0:01

This is Scott, and you're

0:03

listening to what was that

0:05

like. Every other Friday, I have

0:08

a guest come on and

0:10

talk about something they experienced

0:12

that was extremely unusual.

0:14

Today's Friday, and we're

0:17

between new episodes. So I

0:19

want to tell you a story. Today

0:21

I'm going to tell you about

0:23

a man named Floyd Collins. He

0:25

didn't become famous because of

0:27

a crime. He was just

0:29

a man who loved to

0:32

explore caves. His name

0:34

has become legendary,

0:36

and when you hear his

0:38

story, you'll understand why.

0:40

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was at checkout. Floyd Collins

3:43

was born in 1887

3:45

in Auburn, Kentucky. He grew

3:47

up on a farm surrounded

3:49

by rolling hills and dense

3:51

forests, but what

3:54

really fascinated Floyd was

3:56

what was beneath those hills,

3:58

caves. Kentucky,

4:01

as it turns out, is

4:03

home to some of the

4:05

most extensive cave systems in

4:07

the world, including Mammoth Cave,

4:09

the longest known cave system

4:11

on Earth. Floyd, like a lot

4:14

of locals, made a habit

4:16

of exploring them. As a teenager,

4:18

this was his favorite thing to

4:20

do. But for Floyd, caving wasn't

4:22

just a hobby. It was a

4:25

business. Tourists came

4:27

from all over to see the

4:29

underground wonders of Kentucky, and cave

4:31

owners could make a lot of

4:34

money by charging admission for guided

4:36

tours. Floyd wanted in on

4:38

that. He wasn't just a daredevil.

4:41

He was an entrepreneur. At

4:43

17, he found his first

4:45

real discovery, Crystal Cave. He

4:47

saw dollar signs immediately.

4:49

He started charging visitors

4:52

to explore the visitors to

4:54

explore the cave. But there

4:56

was a problem. Crystal Cave

4:58

was in the middle of

5:01

nowhere. It wasn't on any

5:03

of the popular routes that

5:05

tourists traveled. So

5:07

despite its beauty, it never

5:10

made much money. Floyd knew he

5:12

needed something better. He

5:14

needed a cave closer to

5:16

the main roads. That's when

5:19

he found Sand Cave. Sand

5:21

Cave was different. It was

5:23

dark. narrow and dangerous,

5:26

but Floyd believed it

5:28

was his ticket to success.

5:30

One January, he struck

5:32

a deal with the local

5:34

landowner. Floyd could explore

5:36

and develop the cave,

5:38

and they'd split the

5:41

profits. So that same

5:43

month, Floyd grabbed his kerosene

5:45

lantern and went in alone.

5:47

The cave was really treacherous

5:49

from the start. The passageways

5:52

were barely wide

5:54

enough to crawl through, and

5:57

the ground was slick with

5:59

moisture. Floyd kept going,

6:01

inching forward on his

6:03

stomach with his lantern

6:06

out in front of him

6:08

lighting the way. He pushed

6:10

deeper into the cave, squeezing

6:12

through one tight gap after

6:15

another. Then something went

6:17

wrong. As he was crawling

6:19

through a particularly narrow

6:22

passage, his lantern

6:24

started to flicker. He

6:26

knew that if it went

6:28

out. He'd be in total

6:31

darkness. So he turned around

6:33

to head back. But in

6:35

the process, he knocked

6:37

the lantern over. The cave

6:40

went pitch black. Floyd

6:42

tried to shuffle backward,

6:44

feeling his way along

6:46

the cold rock. Then his

6:49

foot hit something, a

6:51

loose rock. Before he had

6:53

time to react, it

6:55

shifted. A 26-pound

6:58

boulder broke free from

7:01

the ceiling and came

7:03

crashing down onto his

7:05

left leg, pinning him

7:08

in place. Floyd was

7:10

trapped. He was alone.

7:12

And he was 55 feet

7:14

underground. He screamed

7:17

for help, but nobody

7:19

heard him. Floyd knew the

7:22

biggest problem

7:24

wasn't just the rock.

7:26

It was time. He spent

7:28

so much time exploring

7:31

caves, always alone,

7:33

that people might not

7:35

realize he was missing

7:38

for days. And in a cave

7:40

that deep, in the dead of

7:42

winter, time was a

7:44

luxury he didn't have.

