We had placed a cache about 100m away but it had become muggled.
This is the same information just on a new cache and location. This one is now actually at the spring. We hope you enjoy the new hide.

Many visitors to Flagstaff immediately notice the peaks and then Mount Elden. Few know that just below Mount Elden is where the first white settlers to the region built their home.

In 1875 John Elden arrived back in Flagstaff with his new bride from California. John had visited the Flagstaff area in 1872 on his way to California and decided that it would make a great place for he and his family to begin their new lives.

The Eldens built a cabin near what is now called Elden Springs. There they had three children: Helena, Eloise Felicia, and John. Elden was a sheep herder and raised 60 head of sheep and a few cattle that used up the majority of the springs output at the time. One day in 1887 while John Elden was away, a stranger later identified as Bob Roberts, arrived with a herd of mules.

The Eldens' asked the man to take his mules to a different spring where there was abundant water, for Elden Spring never had a large output of water, usually just enough for the family and their small sheep herd. As Bob Roberts was leaving, he swung around and fired a single shot killing the Eldens' only son, John, who was just six years old. Soon after the death, the Elden family left the area and returned to California. The cabin is no longer standing, but the grave of little John Elden is still visited by local hikers.

The grave is quiet and peaceful and is located at the base of the mountain. It has a handmade cross made by locals in the 1960's. The spring stills yields a trickle of water, and if you look closely enough you can see evidence of the cabin that once housed this pioneer family.

This geocache will give you the ability to see these three locations. The Elden Cabin site, the grave of John Elden, and the area where Elden Spring is located.

Please respect the area and enjoy the little history lesson about the first white settlers to the Flagstaff area.

Please replace the cache exactly as found so that the experience is the same for all.