Fort Bowie Multi-cache
AZRedrock: No response from cache owner. Cache archived.
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7.15. Archive or unarchive a geocache
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Step back into history for half a day and walk in the footsteps of Cochise and Geronimo, who harassed the US Army for over 2 decades in these hills. The Bascom Affair of 1861 triggered events which eventually led to the creation of Fort Bowie.
From the parking lot trailhead (the given coordinates) you will hike 1.5 miles to the ruins of Fort Bowie, past a small cemetery and Apache Springs. The springs were crucial to all travelers, including the Butterfield Stage Lines, the all-important mail link from Missouri to California.
This is a desert walk of an hour into the Fort Bowie ruins and the NPS Visitor Center. Be sure every hiker has at least a pint of water for the trek in. During the heat of May-September, everyone will need a quart of water. You may refill your container at the VC. While the hike is not too strenuous and there is shade at Apache Springs, it is still a rocky desert trail which rises and falls. Wear sturdy shoes or boots, no sandals. (The most common injury in desert hiking comes from prickly pear cactus; be smart.)
The actual cache box is outside NP land, but you need to hike the Fort Bowie trails to obtain info to compute the cache location.
FINDING THE CACHE: N32 T1 T2.T3 T4 T5, W109 G1 G2.G3 G4 G5
Collect the data from the indicated waypoints.
Return to your vehicle and compute the cache coordinates.
Drive a short distance and locate the cache.
If you didn't download the waypoints, you will need to enter coords JKLMNPQR into your GPS. Coords A-H and S-W are on the trails and you will encounter them in sequence; just read the signs.
A = ___________ N32 09.066 W109 26.989 Waterless miles
B = ___________ N32 08.994 W109 26.981 Days of warfare mayhem
C = ___________ N32 08.935 W109 26.974 Height of highest walls in feet
D = ___________ N32 08.905 W109 26.963 Days allowed to deliver mail
E = ___________ N32 08.789 W109 26.892 Day of Sept when known child died
F = ___________ N32 08.819 W109 26.758 Apaches moved northward
G = ___________ N32 08.799 W109 26.662 California Volunteers
Apache Springs N32 08.739 W109 26.439 Just sit a spell and relax.
Please do the following coordinates in the order given. Stay on the paths provided.
H = ___________ N32 08.673 W109 26.352 Col G.W. Bowie was the __ Infantry commander
J = ___________ N32 08.666 W109 26.474 Flagpoles visible from this viewpoint
K = ___________ N32 08.734 W109 26.181 Year of picture on sign
L = ___________ N32 08.702 W109 26.092 Ice machine arrived
M = ___________ N32 08.605 W109 26.134 Approx. cost of CO’s quarters
N = ___________ N32 08.566 W109 26.100 New hospital built
P = ___________ N32 08.651 W109 26.223 Range of heliograph system
Q = ___________ N32 08.678 W109 26.239 Reform of Sutler system
R = ___________ N32 08.752 W109 26.180 Elev. Given of Visitor Center
S = ___________ N32 08.840 W109 26.365 Month (numerically) photo was taken
T = ___________ N32 08.838 W109 26.547 Month (numerically) battle was fought
U = ___________ N32 08.884 W109 26.523 Year Gilbert published
V = ___________ N32 08.902 W109 26.588 Distance to Peloncillo Range
W = ___________ N32 09.013 W109 26.835 Day in May Shackelford came through
Now compute the coordinates. I have given two sets of computations for each number since signs can change or be defaced. Cache is about 2 miles from the trailhead, not on NPS land.
FINDING THE CACHE: N32 T1 T2.T3 T4 T5, W109 G1 G2.G3 G4 G5
T1 _______ = W-B or N-L-S
T2 _______ = K-N-H or E+T-W
T3 _______ = C-2 or H+S
T4 _______ = V-D-E or N-U-B
T5 _______ = (Ax6)-F-S or W-C-H
G1 _______ = (G/8)-E or (Ax2)-(Vx3)-3
G2 _______ = U-Q or K-N+J
G3 _______ = (R-M)/1000 or C-T
G4 _______ = (L-U)/2 or W-E
G5 _______ = (R/10)-P or (Gx4)-F-59
The Jimmy Stewart movie Broken Arrow (1950) is loosely based on the Bascom Affair. Stewart plays Tom Jeffords, the Indian agent mentioned at site B. Jeff Chandler portrays Cochise in Broken Arrow and in The Battle of Apache Pass (1952).
Fort Bowie (Boo-ee) is not named for Jim Bowie of Bowie knife and Alamo fame, but rather for the Col. who led the first detachment of California Volunteers into this desert in 1862. While the Civil War raged back east (1861-1865), the US Army did not allocate many resources to Apache Springs. Only after the Civil War ended did experienced officers come west. Cochise signed a treaty in 1872 and died in 1874. Geronimo (and others) resisted resettlement and continued harassing the US authority until his fourth and final surrender in 1886.
Take a little time to reflect on the Clash of Cultures that festered in the 19th century and still goes on today. If the sanitized history presented in our schools provided a better understanding of those times, we Americans might be more capable of understanding the current strife in Ireland, Africa and the Middle East.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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