Bat Cave Mine

The Bat Cave Mine was a guano mining operation located in a natural cave on the western end of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

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The Bat Cave Mine was a guano mining operation located in a natural cave on the western end of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

History

In 1938, Harold A. Carpenter, a river explorer, discovered the cave while passing through the canyon. ⁶ The following year, in 1939, he returned, descended the cliffs above the Colorado River near Flour Sack Rapids, and made a formal mineral entry with the U.S. Land Office. Although Carpenter attempted to extract guano and transport it to Boulder City by barge, fluctuating river levels prevented vessels from approaching within 12 miles of the cave, and the venture failed.

Subsequent attempts followed. George Steinke tried to navigate a barge powered by an aircraft engine upstream from Pierce Ferry, roughly 18 miles from the cave. ⁷ This barge sank, ending his initial effort. Steinke then partnered with pilot “Buzzy” Wescott. To construct a landing strip on a sandbar near the cave, they dismantled a D-2 Caterpillar bulldozer, flew its parts to the site, and reassembled it. However, the airstrip’s location within a narrow canyon required Wescott to execute a 180-degree turn to land the plane, an impressive but costly feat. Ultimately, their joint operation under the name King Finn Fertilizer was abandoned due to high expenses.

Later, the cave’s owners approached Consolidated Western Steel to propose a cable hoist system that could transport guano across the canyon to the South Rim, then by truck to the railroad depot at Peach Springs. ⁶ J.B. Holmquist, a Phoenix-based engineer, was hired to survey the area and plan the cable anchoring points.

U.S. Guano Corporation

In 1957, the U.S. Guano Corporation, a subsidiary of New Pacific Coals & Oils Ltd. of Toronto, purchased the mining rights. Mining engineer Charles Parker, the company’s president, estimated that the cave held between 100,000 and 250,000 tons of guano, ^{3 4 6 7} potentially worth $15 million. ^{5 7} Based on this estimate, the company initiated a major construction effort. ⁴

A small airstrip was built on a sandbar along the Colorado River to deliver equipment and supplies. ^{3 4} An aerial tramway was then constructed: a 7,500-foot-long system with a vertical lift of 2,500 feet, rising from the cave, located 600 feet above the river, to Guano Point on the South Rim, where a cable headhouse stood on land leased from the Hualapai Tribe. The tram featured the longest single-span aerial tramway in the world at the time, 8,100 feet between the intermediate tower and the north terminal. ⁸

The Western Steel Division of U.S. Steel was contracted to construct a modern double-rope tram system. Butler Manufacturing Company of Kansas City, Missouri, developed the conveyor system. ⁴ The tram used 1.5-inch steel cables to carry cable cars capable of transporting up to 3,500 pounds of guano and moving at 12 miles per hour, making up to 10 trips per day. ^{4 8} Extraction inside the cave was conducted using an industrial vacuum system with ten-inch hoses, operated by four miners working two shifts. ^{3 4 8}

Construction lasted 14 months and experienced several setbacks. ^{3 8} During initial tensioning, a clutch lever broke, causing 9,850 feet of main cable to fall into the canyon. Later, the 20,000-foot pull cable wore out and required replacement. Originally scheduled to be completed by April 1, 1957, the tramway was not operational until June 12. ⁸ A small packaging facility and housing for 23 workers were built on the South Rim. Limited mining operations began in the fall of 1957.

By the time operations commenced, total investment costs had reached $3.5 million. ^{3 4} Hopes were high, with projections of a decade of profitable production and guano selling at anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per ton. ^{4 6} However, those expectations proved incorrect. The cave contained only about 1,000 tons of guano, most of it intermixed with worthless limestone debris. ^{3 4} The actual sale price of guano dropped to just 69 cents per pound, and the operation brought in roughly $100,000 in revenue.

In 1958, paleontologist Paul S. Martin visited the site after reading a New York Times article that falsely claimed the guano came from “giant, meat-eating bats millions of years ago.” ³ Martin confirmed the guano was produced by free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), which are insectivorous. A sample collected seven feet below the surface yielded a radiocarbon date of 12,900 ± 1,500 years. While miners reported bat “graveyards” with mummified specimens, no evidence of mythical giant bats was found. Martin, who was interested in fossil pollen, found none in his samples. ²

In 1959, the tramway was featured in the film Edge of Eternity, starring Cornel Wilde and Victoria Shaw. ^{3 4} The film’s plot centered around a sheriff’s deputy investigating murders tied to illegal gold mining. The climax involved a dramatic confrontation on the guano tram cable cars above the canyon.

By early 1960, the mine ceased operations. ^{1 3}

Post-Closure

Shortly after the mine’s closure, a U.S. Air Force jet illegally flying through the canyon struck and severed the tram cable. ⁴ Although the plane survived, the U.S. Guano Corporation sued the Air Force for damages and recovered some of its losses.

In 1975, the abandoned mine was incorporated into Grand Canyon National Park. The National Park Service later proposed removing the remaining tramway structures, but public opposition preserved many remnants. As of 2007, some original equipment remains visible at the Bat Cave and Guano Point within the Hualapai Indian Reservation.

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Gallery

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Sources

1. High Wire: Construction of the Tramway. By a former employee of the contractor. The account notes that the ironworkers named their construction camp “Batchit, Arizona.”
2. Martin, Paul S. Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America. University of California Press, 2005.
3. Billingsley, George H., et al. “Bat Cave.” Quest for the Pillar of Gold: The Mines and Miners of the Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Association, 1997.
4. Ascarza, William. “4 classic movies have mining backdrops.” Arizona Daily Star, 14 Mar. 2022, pp. B1-B5.
5. Mattern, Hal. “Remote rocks, tranquil waters.” Arizona Republic, 12 Jun. 1988, p. T8.
6. Fuller, Henry. “$200,000 Cable Plan Considered for Removing Bat Cave’s Riches.” Arizona Republic, 5 Jul. 1956, p. 20.
7. Daniels, Steve. “Guano Point locale was host to earlier, stranger exploits.” Arizona Republic, 15 Feb. 1988, p. A8.
8. DeWald, Bud. “Canyon Cable to Riches.” Arizona Republic, 12 Jan. 1958, pp. 7-8.

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