Dark Venture

About five years ago, Dennis and Glenn heard about the possibility of caves Comanche Springs, which is located the east side of Fort Stockton.

A county swimming pool, raised on stilts, was built in the same location where a natural pool termed by the springs once was. In the pool's location are several of the now-dry springs.

By climbing under the swimming pool, the brothers found an entrance. But 10 feet in was a pool of clear water, ending their exploration.

"We just covered it up and forgot about it," said Glenn.

Dennis said they didn't think the county would give them permission to drain the water from the cave.

Glenn was upset that the town seemed to have forgotten about the springs, which had been Fort Stockton's lifeblood for so many years, and the reason for the early settlement.

But the Hayneses couldn't get the cave entirely out of their minds. Every so often, they stopped to look again. And Glenn mentioned the cave's possibility to a friend, Judy Wilson.

Shannon: "Strange things have been found in some or the cave's rooms. The Washbasket Crack was so named because a green plastic washbasket was found lodged in the small corner. "Objects may have washed in from the swimming pool, which was filled with spring water for many years. Small red toy balls, marbles and swimming pool buoys also have been found. "

Wilson went to Glen Larum, editor of the Fort Stockton Pioneer, with the story. Larum was interested enough to ask M.R. Conzalez Jr., a Pecos County commissioner, if they could pump the cave.

"Glen Larum is the one that believed in us from the start," Glenn said.

About the same time, Glenn went to the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum in search of information about Comanche Springs. He brought a cavalry canteen he had found at the entrance of another cave to ease his way into the museum curator's confidence.

Museum curator Shannon was fascinated by the find. She soon was joining the team as they started pumping water from the entrance.

"We battled that thing for quite a while," Glenn said about their pumping efforts. Often the team worked through the night. "When you get the cave bug, you make time," Glenn said.

Their relentless pumping finally paid off. "We pumped out 21 feet of water and hit a 12 foot room," Glenn said.

"That was our fantasy. To get into Comanche Springs cave," Glenn said. From there, the brothers explored other parts of the cave, sharing their finds with Larum and Shannon. The entrance, along with the first tunnel and mirror room, still required pumping, though.

Because the electric pump would burn out if it pumped dry, it couldn't be left on when, they were in the cave for fear it would pump all the water out. That meant the spelunkers risked having the entrance fill with water.

And that prompted a search for another entrance.

Shannon: "One tunnel was dubbed Mary's Revenge because the other spelunkers decided that the room was similar to what my unleashed wrath would be like. "The tunnel is round, making it hard to maneuver by crawling on the stomach but too shallow to crawl on hands and knees. I hate Mary's Revenge. "

With a tape measure and two compasses, the team began mapping out the cave. They had seen the roots of a tree descend in one area, and wanted to find that tree on the surface.

At the base of the tree, the brothers decid-ed to dig. Glenn and Haley, who had joined the team during a vacation from teaching school in Amarillo, dug from underneath, while Dennis thumped from above.

Eight hours later, they still hadn't tunneled through and Clenn and Haley came to the surface. There, Haley walked around, stabbing a wrecking bar into the ground. The wrecking bar broke through.

After digging out the new entrance, five 55-gallon barrels were placed atop each other in the hole, with spikes on the inside providinga ladder.

With a secure entrance, the team explored farther, believing they could be in one of the longest cave systems in Texas. "We've run into tunnels everywhere. It's like an ant bed," Glenn said.

"We figure it may be 100 miles of passage," Dennis said.

So far, though, the brothers have uncovered a maze of tunnels and rooms under about a two-block area. "Any other squirrel can walk right in and find caverns," Dennis said.

The team put a pump into one well, Stephen's Well, which they ran for 93 days, pumping 9 1/2 gallons a minute. "We did not alter the water so much as an eighth of an inch," Shannon said.

The team holds hope that Stephen's Well may prove to be the main opening to the rest of the cave. A team of divers from the National Park Service has agreed to dive into the well sometime in October.

Shannon: "The Born Again Hole measures 10 inches by 14 inches. Passage is necessary to get through to the southern part of the cave.

"The name has a double meaning. Getting through is both a religious experience and a mime of a baby moving through the birth canal. "

Until the divers arrive, the team has continued searching out other caves in the area, confident that many are probably linked.

Dennis said Comanche Springs dried up when farmers started irrigating with underground water 10 miles south of Fort Stockton in Belding.

Because Comanche Springs is on low ground, the brothers reason that there must be a lot more dry cave in the area, all linked somehow.

Dennis stressed that the caves are only that -- caves. But the word cavern creeps into his conversations.

Shannon shares the brothers' dream. She said cave formations indicate there may in- deed be a caverns. With a little luck, the team may "find Fort Stockton Caverns instead of Comanche Springs cave."