The Cave of the Winds was a natural cave behind Bridal Veil Falls at the American Niagara Falls that was 130 feet (40m) high, 100 feet (30m) wide and 30 feet (9m) deep. Discovered in 1834, guided tours of the cave began officially in 1841. On September 6, 1920, a group of tourists and their guide were in the middle of one of the four bridges in the cave, about to exit, when 5 tons of shale came crashing down. Two women and a man were crushed to death and two men were injured. The guide was not touched. A hundred or more tourists who were in the cave at the time had narrow escapes, many being bruised and cut by the falling rock. The accident was the first of its kind since the first stairway was built in 1853. The Cave of the Winds officially reopened in 1924, now bringing visitors on a series of decks and walkways to the front of the Bridal Veil Falls instead of behind it. Tropical storm-like conditions can be experienced, with up to 68 mph winds and spray underneath the falls.In 1954, the cave was destroyed by a massive rock fall and preventative dynamiting of a dangerous overhang.