2017-07-01: Back in Florida for Two Weeks

Welcome back! So on Monday June 12, I finished my last day at work on Phase 1 of a solar power construction project. Spending another week hanging out in Texas, the plan was to fly to Orlando, Florida on Monday the 19th and stay there for a week seeing family and taking care of some doctors appointments. Then driving back to Texas in a U-Haul, bringing back a lot of our stuff since our stay is going on almost two years instead of the planned few months.

Well since when do things go as planned! First thing the plane was delayed a day due to weather. The flight was scheduled to leave Midland at 4:30 PM, a short stop in Dallas, then land in Orlando at 10:30 PM. Well correct that. It was first delayed a couple hours, so I still arrived at the airport, but then cancelled a day. I could have boarded a flight from Midland at 6:00 PM, to Dallas, to Los Angeles, to Charlotte, to Miami, then to Orlando at 2:30 PM the next day. If they'd have bumped me up to first class on every leg, sure. But no, so no I didn't.

So I called the hotel and the car rental and postponed my check-in. I flew out instead on Tuesday the 20th. By the time I touched down in Orlando, checked in with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and got settled into the hotel, it was nearly midnight. And boy was I tired!

One last call to my lovely wife who had to stay behind in Texas and then time for sleep!

So my first day in Orlando and I'm already a day behind and I have to hit the ground running! I think I checked out of the hotel before 7AM. I've got the cardiologist at 1:00 and my sons for dinner after that. It wasn't long before I realized I was back in Orlando when I hit that traffic. I'm still down in southeast Orlando near the airport heading westbound when I spot a Walmart. That was my first stop to pickup deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and all those essentials that I didn't want to hassle with in my carry-on luggage. Again, I hate flying.

As usual before leaving a Walmart, I check for Geocaches. There's one on the side of the parking lot. After a short search, I found the tiny cache container. However, I got nothing with me to help get the log sheet out of the container. So not being able to sign the log, I can't claim the find. Oh well, gotta move on.

Working my way west across south Orlando, I stopped by where I used to work before moving to Texas. Many of the faces have changed except for the two there working at that moment. There was a driver still around, but all the drivers had already taken off on their routes. It was good to catch up with my former coworkers. There's some customers I wouldn't mind seeing also, but I'm not going to go driving all over the state to do so.

Continuing west and heading into Ocoee, Winter Garden, and then Clermont, I spot a Jeep dealership. I still had to burn some time before my doctors appointment, so I pulled in for a quick look around. They didn't have any new ones in stock of interest, but a 2015 Wrangler Unlimited Artic Edition that was loaded with all the options. But it was this frost blue color and my preference is white. I talked to the salesman and got his card. I'd have to think about that one.

Turning north on US27, I start heading up towards the doctors in Mt Dora along the scenic route. After making the turn on Hwy 19 north and driving this country road for a few miles, I spotted this sign and got a chuckle. I just had to stop turn around and get a picture of it. Now being from Florida, I know it is the second home to a lot of snowbirds. As well as the permanent home to a lot of retirees! Well I didn't realize just how popular it REALLY was. I found the home of Dr Von Frankenstein! Florida truly is the retirement capital of the world!

A few miles further and I entered the small town of Howey-in-the-Hills, FL. Yes, there really is a town with that name in Florida. Checking my geocaching app, I noticed a couple of caches hidden since we were last here. They were on this nice boardwalk and trail leading down to Little Lake Harris. I took the short stroll, probably two miles round trip, and found both caches GC7785X & GC5QKH1.

Just around the corner from that park, I noticed a point of interest on the maps. It was the Howey Mansion and former home of the founder of this town. I'm just going to tell you of the very short version here, but I encourage you to follow this link (Howey Mansion) and read the full history and see the amazing photos of this historic mansion.

William John Howey was born on January 19, 1876 in Odin, Illinois. It was in 1908 when Howey found himself in Winter Haven, Florida where he perfected his citrus farming and sales program techniques. He believed that if he took raw land and controlled its development into mature citrus groves, he could guarantee investors a successful enterprise while making a profit on each step of citrus cultivation. In 1914, he began buying land for $8 to $10 per acre and later sold them at $800 to $2000 per acre, cleared and planted with 48 citrus trees per acre.
The Florida Land Boom tripled Howey’s enterprises and the “Town of Howey” was incorporated on May 8, 1925. In 1927, the name was officially changed to Howey-in-the-Hills to reflect the location of the town in an area of rolling hills which he dubbed “The Florida Alps”. In 1927, construction of his mansion was completed; a 20-room, 7,200 square foot mansion at the cost of $250,000, around $3.2 million after inflation. To celebrate, he hosted the entire New York Civic Opera Company of 100 artists, drawing a crowd of 15,000 arriving in 4,000 automobiles to the free outdoor performance.

Howey died of a heart attack on June 7, 1938 at the age of 62. His wife, Mary Grace Hastings, lived in the Howey mansion until her death on December 18, 1981 and was laid to rest in the family mausoleum on the mansion grounds along with William and their daughter Lois.

Arriving now in Mt Dora, I still had about an hour until the doctors appointment. I did a quick Google maps search for a Great Clips and there was one about 10 minutes away. Hopefully they wouldn't be too busy. I check in and was seated with only about a 5 minute wait. The girl cut my hair and did a fantastic job! I hadn't been able to get a decent haircut in Texas. I wish they had Great Clips out there. And I still arrived at my doctors with about 5 minutes to spare.

