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Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, center, and others at the entrance to the cave at the newly designated Shoshone Cavern National Monument west of Cody, Wyo., 1909
Wyoming State Archives
http://www.wyohistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/spiritmtn1.jpg
Wyoming
Wyoming
24th National Monument
24th National Monument
210 Acres
210 Acres
Established by Presidential Proclamation: September 21, 1909 by President William Howard Taft
Abolished as a National Monument: May 17, 1954 by the 83rd Congress
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshone_Cavern_National_Monument
The monument was transferred to City of Cody, Wyoming. In 1977, the site was transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The caverns, now called Spirit Mountain Cave, are gated and accessible only by application to the Cody office of the BLM.
Glimpses of Our National Monuments: Shoshone Cavern National Monument (1930)
Glimpses of Our National Monuments: Shoshone Cavern National Monument (1930)
National Park Service
The entrance to Shoshone Cavern, high up near the summit of Cedar Mountain, overlooking the Shoshone River and the Cody entrance road to Yellowstone National Park, is very picturesque. It is the sort of cave opening that one reads about in story books, being located among rugged cliffs, with pine trees scattered here and there among the rocks. The entrance is about 20 feet wide and 6 feet high, and is in a fractured zone in a massive bed of limestone.
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/glimpses2/glimpses27.htm
Pruning the Parks: Shoshone Cavern National Monument (1909-1954) Would Have Cost Too Much to Develop
Pruning the Parks: Shoshone Cavern National Monument (1909-1954) Would Have Cost Too Much to Develop
National Parks Traveler
The main problem with Shoshone Cavern National Monument was there from the git-go. It wasn’t one of the country’s most geologically significant or recreationally appealing caves, and it was very difficult to get to and tour. The cave is interesting, yes. “Buffalo Bill” Cody himself even visited it. But America has many caves of better quality and greater visitor interest than this one.
If Shoshone Cavern is not worthy of national park status, why was it made a national park? Why did it remain on the national parks roles for 46 years? These are very good questions.
Shoshone Cavern, Wyoming’s Only Delisted National Monument
Shoshone Cavern, Wyoming’s Only Delisted National Monument
WyoHistory.org
Over the years, Park Service officials viewed the cave as interesting, but not as compelling as other NPS-administered caves such as Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico or Wind Cave in South Dakota. The Park Service did little to resist the efforts of Wyoming advocates for "return" of the cave to local government. Some advocates said that future management of the site would be a test of whether public lands could be better administered by local and state government than by the federal government.
Amid great fanfare, Congress passed an act in 1954 delisting the monument and returning the site to local administration. On May 17, 1954, after many years of lobbying by Cody boosters who contended that the site could be better run if it were not in federal hands, the federal government turned over the site to the City of Cody. The site was renamed Spirit Mountain Caverns, based on a mythical tale of Indian observances in or near the cave.
http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/shoshone-cavern-wyomings-only-delisted-national-monument
Cody cave offers inside view of Spirit Mountain
Cody cave offers inside view of Spirit Mountain
Billings Gazette
The commercial operators who leased the cave from the city of Cody changed the name again to Spirit Mountain Caverns.
The operators installed stairs and ran electricity to the cave. At one point, they were planning to build a tram to transport visitors, avoiding the long, twisty road to the entrance.
But the Spirit Mountain moneymaker never got off the ground, and the cave lapsed into silence in 1966, frequented by vandals carrying canisters of spray paint. The BLM took over the cave in 1978 and installed a locked gate in 1984.
"A lot of graffiti occurred during those limbo periods," Sironen said.
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