A nice relaxing day. Drove into Benson, AZ and did some much needed laundry and ran some errands. Went back to camp and grilled out for lunch. Went to the Kartchner Discovery Center here at the park and toured the museum. We had tickets for the Kartchner Caverns Tour for 3:00 PM. It was spectacular and beautiful. Please read the following about the recently discovered cavern and how it was kept secret for 12 years and why. ANSWER TO YESTEDAYS TREE?? Desert WillowHistory of Kartchner Caverns State Park
Opened & Dedicated November 5, 1999
By Charles R. Eatherly
In November 1974, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts were exploring the limestone hills at the eastern base of the Whetstone Mountains. They were looking “for a cave no one had ever found” and found it. The two kept the cave a secret until February 1978 when they told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their awesome discovery. Since unprotected caves can be seriously damaged by unregulated use, they knew the cave had to be protected. Tenen and Tufts spent several years looking into the possibility of developing the cave themselves. Some members of the Kartchner family lived in Tucson and were very impressed with the development and operation of Catalina State Park by Arizona State Parks. They decided to approach State Parks to see if the agency was interested in acquiring this outstanding resource.Late in 1984, Randy Tufts came to the Arizona State Parks office in Phoenix for a meeting with Charles R. Eatherly, Special Projects Coordinator for the Arizona State Parks Board. Eatherly was working with citizen committees around the State to identify sites to be considered for future acquisition as State Parks. Tufts told Eatherly “as you are working on potential Park sites, I understand you are the one who can tell me how a site becomes a State Park.” Tufts asked if he could close the door. After the door was closed, Eatherly asked, “What kind of a resource are we talking about?” Tufts responded, “I cannot tell you.” Eatherly then questioned where the resource was located. Tufts again responded, “I cannot tell you.” At this point Eatherly said, “I am not sure if I’ll be able to tell you whether or not State Parks is interested or able to acquire this resource as a Park but I can tell you the necessary steps.”
The discussion continued on the various processes the State is required to follow in the acquisition of property for a Park from gathering the information to the legislative process and everything in between. Tufts was advised that acquiring a site and creating a State Park was a lengthy process and could take from two to five years with no guarantee of success, and each step of the process would be open to the public.
In 1985, water filled parts of the cave at Kartchner Caverns.
Tufts insisted that Eatherly had to see the site. A meeting date was set for January 1985. Eatherly met with Tufts and Tenen at the San Pedro Motel in Benson. Eatherly was asked to sign an oath to guarantee secrecy. He advised the discoverers that as a State employee he could not sign such a document.
Shortly after dark, they met outside the motel room. It was a clear, cold evening with a dark sky filled with stars. Before they got into the car Eatherly was blindfolded. With the blindfold in place, the car was driven around town in various directions, and then out to the highway. After a period of time the car was driven off the paved roadway, through a gate that had to be unlocked, and then over a stretch of very rough road. Soon the car stopped and the blindfold was removed. Introductions were made to members of the Kartchner family. The first clue of what was in store came when Tufts said, “What we are going to see is a living cave with rooms filled with beautiful formations.”
With flashlights in hand, the group walked across a flat area, down through a dry wash, and up a rather steep hillside to the edge of a large sinkhole. (Sinkholes are a natural depression occurring in limestone regions and usually formed by a collapse of a cavern roof.) The group dropped over the sinkhole side about ten feet to the bottom and waited for Tufts and Tenen to pull back some rubble from the entrance. Everyone crawled through the small hole and slowly descended down through small chambers and several tight holes towards the Blowhole. (A Blowhole is a vent that permits the escape of air or other gas.) Before entering the Blowhole, the group sat and talked about what was ahead.
After the group had crawled some distance in the Blowhole, Eatherly found he could not move. The space was too small for him to squeeze through. After a short while he managed to get free and back out of this small area into a space where he could sit up. The group decided it would be better to return to the motel.
Everyone returned to the motel and spent the rest of the evening talking about the cave and looking at pictures and slides of the caves beautiful, colored formations. Tufts and Tenen again requested that Eatherly sign a pledge of secrecy. Eatherly said he could not sign the document but he would only talk to State Parks staff.
Kartchner Planning Group in 1995.
Tufts said Dr. Ed McCullough from the University of Arizona was going to be given a tour of the cave the next day. At this point, Eatherly requested that Tufts and Tenen give a slide presentation to State Parks staff in Phoenix. They agreed to give the presentation and discuss with staff the pressing need for secrecy to protect this outstanding resource.
Upon Eatherly’s return to the State Parks office, he informed Director Mike Ramnes and Deputy Director Roland Sharer of this outstanding potential State Park. He scheduled a meeting with ASP staff for February 6, 1985, to see the slide presentation of the cave Tufts and Tenen called “Xanadu”. ASP staff attending the slide presentation included Mike Ramnes, Roland Sharer, Mike Pastika, Tim Brand, Jim Neidigh, Tanna Thornburg, Paul Malmberg, John Schreiber and Charles Eatherly. Everyone was very excited about the possibility of acquiring this cave for a new State Park. The major concern of staff was getting the necessary appropriation to make the purchase and being able to complete the necessary developments. State Parks staff decided to refer to the cave as Secret Cave. Tufts and Tenen agreed to send the agency a copy of the slide presentation and other cave information to pursue acquisition by the State.
Sis
non-member comment
Neat story!
I love the cavern story!!! It's not the one I saw, since I was there in 1971...before yours was discovered. But I love the intrigue! Nice asses, by the way.