No caves have been discovered in the Bad Lands, unless that name be
applied to some of the geodes which are really grottoes, they being of
sufficient size for a man to stand in. The Black Hills, however, contain
some of the most remarkable caves ever yet discovered, of which those of
greatest importance are Wind Cave and the three Onyx Caves near Hot
Springs, in the southeastern part of the Hills, and Crystal Cave near
Piedmont, in the northeast. All of these occur in the Carboniferous
Limestone which forms an outer belt around the central mass or core of
the Hills and no doubt, as previously suggested, owes its fissures to
earthquakes which preceded or accompanied the porphyry intrusions by
which in some localities its strata have been thrown into a vertical
position.
CHAPTER IX.
WIND CAVE.
Wind Cave was discovered in 1881 by a hunter named Thomas Bingham, who
being weary of a fruitless chase sat down to rest, and was soon startled
by the sound of rushing wind on a calm day; and at the same time by a
singular hair-raising sensation, as his hat was lifted from his head and
thrown high in the air. He is said to have afterwards declared that
although frightened nearly out of his wits, he determined to find the
cause of his alarm, and on turning slightly discovered a hole about
eight by twelve inches in size through which a roaring wind was issuing
from the earth.
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