It is our hope that persons interested in the Big Cave, now known the world over as the Carlsbad Caverns, will be enlightened as to the early history of the cave as told here for the first time by the cave's first owner, our husband and father, Abijah ("Bije"[A]) Long, and its subsequent development as described by his eldest son, Joe N. Long. Mrs. Abijah Long Joe N. Long (Jodie in the story) (Mrs.) Lou M. (Long) Wood (Mrs.) Kaye I. (Long) Williams Ira B. Long Mac A. Long (Mrs.) Anda M. (Long) Brubaker. Carlsbad, New Mexico November, 1956. [Footnote A: "Bije" was a nickname for Abijah. (Long "i" as in "hide.")] Part I THE DISCOVERY _By ABIJAH LONG_ 1 We Move to Carlsbad The distance from Goldthwaite, Texas, to Carlsbad, New Mexico, is slightly less than 400 miles--just a good day's drive in an automobile today. But in 1901 the automobile was something we heard about--something we read about, and friends of mine told of having seen a horseless carriage up in Dallas. People who did much traveling went by train or horse and wagon--or, they walked. So when our family talked of moving West--talked of trying life anew "somewhere else," the question of how to go was considered. Train fare, we soon found, was much too high for us at the time. And with all our worldly possessions the freight charges would be excessive. The answer--a covered wagon. It was hard for my mother to leave Goldthwaite, and my wife was a bit fearful of the future in a strange land, but father and I thought our future was brighter if we tried anew somewhere else. Besides my cousin, there were my two children, which completed our party of seven. Heading West over the vast expanse of open Texas prairie, I felt something of the thrill those early pioneers must have felt, although the fear of trouble was not present, for being ambushed by Indians was a remote possibility. Just the same, there was an air of adventure in the journey, for none of us knew what the future held in store for us. We dreamed and hoped. We completed our journey to Carlsbad, a distance of almost 400 miles, without any serious mishap. Oh, there were the usual little troubles of a sick horse which slowed us up one day, and an occasional steep hill which required we not only get out of the wagon to lighten it, but all help push as well. Carlsbad had a population of less than a thousand in 1901,[B] and although Carlsbad was the legal name, having been officially changed two years before, everyone called the town by its original name, Eddy, and it was, and still is, the county seat of Eddy County. [Footnote B: Population in 1950, 18,000.]