2019-04-14: Geocaching Fossils, a Cemetery, Dams and Aqueducts in Central Texas

So I got a late start this morning on my Sunday drive of 360+ miles from Killeen, Texas down to Roma, Texas for a week of working. But I still managed to squeeze in some geocaching in the San Antonio area. Let's get going...

My first stop was at Cibolo Creek for some fossils and an earthcache (GC3CC0F). Here I found the same kinda fossilized rock used on the fort at St. Augustine back in Florida. After getting the answers I needed to get credit for the cache, I went to look for the traditional geocache that was hidden here as well. I wasn't thinking clearly about that one though. It was called "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (GC20H46). I had forgotten that I was down by the creek for the earthcache. I looked all around for about 15-20 minutes unsuccessfully trying to find it. Had to log a DNF on that one. Thinking back on it now though, it's rated a 1.5/1.5 cache and probably an easy find up by the road on TOP of the bridge! Oh well, maybe next time.

Continuing down the road to a quick roadside park and grab geocache. It was an easy cache to find, but a challenge cache to log a find (GC329EA). The challenge for this one was to find 150 geocaches hidden by the same geocacher. Currently I have found 150 geocaches each by eight different cachers.

My next two geocaches are at the Mission Burial Park Cemetery (GC6JVNP, GC6KY0W). With interments dating back to the 1850's, there are nearly 50,000 burials here. The one that caught my attention most was this Sanderson Family Mausoleum. Containing six members of the family, beginning with David D. Sanderson (1822-1892). The entry is guarded by two sphynx looking statues.

Next door to the east of the cemetery runs the San Antonio River. There you'll find a virtual geocache called "Dam, Ditch, and Aqueduct" (GC4CB0). This was a two-part multi-virtual. My wife and I were here back in November and found the first stage but never made it to the final. Today I'm back to complete the find. Along this section of the river is the Espada Dam and Aqueduct.

From the historical marker: "This is the oldest continuously used Spanish built diversion dam in Texas. Has provided irrigation water since its construction sometime between 1731 and 1745. The dam originally 270 feet long, is built on a natural rock foundation. A portion of the east wing is now covered by the nearby flood control levee. Despite a true reverse buttress making an angular turn at the center of the channel the dam has withstood many years of destructive floods with only minor repairs required to maintain its sound condition. The 8 foot tall structure diverts approximately 4500 gallons of water per minute into the 4 mile long irrigation ditch known as "Acequia De Espada." By gravity flow the acequia provides irrigation water for 400 acres of land in the vicinity of Mission San Francisco De La Espada. The mouth of the acequia may be seen on the opposite bank of the river just upstream from the dam. The dam and irrigation system was engineered by Franciscan Missionaries and constructed by Indian converts, a remarkable feat at that time."

So that was it for today. Grabbed some lunch and gas afterwards and then straight driving all the way down to the Rio Grande Valley. I'm glad you rode along with me and I'll see you again next time.

2018-03-11: Ghost Towns, Cemetery, a Gadget Geocache and More

Well here I go again. Another Sunday and another long drive back to West Texas. With some Geocaching stops along the way to break up the 360+ mile drive. Getting a little bit of a later start, I didn't want to get side tracked and spending a lot of time geocaching close to Killeen. So upon leaving home, I drove non-stop to San Angelo where I make my first stop at Starbucks.

Then heading SW on US-67 a few miles down the road by the Twin Buttes Reservoir, I make my first Geocaching stop at "A Little Bit of Sprinkles in San Angelo" (GC5BPYX). After a little bit of a search I came up empty. This one hadn't been found in nearly two years and had several DNF's. And now I've also added my DNF.

Just down the road was another cache called "Burt's Bees" (GC3XXXE) that previous finders also couldn't find. One of which said there was a damaged container. So I gave it a look because it had a few favorite points. Sure enough, I found what was left of a damaged container and nothing else. So I logged my 2nd DNF of the day and a "Needs Maintenance." Uggh! 0-2 is not a good way to start the day.

Back on US-67 a little ways and I get the smiles again. I guess you could call this one an easy gadget cache or just a very creative geocache. Called "Hickory Dickory Dock" (GC6Q5QC), it's just one of those fun creative caches that someone put some thought into.

 

Then I found the nearby "Old House Gone" geocache (GC11J8E). I'm not exactly sure about the real history here. I don't think it was once a real house now gone. But it looked more like an urban outdoorsman camp. There was the remains of a mattress (just the metal springs), an old couch, and lots of old rusty tin cans scattered about.

One more quick geocache "To the Ramp and River" (GC1B6RP) around the Twin Buttes Lake area and I'm finally moving westbound again.

The next two geocaches on my list were for the Arden Community ghost town (GC113HK, GCMJ22). Arden, on Rocky Creek was named for John and Katie Arden, who settled a claim at the site by 1885. The community acquired a post office in 1890 with W.P. Moore as postmaster. A local public school was established in 1892. Two short-lived schools had operated before this in Arden district, one on Rocky Creek and the other at Sawyer. In 1915 Arden had a post office, a school, a church, and a population of fourteen. In 1947, when the community had one business and thirty residents, the Arden School was consolidated with the Mertzon. All of the businesses had been abandoned as of 1966, execept for a polling place used to preserve precinct lines. The passing of the school, low cotton prices, drought, and better opportunities in nearby larger towns were the primary causes for the decline of Arden. The 2000 census listed only one resident remaining. Since 1952 an Arden reunion has been held each Labor Day on Rocky Creek.

