Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
December 24, 1930.
Mr. H. F. Shepherd,
Deputy in charge,
United States Customs Service,
Calexico, California.
My dear Mr. Shepherd:
This will acknowledge your letter regarding Mr. Abijah Long who is the original discoverer of the famous Carlsbad Caveren in New Mexico.
Sincerely,
[Signed: Phil. D. Swing]
PDS:DCM
Well, that's my story! That's how it all began. I'm glad to see that the Federal Government has taken over supervision of the Big Cave and has made it available to people from every land in order that they might enjoy its unsurpassed beauty which first greeted us 'guano miners' back in 1903. It is gratifying to me to have been a small part of the early history of the Big Cave, now more appropriately called "Carlsbad Caverns" and known all over the world.
I am also grateful for the privilege of having known and worked with these men, many of whom grew with Carlsbad and turned out to be prominent citizens of the community.
Times may change, but the great caverns will remain for countless centuries to come, just as they have been for years without number. Now, in the hands of the government, their preservation is assured, so that your children and my children and their children after them will be able to witness, unmarred and unchanged, these wonders of God's handiwork.
And you'll be thrilled just as we were, when you see them for the first time, and you'll marvel, as we did, that anything in the world could exist, so strange, so large, so utterly beyond description.
Man may build his temples and his shrines, but as you stand there, a mere midget in any of the several mammoth rooms, you will feel a certain humbleness come over you, and you cannot help but feel closer to your God.