Ghosts In The Desert - Leete, Nevada Traditional Cache
RoadRunner: This cache has been disabled for a very long time. (3 weeks is the expected time bring a cache back up to standards). I am archiving it to clear the area. If you are able to repair this, please submit a new listing. If you feel this should be active, please contact me though my profile (be sure to include the GC####).
- Thanks.
Ghosts In The Desert - Leete, Nevada
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An ammo can located at a historic site that dates back to the late 1800's. This site is popular with history buffs & "ghost-towners", so muggles may be an issue. (I use the term "ghost town" loosely...70+ years of easy public access next to a major highway has taken it's toll on the site)
This cache is only accessible from eastbound Interstate 80. Park off the shoulder of the highway - There's plenty of room for the average cache-mobile. Be prepared to cross over a barbed wire fence and walk a short distance. There is a large, unprotected cistern which occasionally contains water near the site - the cache is hidden a safe distance from it. If you wish to view the cistern, approach with care, keeping in mind that the lumber used in it's construction is nearly 150 years old. Don't allow children or pets to wander unsupervised, and as always, please respect the historical significance of the site.
Leete is also a Ghost Town Waymark. You can log your visit here on the Waymarking.com website, waymark code WM26KY.
This was the town of Leete, a station stop on the Central Pacific Overland Route. A rail spur also branched off the main line at this point and headed southeast for 2 miles across the alkali flat to Eagle Salt Works (see GC10QY5). The rail bed is still clearly visible from the site. The town was built to house the mills and employees of the salt works, and was founded by, and named after Benjamin Franklin Leete.
Leete was a surveyor for the Central Pacific Railroad. He was an associate and close friend of Theodore Judah, the brilliant civil engineer who determined the route of the Transcontinental Railroad over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Leete was a member of Judah's crew that surveyed the route, and he was in attendance with Judah at his first meeting with Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, the men who were to carry out the building of the railroad.
Ben ended his carrer with the railroad in 1869, and spent the next 31 years operating his salt works, but he defaulted on his loan and lost the operation in 1910. The town continued to support a small population, but was finally abandoned in 1915. The rail line was removed in April of the following year.
Ben spent the rest of his life in Reno. He passed away in 1921 at the age of 91, and was the last remaining survivor of the Sierra survey party.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ABG va gur ebpxf.
Treasures
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