada, to try his hand at something different. Something about the desert country kept him there. Perhaps it was the bigness of the country; perhaps it was because he liked newly formed Lake Mead and enjoyed poking around the mountains and canyons to see what he could find. Whatever the answer, he took a job at the boat docks at the lake where he worked on the Loki, a beautiful sailing boat. One day, while on this boat in the spectacular depths of the lower Grand Canyon, he observed a rather nonscript looking hole high in a wall overlooking a rock strewn alcove. Why he decided to scale the cliffs and slopes of the canyon and look into the hole is difficult to figure out, but climb it he did, although it took him three days to reach the cave using ropes and improvised ladders. From the outside, the cave does not appear to have very much in the way of size or depth. The opening is not large and the highly shattered walls of the cliff give little indication that the cave extends back very far. Inside the cave entrance is a fairly large room, approximately 100 feet in length. This narrows down rapidly at the rear into a smaller passageway about 25 feet in width, which in turn slowly widens again and then enters a large room of, as yet, unknown size. It is in this large room, which extends for at least 700 feet from the cave opening, that the rich guano deposits are found. From the great amount of guano present it is evident that the cave was once inhabited by millions of bats over a period of thousands of years. Here for uncounted centuries the bats lived; clinging to the cave ceiling during the day and coming out at night to feed. Likely this would have rivaled the famous bat flight of today at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The presence of so many bats would seem to indicate that the bottom of the Grand Canyon was a prolific spot for insects at that time-hinting that perhaps the climate of that day was somewhat more temperate than it is now, with more vegetation covering its slopes and river banks. Possibly the cave was partially moist at the time; it is yet today on one side. However, there are no extensive stalagmite or stalactite formations in the cave, so the moisture couldn't have been too great. Whether or not any other kind of animal also used the cave is not known. No bones have as yet been found.

The actual job of removing the bat guano is not an easy one. The present operator of the project, a Mr. Walter Swartz of Boulder City, has enlisted the aid of two experts in the business, and they carry out the mining of the material on a tonnage basis. To assist them they have hired three helpers who do anything from digging and sacking the guano to getting it to the banks of Lake Mead for loading aboard barges.

To carry out the project, it was first necessary to establish a permanent camp above the shores of the lake. This was put on a narrow terrace that once formed the rim of an inner gorge in lower Grand Canyon before Lake Mead came into existence. Frame cabins were built to house the workers, and soon this unusual mining camp was buzzing with activity. To make life a bit more comfortable, especially during the hot summer months, a small diesel power plant was laboriously brought up canyon by barge and put into operation. This furnished lights, electricity for the cabins and operates a refrigerator-a luxury in such an isolated spot. A trail was built to the cave entrance, approximately 750 feet above the camp. Next came electric light lines to illuminate the depths of the cave. An endless % inch cable was now installed, stretching from the cave, and a gasoline motor was obtained to furnish the power to pull a wooden platform up this cableway. A field telephone was put into operation between the cave and the camp to insure quick communication. Next, machinery was brought in to sack the guano, and this was freighted up the cable and installed near the terminus of the aerial tram. From here a large pipe was built on up the cliffs to the cave opening, a small bucket tram was assembled inside the cave to haul the guano from the big room to the opening of the large pipe, and operations were ready to begin. The process is simple and well worked out. Under the watchful eyes and active assistance of Jim Hodge and Jack Boykin, the guano is mined far back in the large room. Dust masks must be worn to filter the air and protect the workers. As guano is dug out, it is loaded into containers on the small tram and hauled to the cave entrance. Here it is dumped into the large pipe and gravity feeds it quickly into the sacking machinery on the small terrace several feet below. Each sack weighs 50 pounds when filled. Now comes the job of loading it onto the platform of the large aerial tram. There is little danger of overloading the cable, as it can easily handle a 1,250 pound load. Once loaded the aerial tram moves the load gently, but swiftly, to the camp far below. Here the sacks are placed in a metal trough or skidway and slid downward onto a waiting barge moored to the lake shore. The number of sacks put on a barge depends upon the size of the barge and the depth of the lake downstream.