This article is provided by the East Mountain Historical Society. Learn more at eastmountainhistory.org
By Rick Holben, East Mountain Historical Society
Reports of caves being explored in the Sandia Mountains go back to at least to the turn of the last century, generally in connection with people exploring for mining locations or commercially useable guano deposits. What is now known as “Sandia Cave,” located in Las Huertas Canyon, was reportedly first explored by two Boy Scouts named Bernard Parker and Sidney Kirkpatrick in about 1928. Their discovery of an early ground sloth claw stirred interest in the cave’s history.
In 1936, Frank Hibben and Wesley Bliss, graduate students at the University of New Mexico archaeology program, began excavations at the cave. By the end of the season, Hibben wanted to continue work at the site on his own and asked Bliss to leave the project. In 1937, Hibben published preliminary reports indicating that, in unbroken and undisturbed layers of soil in the cave, he had discovered evidence of Folsom Man, considered at the time to be the earliest inhabitants of the Americas. He also revealed that in layers below that evidence were animal bones and spear points that dated even earlier. He estimated these remains to date back 25,000 years, 10,000 years earlier than Folsom man. He labeled the find as the remains of “Sandia Man”. He believed the spear points he found were a “missing link” between early European and American cultures, as they had characteristics of both eras.
In 1940, Time magazine reported on Hibben’s finds, giving worldwide recognition to the theory of “Sandia Man.” That same year, his 1936 partner Wesley Bliss published a paper titled “A Chronological Problem Presented by Sandia Cave, New Mexico.” In the paper, Bliss made the contention that the layers on the cave floor had been disturbed by rodents, creating an unreliable method of dating any artifacts. Hibben denied the contradictory report and continued his work. In 1946, Hibben published a book, “The Lost Americas,” describing his research at Sandia Man Cave and his discovery of the earliest known inhabitants of the Americas.
In 1951, Hibben sent samples of mammoth ivory that he had discovered in Sandia Man Cave to a newly opened radiocarbon laboratory at the University of Michigan. The results showed a date of at least 20,000 years. Within a few years, rumors were circulating that Hibben’s ivory samples had origins other than the Sandia Man cave. Among those raising their concerns was a student assistant of Hibbens at UNM and also an assistant at the University of Michigan named Lewis Binford, who had the task of authenticating Hibben’s samples for the radiocarbon test. Binford later became a professor at UNM and then a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University.
Despite professional doubts cast on Hibbens’ “Sandia Man” theory, the publicity behind it made the cave a popular attraction in the Sandia Mountains. In 1961, Congress declared Sandia Man Cave a National Historic Landmark. By the mid-1960s, the U.S. Forest Service created a parking lot, improved a trail to the cave and replaced the old wooden steps up to the cave with the metal spiral staircase that still stands today.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, new generations of archaeology and anthropology experts were re-evaluating Hibben’s findings and discovering problems with his work and conclusions. This, combined with other questionable work done by Hibben, led to Hibben’s theory of Sandia Man being removed from textbooks and scientific journals. By the 1990s, the cave was renamed “Sandia Cave,” and signs detailing his discoveries were removed. Whether Sandia Man existed doesn’t take away from the fun in hiking up to and exploring “Sandia Cave,” located right here in our backyard in the great Sandia Mountains.