After two tests at the cardiologist, I'm back on my way in about an hour.

Now to drive back down to Ocoee,  about 30 minutes away, to pick up my two sons for dinner. Because of our wide variety in taste for food and the younger being a vegetarian, I decided on Golden Corral. They have a great buffet and a large selection to accommodate any palate.

After dinner my sons couldn't agree on what to do for the rest of the evening. The older, working at and being a fanatic, wanted to go to Disney to see the fireworks. The younger wanted to go to the old mall and play ping pong. Yes, there are so many empty stores in this mall that one space is rented out to this guy who has ping pong tables setup where you can play ping pong for as long as you want for just $4.00. Neither wanted to go to the movies as a compromise. But by now we are at the mall and so I made the decision to go inside.

Inside the mall, all the power is out. Even the theater has been emptied and people all standing around waiting. So the movies are a no go. We continue past and go down towards the ping pong place. And of course with no movies to watch the ping pong tables were all taken. We even passed by the bowling alley, and they were packed. So I returned them to their house and we made plans to meet again one on one so that we could do what they wanted to do.

That evening and for the rest of the time in Florida, I stayed at my mothers house up in Umatilla which is about an hour NW of Orlando. The next morning I took this photo of the male peacock all dressed up with his tail trying to impress the ladies for mating season. Just some of the many animals she has on her property.

So over the past two weeks between doctors visits and other errands around Central Florida, I did manage to find a few Geocaches here and there. Nothing real interesting, just some some basic urban caches. I did get three First-to-Finds though!

While I was there, I did spend a lot of time at the Glendale Cemetery in Umatilla. It's a half block down the street from my mothers house. The cemetery dates back to the 1880's, but most of the burials begin in the 1940's. Because Geocaching takes me to a lot of cemeteries, I also use the Find-a-Grave website for history and research. I also contribute and try to keep it up to date. After walking through the cemetery twice, I think I added about 30-35 photos to existing listings as well as added a few internment myself.

While using the Find-a-Grave website, I discovered another very small old cemetery a few miles down the road. Now I have been coming up here to visit my mother for over 15 years and never knew this other small cemetery was even here. There's not even any signage here, but it's often referred to the Old Fort Mason Cemetery. But even that is suspect because there's not much information about Fort Mason.

In a December 5, 1919 interview by one of the early pioneers of Eustis, Charles T. Smith presented some apparently accurate facts to the Lake County Citizen newspaper of May 25, 1923. When Smith and Guilford D. Clifford arrived in what would become Eustis, a few settlers were already there homesteading before 1876.

Charles Smith wrote in 1919: "Fort Mason was located about 2 1/2 miles northeast of Lake Eustis on the homestead of Warren Smith. The line of depression formed by the moat or ditch that surrounded the stockade was quite easy to follow 40 years ago." He saw the remains of the fort when he visited in 1875.

It is generally stated that the fort was built under the command of Brig. Gen. Abraham Eustis and his 1,500 troops during the 1836 Second Seminole War campaign. Little else is known about the military Fort Mason. Regulations required the commanding officer at every post submit reports, usually every month, however no records were ever found for Fort Mason. No one is really sure of what it actually looked like.

As for the nearby cemetery, all that's left is just a few headstones dating back to the 1880's. Looking at the first photo below, you can see a tall thin headstone by the oak and another smaller to the left. Further to the left is an overgrown iron fence plot with three headstones in it. Behind that is an open field with a dirt driveway along the treeline leading to that white building in the distance. About halfway back under the trees are a couple more headstones and all that remain in the African-American cemetery. In the last photo below, are whats left of two large above ground graves in very poor condition.

More doctors appointments meant delaying my drive back to Texas another week. On the bright side, I did get to spend more time with my sons, my mother and aunt, and catch up with some friends.

One day with my oldest son, I got to spend the day with him and meeting his girlfriend at Disney. We started out at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I hadn't been there since it was called MGM Studios. While there I finally had the chance to grab a Virtual Geocache (GC3338). You can't hide any actual cache container on Disney property, but there are 6 Virtual Geocaches created back when they were still allowed. Now I have 4 of the 6 in the find column.

Anyway, we finished the night at the Magic Kingdom and got to see the new fireworks show which also transforms the castle into a giant screen to play various scenes. The best fireworks show I've ever seen! Overall a very fun day and add the fact the it was raining for the first half of it, that didn't stop us from being kids again playing in the rain. During the summer months, that's the best time to go to Disney. When there's a chance of rain! Most visitors tend to hid out in covered walkways and stores trying not to get wet. As long as you don't mind getting wet, it makes for shorter ride lines and being cooler.

The next day I spent with my younger son. We had lunch and then went to the mall to try and play ping pong again. I think we waited for an hour but the guy never showed up to open the place. So we settled on a movie. Afterwards passing by the bowling alley and noticing an empty parking lot, we sought to play a few games. No luck. The league teams were arriving soon and the lanes were booked. Instead we played three rounds of billiards. It was a fun afternoon.

