2020-06-03: Another Geocaching Roadtrip Through the Backroads of Georgia

Well our time in Florida is done and it's off to a new project in North Carolina. According to Google it's just a simple 8 hour day trip drive to get there. But where's the fun in that! In reality, it actually took us 2 1/2 days to get there! We try to avoid the Interstate Highways and take the backroads, sightseeing and geocaching along the way.

On this first day of our roadtrip through Georgia, we visited several old cemeteries, old churches, and some other historical places. Finding 14 geocaches, we picked up 11 new caching counties in the process! So come onboard, ride along and see what and who we've found today...

Our first stop after leaving Florida was a geocache in the Howell Cemetery (GC2FPY3) for Echols County, Georgia. The cemetery has about 130 interments, most dating from 1916 through the present. But there is one burial listed on the Find-A-Grave website dated 1839. The small community of Howell once had a post office established in 1899 which remained until 1957. A township was incorporated in 1905, but it was eventually dissolved in 1995.

Also in Echols County is the Wayfare Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery, previously known as the Cow Creek Baptist Church and Cemetery (GC3F0E8). The church was established in 1847 and the first meeting held in September. The cemetery has nearly 1800 interments and the oldest headstone dates back to 1845. 

At the end of the entry road, there is another historical marker describing an Indian skirmish at Cow Creek. "New here, on August 27, 1836, Georgia Militia companies commanded by Col. Henry Blair, Captain Lindsay, and Capt. Levi J. Knight, fought a skirmish with Creek Indians and routed them, killing two and taking several prisoners. During this summer the Indians had committed many raids and massacres as they traversed the border counties on their way to Florida to join the Seminoles. Georgia troops had been following them for weeks, and overtook this band in the cypress swamp, on the edge of Cow Creek."

Driving over to Lakeland, GA in Lanier County, I stopped by Camp Patten for my next geocache (GCT6ZP). Camp Patten was donated by Mr. Lawson Leo Patten (1896-1983) to the South Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1965 to further promote the ideals and methods of the Scouting movement.

A half-mile up the road was the Burnt Church and Haunted Cemetery (GC121CF). One of the first churches constituted in the area was Union Baptist Church. It was organized on October 21, 1825 on the banks of the Alapaha River at Carter's Meeting House. Captain Jesse Carter settled the land earlier in 1925 to provide more room for his family, slaves, and hundreds of cattle. In 1836 as a band of Creek Indians passed on their way to join the Seminoles at Noochee, near present day Fargo, they set fire to the Union Church. It was later called the Burnt Church. (Note: I've found conflicting dates for the fire. Some websites have it as 1836 and others 1854. It's possible that there were two fires or that the church was rebuilt in 1854. The church also was subject to a restoration in 1998.)

It is said that the church and cemetery grounds are haunted. A teacher and several of her students, who were using the church as a school, perished in the flames. She and the children were buried along side one another, but time and weather has wiped away all traces of their graves. Stories are told though that loud, unintelligible voices of children can be heard and apparitions known locally as "walkers" can be seen among the many tombstones.

Perhaps one of those "walkers" is this unknown man who hasn't found his eternal rest:

Moving right along, a quick stop for a geocache in Berrien County (GC8CZCH). And a quick roadside cemetery geocache for Atkinson County (GC6NNX5). Continuing to check counties off the list, two quick geocaches for Coffee County (GC617BC, GC6047Y), including this obvious container hidden in plain site.

Moving right along into Irwin County, there was a quick park and grab in the town of Ocilla (GC5JPDC). Followed by a short woodsy walk in Paulk Park in Fitzgerald for Ben Hill County (GC507M3).

And then there's the Wild Hog Express (GC1FZ6C). Located in Wilcox County, the town of Abbeville is said to be the wild hog capital of Georgia.

Then when I got to Eastman in Dodge County, I had originally set to find a cache at the Eastman House in town. But there were some renovations being done outside making it too difficult approach and find the cache. So I quickly look up and find a cemetery cache outside of town.

I'm so glad that was the case because you know I like cemeteries, especially with an old church, and then toss in some history too! (GC1CX07) President Jefferson Davis, his wife and children arrived at this site on May 8, 1865. He had rejoined his wife 20 miles south of Dublin. Traveling with them were the Davis’ four children, Varina, Maggie, Jefferson, Jr. and Joseph. Traveling with President Davis was John Regan, Postmaster General of the Confederacy, Captain Gevin Campbell and Lt. Barnwell. Personal aides John Wood, Preston Johnson, son of General Albert Sidney Johnson, Francis Lubbock, the former Governor of Texas, and Colonel Charles E. Thornburn, a secret agent for the Confederate Government. Traveling with Mrs. Davis and her children were Mrs. Davis’ sister Margaret Howell, Mrs. Burton Harrison, the President’s private secretary, a seven-man mounted military escort, and some of the President’s personal servants.

