Image:
News
Cha el
9
I
1905,
a
13-yea -old
boy
explo i g
Te essee’s
C aighead
Cave s
squeezed
th ough
a
a ow,
muddy
passage
a d
stumbled
upo
somethi g
fa
la ge
tha
he
could
have
imagi ed:
a
vast
chambe
co tai i g
a
u de g ou d
lake.
His
ame
was
Be
Sa ds,
a d
his
discove y
would
eve tually
become
k ow
as
the
Lost
Sea,
today
ecog ised
as
the
la gest
u de g ou d
lake
i
the
U ited
States.
Mo e
tha
a
ce tu y
late ,
the
cave
emai s
o e
of
Te essee’s
most
u usual
atu al
att actio s,
with
visito s
t avelli g
deep
u de g ou d
to
see
its
e o mous
body
of
wate .
The
Lost
Sea
is
a
Ame ica
wo de
about
140
feet
below
the
su face.
The
cave
itself
has
a
eve
olde
histo y,
with
evide ce
of
I dige ous
use,
Civil
Wa -e a
mi i g
a d
othe
huma
activity.
What
bega
with
a
cu ious
tee age
squeezi g
th ough
a
ope i g
has
si ce
become
a
place
whe e
geology,
histo y
a d
explo atio
co ve ge
be eath
the
Te essee
la dscape.
Meet
Be
Sa ds,
the
Te essee
tee age
who
squeezed
th ough
a
passage
o
wide
tha
a
bicycle
ty e
The
sto y
begi s
deep
i side
C aighead
Cave s,
ea
Sweetwate
i
easte
Te essee.
Acco di g
to
CBS
News’
epo t,
Be
Sa ds
was
o ly
13
whe
he
c awled
th ough
a
tu el
desc ibed
by
the
site’s
guide
as
oughly
the
size
of
a
bicycle
ty e.
He
t avelled
th ough
the
passage
fo
about
40
feet
befo e
eme gi g
i to
a
much
la ge
chambe
whe e
wate
eached
a ou d
his
k ees.
The
chambe
was
so
e o mous
that
the
light
f om
his
la te
could
ot
eveal
its
bou da ies.
Sa ds
appa e tly
had
o
way
of
k owi g
how
sig ifica t
the
discove y
was.
To
fi d
out
how
fa
the
cave
exte ded,
he
bega
th owi g
balls
of
mud
i to
the
da k ess.
I stead
of
hitti g
a
wall
o
the
cave
floo ,
they
la ded
i
wate ,
p oduci g
splashes
i
diffe e t
di ectio s.
The
discove y
was
especially
st iki g
because
the
lake
had
effectively
bee
hidde
behi d
a
ti y
ope i g.
The
official
histo y
of
the
Lost
Sea
simila ly
eco ds
that
Sa ds
e te ed
th ough
a
small,
muddy
ope i g
oughly
300
feet
u de g ou d
a d
fou d
himself
i
a
huge
oom
pa tly
filled
with
wate .
The
sto y
also
illust ates
how
diffe e t
the
cave
was
f om
the
att actio
visito s
k ow
today.
The
passage
Sa ds
e te ed
was
co side ably
smalle
whe
he
fou d
it.
The
oute
has
si ce
bee
e la ged,
allowi g
visito s
to
t avel
th ough
the
cave
safely.
What
was
o ce
a
almost
i accessible
ope i g
became
the
e t a ce
to
o e
of
Ame ica’s
most
u usual
u de g ou d
att actio s.