For Christmas, Santa left Scott a book , “Montana Mainstreets, Volume 6- A Guide to
Historic Missoula” that inspired this cache. While it won’t help you much in getting to
the logbook, it might make driving downtown more rewarding.
We wanted to have a cache that can be done in an afternoon. It is strongly recommended that if
you have kids, you explore features of the areas you will be brought to. One of the buildings (the
only one you HAVE to go into) is the home of the Missoula Childrens’ Museum. (click on
the link for their hours) Both the starting and ending points are relatively close to Dragon Hollow, and the Carousel.
In the mid-1860’s, C.P. Higgins, Frank Worden, and David Pattee recognized the need for mills
to provide lumber and grind grain harvested in the valley into flour. While they had set up their
business “Hellgate Trading Post” near Grant Creek and the Clark Fork River, they chose a site
about four miles east for the mill. This site, about a hundred yards east of where the Higgins
Street Bridge now stands became the home of Missoula Mills. That is where you will start on this
brief adventure.
Each step listed below takes you to a source of numbers that will help you get the final
coordinates for the cache, which is small Tupperware container. There are many more numbers than
you need. Pay attention!
Step 1- 46 52.119, 113 59.740
Read carefully, this object could be considered the ‘cornerstone’ of what is now known as
Missoula.
- The building that this came from was how big? ABxAB
- How many stories was it? #Stories = C
- How long did this object spend at the University? #years=DE
Step 2- 46 52.208, 113 59.702
You should be standing at the corner of a building built by Hammond, one of Missoula’s founding
fathers, formerly the Missoula Merchantile. Look carefully – the Mesker Bros. have a patent listed
near here… make the date into numbers, with the format mm-d-yy. FG-H-IJ
Step 3- 46 52.283, 113 59.655
This is easy. What is the address listed for this building, built by one of the founding
fathers of Missoula? Can you guess which one?
Address=KLM
Step 4. 46 52.226, 113 59.719
When was the last time this building burnt down? NOPQ
How much did it cost to build this “Jewel of a hotel?”-$R------- (only need the
first
number)
Go inside, and check out the restoration in progress. Particularly, notice the phone booths.
How much did it originally cost to place a phone call? # cents = S
Step 5. 46 52.217, 113 59.754
- What “Older and more impressive building” is referred to on this plaque?
- What is its address? TUV
- What year did it experience a fire, killing C.P. Higgins’ son under mysterious circumstances?
Year = WXYZ
Finally, step 6- the cache!
Here is the code:
AQ SK.GXR
FLC VY.JCT