The following morning the president’s party crossed the present Highway 341 at approximately where Friendship Baptist Road is now. They followed this route to what is referred to as 5 points. Further along Friendship Baptist Road they would come to Levi (Tiger Bill) Harrell’s farm where they stopped for the noon meal. Turning south, they passed through what is now Rhine and then west to the river.

Mrs. Davis was to remain behind and follow the next day. Fearing the roads would become impassable due to the heavy rains that had started to fall would heighten the chances of Mrs. Davis’ capture, Preston Johnson returned to the campsite to inform Mrs. Davis to leave immediately and join her husband in Abbeyville.

Many have pondered why the Davis’ didn’t stay in the Parkerson Church located just across the swamp. The Parkerson Church is the one of the oldest churches in Dodge County having been built in June 1831. (Dodge County being Pulaski and Telfair Counties at that time.) The original building was a log house built by Jacob Parkerson, a Revolutionary War Veteran who donated the land and the first to be buried here in 1843.

The second burial here is Private William Hannibal Weekes who died in the Civil War at the young age of 28. There are less than 300 total interments at this cemetery.

Next on the list was some more history at the Orange Hill Cemetery (GC8N95D) in Hawkinsville for Pulaski County. There are more than 3000 interments here dating as far back as 1833. There are many large and elaborate monuments here.

One broken headstone I'd like to tell you about belongs to 30 year old Tom Woolfolk. He was convicted of killing nine family members with a short handled axe in Macon on the night of August 6, 1887. He was tried several times in Bibb and then Perry, Georgia and was publicly hung on October 28, 1890. Up until the last minute he proclaimed his innocence. He was one of the last people to be hung before they did away with public hangings.

"The Shadow Chasers" by Carolyn DeLoach, (Woolfolk revisited), is a book about this case. The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the damn family, but he was not at home."

The victims are buried in Macon's Rose Hill cemetery. Its reported that thousands of people also came to Macon for the funeral. That they lined the streets of what is now Spring St. and Riverside Dr. as the horse drawn hearses went by. There weren't enough hearses in Macon/Bibb County to accommodate all the victims and many had to be borrowed from surrounding areas. The victims were Richard F. Woolfolk, father, then aged 54; his wife Mattie H (Tom's stepmother), aged 41; their six children, Richard F. Jr., 20; Pearl, 17; Annie, 10; Rosebud, 7; Charlie, 5; baby Mattie, 18 months old; and 84-year old Temperance West, a relative of Mrs. Woolfolk.

Tom is buried beside one of his sisters from his Father's first marriage to Susan M. Woolfolk. He was the youngest of 3 siblings from the first marriage. His mother passed away shortly after his birth at the age of 24. The sisters from the first marriage were not living with their father at the time of the murders.

One final quick roadside geocache (GC40DP0) in Twiggs County before calling it a day.

We found a total of 14 geocaches today and managed to pick up 11 new counties for our geocaching map. I hope you enjoyed the ride-a-long. Another big day tomorrow as we continue making our way through Georgia on our way to North Carolina.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, RVillage, GETTR and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2018-02-11: Geocaching Redemption Finding Previous DNF's and More!

Another Sunday and another 360+/- mile drive from Killeen back to Monahans, Texas. And just in case it hasn't hit you yet, depending on whether or night I work a 5-day or 6-day week, I'm driving eastbound after work from the jobsite approximately 320 miles either Friday or Saturday night. So it's a good thing I like driving!

Anyway, today's drive takes me along the same route as last weeks blog. Though I find many new geocaches and redeem two DNF's from last week, placing them in the Found column!

My first stop was confusing to me. I thought I had been there before but it was still showing up as unfound. I pulled up to the "Brown Cemetery" (GC4QKZ8) geocache next to the airport in Killeen and realized that I was already there. I found the geocache again and looked at the logsheet. Sure enough there's my stamp. I even talked about it in my November 18th's Blog, but I guess I forgot to log it as found. I wonder how many other geocaches I forgot to log?

After putting 100 miles behind me, I decided to get these three geocaches lined up on US-283 just north of Brady. "On The Road Again" (GC5E8QY), "Boot Hill" (GC6W393), and "Keeping Boundaries" (GC6W0PX) were all quick roadside caches. I thought Boot Hill might be an old west cemetery, but turned out to be a cemetery of sorts for old boots on fence posts.

