As some will recall, there was a discussion on the SWR listserve last October regarding the contents of the Tom Meador collection of cave files that are archived at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin. Last week I finally had an opportunity to review the collection and make a quick inventory of their contents. There were 8 boxes in the collection containing both 35mm color slides and paper files, plus some misc. Boy Scout material. The cave files were predominantly Texas and New Mexico caves with a strong emphasis on the Guadalupe Mountain area. Many of the slides are quite good and were taken on the early trips to the Guads during the old Guadalupe Cave Survey days. There's also a box with labeled folders on at least 50 - 100 Guads and Eddy County caves that contain maps, survey notes, articles, and photos. My first inclination was to Xerox the files and have some of the better slides scanned. Unfortunately, you cannot Xerox the collection yourself, but have to request and pay for the copying of materials in the collection. Likewise, all slides have to be scanned by University staff and the price is really high. I'm afraid that the Meador collection is quite difficult to access and use in a meaningful way without paying a steep price. I would estimate that it would cost at least $1500 - $3000 to reproduce the best part of the collection at the prices quoted. Perhaps the SWR would like to consider a fund to pay for reproduction costs?
Jerry. Here is the inventory of the collection: Tom Meador Collection Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin Box G1: 6 metal slidecases of 35 mm color slides; 5 labeled “caves”, ca. 1960s- 1970s, at least 2000-3000 slides Slide Box 1.) Misc.unlabeled cave slides; appear to be photo salon entries in part Slide Box 2.) ThreeFingers, Vanishing River, Wen Cave, White Mule, White Man’s, Y Cave, Aerialphotos of Guads looking for caves, Bottomless Lakes, 1973 NSSConvention, Lake McMillan area, CACA Guano Camp, Blue Hole-Santa Rosa, CRF,Endless, D. Lee-Davis, R.V., Hawk Hole-Gyp, La Cueva Larona[sic?], Slide Box 3.) ElPaso Gap, Endless, Fallen Stalagmite, Ft. Stanton, Frank’s Cave, Gila Cliff, GoatCave, Gunsight, Gypsum caves, Harrison Cave (1960s), Harvey’s Cave, Helen’sCave, Helm’s West Well (1969), Hell Below, Hick’s, High Grass Shelter, Hick’sPit, Hidden, Holey Hole, Honest Indian, Hueco Tanks petroglyphs, Hunter’s Well,Inner Space Cavern, Johnson Mesa Ice Cave, Jernigan, Ken’s, Lake Cave, La Cuevaof Wailing Wind, Ladder Cave (Guads), Langtry Gypsum Cave, Lechugilla Cave,Little Beauty, Little Bone, Little Sentinal, Lost cave, Madonna, misc.unlabeled slides; some of cave maps Slide Box 4.) McMillan,McKittrick, McCullum’s Crevice, McCullum’s Cave, Midnight Goat Cave (CACA),Mick Sells[sic] and Ingol, Mudgett’s Cave, Musk Ox Cave (CACA), Natural BridgeCaverns, New Cave, Nasatunga, Ogle Cave, Onyx Cave trip, misc. unlabeledslides; some of cave maps Slide Box 5.) Scenicslides, Big Canyon scenery, Black Canyon area scenery, Double Canyon scenery,Gunsight Canyon scenery, McKittrick Canyon scenery, [Guadalupe] Rim scenery, paleoslides, Slaughter Canyon scenery, sunsets, U.K., Mexico scenery, Natural BridgeCaverns, Mammoth Cave, Oregon caves N.M., Caverns of Sonora (Meston’s Travelcommercial photos), Cascade Caverns, Fort Davis Historic Site, Fort Leaton,Fort McKavett, Fort Lancaster, Melvin’s Station, Esquendeto[sic] Stage Stand,historical markers Slide Box 6.) P.C.A. Crystal Cave,Parks Ranch Cave, Painted Cave (Val Verde Co,-Texas),Painted Grotto (CACA), [Pink?] Palet[sic], Pratt Cave, pictograph caves, PinkBobcat (with map), Pink Dragon, Pink Isaac, Pink Panther, Poppey’s [BradfordCave-5 slides; totems], Queen of the Guads, Rattlesnake, Red Lake, Robinson’sCaves, Robbies Shelter, Russell Cave - Alabama, Solitario area, Sentinel Cave,Shelby’s pictographs