Wind Cave became the 7th National Park in 1903 and the first whose focus was on a cave. In 1934, to preserve the vanishing prairie and wildlife it was expanded to include the Wind Cave Game Preserve where today a herd of two hundred bison graze.
Wind Cave was discovered in 1890 when two brothers felt a strong wind coming out of the caves natural entrance. By 1903 about eight miles of the cave was explored. The cave is mostly a dry cave. It contains 95% of the world's boxwork formation. It is also very compact with the 100 miles of discovered passages all contain in a one square mile area.
Shown here is a photo of the boxwork formation and a group of signatures from August 17, 1882.