Oppppps...........I got ahead of myself

Have you ever been thinking so hard about one thing that you completely forget something that was equally important? Well, that is what has happened. Because Lexington was such a great place and we had such a fantastic time there, I forgot about

one of the highlights of the trip: The Mammoth Cave.

It is the world's longest cave system and it has only been partially explored: Only 365 miles. Artifacts that go way back

into history have been discovered here. Native americans used

the cave for its mineral resources. Legend says that the earliest

European happened upon the cave when he chased a bear into it in about 1797. The cave was used during the War of 1812 for its

saltpeter reserves. In 1838, the land on top of the cave was purchased by Franklin Gorin who wanted to use it as a tourist

attraction. One of his slaves, Stephen Bishop, became its most famous guides. Bishop mapped alot of the different trails within the cave.

The land above the cave was sold again and purchased by John

Crogan. He had a german come over and survey it in 1908.

It is said that Crogan often gave tours in parts of the cave that were not under his land. There

were cave wars when the people who lived over the caves would compeat for tourists. Finally,

in 1941, it became the Mammoth Cave National Park.

We went on a short tour called the Frozen Niagara Tour which was not too much walking and it

was fascinating. It was nice and cool down in the cave--- 54 degrees. The formation that gave the tour its name looked just like a large waterfall but I couldn't get a picture of it so I took this one. It was an incredible part of our trip.