“INDIANA SPIRIT
QUEST”
The Indiana Spirit Quest series of
geocaches will take you to a number of historic cemeteries and
historic sites built by Hoosier Pioneers. Since its beginning
in February 2004, the quest has grown to over five hundred fifty
caches hidden in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Ontario and
the hiders have grown to over thirty cacher teams.
Over 1,000 cacher teams have logged over 25,000
finds when we stopped counting.
Photos by S Keillan
INDIANA
SPIRIT QUEST #552
"HONORING OUR HEROES"
This cache has been adopted from
chief jim and with his kind permission has been converted into
part of the Indiana Spirit Quest.
Welcome to the Old Veterans Cemetery at the Indiana Veterans'
Home in Wabash Township of Tippecanoe County, near West Lafayette.
Following the Civil War, there was a great unmet need to provide
care for Indiana's veterans who had incurred injuries and/or
chronic diseases during the War. In 1886, the current site for a
State Soldiers' Home was suggested at the Grand Army of the
Republic (GAR) encampment by Commander D. N. Foster. In 1892, the
Grand Army of the Republic passed a resolution urging establishment
of the State Home, and Tippecanoe County requested that it be the
location of the new Home. In 1895, the General Assembly
appropriated $75,000 to fund the Soldiers' Home, to provide care
for eligible beneficiaries who were disabled and/or destitute. The
Indiana State Soldiers' Home accepted its first patient in February
1896. The Home was officially dedicated on July 4, 1896. It was
renamed the Indiana Veterans' Home in 1976.
Taken from the Indiana State Department
of Health's website.
There are over 2000 burials at the cemetery, all of them
veterans or their families. The gravestones are of the simple type
traditionally seen at military cemeteries. The cemetery is
sectioned off based on the war or conflict in which the veteran
served. Monuments to the service of these veterans abound in the
cemetery.
Monuments to veterans of World War I (left)
and World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam (right)
American Legion Memorial (left) and Veterans of Foreign
Wars Marker (right)
The cemetery is graced with a flagpole where the base of it
comes from a Spanish cannon, cast of bronze metal in Barcelona in
1796 and weighing 4800 pounds. The cannon was captured from one of
the fortifications of Santiago, Cuba, on July 17, 1898, during the
Spanish-American War. It was donated by the U.S. government to the
Home and erected in July 1900.
Perhaps this silhouette says it all.
FIND LOGS ON THIS CACHE THAT INDICATE
NIGHT CACHING WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT
NOTICE!
The cache container is
camouflaged pill bottle. You'll need to bring your own writing
utensil. The cache is not located near a grave. Do not
disturb monuments. If you find a fallen US flag, please stick
it back in the ground. You must sign the cache log to claim a
find. As always, please be respectful, and cache in, trash
out. Out of respect for the cemetery, please leave our canine
friends behind on this hunt. Remember our brave troops
fighting overseas and pray for the day that they can return
home safely having fulfilled their duty to country and
humankind. God Bless America!
"Indiana
Spirit Quest" is brought to you by the following fellows of
GEOISQ*:SixDogTeam (Earthdog Patrick, Lead Dog, Wheel Dog),
Kodiak Kid, *The Shadow*, Team Shydog, Rupert2, ~Mystery Dog~, Team
Tigger International, bbsurveyors, DoverDuo, -{LoS}-Xile,
Prairiepartners, WilliamsFamGC, Team Itchy & Scratchy, Bean
Blossom Gang, Wishbone86, krisNjoe, bikinibottomfeeders, 501 Gang,
Awsome Ev, Lord Elwood, donsdi, Doobies, dougsmiley, Che K, Jeff
Curtis, Cowboy1829, S Keillan, and a host of others. If you are
interested in spreading the Quest to your neck of the woods AND
WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, email SixDogTeam.
*Grand Exalted
Order of the Indiana Spirit Quest
