One answer would have been to find a closer market, as that would have cut down the high cost of freighting, but there was no other market, so we were forced to continue sending the guano to San Francisco. With some products the manufacturer sets his price, based on cost of production, but with us we had to accept the market price at the time, or else not operate. When these problems were becoming more complex and I couldn't see any good solution, a man by the name of Patterson who lived in Carlsbad offered me $500 cash for my equipment and the work I had done at the Big Cave. I immediately accepted his offer. And then, what did he do but turn right around and hire me as foreman! So, for some time after that I continued the operations at the cave, but of course not as owner. It seemed as though the extraction of the guano was not intended to be a paying proposition, for the Big Cave changed hands many times after that. Little did any of us know then that the Big Cave, known in later years as the Bat Cave, would some day be worth millions as a sight-seeing attraction and would completely dwarf the income derived from the guano operations. Of course that eventually came about, beginning in 1923. President Coolidge proclaimed the area Carlsbad Cave National Monument in October of that year, and a great amount of publicity during the years that followed prompted thousands of tourists from all over the world to come to see what some writers have termed "The Eighth Wonder of the World." * * * * * Former Owners of Carlsbad Caverns 1905--Santa Fe Railroad. (Owned east portion over Bat Cave. 40 acres.) 1906--C. F. Hagan sells one half to H. F. Patterson of Carlsbad. March 26, 1906--T. W. Teague of El Paso. April 19, 1906--The El Paso Guano Fertilizer Company. April 21, 1908--G. M. Cooke. September 12, 1909--J. D. Lanford sells to Carlsbad Guano Fertilizer Co. T. A. Blakely held a patent to the east wing of the Carlsbad Cave, where the guano beds were worked extensively. In 1942 the Government purchased this tract from Mr. Blakely. [Illustration: Letter from U. S. Congress recognizes Long as cave's discoverer PHIL. D. SWING COMMITTEES: 11TH DIST. CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION PUBLIC LAND FLOOD CONTROL EXPENDITURES IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. December 24, 1930. Mr. H. F. Shepherd, Deputy in charge, United States Customs Service, Calexico, California. My dear Mr. Shepherd: