23 Facts About Floyd Collins

William Floyd Collins was an American cave explorer who became trapped and died in what became Mammoth Cave National Park.

In 1917 and 1918, Floyd Collins discovered and commercialized Great Crystal Cave in the Flint Ridge Cave System, but the cave was remote and visitors were few.

Floyd Collins had an ambition to find another cave he could open to the public closer to the main roads, and entered into an agreement with a neighbor to open up Sand Cave, a small cave on the neighbor's property.

On January 30,1925, while working to enlarge the small passage in Sand Cave, Floyd Collins became trapped in a narrow crawlway 55 feet below ground.

Floyd Collins died of thirst and hunger, compounded by exposure through hypothermia after being isolated for a total of 14 days, three days before a rescue shaft reached his position.

William Floyd Collins was born on July 20,1887, the son of Leonidas "Lee" Collins and Martha Jane.

Floyd Collins was born on the Collins family farm, located approximately 4 miles east of Mammoth Cave near the Green River in Kentucky.

Floyd Collins began entering caves by himself at the age of six in search of Native American artifacts to sell to tourists at the Mammoth Cave Hotel.

In 1912, Edmund Turner, a geologist, hired Floyd Collins to show him caves of the region.

Consequently, Turner and Floyd Collins assisted with the discovery of Dossey's Dome Cave in 1912 and Great Onyx Cave in 1915.

In September 1917, while climbing up a bluff on the family farm, Floyd Collins noticed cool air coming from a hole in the ground.

Floyd Collins hoped to find either another entrance to the Mammoth Cave or an unknown cave along the road to Mammoth Cave in order to draw more visitors and reap greater profits.

Floyd Collins made an agreement with three farmers who owned land closer to the main highway.

Floyd Collins worked on creating a more practical entrance to the grotto for several hours a day and weeks on end in order to make it more accessible to tourists.

Floyd Collins attempted to leave the passage quickly, before losing all light to the chamber, but became trapped in a small passage on his way out.

Floyd Collins accidentally knocked over his lamp, putting out the light, leading to misplacement of his foot on what seemed to be a stable wall of the cave.

Floyd Collins was trapped 150 feet from the entrance.

The cool winter air caused them to light campfires that disrupted the natural ice within Sand Cave, causing it to melt and create puddles of cool water, one of which Floyd Collins himself lay in.

Floyd Collins survived for more than a week while rescue efforts were organized.

The amplifier crackled 20 times every minute, a hopeful sign that Floyd Collins might be breathing.

Floyd Collins interviewed Collins in the cave, receiving a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage and playing a part in Collins' attempted rescue.

Homer Floyd Collins was not pleased with Sand Cave as his brother's grave, and two months later, he and some friends reopened the shaft.

The Floyd Collins family had objected to Floyd Collins' body being displayed in the cave and, at their request, the National Park Service re-interred him at Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky in 1989.