Muchias- The Friendly Dwarf Traditional Cache
hansk: Twice now, I've put a lot of work into replacing this cache. It's been muggled again. Totally gone.
It's not the type of cache you would ever accidentally notice or stumble across. It affects no one, doesn't destroy the scenery, isn't near anyone's home. But someone is deliberately seeking this cache out and destroying it. Sad person, that they have to wreck other people's fun. I sure hope you enjoyed yourself. happy caching!
Muchias- The Friendly Dwarf
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A short walk into the bush to the river will bring you to this camoed cache. Best to descend to the river about 50 feet east of the cache location. Handcrafted tool hidden nearby to assist with opening the cache.
Work your way down to the river at the cache coordinates and in your mind bring yourself back, back about a 120 years. The scene is vastly different than what you see now. But the river itself hasn't changed much, back then there's much less growth along the banks but the river is still shallow and brownish . Directly north across the river, below the present legislature and above the yellow building, you would see the pallisaded walls of the last Fort Edmonton. To your right, at about 3:00 o'clock, at the north end of the Walterdale Bridge, you'd probably see an encampment of teepees and tents- this was "The meeting Place" Known by various names (Pehonan, Amiskwaciwaskahikan, ti oda or Omahkoyis) to the various tribes who frequented the area on a regular basis. The had gathered in this pleasant bend in the river now known as Rossdale for perhaps 10,000 years. Here too you would find an ancient burial place, now used by Native and Europeans alike. Somewhere above the encampment there would be a large white wooden cross as seen in one of Paul Kane's paintings. Below the encampment there's a landing spot for boats and canoes. Here you might see children playing in the shallow water. Approaching this landing spot you might see John Walter's ferry crossing the river, hauling a few people or perhaps a horse and cart. It's being poled across the river and the man pushing that pole may very well be Muchias, the friendly dwarf.
John Collins, nicknamed Muchias was born in 1853, the son of fur trader Richard Collins and his wife Genevieve Bruyeres. "Big John" Walter (early Edmonton entrepreneur) and "Little John" became good friends. They moved out of Fort Edmonton to a location just east of here (go see the museum 200 m. east)where Muchias worked for John walter and lived in his own midget sized cabin nearby. He was a friendly fellow who spent his years beside the river, befriended by adults and children alike.
A.F. Dreger tells us: "Little John was agreat favourite with the kiddies. He used to weave a magic spell over them as he told them many tales about the birds and the animals of the forest.....although he was only 4 ft high, weighing about 175 lbs, he was nearly as wide across his shoulders as he was tall. He could lift a three hundred and fifty pound barrel and walk away with it while others would still be straining to grab a hold of it.."
Anna Harrison tells us: "...I must mention a man that worked around the Fort, known as Muchias, a very powerfull man and a wonderfull swimmer, though not much more than 4 ft tall, if that. After many years I saw Muchias in a store and spoke to him and asked him if he remembered me, that i was one of the little girls that played at the Fort long ago. His remark was not flattering. He said, "All the same, like mosquitoes.""
Grace Mathews said:" he had a very large head and almost repulsive to look at, but a very kind and good natured man and we children used to like to ride on his two wheeled cart with the water barrel from which he supplied all the water used in the fort, hauling it with his old horse named Friday. He had a little shack where he lived and used to have many visitors, playing the accordian and lively times went on in his little shack. "
His house was built in the shade of the high river bank, it was sized to fit him with a 4 ft high door and minature furniture to match. Here he cooked in a big iron kettle which hung from a tripod over an open fire. He was a powerfull swimmer who could swim the river when it was in full flood. One day he saved a child from drowning in the river. He was also a skilled hunter with a bow and arrow and it was said that "many a table at the Fort bore a gift from the little hunter with a big smile."
Sound like a pretty big man to me.
If you go east on the trail for about 230 M you will come to the rotting remains of John Walter's ferry.
Almost forgot - the cache is behind you. Latest rebuild of the cache resulted in a container that can be a bit difficult to open so we did Muchias proud and handcrafted a tool to assist, if needed. It's hidden within 3 ft (1 meter to the Imperially challenged) of the cache. Please replace everything exactly as found.
(quotes are from the book "Edmonton in Our Own Words".
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vs lbh ner ng gur cbfgrq pbbeqf naq snpvat gur Yrtvfyngvir Oyqt gur pnpur vf oruvaq lbh, hc gur onax.
Treasures
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