You'll probably want a vehicle for this series. The second stage is about 1 mile as the crow flies from the first stage. The remaining 6 stages are all within 0.5 miles from the second stage, so you can probably walk from stage to stage without any trouble. You'll be visiting a couple of local cemeteries for part of the stages, so please be respectful and hunt only during daylight hours. The cache isn't located near any headstones and should be fairly obvious once you reach the final coordinates. The higher difficulty is just due to the math required to get there.
Stage 1 is the Legler Barn Museum
One of the few remaining stone barns still in existence in Kansas, the Legler Barn was built by Adam Legler along the Santa Fe Trail at 95th & Quivira. It was dismantled and moved in 1971 and finally resurrected at it's current location. The Barn Museum is open Tue-Fri 10-4, Sat-Sun 1-4. The Quilters are there on Wednesdays, and for a small donation you can get a tour of some of the Lenexa Historical Society's artifacts. You don't need to go inside for this cache, but it's worth the trip if you do.
Over the door are some signs with an address, some years, etc. Use the following key to get the coordinates to stage 2:
- Years under Barn Museum: 18AB - 1C82
- Emerg. Number: 888-3D87 [D=0; sign is missing]
- name on brass plaque: number of letters in middle name = E [E=3; sign is missing]
Stage 2 is at N 38 58.DAD W 094 4B.BCE
Drive to Stage 2 and walk to the remaining stages from there.
Stage 2
This stage marks the grave of the builder of the stone barn, Adam Legler and his wife Elizabeth. They immigrated here from Switzerland in 1845 with their daughter and traveled up the Mississippi river from New Orleans to St. Louis. In 1852 the Leglers arrived at Westport landing, where Adam walked to Johnson County and purchased land which would become part of Lenexa and the four corners at 95th & Quivira.
To get to the next stage use the Year of Birth (YOB) and Year of Death (YOD) for both Adam & Elizabeth to make some calculations:
- (Adam's YOB - Elizabeth's YOB) * 4 + 1 = ABC
- Adam's YOD - Elizabeth's YOD - 2 = DEF
Stage 3 is at N 38 58.060 + ABC W 094 44.493 + DEF
Stage 3
Stage 3 is the grave of Lenexa's mayor from 1936-1945. You should recognize his last name from a local street. You may see some markers in the same cemetery from the Breyfogle family; the street named after Clark was originally one of two Breyfogle streets which were combined and renamed in his honor. Clark lived from ABCD to EFGH. Use these years to calculate the coordinates for the next stage.
Stage 4 is at N 38 58.(B-C)(D)(D-A) W 094 44.(F-G+E)(H)(H-G+E)
Stage 4
Stage 4 is the oldest legible marker in this cemetery which was founded in 1872. Add Frederick's age in years and months together and subtract from the North coordinates (e.g. if he was 15 years and 4 months old, subtract 19 from the North coordinate). Add the month in which he died to the west coordinate.
Stage 5 is at N 38 58.054 - (age in years + months) W 094 44.494 + (month of death)
Stage 5
Stage 5 marks one of only a few of these unique monuments, probably due to the area's early rural nature. During the depression, family burials like this went out of vogue. This railroad family's monument is one of the more distinguished of it's type in the area. Margaret lived from ABCD to EFGH and her husband William lived from STUV to WXYZ. Use these values to calculate the coordinates to Stage 6.
Stage 6 is at N 38 58.(B-D)(C-G)(G+G) W 094 44.(U-Z)(V+Y)(U+Z)
Stage 6
Stage 6 marks the grave of one of the earliest landowners in Lenexa. John was the proprietor of Fountain Head Mills and was born in England. He immigrated to America in 1854 and was employed at various mills in Illinois. He came to the town of Shawnee in the spring of 1858. He held a few odd jobs initially and then dedicated the next 16 years to farming. In 1878 he built his mill and opened for business in 1879. The mill had a capacity of 20 barrels per day and was very popular with the local farming community. At the time he opened the grist mill, there were about 75 residents in Lenexa, which consisted of two stores, two blacksmith shops, the mill, two churches, a cemetery, and about 75 inhabitants.
Calculate the north offset for Stage 7 by adding the digits in the year John was born and subtracting the month. Add the resulting value to N 38 58.049 to get the north coordinates for stage 7.
Calculate the west offset for Stage 7 by adding 1 to the day of month John's wife was born. Subtract this from W 094 44.496 to get the west coordinates for Stage 7.
Stage 7 is at N 38 58.049 + (sum of John's YOB digits - MOB) W 094 44.496 - (1 + wife's MOB)
Sage 7
Stage 7 marks the grave of a man born in 1838 in England. In 1857 he journeyed to Fort Leavenworth to join his older brother; soon after the rest of his family immigrated to America and settled near Westport Landing. Over the next few years the brothers operated a freighting business on the Santa Fe Trail. In 1968 he married and had 7 children. Eventually he managed a ranch for PT Barnum and moved to Canadian, TX where he established a bank and erected a hotel which was a panhandle showplace for years. In 1900 he moved back to Kansas City. When he died he was the owner of a chain of banks in Texas and Oklahoma, and the hotel he built now houses the Pioneer Museum. There's a street in Canadian, TX named after him.
To get the coordinates for the final stage, count the number of letters in Robert's wife's full name as spelled out on the headstone. Subtract this number from the north coordinates. Next subtract Robert's year of birth from his wife's year of birth. Subtract this number from the west coordinates.
Final is at N 38 58.051 - (# of letters in wife's name) W 094 44.478 - (wife's YOB - Robert's YOB). The final is a camoflaged peanut butter jar with a log and room for small trade items. Please replace it exactly as you find it.