STH short for
"Small Town History" is a new series I
'm starting. The idea
of the series is to have caches that take you to a place
of historical
interest or have some historical trivia associated with
it. If you know of
any such places please place a cache there and add to the
series. Or let me
know and I will add a cache for
you.
This is
a cemetery cache please note it is NOT hidden on any grave marker
or site.
The cemetery entrance sits on a
blind curve so use caution when there.
You may
want to park further down the road. See the photo
below.
Badger Ordnance Works, now called Badger Army Ammunition, was
on January 31, 1970 the focus of an unsuccessful aerial bombing by
war protester Karleton Armstrong in a stolen plane. Armstrong used
homemade ammonium nitrate bombs in peanut butter
jars. Fortunately the bombs were
duds. Just over 6
months later, Armstrong blew up
Sterling Hall at UW-Madison at 3:42AM on August 24,
1970, killing one grad student (Robert Fassnacht) and injuring
4 others.
This cache will take you
to...
A monument erected to honor those who lost their
lives on the home front of WWII
in an accidental explosion at Badger
Ordnance Works on July, 14,
1945.
Ironically Karleton
Armstrong's uncle had been killed in this explosion
25 years before Karleton's
atempt.
N43
21.3?? W89
41.9??
How many names are on
the monument.
Replace the last two
digits of the North and West with the ones provided.
If there are 8 names then N49 - W35
If there are 7 names
then N57 - W96
If there are 4 names
then N01 - W77
If there are 2 names
then N22 - W51
Example, If the Numbers
after the answer are N28 -
W43
Then the the coords
would be N43 21.328 W89
41.943.
Badger Ordnance Works plant was established in 1941, and
production began in January 1943. It closed shortly after WWII
ended, but was maintained in readiness until the outbreak of the
Korean conflict, when about 5000 workers again produced smokeless
and rocket powder. Near the end of this war, a new section was
built to produce ball powder. The plant was kept in stand-by mode
again until 1966, when it began production for the Vietnam War.
During the ensuing 10 years, the plant produced nearly as much
propellant as it had for the first two wars combined. Today, the
7,354-acre Badger Plant includes over 1400 buildings, 26 miles of
railway, 130 miles of roads, and 200 miles of elevated
steampipe, roughly 2300 acres of pasture, 2000 acres of
cropland, 175 acres of prairie restoration, 48 acres of wetlands
and ponds, 960 acres of woods, and 500 acres of
shrubland.