Otto's View and Legacy Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

Nomex: Hi
As there's been no cache to find for months, I'm temporarily archiving this to keep it from continually showing up in search lists. Just contact us when you have the cache repaired, [RED]and assuming it still meets the guidelines[/RED], we'll be happy to unarchive it.

Don't hesitate to email me via the link on my Profile if you have any questions. [red]Please be sure to include the cache name and GC Code, or better yet, the URL of the cache page.[/red]

Thanks for your cooperation!
Nomex
Northern California Volunteer Cache Reviewer

More
Hidden : 7/23/2007
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The published coordinates will take you to a structure where you will find information to determine the actual coordinates of the cache... a small bison tube. Solve the puzzle to locate the cache. Paved and dirt roads ... no need to cross fence. Watch out for snakes. Cache site visible - a short distance from first coordinates.

This cache is to honor a man who holds an important place in Colorado.. and American history. It was his nearly single-handed efforts that led to the establishment of the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, CO (my hometown!)

This area of red rock canyons flanks the southwestern edge of the Grand Valley- where the mighty Grand River (now known as the Colorado River) and the Green Rivers join.

"I came here last year and found these canyons, and they felt like the heart of the world to me," John Otto wrote in 1907.

Otto lived alone in the wild, desolate canyon country, and he spearheaded a letter-writing campaign urging Congress to declare the area a national park. His dream came true in 1911, when the monument was established and Otto was named caretaker.

Several hiking trails traverse the 32-square-mile monument, including one named in Otto's honor. The Rim Rock Drive and high-country trails provide stunning views of steep canyons, fascinating natural rock sculptures, purple-gray Book Cliffs, and the bold, flat-topped mountain called Grand Mesa.

Use the information etched into the structure and the puzzle below to calculate the coordinates of the cache

A = the number of lines engraved for the quote - minus 1
B = the number of decades he had already lived when he returned to Northern California in 1931
C = number of words in the 2nd line of the quote
D = fourth digit in the year of his death
E = the second digit in his age when he died
F = the first digit in his age when he died

Cache location:
N 41 43.ABC'
W 122 39.DEF'

You can hear more about the monument and the man at this site: (visit link)

In 2002 a valiant effort was made by some local residents who discovered John Otto's grave in the pauper section of a California cemetary.... they vowed to give him a more fitting memorial. I was not personally involved in this effort, but after hearing about it I decided that more people needed to become aware of this project and the way these people made this happen!

Here is an article that appeared in THE MONOLITH - A publication by the Colorado National Monument Association- August 2002 shares the story of how this structure came to be:

John Otto Honored Fifty Years After His Death
by Michael O’Boyle

It was June 19, 2002, along the back road of the Evergreen cemetery in Yreka, California. About seventy-five people gathered around the grave of a man who had died fifty years before. The reason for the gathering was to give tribute to an incredible American, a man who cared little for his own prosperity, a man who lived his life for the betterment of his community and his country.

We all know the man’s name:John Otto.

In my book, he is one of America’s great folk heroes, and now he has been honored with a headstone as monumental as the man himself. The “John Otto Memorial Headstone Project” began about ten years ago when I first started giving tours in the Colorado National Monument. I read up on the geology of the area and gained a decent layman’s knowledge on how the landscape formed. I also read up on John Otto, the guy who dreamed up the idea that these canyons should be set aside as a national park, and then did something about it.

I discovered that Otto, at age sixty-one, packed his bags and left the Grand Valley for Northern California to the hills around the little gold mining town of Yreka. He had lived there as a young man,and I guess he decided it would be a good place to retire. He could live cheaply, camping out on a mining claim he had acquired, and spend his time panning for gold.

And that’s just what he did for the last twenty years of his life. He died of a heart attack at the age of eighty-one on June 19, 1952.

The retired Otto was not the flamboyant, get-things-done kind of guy that he was while living in the Grand Valley. He lived simply, along the Klamath River about twenty miles from the town of Yreka. He didn’t pay rent; he set up camp at his mining claim. For the last ten years of his life, he moved on down the creek, closer to the river and into an old, abandoned,one-room post office. He used to say, “The less you’ve got, the better you are off.” He died with less than $150 to his name. Dan Girdner, the owner of the local funeral home, saw to it that Otto had a respectable burial, attended by a few local friends. A small metal marker was
set over the grave. It gave his name, birth date, and date of death.

In the last chapter of Alan Kania’s first book on Otto, John
Otto of Colorado National Monument, there is a photograph of the grave marker. I used to stare at that picture and wonder: What was it like in Yreka? Why did John Otto move there? Is there anyone around who remembers him? Is it possible to find the grave?

