advertisements. Cave exploration became so dangerous and secretive
that finally in 1941 the U.S. Government stepped in, made much of the
area a National Park and effectively banned caving. The gold rush of
tourists was, in any case, waning.

Convinced that the Mammoth and Flint Ridge caves were
all linked in a huge chain, of perhaps four hundred miles in extent,
explorers tried secret entrances for years, eventually winning official
backing. Throughout the 1960s all connections from Flint Ridge –
difficult and water-filled tunnels – ended frustratingly in
chokes of boulders. A “reed-thin” physicist, Patricia Crowther,
made the breakthrough in 1972 when she got through the Tight Spot and
found a muddy passage: it was a hidden way into the Mammoth Cave.

Under the terms of his owner's will, Stephen Bishop
was freed in 1856, at which time the cave boasted226 avenues, 47 domes,
23 pits and 8 waterfalls. He died a year later, before he could buy his
wife and son, and achieve his ambition of farming in Argentina. In
the 1970s, Crowther's muddy passage was found on his map.

· · · · ·

One of Pat Crowther's caving companions was her husband,
Will, who had already used computer plotters to draw the group's maps.
He takes up the story:

I had been involved in a non-computer role-playing game
called Dungeons and Dragons at the time [c. 1975], and also
I had been actively exploring in caves … Suddenly, I got involved
in a divorce, and that left me a bit pulled apart in various ways. In
particular I was missing my kids. Also the caving had stopped, because
that had become awkward, so I decided I would fool