On Saturday July 1st, TeamFelixG stopped by my mother's house to pick me up and we drove north into the Ocala National Forest at Salt Springs for a Geocaching Event. Here I got a chance to meet up with some cachers I hadn't seen in a long time.
After about an hour we were joined up with framptoncomesalive and headed out to grab some caches. We started out finishing up the Lighthouse GeoArt caches which they had already completed about half of it. Now I have half a lighthouse myself. Next trip to Florida...

Along with some other caches and off-road trails, we ended the very hot day with 35 cache finds.

Tomorrow I return the rental car and pickup a U-Haul truck to bring our stuff back to Texas. What started out as a short temporary work stop in Texas has turned into 1 1/2 years and counting. Before we had to fit everything into two little Toyota's as work moved us from place to place. Now that we're set in one place, having more of our personal items and photos on the wall make it seem more like home.

On this drive back, I'm taking the scenic route. No long boring I-10 halfway across the country. I'll be going up to Georgia before heading west on US-84 stopping for caches along the way.

See you soon.

2017-05-27: Geocaching Through Old Historic Texas Towns, a Cemetery, Churches, and More!

Hello again and welcome back to the AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventure Blog. Before I get started, I just wanted to say thank you for stopping by and following along with our travels. We hope they have not only been entertaining, but informative and making you want to get out exploring and Geocaching yourself. Always feel free to share this blog with your friends and please leave your comments below. We'd love to hear from you.

Today's Geocaching Adventures took us to North Central Texas. Texas is so large you kinda have to use two directional words to narrow down the area! Kinda in the Abilene to Wichita Falls to Fort Worth triangle if you will. We had 11 unfound geocaching counties on the radar, but managed to make it to only 7 before skipping the rest and heading back to the hotel. A nearly 500 mile loop just to get those! I think we would have tried to get the others, but imagining what the puppies were destroying after 12 hours locked up in the hotel room...!? Yeah better get back!

So this morning we walked and fed the pups and putting the "Do Not Disturb" on the hotel door, don't want housekeeping to be mauled by the 6 lb Chihuahua  and 3 lb Pomeranian attack dogs! We drove over to nearby Denny's for a hearty breakfast and then Starbucks for our coffee on the road. The hotel being in Abilene and Taylor County which we already have, we skipped the local caches.

Driving up US-277 north to Jones County, we arrived in a town called Anson and our first cache. The Anderson Chapel Cemetery (GC1J1X3) is about five miles west of town on US-180. The oldest known burial is from 1896 and that of Bertha C Anderson. Though there are many unknown burials with a cross or a single rock as a headstone among the 94 known internments. I couldn't find much on the history here other than a Hugh Anderson (1846-1922) donated the land for the cemetery and that the chapel had burned down at some point.

Our next cache was located within Anson, the Jones County Seat, at the larger more modern cemetery (GC16B4Q & GC13DQN). With over 6400 headstones, I didn't spend much time "browsing."

Continuing on US-180 eastbound over into Shackelford County, our next stop was the Bud Matthews Switch (GC2PT75). In 1900, the Texas Central Railway extended a line northwest from Albany across this portion of Rose Ella (Matthews) Conrad's cattle ranch. Ella and her brother John A. "Bud" Matthews, for whom this site is named, promptly constructed cattle pens and a loading chute at this location. Surrounding ranchers soon were shipping their cattle from this switch to markets in Fort Worth. As many as 105,000 head of cattle were shipped annually until the railroad ceased operations in 1967. Since that year, local ranchers have continued to load cattle onto trucks from this site.

I didn't find the Geocache here though. There's a lot of hidden pockets and places to hide a micro cache on train cars. Over the years of caching and getting stung by wasps, I've gotten cautious about sticking my hands into places where potential critters can hang out. Especially here in Texas with the addition of scorpions, deadly spiders, and rattle snakes! And having left my gloves in my car, I just gave it a quick looking over.

Then we arrive in Albany, Texas just a few miles to the east. Not necessarily the cache, but the town itself was one of the highlights for the day! There was a lot of history here to see. So let's start from the beginning... William Henry Ledbetter (1833-84), a native of Georgia, came to Texas in 1858 and established a salt works on Hubbard Creek (8 miles southwest) in 1862. Ledbetter withstood fierce Indians attacks before moving near Fort Griffin (15 miles north). He was elected first county judge in 1875. In the mid-1870s, Ledbetter built this picket house near the army post, using construction methods typical of this frontier region. It was moved here and restored by the city of Albany in 1953.

Chosen county seat of Shackelford in 1874, Albany had a 43-acre townsite donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. County clerk W. R. Cruger named city for his old home, Albany, Ga. A wooden picket courthouse was erected. The post office opened August 1, 1876. By late 1877 there were 16 buildings - homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. Merchants were T. E. Jackson and firm of Woody & Hatcher. Physicians W. T. Baird and W. M. Powell and lawyer A. A. Clarke located here. D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye began (1879) publishing "The Albany Tomahawk". Already on the western cattle trail, city expanded as a frontier shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a terminus here in 1881. By 1882 a church building had been erected. Music lovers organized a cornet band. In 1883 an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Succeeding D. R. Britt as the school principal, W. S. Dalrymple founded an adult study club, "The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle". Albany had an academy, and then a college in 1898-1915. Local activities include ranching, petroleum production, small farming, and annual staging of the historical drama, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle".