The photo above is where the school used to sit. The photo below is of the Arden Cemetery which contains just 44 burials and is still in use to this day.

In trying to make my way back to US-67, I passed by "Middle Concho Crossing" (GCMN76). A low water crossing for a creek but it was dry here today. That one was followed by another "Just Over the Hill" (GC11KTE).

Passing through Mertzon for a few miles to the south I arrived at the ghost town of Noelke (GC15Y5N). From the cache page: "Noelke is on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and a local road ten miles southwest of Mertzon in south central Irion County. The small settlement began as Monument Switch on the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway when the road built through the area in 1910. The community was renamed Noelke in 1933 in honor of a local ranch owner, Walter Montgomery Noelke. The Monument switch continued in service in Noelke for some time after that, but county maps of the 1980s show only the location of the Noelke community. According to a local resident there was never a town here. Locally it was known as Noelke Switch. The Monument name came from a nearby mountain of the same name. The only building he was aware of was the railroad man's home which is gone. Old cattle pens are all that remain as this was the main place in the area for loading cattle for transport. Today trains pass through the area about twice a week on their way to Alpine. The ranch land for miles around is still owned by the Noelke family."

Around the curve a few miles away was my last stop and another ghost town called Pumpkin Center (GC15Y5Q). Again from the cache page: "According to a local resident, Pumpkin Center consisted of a store where area residents could get basic supplies and pick up mail. It was located at the junction of two county roads and along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The railroad switch at this spot was known as Suggs Switch. Nothing remains at the location. With the establishment of Mertzon, Pumpkin Center ceased to be."

That's it for me today. Still had 140 miles to go from here. Better get moving cause it's getting late in the afternoon. I hope you enjoyed the ride. See you next week...

2018-03-04: Geocaching in a Historic Cemetery, a Texas Courthouse, and more.

My AwayWeGo Geocaching Adventure for another 360+ Sunday drive from Killeen to Monahans, Texas, has me visiting the Lampasas cemetery, a courthouse, and some other roadside geocaches. Before I get started, a reminder that you can now subscribe to the blog using the buttons on the right side column. Or follow me on my Facebook Page to keep updated with new blogs and other photos not in the blogs.

The first geocache was "A Dollar for a quick fix" (GC3PHKR). A simple urban LPC right there in Killeen to boost my cache distance stats.

Now off to Lampasas and the Oak Hill Cemetery that has three geocaches (GC15HQG, GC17WD6, GC17WGT). From the historical marker: Hartwell Fountain sold ten acres of land to the city of Lampasas in 1872 to establish this cemetery. Originally known as City Cemetery. It was renamed Oak Hill Cemetery in 1908. The Ladies Cemetery Association, A group of concerned Lampasas women, maintained the cemetery from 1891 to 1948, when the city assumed responsibility. Among those buried here are local pioneers, prominent business people, veterans of wars including the Texas Revolution and the Civil War, and their descendants.

It's a huge cemetery with over 7,000 internments making it the largest and one of the oldest in the county. These are just a couple of the beautiful large statues and tombs.

One of the notable buried here is James Jackson Beeman (Dec 21, 1816 - Dec 7, 1888). He was one of the first settlers in Dallas and Weatherford. Born in Madison County, Illinois; came to Texas in 1840. He helped cut the first road in Trinity Bottoms, named Turtle Creek (1841), and plat the city of Dallas in 1842. He guided Texas President Sam Houston to Indian Parley in 1843; Joined California Gold Rush in 1849; pioneered Parker County in 1854; and aided in the rescue of Comanche captive Cynthia Ann Parker in 1860. Returned to Dallas to live in 1864 and died in Lampasas in 1888.

After nearly an hour wondering the cemetery looking at headstones, I was one my way. Stopped briefly at a roadside geocache called "I wish I would have listened" (GC24X6Y).

Then passing through the small town of Rochelle, I went over to the cemetery. However there were some muggles (non-cachers) visiting. There wasn't a geocache there so I just did a quick drive through to look at hiding place possibilities before leaving. Driving by the school getting back to US-190, I saw the sign that clearly explains how rural Texans deal with those who have bad intentions.

Upon arriving in San Angelo, I decided to stop for a Starbucks coffee. Around the corner I figured I'd grab a quick geocache at a Chinese restaurant. The cache was called "Dog" (GC728PN). It is named for a symbol on the Chinese Zodiac, NOT a menu item. I spent about 15 minutes looking in some bushes at the corner of the parking lot near the road. I hate shrub hunts. Probably my least favorite, especially along a busy street. Making it worse was that I couldn't find it. So a DNF for today.

Next up was the town of Mertzon in Irion County. The geocache was located out front of the Irion County Courthouse (GC167F1). Now I think I've read somewhere that this was voted as the ugliest County Courthouse in Texas, but don't hold me to it. Compared to the previous courthouse over in Sherwood, this one is pretty boring. But that's the way it goes when the railroad decides to stop in one town over the other.

One quick final roadside geocache stop at "17thBava3" (GC3M804) for mileage just past Crane and finishing up back in Monahans. That's it for today. Thank you for riding along. Hope to see you back again soon.

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...