Taylor's Creek (reborn) Traditional Cache
team:CHETT: Area has been cleaned out.
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(regular)
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It's back.....
The 'Taylor's Creek' cache was archived 2 1/2 years ago and I have been waiting all this time for this moment.
Cache is now a full size, trading cache.
Although the official name of this is Taylor Creek, to the locals and especially the old-timers is is and always will be TAYLOR'S CREEK. This small river has played a big part in local history since the earliest times. In 1837 Col. Zachary Taylor crossed it to battle the Seminoles waiting on the other side. In 1898 the first white family in what is now the town of Okeechobee settled on it's shores. In a few years a small town named Tantie had sprung up, with a store, a school, a post Office (named after Tantie Huckabee the school teacher) and importantly, a jail.
In the early part of the 20th century it was discovered that Lake Okeechobee was absolutely full of fish and a number of commercial fishermen started fishing it. Tons of Speckled Perch, Bass and especially catfish were shipped from the fish houses of Taylor Creek, across the big lake to Fort Myers via the Caloosahatchee River or down the New River Canal to Fort Lauderdale. There they were loaded on ships and taken north to eagerly waiting markets.
With the arrival of the Florida East Coast Railroad, in 1915 the catfishing industry centered on Taylor Creek and tons of fish became hundreds, then thousands of tons. There seemed to be no end to the fish in the 'Big O'. When the lake was "fixed" by having the flood control dikes put around it, the main spawning areas for the fish were cut off and the numbers plummeted. The large scale fishing industry soon collapsed. Although the numbers of fish will never approach the old-days again, there are still trot-liners making their living fishing the lake. Okeechobee catfish is featured on the menu of many resaurants around the south and is considered to be the finest tasting catfish to be found.
The cache is a one gallon plastic container and contains a Red Jeep Travel Bug (for now) and an assortment of small items.
The cache will be found in a brand new park that has been in the making for several years. It is called the "Taylor Creek Stormwater Treatment Area" and has three miles of hiking/biking trails on good shell paths. Note* Pets are NOT allowed on trail! As you walk around the impoundment area you will see what is being done to try and remove the phosphorus runoff in the area.
You will only have to go about 4/10 mile each way, but go ahead and take a lap.. you will be glad you did. On the day I hid the cache I saw literally hundreds of birds. Everything from Finches, Woodpeckers and Jays to Sandhill Cranes, Ibis, Ducks, Gallinules, Wood Storks, all kind of Herons and Egrets, Hawks, and more.
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