The cache is a micro that is hidden near the boat landing access
on the east side of Rush Lake. Don't forget to write down the code
for the coordinates to the final of the series.
GC284JR
Up to as late as the year 1846 there was a Winnebago Indian
village numbering from one to two hundred Indians, located around
the present outlet on the east side Rush Lake. Their
“cemetery” was located roughly 200 to 250 yards east of
the outlet bridge. The following account was given in 1902 by Hon.
James G. Pickett, an esteemed pioneer of the area, since he
observed it himself.
“With the Winnebago Indians there were two styles of
burial, temporary and permanent. A person dying in winter time,
when the earth was frozen solid, was wrapped in his blanket and
usually enclosed in a roll of bark, or the body was deposited in
the smallest canoe at hand and elevated into the branches of a
tree. They were left in this position until the frost was out of
the ground in the spring, when the permanent grave burial
occurred."
"Not having proper digging implements, a shallow grave, seldom
more than two feet in depth and slightly rounded over with earth,
was prepared and the body placed therein. A small forked post about
three feet in height was set in the ground at each end of the
grave. These post supported a ridge pole, against which, one end
resting on the ground, were placed split shakes or puncheons, thus
forming an “A”-shaped enclosure over the grave and
protecting it from disturbance by wild animals. To mark the grave
of an adult male, a peeled post about 8 feet high and painted in
two colors was set in the ground at its head."
"If the deceased was a man of note, his white dog (if he
owned one, if not, one was found) was killed and hung by the neck
to the post. Such graves were very common at the different
villages of the Winnebagos at the time of the settlement of the
county by the whites. When I first visited the village site, above
described, in the early summer of 1846, I think that there were to
be seen at that place as many as 50 graves with their roof
coverings in various stages of dilapidation and decay, as well as
several recently made and with the dogs suspended from the painted
posts at their head.”
The Geocache Notification
Form has been submitted to the Oshkosh office of the Wisconsin DNR.
Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource
managed lands require permission by means of a notification form.
Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all
required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR
Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at:
http://www.wi-geocaching.com/hiding
*Congratulations to CodeJunkie on the FTF*