Shackelford County Jail Erected 1877-78

T.E. Jackson Warehouse Established 1878

Charles A. Hartfield purchased the lot on this site in 1881. A noted area cook, he quickly established "Charley's Restaurant," which included a bakery and boarding house. Hartfield was so successful that he planned an elegant rock structure in which to house his business. Construction began in March 1884 amid a flurry of development in the area. Scottish stonemason Patrick McDonnell, who was responsible for much of the stonework on the new courthouse, was foreman of the Hartfield worksite. The project's scope proved too grand for Hartfield's finances, however, and in September 1884 he sold the building to J.C Lynch. Financially ruined, Hartfield was found dead within a year.

Lynch sold his building in 1885 to three Albany businessmen; Max Blach, N.H. Burns, and Sam Webb. Charles Hartfield's widow, Lettie Hartfield, joined them as an equal partner and the group completed the structure, probably using Charles Hartfield's original plans. The building was occupied over time by such businesses as a grocery, a gerneral merchandise store, a bowling alley, and an auto repair shop. The Albany Masonic Lodge began meeting in the structure as early as 1893, and it became known as "The Masonic Building" to local residents. Real estate magnet L. H. Hill purchased the building in 1925, and the Masonic Lodge bought it in 1940.

Damage from nesting bats caused part of the building's limestone front to tumble into the street in 1954. The Masons took down the facade and rebuilt it with yellow brick. Sold again in 1996, the building was renovated and its facade was reconstructed to reflect its former grandeur as one of Albany's finest early structures.

Charles Hartfield also purchased this land next door in 1882. As he began construction on the restaurant in 1884, he sold this property to Max Blach, VP of the Albany Water Company. He and partner N. H. Burns brought a system of running water to the town in 1884.

Blach began construction on this one story native stone structure also in March 1884. The building was completed in April and leased to J. R. Davis, who put it to its most infamous use. The White Elephant Saloon opened for business on May 1, 1884. Among its instantly popular features was a white elephant display which was removed from the rooftop early in the establishments heyday.The perpetrators were believed to be citizens who disapproved of the saloon's raucous business.

Despite its popularity, Davis announced his intent to close the saloon in February 1886. The Blach building soon was leased to W. M. Wigley, who operated a dry goods and furniture store on this site. Succeeding furniture businesses occupied the building for many years.

Blach's heirs sold the structure to S. C. Coffee in 1919. Coffee sold it in 1923 to T. J. Crow, who conveyed it to Albany businessman L. H. Hill in 1925. The structure was used for various purposes over the years: it was the home of the Albany News in the 1940's and was the workshop and office of a pipe organ maker in the 1950's and 60's. The Hill family maintained ownership of the edifice until 1977.

The Lynch Building: this was Albany's first stone mercantile store. It was erected in stages, combining Greek Revival and Victorian Italianate designs. In 1878, W. H. Miller built 1-story east unit, and permitted Albany Masonic Lodge to erect a second story. Local rancher J. C. Lynch in 1881 built the 2-story west unit. The "Live and Let Live" drugstore was an early tenant. L. H. Hill and Family owned the property from 1896 through 1974. Clifton Caldwell bought the property and restored it in 1974-75.

Presbyterian Church erected 1898

Ford Model A truck parked in front of classic car museum.

Restored Sinclair gas station

Restored Gulf gas station

After spending an hour walking around looking at the buildings and reading the historical signs, we finally decided to go after a Geocache. There were several in town but after spending too much time already, I just chose one at the volunteer fire department (GC5GDA9) and made the quick find.

Now heading north on US-283 and trying to make up some time, we made a quick cache stop for the "Sorriest Land in the County." (GCP6QE) There's nothing at the location to see, but the story about the land surrounding made it worthwhile.

On April 1, 1897 James H Nail, Sr and WI Cook paid the Holstein Family of Shackelford County, Texas the sum of $49,000 cash in hand for 27 3/4 sections of land (17,760 acres). On Christmas Day of 1899, Mr Nail wanted to buy, Matilda “Dude” Nail Cook and W.I. Cook, out. After heated discussions, the Cook’s ended by buying out Mr Nail. Angry at his sister for not selling out to him, Mr Nail boasted to everyone, “I’ve just sold Dude the sorriest piece of land in Shackelford County and she’ll be broke in a year, you can bet on it!”

As it turned out, the decision of Matilda Nail Cook not to sell out to her brother was either the wisest or the luckiest decision she ever made because in 1926 the Cook Oil Field was discovered on the southern part of the ranch. For a long period of time, the Cook Oil Field was the largest shallow oil field in the world. 79 Years later, the Cook Oil Field is still producing oil and new wells are still being successfully drilled. The discovery well was, in fact, the last roll of the dice that a group of men would make before going completely broke. As they were hauling their rig to the selected sight, it broke down. The rig could go no further unless additional money was raised for repairs. At this point, they made a field decision to drill on the spot where the rig broke down and hit a gusher!

There's more on the cache page about the Cook's supporting a children's hospital in Fort Worth, but I'll let you click the link for more information.

Further up the road was our next Geocache at Fort Griffin State Park (GC3C5PP). Again, there were several caches here but we only had time for one. In the 19th century, the U.S. government established forts along Texas' frontier to protect pioneers. By the early 1850s, Col. Jesse Stem farmed along the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, and Thomas Lambshead established his Clear Fork Farm. As others moved to the area, troops at Camp Cooper in present-day Throckmorton County, including then-Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, provided military defense. Camp Cooper closed at the start of the Civil War in 1861.

