GC1NNXY The Machine that Won the West (Traditional Cache) in Oregon, United States created by velirotta

This cache has been archived.

GeoCrater: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no word from the owner in the month or more since the last reviewer note was posted. If you want to re-activate the cache during the next couple of months, please contact GeoCrater to see if that's possible. If the cache meets current guidelines, consideration will given to the circumstances surrounding the original archival.

GeoCrater
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer

NOTE: do not select reply in your e-mail program if you wish to respond to this message from the geocaching.com mail bot. Go to your cache page and e-mail GeoCrater from the log there or email me directly at geocrater@gmail.com, referencing the cache URL, or waypoint number.

GC1NNXY ▼

A cache by velirotta Message this owner

Hidden : 3/14/2009

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

The windmill was crucial to the settling of the West. As farmers and stockmen began to move into the vast, wide-open spaces west of the Mississippi, the choice lands—i.e., with the best streams, springs, and water holes—were soon settled. That left most of the frontier virtually uninhabitable. The water-pumping windmill changed all that. With windmills to pump water for livestock and irrigation, ranchers and farmers were able to live and work on land where there was no reliable natural water supply.

Of the many companies formed in the late 1800s to manufacture windmills, Aermotor was regarded as the “Czar of the Windmill Business,” producing its first windmill in 1888. All over the western landscape, wells were dug and wooden windmill derricks appeared. When the 1930s brought electricity to rural America, windmills eventually gave way to electric pumps, and windmill companies began to close down. Today, Aermotor is the only remaining water-pumping windmill manufacturer in the United States.

Working windmills are rare these days, and many stand abandoned, their broken blades and bullet-riddled vanes making eerie silhouettes against the sky. The windmill you see near this cache is an exception—a real, working machine, old but still pumping. The vane with the Aermotor logo on it keeps the rotating blades facing the wind, and a gearbox and crankshaft convert the rotary motion into reciprocating strokes carried downward through a rod to the pump cylinder in the well below. The water flowing into the stock tank keeps the cattle happy, and the rancher too! The wind is free, and the windmill operates very efficiently—much preferable to stringing miles of wire to run expensive electricity to a pump to keep the tank full.

The cache is easy to find. It’s a 4-inch ABS pipe with a screw-on cap. Screw on the cap just snug; if you crank it down too tight, it will be hard for the next finder to open. Also, be careful where you step or reach. Rattlesnakes are common in the area, and poisonous hobo or brown recluse spiders are occasionally reported.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Guvax yvxr n onqtre.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

This cache has been archived.

Watch

Geocache Description:

Attributes

Inventory

Bookmark Lists

The Machine that Won the West Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Watch

Geocache Description:

Attributes

Inventory

Bookmark Lists