Charles William (Bill) Steele, Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is a

caver Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

and

speleologist Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorpholog ...

who has led and participated in expeditions to many of the longest and deepest caves in the USA, Mexico, and China. He has explored hundreds of caves across North America and Asia and has written two books chronicling his expeditions: ''Yochib: The River Cave'', and ''Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World's Deepest Caves''. TV shows such as

National Geographic Explorer ''National Geographic Explorer'' (or simply ''Explorer'') is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's '' ...

NOVA A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

and How’d They Do That? have aired programs on his expeditions.

Biography

Steele was born in Dayton, Ohio. As a child he moved to Los Angeles and Atlanta before settling back in Dayton where he graduated from Centerville High School in 1966. According to Steele, while out on a Boy Scout adventure when he was 13 years old, he discovered a previously unexplored passage in a Kentucky cave. During the trip he got the taste of original exploration and from that moment he was "bitten by the bug." The following year, he organized an explorer post that specialized in

speleology Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their chemical composition, composition, structure, physical property, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenes ...

, joined the

National Speleological Society The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in ...

, and became an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

. In the late 1960s, Steele was involved in the exploration and mapping of Ellison’s Cave, Georgia. He began organizing caving expeditions to Mexico. In 1971, he explored and mapped the longest cave in Mexico at the time, Grutas de Juxtlahuaca, which contains the oldest known cave paintings in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

. Based up on this exploratory work, Juxtlahuaca subsequently became a national park. He graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1973, and became a full-time explorer for the remainder of the decade. He participated in numerous expeditions to the Silvertip Cave System in the

Bob Marshall Wilderness The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (wilderness activist), Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the f ...

in Montana. Through the 1970s, along with others from an

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas-based group known as the Association for Mexican Cave Studies, he explored southern Mexico to look for deep caves. In 1976 and 1977, he led expeditions to explore a cave said to be the “world’s most dangerous and difficult cave,” Sumidero Yochib, in Chiapas, Mexico. In 1977, he also co-led three expeditions to Oaxaca, Mexico, to explore Sistema Huautla, a cave system first discovered in 1965, and considered the deepest in the

. Continuing to explore caves throughout the United States, Steele led and participated in expeditions to Sistema Huautla in Mexico almost every year through the 1980s. In 1987, the Huautla expedition connected the deep cave Nita Nanta to Sistema Huautla; which established it as the second deepest cave in the world. Steele went to Kijahe Xontjoa on the plateau to the east of Huautla with an expedition of Swiss explorers in 1993, and explored depths over 1,000 meters. Steele joined the Hong Meigui Cave Exploration Society Study Area in 2011 and 2012. The expedition explored two of China’s longest caves in the Wulong Province: San Wang Dong and Er Wang Dong, cave systems which Steele describes as the “Carlsbad Caverns of China”. In 2014, Steele helped to form the Proyecto Espeleologico Sistema Huautla (PESH), an official project of the

and the United States Deep Caving Team. The mission of PESH is to explore, survey and conduct a comprehensive speleological study of the Sistema Huautla area caves. Along with fellow cave explorer, Tommy Shifflett, Steele will lead annual expeditions from 2014-2023 to seek the deep. They have a goal of reaching 100 km in length and 1,610m in depth, a vertical mile. The expedition will also support the underground research of Mexican scientists. In addition to his expeditions, Steele had a 34-year career with the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

, retiring in 2014 as National Director for Alumni Relations and the

National Eagle Scout Association The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) is an organization of individuals who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), Eagle Scout in Scouting America. NESA's stated objective is "to serve Eagle Scouts and, through them, ...

. For many years he served as Chairman for the United States Deep Caving Team. He has written two books that chronicle his cave exploration in Mexico: “Yochib:The River Cave” and “Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World’s Deepest Caves”, both published by Cave Books. He is well-published in caving newsletters and journals. With Tommy Shifflett, he co-authored a chapter for “Encyclopedia of Caves.” He was profiled as one of 120 contemporary

explorers Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some expectation of discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organisms capable of directed locomotion and the abilit ...

in the 2009 book ''Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives''. In 2018, ''

Hemirrhagus billsteelei ''Hemirrhagus billsteelei'' is a tarantula in the ''Hemirrhagus'' genus of Mexican cave tarantulas. This tarantula is found in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. This tarantula was first described by Mendoza and Francke in 2018, and is named in honou ...

'', a newly discovered species of spider was named after Steele in honor of "his contribution to the knowledge of Mexican Caves and his help in the collection of cave tarantulas and other arachnids in the Huautla Cave System". Steele led a major speleological expedition to Sistema Huautla in southern Mexico, covered in June 2018 by National Geographic. In May 2019 Steele led the way in making significant new discoveries in the popular Texas show cave Natural Bridge Caverns, the first new passages found in nearly 60 years. New discoveries continued in 2020 and 2021. Since retiring from his career in 2014, Steele has been a public speaker telling tales of his cave explorations. He has spoken for all sorts of groups, annual meetings, and cruise ships all over the world. In October 2022 a feature article was published about Steele’s contemporary cave exploration projects, written by a popular Texas outdoor writer. In the December 2023 issue of Texas Monthly magazine an in-depth article about the cavers of Texas was published, written by staff writer Katy Vine, with Steele as the primary storyteller.

Awards and recognition

, Fellow Member, 1976

, Lew Bicking Award, 1977

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...

, Fellow Member, 1979

, International SpeleoArt Salon, Merit Award,"Brake Bar Necklace," 2009

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout who has achieved extraordinary national-level recognition, fame, or eminence within their profession ...

, for accomplishments as a cave explorer, 2011

, Fellow Emeritus Member, 2013

, Citation of Merit, 2015

, SpeleoArt Salon, Best of Show and Caver Popular Vote, "Calcite-covered Rope," 2015

, Spelean Arts and Letters Award, 2015 National Eagle Scout Association's Distinguished Service Award 2021 https://eagles.ggacbsa.org/nesa-distinguished-service-award/ Pod Casts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Bill American cavers Living people Indiana University alumni 1948 births People from Dayton, Ohio People from Centerville, Ohio Fellows of the Explorers Club 20th-century American explorers 21st-century American explorers