After the war, the U.S. Army established Camp Wilson, later renamed Fort Griffin, near this site in 1867. Fort Griffin sat on the high ground above the river. A settlement developed between it and the water's edge. The town, known also as "The Flat," included merchants, cattlemen and their families. Its permanent populace supported a newspaper, the Fort Griffin Echo, as well as an academy, Masonic lodge and several stores and saloons. A rough element of cowboys, gamblers and renegades mixed with black and white troops to form a lawless scene. Among those attracted to the town were Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Lottie Deno, Big Nose Kate, Hurricane Bill and Hurricane Minnie.

Unfortunately there was much more here to see, but we had many miles yet ahead of us. And an unexpected phone call was needed and even Verizon had spotty service way out here. So we needed to move on up the road. But we will be back to check out the rest of this now considered ghost town.

The next county on the list and our next two caches (GC13F33 & GC3VY6D) are located in Throckmorton County. The Texas legislature created Throckmorton County - named for pioneer doctor William E. Throckmorton - in 1858, with organization delayed until 1879. F.E. Conrad donated land for the town square and built a frame courthouse on this site. The firm of Martin, Byrne and Johnston designed this 1890-93 courthouse built by J.L. DeWees and Jacob Rath. The two-story Italianate-style building features polychromatic walls of quarried sandstone, quoins, pilasters, horizontal bands, arched doors and windows and a Mansard roof with brackets, pediments and a square cupola. A matching annex was built in 1938.

Throckmorton County Jail

The next county and our next cache was also one of my favorite things about Geocaching. Located in the south-west corner of Baylor County lies what little remains of the ghost town of Bomarton, Texas. This once-prosperous town was named for settler W. H. Bomar. Things got off to a promising start with the arrival of the Wichita Valley Railroad in 1906. Bomarton was now connected to both Seymour and Abilene. A post office in the store of Tom McClure was established the same year. By 1910 Bomarton had had a school for three years and two churches that were constructed about the same time. Two cotton gins were soon added to the town's list of businesses and Bomarton had an innovative public grazing area dairy cattle. From a population of 580 in 1920, Bomarton reached its high-water mark in 1930 with 600 Bomartonites. The town sailed through the Great Depression with a decline of only 2 people. But the town wasn't so lucky after WWII when it dropped dramatically. By 1960 it was already down to 150 and twenty years later there were only 27 people calling the place home. The 1990 figure was given as 23 and was used again on the 2004 map.

The St. John Catholic Church (GC10WK6) of Bomarton was established in 1908, when services and masses were held in Mary's Creek Schoolhouse or in the home of Matt Marak. The first church edifice was built in 1909, with John Cocek, Matt Marak, Leopold Skrehot, and Alois Sykora, trustees. Father Paul Mosler was installed as the first pastor in 1910. The brick building you see here was built in 1936 and is one of the few remaining buildings.

One more quick cache (GC2F6NX) behind a BBQ restaurant in Seymour, Texas, then off to our next county.

Arriving in Foard County and the town of Crowell, we head to the cemetery for three quick caches: GC6V1X8, GC3WH0V, and GC2FJH0. The last was rather creative as it consisted of 5 Geocaching containers inside one another until you got to the smallest at the center which contained the log sheet to sign.

From there we drove quickly east on US-70 over into Wilbarger County and another cemetery cache (GC54W3P). Upon arriving, there was a funeral service just finishing up and so we waited at the entry gate as cars were exiting. Finally we caught a break and was able to enter taking one of the paths in that wasn't being used by those leaving. We circled around to GZ which was about 100 yards from were the service was. Moments later the cache was in hand and we were on our way.

Our next county was Archer to the south-east. Driving down US-287, I should have turned south onto TX-25. However I decided to go the long wide turn south, going into Wichita Falls before heading into Archer County. At this point we both needed another Starbucks. It was either add another 20 minutes to our route and get one now, or wait the 3 hours until we make it back to Abilene!

With fresh coffee in hand, we headed down to Archer City for our final cache (GC431MW) and final county for the day. The cache was hidden at the former Archer County Jail, now a museum. By 1909 Archer County had outgrown its original jail, a 16-foot square frame building. Construction on this larger facility was completed in September 1910. The sandstone structure was designed with living quarters for the sheriff and his family on the ground floor. The second and third floors had cells and a hanging gallows which was never used. The first prisoner held in this jail was arrested for stealing a horse. More than 8,000 prisoners were jailed here until the county opened a new facility in 1974.

With a long drive still ahead of us and thinking of the Geo-Puppies locked up in the hotel room for 12 hours, we skipped the last three counties and headed straight back to Abilene. Looking at the map later I saw we could have gotten one more along the way. But the caches and the route I had planned took us further east and we were driving to the southwest. We actually drove through the northwest corner of Young County and past by two caches. Oh well. It just means we'll be back another day!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time... Happy Caching!

2017-04-17: Judge Roy Bean, an Old Fort, Cemeteries, and the Pecos River

Well our weekend is over and we drove back home along the Texas / Mexico border. Before leaving Eagle Pass, we drove around town checking out some of the historical spots.