7:46

The night passed, then

7:49

another. Finally, someone

7:51

came looking for him.

7:54

A group of locals found his

7:56

coat hanging outside the entrance

7:58

to Sand Cave. That was

8:01

unusual. They called his brother,

8:03

Homer, who immediately knew

8:06

something was wrong. He rushed

8:08

to the cave and after

8:10

crawling through the narrow tunnels,

8:13

finally heard a faint voice.

8:15

It was Floyd. Homer was

8:17

able to squeeze close enough

8:19

to pass Floyd food and

8:22

water, but he couldn't

8:24

move the rock. And the more

8:26

he tried, the worse it seemed

8:28

to get. The

8:30

rescue effort began. The news

8:32

of Floyd's entrapment

8:35

spread fast. Before long,

8:37

hundreds of people gathered at

8:40

the mouth of Sand Cave.

8:42

Reporters showed up. One of them

8:44

was William Burke Skeets

8:46

Miller, a small-framed journalist

8:49

who was the only one

8:51

thin enough to reach Floyd

8:53

and interview him in person.

8:56

His reports turned Floyd's

8:59

story into a

9:01

national event. For days,

9:03

rescuers tried everything. They

9:05

pulled. They dug. They

9:08

even rigged up a harness

9:10

and tried to yank him

9:13

out by force. That only

9:15

injured him worse. Then on

9:17

the fourth day, disaster struck.

9:20

The tunnel collapsed,

9:22

blocking access to

9:24

Floyd completely. Now

9:27

the only way to reach him

9:29

was to dig straight down.

9:31

That was a task that would

9:33

take days, if not weeks.

9:35

And Floyd didn't have

9:37

that kind of time. Above

9:40

ground, the scene turned into

9:42

a circus. More than 10,000

9:44

people gathered, setting up

9:47

makeshift camps, selling food

9:49

and coffee, treating the

9:52

rescue site like a public

9:54

event. Local businesses

9:56

made money off the spectacle.

10:00

The tragedy of Floyd

10:02

Collins had become a

10:04

twisted form of

10:06

entertainment, but below ground

10:09

Floyd was dying. By

10:11

the time rescuers reached him,

10:13

17 days after he first

10:15

got stuck, it was too late.

10:17

He had died from starvation,

10:20

hypothermia, and exposure.

10:23

His body was too

10:25

difficult to retrieve

10:27

immediately. So it remained

10:29

underground for months. And

10:32

then the story got even

10:34

stranger. Two years later,

10:37

a local businessman bought

10:39

Floyd's family farm and

10:41

turned Crystal Cave into

10:44

a tourist attraction. And

10:46

in a move that can

10:48

only be described as morbid,

10:51

he decided that having

10:53

Floyd Collins' body on

10:55

display inside the cave.

10:57

would bring in visitors.

11:00

So he dug up

11:02

Floyd's remains, put him

11:04

in a glass coffin, and

11:06

made him a roadside

11:09

attraction. If that wasn't

11:11

bad enough, a few years

11:14

later, someone stole

11:16

his body. Eventually

11:19

Floyd was recovered,

11:21

mostly. His left

11:23

leg was never found.

11:26

Today, his remains are buried

11:29

in a proper grave at

11:31

Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery.

11:33

But his story still haunts

11:36

the caves of Kentucky, not

11:38

because of what he discovered,

11:40

but because of the way he

11:43

was lost. Floyd Collins wanted

11:45

to turn a cave into

11:48

a money-making tourist attraction, and

11:50

in this tragic twist of

11:52

fate, Floyd himself became

11:54

the attraction. And

11:57

now, nearly a century later,

12:00

People still remember

12:02

his name. Next month,

12:04

the Lincoln Center Theater

12:07

in New York City

12:09

will premiere a powerful

12:12

musical titled Floyd

12:14

Collins. It stars Jeremy

12:16

Jordan, and the

12:19

opening date is April

12:21

21, 2025. If you have

12:23

any thoughts or comments about

12:25

this story. Join us over

12:27

in the What Was That

12:29

Like Facebook group. There are

12:32

over 8,000 podcast listeners in

12:34

the group, and we discuss

12:36

every episode there, as well

12:38

as lots of other things,

12:41

but never any politics. What

12:43

was that like.com slash

12:45

Facebook? I'll be back next

12:47

Friday with an all-new episode.

12:50

Stay safe, and I'll see you then.