Another 100 miles later and I was back in Sherwood, Texas. If you remember from last week's blog, the geocache at the old courthouse "TGT: Sherwood" (GCM4G3) was nowhere to be found. After a conversation with the CO mommio, I got permission to replace it with a Slim Bob cache.

Then I went over to the "Old Cub Scout House" (GC7DXBM) from last week which I could not find. After using a PAF a few days earlier for additional clues, I began the search again. Another 10-15 minutes of looking and finally redeemed last weeks DNF and put this one in the found column.

Passing through Mertzon a little ways, I took a detour on a side road to "Hawt N' Juicy" (GC3CY7Z) cache. It was a quick roadside cache near the bridge over Spring Creek.

My next geocache was a roadside memorial for a "Fallen Hero" (GCWR3Y) on US-67 just east of Rankin. Sammy Charles Long was a Texas State Trooper who was killed on November 21 1976. The suspect was able to gain control of Trooper Long's service weapon and shot him several times. A deer hunter who was returning home witnessed the murder and shot and killed the suspect using his hunting rifle. Patrolman Long had been employed with the Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol, for 18 years and was stationed at McCamey.

Just down the road is a picnic area and "Another Hero" cache (GC1D7AK). It was at this picnic area that the hunter witness Trooper Long loose his life. Then he became the hero taking action and taking out the suspect.

Entering Rankin once again, I stopped for two more geocaches. First was the "Rankin Museum" (GC3XRA9). Formerly the Yates Hotel, Ira Yates built the 3-story, 46 room, sandy brick hotel in 1927 at the height of the oil boom. It had a restaurant, a drugstore, and a barbershop. The hotel closed in 1964 and remained close for a decade until the Rankin Museum Association converted it into a museum. I invite you to take a look at the Texas Escapes website for some more interesting stories about the hotel. About the famous musicians that played at the "Rankin Beach." Yeah that's right I said BEACH! You gotta read about that too! I tried to get a photo of the interior through the glass. It was closed when I stopped by.

One more geocache at the Rankin sign (GC2M5EY) on the west side of town. That's it for today. Time to head up to Monahans. See you next week...

2018-02-04: Texas Ghost Towns, Cemetery, and Courthouses

Hello again and welcome to another 360+/- mile Sunday Geocaching drive from Killeen to Monahans, Texas. There are multiple routes to take and I will probably be taking most of them over the next few months as I find all the available geocaches. So I hope you'll come back to follow along as I visit a lot of ghost towns, cemeteries, Texas history, and just ordinary roadside geocaches. And just a reminder to like our new Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AwayWeGoUS to stay up to date with any new posts.

My first geocache (GC2C3WW) was just several miles away in Copperas Cove, the next town over. Since I'll be making this long drive every weekend for a while, I'm gonna try to grab a cache near to each end. This will help to increase one of my favorite stats: cache-to-cache distance. This stat measures the straight line distance from each found cache in the order that you found them. I started caching back in 2006. From 2007 through 2010, I was an over-the-road truck driver. Caching along the way, I racked up miles quickly that way. I currently have nearly half a million cache-to-cache distance miles. So let's continue rolling!

My next cache was called "Almost There" (GC363HY) located just off US-190 near Rochelle. A quick park-n-grab and I'm on my way.

Over and through San Angelo, I take US-67 south (west). Taking one of the side roads for a short detour, I stopped for the "Don't Get Stuck" geocache (GC11J83). A fairly easy cache to find right along the road. But it hasn't been found in nearly 4 years! So it felt pretty good to have found a lonely cache and still in good shape.

Another side street geocache a few more miles down was the "Big Rock w/Bonus" geocache (GCMF26). This cache was first hidden way back in 2005, thirteen years ago! So the "Bonus" were the coordinates to a puzzle geocache just to the south. So after finding the "Big Rock", I found the puzzle cache called "Foster" (GCMF2D).

Getting back to US-67, but not very far, I arrived at "TGT: Tankersley" (GC15Y5B). Tankersley (Tankersly), also known as MacGrath, was named for Richard Franklin Tankersley, husband of Annie Ellen Allen Tankersley, one of the first white settlers on the Concho River in 1864 and donor of land for the townsite. A post office, established in 1910 as Tankersly, was discontinued in 1963. In 1914 the community had a population of forty, a general store, and two grocers. The local school had eighty-three pupils and three teachers in 1933. The population reached a high of seventy-five in 1946, when Tankersley had three businesses, but by 1953 the community had twenty residents and one business. In the 1980's a cemetery, the Tankersly–Twin Mountain school, the abandoned railroad station, and the West Texas Boys Ranch remained in the area. The estimated population of the community was twenty in 1990. No population estimates were available in 2000.