Our first stop was down along the border at Fort Duncan. A temporary post called Camp Eagle Pass was established at the start of the Mexican War in 1846 by Captain Sidney Burbank with Companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry. In November 1849, the post was renamed Fort Duncan, honoring Col James Duncan, a hero of the Mexican War. The fort consisted of a storehouse, two magazines, four officers quarters, a stone hospital, in addition to quarters for enlisted men. (The red brick building above was the hospital.)

The fort served as a frontier outpost near the trail of California emigrants; a base of operations against hostile Lipan Apache Indians. In 1851 it became the headquarters of the First Infantry. By 1856 the garrison included units of mounted rifles and first artillery. Abandoned in May 1859, the post was re-garrisoned by Robert E. Lee in March 1860 because of border assaults by Juan N. Cortina, desperado of the area. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the fort was again abandoned only to be occupied later as "Rio Grande Station", by Confederate forces.

In 1861, Fort Duncan was re-garrisoned by the 9th Infantry and headquarters company of 41st Infantry under Col William R. Shafter. Seminole-Negro Scouts, organized here on August 16, 1870, played a large part in ridding Western Texas of Indians. After 1883, the post declined in importance; known as Camp Eagle Pass.

Fort Duncan played a part in aviation history when the first military cross-country flight, from Fort McIntosh in Laredo, landed here in 1911. Its use as a training camp continued during World War I. Mexican border troubles in 1916 again brought reoccupation.

By 1932 the Army abandoned the post. In 1938, the fort property was purchased by the city of Eagle Pass, for use as a Park and Recreation area. The infantry barracks were leased by the Local Council of Boy Scouts.

In 1939 the barracks became the Fort Duncan Country Club and remained as such except during World War II when it was also an officers club for the Eagle Pass Army Air Force Advanced Flying School.

After walking around the fort, we drove north a few blocks to the downtown area looking for the post office. We didn't need the post office, but I had read about an interesting spot on the Find-A-Grave website. This spot, at Rio Grande and Monroe in Eagle Pass, is approximately the site of the first city cemetery here. For some reason, after the 1880's the cemetery was abandoned. It was later developed on and paved over, effectively destroying it. During the construction of a post office nearby in the 1950's, a tombstone was discovered, as well as several graves.

We never did find it though. I wasn't thinking that the current Google search for post office was a different post office from the 1950's. It wasn't until I looked the website again and re-reading the description that we were a few blocks away. Maybe next time passing through we'll find it.

From there we drove over to Shelby Park along the Rio Grande River. The park is mostly used by those leaving their cars on the Texas side and walking across the International Bridge into Piedras Negras. There were also about a half dozen border patrol agents getting ready to launch two airboats for patrol. The photo below looks over into Mexico and the bridge would be located off frame to the left.

Well now it was time to finally hit the road and put some miles behind us. We still had almost five hours of driving with 10 Geocaches and some sites to see along the way. Driving north along US-277 we found three quick caches: one at a cemetery (GC4N23X) and two roadside caches (GC29WHF and  GC35ZC8), before arriving in Del Rio for lunch.

Westbound on US-90, our next cache was the Ye Olde 4-Wheeler (GC36XP2) which brought me to stop and capture a photo of this old west wagon before it completely fell apart.

Next was another cemetery cache (GC3B4NE) in Comstock. In 1882 and 1883, the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad built track through Val Verde County and the town was established as a station and named for John B Comstock, a railroad dispatcher. The graves date back to 1883, but there were three that really caught my attention. No stories behind them. It's just the emotion and photo opportunity they gave me. Like this first one of Lucy Denmead who couldn't escape death in 1902, or did she?

Next cache (GC5N4E2) was at the rest area where US-90 crosses the Pecos River. I once passed through here 10 years ago while I used to drive an 18-wheeler, long before this rest area was built. Back then I had to park on the shoulder. The only thing I do remember was the remains of the old highway which ran down towards the river to the original bridge built in 1923 and destroyed by floodwaters in 1954. The current Pecos High Bridge is 1310 feet long and 273 feet above the water, and is the highest highway bridge in Texas.

At this southern end of the Pecos River it empties into the Rio Grande just a half mile down.

Just down the road was another cache (GC2NZHP) and another bridge. These two bridges cross Eagles Nest Creek Canyon just north of the Rio Grande River.

In nearby Langtry was our next cache (GCK9CH) and someplace I've wanted to stop for a long time, the "Law West of the Pecos." In 1882 the lawlessness was so bad that the railroad asked for help from the Texas Rangers. The closest legal authority was in Fort Stockton over 100 miles away. With the blessing of the Rangers and the railroad a proprietor of a store housed in a tent in Vinagaroon was appointed as the first Justice of the Peace in Pecos County (now Val Verde County) August 2, 1882.

Roy Bean never one to stand on ceremony tried his first case the week before the appointment. In 1883 the judge moved his business and his court to Langtry, Texas. There he built the Jersey Lilly Saloon, Court Room and Pool Hall. Some legends cite Bean as being a "hanging" judge, but there is no record that he ever sentenced a man to be hanged. The only law book the Judge ever owned was the 1879 Revised Statues of Texas. Occasionally he actually used it.

The "Judge" had great admiration and fascination for the famous English actress Lillie Langtry. She was internationally know as the "The Jersey Lily so he named his establishment after her. A sign painter commissioned (for food and drink) to letter the sign misspelled "Lily".

