Carlsbad Cemetery

It was a busy day today, and so I didn't have a whole lot of time for a real adventure. I did, however, take the time to explore the Carlsbad Cemetery a little bit. The goal of my exploration was to see the graves of a few local celebrities that played an important role in the development of my workplace: Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

My first stop was a search for the grave of James Larkin White.

His headstone declares that he was the discoverer of Carlsbad Cavern, but Native Americans had known about the cave entrance long before Jim White ever happened upon it. Still, he deserves a great deal of credit for discovering many of the rooms and chambers in the cave's dark zone.

My second visit was to the grave of Colonel Thomas Boles, the first superintendent of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Colonel Boles is well known for his dramatic methods of encouraging visitation to the caverns and lobbying for funding.

Finally, I attempted to find the grave of Enis Creed "Tex" Helm. Tex was a well known photographer who is famous for his 1952 photo, called the "Big Shot", of the Big Room of Carlsbad Caverns. This photo used over 2,400 flash bulbs to illuminate the Big Room and was sponsored by the Sylvania Company. unfortunately I was unable to find his grave. I guess it gives me another chance for a micro-adventure on another busy day when I'm stuck in Carlsbad. 

Thanks to former park historian Bob Hoff, who inspired me to embark on this adventure via his Carlsbad Caverns History Blog.