Editing Floyd Collins (section)

{{Short description|American cave explorer (1887–1925)}}
{{redirect|Sand Cave|the cave itself|Mammoth Cave National Park}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{infobox person
| image              = Floyd Collins.png
| caption            = Collins in Cave City {{circa|1924}}
| birth_name         = William Floyd Collins
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1887|7|20}}{{efn|name=bday}}
| birth_place        = [[Auburn, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{circa}} {{death date and age|1925|2|13|1887|7|20}}
| death_place        = [[Cave City, Kentucky]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Mammoth Cave Baptist Church and Cemetery|Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery]], [[Mammoth Cave, Kentucky]]
| other_names        = 
| known_for          = Cave exploration in Central Kentucky; being trapped in Sand Cave and dying before a rescue party could get to him
}}

'''William Floyd Collins''' (July 20, 1887{{efn|name=bday}}&nbsp;– {{circa}} February 13, 1925) was an American [[caving|cave explorer]] who became trapped and died in what became [[Mammoth Cave National Park]]. The incident earned major media attention during the efforts to rescue him.

During the early 20th century, in an era known as the [[Mammoth Cave National Park#Early 20th century: The Kentucky Cave Wars|Kentucky Cave Wars]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/historyculture/cavewars.htm|title=Cave Wars - Mammoth Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service)|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215124205/https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/historyculture/cavewars.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[spelunk]]ers and property owners entered into bitter competition to exploit the bounty of caves for commercial profit from tourists, who paid to see the caves. In 1917 and 1918, Collins discovered and commercialized Great Crystal Cave in the [[Mammoth Cave National Park|Flint Ridge Cave System]], but the cave was remote and visitors were few. Collins had an ambition to find another cave he could open to the public closer to the main roads, and entered into an agreement with a neighbor to open up Sand Cave, a small cave on the neighbor's property.

On January 30, 1925, while working to enlarge the small passage in Sand Cave, Collins became trapped in a narrow crawlway {{convert|55|ft|m}} below ground. The rescue operation to save him became a national [[media sensation]] and one of the first major news stories to be reported using the new technology of [[broadcast radio]]. After four days, during which rescuers were able to bring water and food to Collins, a rock collapse in the cave closed the entrance passageway, stranding him inside, except for voice contact, for another 10 days. Collins died of [[dehydration|thirst]] and [[starvation|hunger]], compounded by exposure through [[hypothermia]] after being isolated for a total of 14 days, three days before a rescue shaft reached his position. Collins' body was recovered two months later.

Although Collins was unknown publicly for most of his lifetime, the fame he gained from the rescue efforts and his death resulted in him being memorialized on his tombstone as the "Greatest Cave Explorer Ever Known".{{sfnp|Murray|Brucker|2013|p=235}}