Close by to Tankersly was "TGT: Hughes" (GC15T5E). Hughes, between Spring Creek and the Middle Concho River in east central Irion County, was named after Duwain E. Hughes, on whose ranch the settlement was located. The Hughes community was receiving its mail from Tankersley in Tom Green County in the early 1950s; the townsite was not shown on later maps.

I didn't see anything to take a photo of near these two caches.

Crossing over into Irion County I arrived in the community of Sherwood. There are three caches here in town. The first geocache was at the Sherwood Cemetery (GC113GK). The oldest dated internment here is Infant Daughter Hodge in 1865. There are also several here that perished in the flood of 1882.

Next up was the beautiful former Sherwood Courthouse (GCM4G3). See photo at top of this page and below. The first permanent courthouse for Irion County, Texas, locally organized in 1889. Replaced temporary housing in several buildings. Site was gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ripley. Contractors Martin and Moody; stone was quarried nearby. Courthouse was used for dances, teachers institutes, community events, and the lawn for summer socials.

In a familiar case of death-by-railroad, Mertzon became the county seat in 1936 and this small town was finished. This was merely a technicality since Sherwood had all but been abandoned when the railroad by-passed it by two miles in 1910. The now privately owned courthouse is available for special events and festivals. The clock faces had painted hands. The hands reportedly indicate the moment of Abraham Lincoln's death.

After spending about 15-20 minutes of looking where there just weren't a whole lot of places to hide it, I did not find the cache. I do not like to, but I had to log a DNF on this geocache.

The last cache in town for me to find is another one of those "would never have seen if it weren't for geocaching" places! This dugout type home was once "The Old Scout House" (GC7DXBM). I couldn't find any information on it other than what's listed on the geocaching page that it was once a cub scout meeting house. Don't know any dates for it. But it does look like it would have been a cool place. After taking a lot of photos and looking into all the cracks and crevasses, I could not find a cache. Ughh! Two DNF's in a row! Not a good sign.

Continuing westbound on US-67, I arrive in the town of Rankin. Established in 1911, Rankin is the oldest town in Upton County and named after rancher F. E. Rankin. The first of two caches in town was "Sitting on a Hilltop" (GC2YC10). Located near the Rankin Park Building and gave you great views of the town.

Next on the north side of town was "Rodeo Kids" (GC3W3NM). Since 1952, the community of Rankin has annually hosted an all-Kid Rodeo. An event unique to the sport, which has it's roots in the American cattle industry. Ranching has been the backbone of the Rankin economy sine the town's establishment in 1911. Many of the cowboys and ranchers in Rankin participated in rodeos, while other individuals from outside the area came here roping events. The competitors often brought their children, many of whom practiced events and wanted an outlet for their skills.

In 1952, professional roper Walton Poage, along with his son and his son's friend, enlisted help from residents in Rankin in creating an all-kid rodeo. The community came together to support the idea and the first all-kid rodeo was held that year in two go-rounds of calf roping, ribbon roping, goat roping, steer riding, and a barrel race and boot scramble. The entry fee for each event was $1.00 and prizes were donated by local businesses and residents. By the next year, the Upton county 4-H club began to sponsor the rodeo. The event grew in popularity, and in 1954, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 individuals attended each night of the event.

Since its inception, the all-kid rodeo has been held every year. It brings commerce into Rankin, drawing in visitors and competitors, many of whom later became members of the professional rodeo cowboys association. It was the first rodeo contest for many boys and girls, and helped them get a start in the sport. Today, the all-kid rodeo continues to be a unique tradition promoting the ranching and family spirit of the Rankin community.

That's all for today. I take the final leg home to Monahans where I can grab a bite to eat and relax. Until next week...

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.

2015-11-26: Geocaching to China and Back!

So today I went Geocaching to China and back! OK, so it's actually China, TX. Also, it is Thanksgiving Day, but with Candy having to work today and all the family back in Florida... what else is there to do but go Geocaching!

From SW Beaumont, I headed west on some rural roads through the countryside. It was a nice drive and picking up Geocaches here and there. I found 26 caches before even reaching China. Nothing significant about the caches themselves, but I did see some interesting sites. Including this barn and ranch gate.

Traveling west along US-90, you'll come across China, TX. I found a total of 4 caches in this town. One was on the old fire truck by the base of the water tower. Another was a nicely hidden cache at the Boy Scouts building on the totem pole. The Boy Scouts have a big part in Geocaching as they also have a Merit Badge for Geocaching. So this scout troop has hidden a cache on this totem pole. Can you spot it?

It was a good day. Although it would have been much better if I got to share it with Candy also. Thanks for stopping by and reading about today's adventure. See you back again tomorrow.