In the fall of 1994, these questions were answered when on a trip to California, I found John Otto’s grave in the paupers’ section of the Evergreen Cemetery, a mile from
downtown Yreka. Otto’s grave looked much like the hundreds of other paupers’ graves along the back road of the cemetery, with only a 4” x 6” stamped metal plaque to mark it.

My first impression was “How insignificant! How small in comparison to the life of the man below it.” I remember thinking, “John, we’re going to give you a decent headstone!”That moment, I guess, was the start of the John Otto Memorial Headstone Project.

A few weeks later, I got together with Dave Fishell, historian, guide, and fellow John Otto fanatic, and talked about getting a headstone. We both agreed that it was a “Grand Idea!” We got together several times over the years, and we always talked about the headstone. Time passed and before long, it was the spring of 2001. The clock was ticking. Just over a year until the fiftieth anniversary of Otto’s death. We had been talking about the project for several years — it was time to get something done!

In May 2001, my girlfriend Karen Kllanxhja and I took a trip to Northern California. We met with the Yreka Chamber of Commerce and told them of our intention to place a new headstone in their cemetery. They said as long as we met all their criteria and didn’t do anything illegal, it was okay with them. We also found some folks in Yreka who remembered John Otto and shared their memories with us.

After getting permission to place a new headstone on John
Otto’s grave, Karen and I returned to Grand Junction. Now we had to come up with a headstone, and not just an ordinary headstone! It had to be monumental, bigger than life, just like Otto himself. Since I had never designed a headstone, especially a monumental headstone, I turned to someone who turns dreams into reality for a living: artist and sculptor Lyle Nichols.

Lyle recommended that I check with John Schmahl, who quarries rock at Unaweep Canyon. With John’s help, we found a five-foot wide by two-foot tall, 3,400-pound, Precambrian metamorphic boulder to use as the base.

Our next job was to find some red, monolithic looking sandstone to complement the base. Karen and I took a trip to some rock yards in Lyons, Colorado, an area famous
for Lyons sandstone, a hard and durable rock. Luck was with us! Just as our time and energy were running out, we literally stumbled upon a rock at the Luokenen Bros. Stone Company that looked just like Independence Monument in
miniature. We never officially weighed it, but we estimate it would tip the scales at 600 to 700 pounds.

Lyle Nichols, whom I cannot thank enough, agreed to help with the project. With his talent, tools, and heavy equipment, he began to meld the base and the headstone
together. Carlson Memorials offered to help with the engraving. Many thanks go to Dan and Kay Carlson and Donna Wiggins for making the time to put the finishing touches on the rock.

The project was progressing.We had moved from the idea stage to now being in possession of a two-ton headstone that was 1,100 miles away from the grave it was intended to rest upon. Up to this point, we had survived on donated time and a few dollars, but things were changing. We
needed money! The CNMA (thank you very much, Denise and Renee) agreed to hold in escrow all money raised. So now, all we needed to do was raise money!

This is where the magical spirit of this community came into play. First, the radio stations, television stations, newspapers, and periodicals got the word out and made
everyone aware of the project. Then, individuals and businesses stepped up and donated money. I am happy and proud to say that we ended up raising $4,500. I also cannot say enough about Willy P.Chestersen, the singer-songwriter
who wrote Man of the Canyon, a song about John Otto that helped us raise $450 in CD sales. A few copies of the CD are still available at Triple Play Records on Main
Street in Grand Junction.

Special thanks go to the City of Fruita, which placed the headstone on display at Circle Park for two weeks at the end of May. Dan Hunt and Ryder Transportation Services
gave us a great deal on a diesel flat bed truck that safely hauled the 4000-pound load. For me, it was not only an honor but a pleasure to drive the headstone out to Yreka.
Special thanks also go to Superintendent Palma Wilson and
the National Park Service for donating the American flag that flew atop Independence Monument on Memorial Day and that we used in the memorial service in Yreka. Moreover, thanks must go as well to all the folks in California
who helped us make this dream a reality.

On May 30, 2002, a large crane set the base and the headstone in place over Otto’s grave. A little over two weeks later, on June 19, exactly fifty years to the day after he died, a group of about seventyfive people gathered around the grave for the official ceremony. About thirty of them came from Colorado, a few were from Oregon, and the rest were from Northern California. Some had just learned
about Otto, while others, like me, had been reading about him for years. A select few were lucky enough to have known him in person.

It was a simple ceremony. Otto’s original pauper’s grave
marker was removed from the ground, then the American flag
covering the new headstone was removed, folded, and given to the town of Yreka. Yreka, in turn gave Colorado National Monument ranger Todd Overbye the original metal marker, to be preserved in the Colorado National Monument archives.

P.S. SEARCH FOR A CACHE OF THE SAME NAME IN ANOTHER LOCATION FOR MORE INTERESTING INFORMATION. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW IF ANYONE FINDS BOTH CACHES IN THE COURSE OF THEIR TRAVELS!

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