Description: This cache will take you to a little
known, wild area, that has just become one of Chili's newest parks.
Known as the Pfrengle Property, this area actually boasts some
interesting history. This park is undeveloped, so please take great
care to preserve the plant life, and wildlife in the area. Practice
good CITO, and pack out what you pack in.
The parking area is somewhat sparse, and Scottsville-Chili Road
sees its share of speedy drivers in this area, so be careful
pulling in or out of the park. There is a hard packed dirt walking
trail that will take you much of the way into the park, and help
you on your way to the cache. It looks like the town does some
mowing in the area.
Just to the North of the Final Cache location, about 200-300
feet North, you will find an amazing ancient Oak Tree. This giant
towers over the surrounding forest, and is a sight in itself. If
you have the time, I recommend a short trip over to see it.
History of the Pfrengle Property: Between Stottle
Road and Chili-Scottsville Road is a town-owned 100-acre parcel on
the south side of Black Creek recently donated to the town by the
Pfrengle family. A large tributary called Mill Creek enters Black
Creek from the south. This creek powered the mills in the Hamlet of
Clifton in southwest Chili. At the confluence stands a historic
stone bridge built by a wealthy industrialist in the 19th
century.
Joseph Sibley, a pioneer settler in the Black Creek area,
reminisced as follows: "The greatest amount of sickness and
death that I knew of in any locality in the Genesee country was as
late as 1821 in the settlements along Black and Sandy Creeks. The
prevailing disease had all the distinctive character of the yellow
fever, and in a dense population, would have been equally as fatal.
It was principally owing to the erection of mill dams, and
consequent flooding of timbered lands. When the mill dams were
drawn off, the sickness subsided. In one of the earlier years, when
Riga and Chili were one town, it was ascertained that 60 died in a
population of less than 3,000." The disease was locally known
as the "Genesee Fever".
From the Genesee Country Museum Web Site: There was little any
doctor knew that could help those settlers stricken with "ague" and
the raging high temperatures and chills of "Genesee fever". It came
to be correctly associated with low lying watery areas — but for
the wrong reason. The fever was supposed to come from decaying
vegetation in such locations; in fact, like other forms of malaria,
it was transmitted mosquitoes.
Disclaimer: You are under no obligation to hunt
this cache. You do so at your own risk. Like any outdoor sport, it
carries the risk of unforeseen hazards. Use your best judgment with
the environment and conditions. As conditions and cache locations
may vary, it is the responsibility of the searcher to be familiar
with the conditions in the area to be searched, to adequately
prepare for those conditions, and to conduct oneself safely and
responsibly and remain within his or her personal abilities and
limitations. Children should be well supervised. When and if you
find a cache, you are under no obligation to touch it, reach it,
climb to it, dig for it, pick it up, or even open it. Open it at
your own risk. Individual Geostash and GPS cache sponsors assume no
liability for events, which may occur, related directly or
indirectly to your searching for a stash.
First To Find Information: Congrats to JSahrle
(J-Dog) on her first to find, early in the morning. The cache is
stocked with a small amount of goodies to trade. Trade Up, and
Trade Fair.