In later years people have often speculated as to whether or not the great Carlsbad Caverns would ever have been discovered had it not been for the attention caused by either my father's discovery quite by chance, or from the dark clouds of bats which emanated from the cave each evening. We know now that even if those two events had never occurred--even if there were no opening on the surface of the earth, if there were no habitation of bats, the great cave would have indeed been discovered. And historians now like to think that the cave was actually discovered twice. The first, as we know, was when my father stumbled upon it quite by accident back in 1903. This was the discovery of the guano beds, the beauty and grandeur of the Caverns being secondary at that time. Then came what historians have since called "the rediscovery!" And it, like the first discovery almost 20 years before, came about quite by accident! At the end of, and immediately following, the first World War, around 1919 and 1920, the United States Government Commission of Reclamation was constructing several dams along the Pecos River some 20 miles east of the site of the big Bat Cave. The purpose of the dams was to impound river water for irrigation of the surrounding agricultural lands. But for some strange reason the dams didn't seem to be doing any good. The water seemed to disappear underground. The Commission felt it was useless to consider the construction of any more dams in the area until the mystery could be cleared up. They took the matter up with the U. S. Geological Survey, and again the question was unanswered. It seemed strange that the water could not be held and used to irrigate the surrounding farm lands. The U. S. Geological Survey said they felt the problem was of sufficient value to merit a complete investigation. They would, they said, send a party to the site to see if they could unravel the riddle of the river's strange behavior. They advised that no more dams be constructed until the source of the trouble could be determined. The assignment was given to Dr. Willis T. Lee. He pondered the situation and knew from experience that there were several possible solutions, yet he couldn't do much more than hazard a guess as to what the trouble might be. He also knew that when nature is concerned he might stumble onto an entirely new reason. Before he left Washington, Dr. Lee had reviewed all the available information on the geological formation of the earth in the area and was quite well informed on its composition. Now, on the land itself, he began to study the situation from every angle. He found the limestone strata throughout the entire area were a bit different from that which he had previously seen in other parts of the world.