and archeo, Smoke Shelter, Sotol cave, Spider Cave,Stanley & L Cave, Stone Ranch, Terlingua Sink, Trench Cave [cave pearlphotos], Thayer, Thorn’s Well, Tom’s Thum (April 2, 1972), Torgac, TriangleCave, misc unlabeled slides, some are obviously from Guad caves Box G2: 1 slidecase, 3 cigar boxes, 3 vanilla envelopes, a ½’ thick pile of unsorted papermaterials Slide box:Misc. unlabeled slides from 1969 NSSConvention trip (some cave slides), 1971 trip, and Big Bendtrip (November 1970) Cigar box #1:Boy Scout region patches Cigar box #2: BoyScout patches and insignia, service pins Cigar box #3:Boy Scout patches and insignia, service pins Vanillaenvelope #1: mostly BSA Jamboree patches Vanillaenvelope #2: mostly foreign Boy Scout patches Vanillaenvelope #3: Jamboree patches on Thailand Boy Scout scarf Unsorted papermaterial includes: published photo of “Mammoth Cave near San Marcos, Texas”,hyperbole publicity advertisement; Xeroxof part of “Caves of Uvalde County” TSSpublication; Uvalde County deed record for Frio Bat Cave (1984); handwrittenNey Cave owner histories; Frio Bat Cave area topo xeroxes; handwrittenAnnandale Ranch [Uvalde Co.] land records; Ney and Frio Bat Cave land records Box G3: Schleicher County, Texashistorical materials: file folders and ledger, misc. envelopes containing loosepapers Ledger: guestregistry for the Eldorado Hotel (1959-1963) Record of landsleased in Schleicher County(1895-1904) Schleicher County monthly returns for thefrontier forces (late 1800s) Schleicher County historical newspaperclippings Schleicher County historical research papers,newspaper clippings, Xeroxed material Land deeds Box G4: GeneralTexas historical research centered in and around Schleicher County, Texas:labeled folders Box G5: Texas Cave histories: labeled folders Helm’s West Well, Roundtree Cave,Hueco Tanks, Mayfield cave (6 B&W photos), Phantom Lake Cave, Robber Baroncave (Harris Murder and other events article, thick folder), Project X-ray,Longhorn Cavern, Campbell bat roost, 1966 TSAConvention-San Marcos, 1964 NSS Convention,New Braunfels, original minutes of the first Texas Region meetingtranscribed from tape, early 1956 correspondence between NSSand Texas Region (Roy Pietsch), Balcones Grotto materials, written speechof Dr. Ray Eads as given at the first meeting of the Texas Region, TSABOG minutes, 1957-1966, Cascade Caverns, LasMoras Cave-Menard County, Indian burials, Spanish mine, Deadman’s Hole-BurnetCounty, several labeled folders containing newspaper clippings and transcribednotes on caves dating back to 1808, sorted by years, TSARegion projects announcements and misc., 1967 TSAConvention, 1956-1965 TSA Conventionmaterial and sign-up sheets, thick folder on cave niter and miners, Cornudasdel Alamo (NM). Box G6: Folders containing historical materials: C.S.A. niter; B&W negativesfrom June 1962 Guads trip; negatives from Odessa school annual book showingcaves the O.S.S. were exploring including Mayfield, O-9, and gypsum caves, othermisc. caves; 1975-1978 Texas Cavers; TSS3(3), 1968 TSS publication (Texas SpeleologyBibliography); niter references; Fisher-Miller Grant; bat guano references;misc. B&W cave print photos, mostly Guads; Painted Caves (Val VerdeCo.-Texas); Texas cave postcards; Folklore Box G7: Labeledfolders on various New Mexico caves: Mostly Guads and Eddy County area, contains articles, survey notes, maps, and photos, inalphabetical order, at least 50-100 caves in box. Box G8: Various labeled folders with referencesand historical notes: Coffee Cave; gypsum karst nearLake McMillan; Lincoln County cave references; Otero and Chaves Counties cavereferences; Mexico cave references; 1890 tax list of Schleicher County, Texas; GustaveF. Schleicher notes; Verand and Vermont Cattle Co., Wm. L. Black (earlyrancher); Confederate pensions.
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