One of the most colorful stories about the Judge is true. He successfully promoted the Maher - Fitzsimmons prize fight in February 1896. It was staged in defiance of U.S. and Mexico law on a sand bar in the middle of the Rio Grande River.

A couple more quick caches along the way home and that was the end of another adventurous weekend of exploring the history of the Old West Texas. Thanks again for stopping by and following along in our adventures. Until next time, happy trails.

2017-04-16: Geocaching in 7 New South Texas Counties for Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, and History

Another weekend off and another opportunity to hit the road for a Geocaching adventure. Yesterday after lunch, we drove south along the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass, Texas. Today we explored South Texas and found caches in seven new counties, bringing our total up to 168 of 259 counties.

So this morning after a couple of ordinary Geocache finds along US-277 south, we stopped at our first non-cache site of historical interest. I found this place looking through the Find-A-Grave website for old cemeteries. According to the Historical Marker along the roadside, this is called the Burleson Cemetery.

Among the earliest settlers in the area later named Dimmitt County, the Burleson family settled near Carrizo Springs between 1865 and 1970. James A. (1869-1895), Joseph E. (1870-1895), and Samuel (1877-1895) Burleson died suddenly , probably of food poisoning. The following July, Marion M. Burleson (1853-1895) succomed to heat stroke and was buried on family land with his brothers and a Burleson child. As time passed, the graves on this site became a mystery. Investigations at the end of the Twentieth Century by the Texas Department of Transportation found it to be the final resting place of the Burleson Family. (1998)

I am assuming from the marker that while construction of US-277 took place, the Texas DOT researched the history of the graves and constructed these pavers in place along the roadside to mark the graves. 

After a quick cemetery cache (GC68Q3P) in Carrizo Springs, we continued onto US-83 and a few more quick picnic area and roadside caches. 

Several miles to the south, we came to the ghost town of Catarina and our next geocache (GC1B4CV). The tiny town of Catarina was on the Old San Antonio Road -- El Camino Real -- an important travel corridor in early Texas history. The name has been associated with the area since at least 1778; legend holds that it is the name of a Mexican woman killed by Indians on or near the site.

The town was established after Asher Richardson, a rancher, decided to build a railway link from Artesia Wells to his planned town of Asherton. In return for an easement through the nearby Taft-Catarina Ranch, Richardson agreed to allow the ranch to establish a railroad depot, with cattle-shipping pens, on his railroad. By 1910, when the Asherton and Gulf Railway began operations, these cattle pens had become the nucleus of a small community built by Joseph F. Green, the manager of the ranch. Green moved the ranch headquarters to the depot and added a bunkhouse, a commissary, a hotel, a post office, and a small schoolhouse.

By 1915 the little town had twenty-five residents, and had become famous in the area for the Taft House, an expensive mansion that Charles Taft, the owner of the ranch, supposedly built with oversized bathtubs to accommodate his brother, President William Howard Taft. Catarina Farms, a development project, built roads, sidewalks, and a waterworks and an impressive new hotel and installed electric power and a telephone exchange. Agent Charles Ladd imported entire orchards of fruit-laden citrus trees to impress prospective investors with the area's agricultural possibilities. 

By 1929 Catarina had between 1,000 and 2,500 residents, a bank, at least two groceries, a lumber company, and a bakery. A water shortage (precipitated by the drying-out of the nearby Artesian wells), marketing problems, and the Great Depression hurt the town. By 1969 some of the town's most picturesque old buildings had been abandoned, and the population was 160.

C. H. Kearny and Lee Peters designed and built this hotel in 1925-26 in the Spanish Eclectic style, with features including tiles roofs and mission elements, cast stone detailing, and a U-shaped plan with courtyard and fish pond. The building, which once also housed a bank, cafe, shops and offices, is a reminder of the towns boom era.

Turning north on I-35 to start the loop back to Eagle Pass, we come to the Nueces River at the southern edge of the town of Cotulla. Here we found another historical marker and our next cache (GC3AMC7) at the Old Mexican Border. Until 1836, the Nueces River formed the undisputed western boundary of Texas. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hilgado, signed in February 1848, the boundary line between Mexico and the United States was fixed at the Rio Grande.

While in Cotulla, we stopped by the LaSalle County Courthouse and Cotulla City Park. The Presidio Rio Grande Road brought travelers to this area for centuries. In 1852 the U. S. Army  built and garrisoned Fort Ewell for protection. The first permanent settler William A. Waugh (1832-1901), an Ohio native who found gold in California in 1849, opened a ranch near the Cibolo Crossing in 1856. On February 1, 1858, the county was created and named for Robert Cavalier, Sieur De La Salle (1643-1687), the first French explorer of Texas.

Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) migrated to the county in 1865. In 1881, when the International & Great Northern Railroads pushed through South Texas, Joseph Cotulla offered part of his homestead in exchange for running the track through his property. He platted a town site with a central plaza and a row of store front businesses that drew cowboys and homesteaders for miles around. The town of Cotulla was founded in 1882 and became the county seat in 1883.

Before leaving we stopped by the Cotulla Cemetery where both William Waugh and Joseph Cotulla are buried and to grab another cemetery geocache (GC69ADM).

Another exit further up the northbound I-35 brought us to our next Geocache (GC69ADH) at the Millett Cemetery. Since starting Geocaching, I've been to a LOT of cemeteries looking for caches.

