completed the trail that slopes gently down the side of the wall ... a means of entrance far better than the old stairway.

Dr. Vernon Bailey was sent to the caverns to do the biological survey on the bats. Seeing the strange mammals hanging aloft in sleep, Dr. Bailey observed that there couldn’t be more than a thousand in the whole cave. Jim White told him to stick around and watch them fly. Bailey did. In his book called “Animal Life of Carlsbad Cavern”, he used the numerical description “Three million” when he wrote of that first bat-flight which he watched.

In 1930, the caverns Jim White had explored were redesignated. On May 14th of that year an Act of Congress established the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, with a resident Superintendent in charge, assisted by a force of trained rangers, engineers and electricians.

Government Buildings and Parking Terraces Adjacent to the Entrance to Caverns

THE CAVERNS BECOME A NATIONAL PARK

By 1927 Jim White had begun to see his fondest dreams materialize—those dreams about showing to the world what was to become Carlsbad Caverns National Park. People from literally all over the world were hearing of it, and were arriving in crowds.

Early that summer the Government appointed a resident custodian to administer the Monument. During the next two years tourist facilities, equipment and improvements moved so fast it was hard for Jim to keep up with the progress. Approximately three miles of trails were completed in compliance with modern engineering standards. Diesel engines and huge generators were installed, and the soft glow from hundreds of electric lights replaced Jim White’s crude, home-made kerosene torches. A lunch room was equipped in the depths of the cave—not far from the spot where the Kid set Jim afire one day long ago.