Kentucky

Only one place in Iowa officially goes by Story City, but the name could fit any town in the state. There’s a reason the RAGBRAI route shifts every year so that cyclists can enjoy the hospitality of different communities, each with a unique tale to tell. Our Iowa books offer a similar sampling of Hawkeye flavor, without the 467 mile bike ride. Solve a murder in Scott County or make some pearl buttons in Muscatine while exploring our Iowa history books from Okoboji and the Iowa Great Lakes to the flagship Younkers store in Des Moines.
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The Floyd Collins Tragedy at Sand Cave
The Floyd Collins Tragedy at Sand Cave

The Floyd Collins Tragedy at Sand Cave

9781467124423

$24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%

Floyd Collins is perhaps the most famous person you've never heard of, but this young man's tragic death made him celebrated as "the Greatest Cave Explorer Ever Known."


Collins was a Kentucky cave explorer in the early part of the 20th century, characterized by his lack of fear when exploring the most difficult cave passages, and few people could match his persistence and endurance. In the winter of 1925, Collins became trapped for more than two weeks in a cave located within the boundaries of what is now Mammoth Cave National Park. The story of Floyd Collins becoming trapped and ultimately dying alone in a cave held a powerful grip on the hearts and minds of people the world over. The resulting media coverage put Mammoth Cave on the map and helped usher the actual designation of Mammoth Cave as a national park. His explorations laid the foundation for others to later discover the truth of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave in the world.

The Floyd Collins Tragedy at Sand Cave