nearby field, but the injured left leg was missing. After this desecration, the remains were kept in a secluded portion of Crystal Cave in a chained casket. In 1961, Crystal Cave was purchased by Mammoth Cave National Park and closed to the public. The Collins family had objected to Collins' body being displayed in the cave and, at their request, the National Park Service re-interred him at Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky in 1989. It took a team of 15 men three days to remove the casket and tombstone from the cave. Legacy Collins' life and death inspired the musical Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel and Tina Landau, as well as one film documentary, several books, a museum and many short songs. In 2006, actor Billy Bob Thornton optioned the film rights to Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins and a screenplay was adapted by Thornton's writing partner, Tom Epperson. However, Thornton's option expired and the film rights were acquired by producer Peter R. J. Deyell in 2011. Fiddlin' John Carson and Vernon Dalhart recorded "The Death of Floyd Collins" in 1925. John Prine and Mac Wiseman recorded "Death of Floyd Collins" on their 2007 album Standard Songs for Average People. Collins' ordeal in Sand Cave is recounted in an hour-long YouTube docudrama, Man In Cave, produced and narrated by Internet Historian and released on September 29, 2022. The video has received over 9 million views as of February 2023. See also Moose River Disaster, mine cave-in covered extensively on radio in 1936 References Further reading External links Tragedy at Sand Cave (U.S. National Park Service) Cave Wars - Mammoth Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service) The Tragedy of History's Smallest Underground War 1887 births 1925 deaths Accidental deaths in Kentucky American cavers American explorers Burials in Kentucky Caving incidents and rescues People from Logan County, Kentucky