But I don't recall ever seeing anything like this next headstone: "The Arm of Sam B. Tyree." I just had to take a picture. Researching further, Samuel Burnham Tyree was born in 1896. While attempting to tame some wild horses at the age of 14, somehow the rope severely tangled around his arm. Badly damaged in the accident, his arm then had to be amputated. His family then buried his arm in the Millett Cemetery with a marker and cross.

He lived another 76 years and died in San Antonio on November 22, 1982, where he is buried nearly 100 miles from his arm.

While on the way to the cemetery, I spotted something and made note to stop on the way back. And while taking a quick stroll through the cemetery, I saw these concrete steps with a plaque stating that they used to be the front steps leading into the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. So I stopped back at the other display and found that was where the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church once stood.

The original mission began Circa 1900 with Priests coming from San Antonio. In 1911 a church was built northwest of here. It burned down in 1920. For 22 years mass was offered in private homes. In 1942, Father M. Reis bought the small grocery store located on that very spot. He converted it into a chapel under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe to serve the ranchers and farmers of this area.

Father John Van Lare came to South Texas in the 1950's. In 1976, he became the Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Cotulla. He spent over 30 years ministering to the communities of Cotulla, Fowlerton, and here in Millett. He retired in 2004 at the age of 84 and returned to his native Holland.

The church which had fallen into disrepair was closed in 2005. It was then later demolished in 2008.

At this point my phone was nearly dead and I forgot to bring my car charger. Fortunately though I had loaded all the caches into my old GPS. This meant caching the old fashion way with only a compass. No turn-by-turn navigation through the unknown streets going from one town to the next. This also meant not knowing anything about what I was looking for in the way of size or difficulty. I did have a general idea of the highways needed to continue the loop north and then back to the west for Eagle Pass. Several times I almost decided to just skip the remaining caches and head back to the hotel. But I'm glad I didn't and as you'll see below.

Anyway, we passed through and found eight more Geocaches in several different cemeteries. They were larger still active cemeteries and being Easter Sunday were busy with visitors paying their respects to loved ones. There was one we stopped at where they were having a picnic by a grave site with about 10-12 family member in attendance. At yet another there were some too close for me to search for the cache and so had to DNF it.

Moving forward and now on our US-90 westbound loop back towards Eagle Pass, we stopped in the town of Hondo for our next cache (GC707EJ). From the historical marker:

The first rail line reached this area in 1881 and town lots were sold that year for Hondo City. The line was built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. It connected with the Southern Pacific System building east from California. The railroad was vital to the early growth of Hondo, but rail traffic began to decline in the 1940s. The last passenger train, pulled by engine No. 6, left the Hondo Station on June 8, 1958. The Southern Pacific Depot was moved to the present location in 1970 from the original site, seventeen blocks east.

The next two caches (GC14PPJ & GC14PPF) were probably the best of the day and just solidifies the reason we like to go Geocaching. There are no signs along US-90 and travelers along the route would never know this historic place is even here.

The town of D’Hanis was the third settlement founded by Henri Castro, an Alsatian employee of the Texas Congress charged with populating the desert with European immigrants. He named the village after one of his top employees upon its groundbreaking in 1847. It was inhabited by a just few dozen families in mesquite shacks.

As the town grew the shacks were replaced by European-style stone buildings. A post office and a schoolhouse made it a real town. The church of Saint Dominic was built, and priests from another of Castro’s settlements held mass there.

D’Hanis wasn’t quite substantial enough to be included as a railroad stop though. When the newly laid tracks skipped over D’Hanis, residents picked up and moved closer to the tracks. The new D’Hanis just a mile and a half away, centered around a railroad depot.

The only thing that remained in Old D’Hanis was Saint Dominic’s Catholic Church. Churchgoers continued to attend mass there until a fire ravaged the old building in 1912. In 1915 new church was built closer to town and the ruins of Saint Dominic’s were left behind.

Little is left of Old D’Hanis aside from the ruins. The history of the town might be lost to time if not for the cemetery attached to the church, in which D’Hanis’ original settlers are interred. The grave markers themselves are French-German in style, and the epitaphs, though difficult to read, tell much about the people who lived in Old D’Hanis.

Alexander Bohemia Hoffman’s gravestone reads, “Killed by Indians in Uvalde County;” Mary Anne Rudinger’s sadly states hers was “The first death upon arrival of settlers at Dhanis May 25, 1847 Carrying smaller children over streams she became ill and died on above date.”

New D’Hanis is still small, with a population of 550 or so. The ruins of Saint Dominic Catholic Church and the D’Hanis Cemetery are part now of the D’Hanis Historic District. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 24, 1976.

Again, so glad I decided to continue Geocaching along the way using the old Garmin GPS. We didn't know what the caches were or where they would take us because we didn't have the names or descriptions of the caches. But we managed to find them old school style and were rewarded with this historic treasure.

It was now getting late in the afternoon and we still had some miles to go back to the hotel. So even though we found six more cemetery caches, we didn't have much time to really explore the cemetery looking for those interesting stories. They were also still active cemeteries with recent burials. As you may have noticed, I prefer the older historic cemeteries.

So that was the end of our day today. Another great day of history and adventure. Tomorrow we head back home and I already have some great stops planned. Thanks again for stopping by and reading about our adventures. Be sure to follow our blog nfor the latest updates and feel free to share us with your family and friends.