A Hessian Haunting Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

CTReviewer: Greetings from Geocaching.com

I have been looking at caches in the area that have been temporarily disabled for a while now and it looks like your cache has been under the weather for some time. While I feel that Geocaching.com should hold the location for you and block other cachers from entering the area around this cache for a reasonable amount of time I don’t think we can do so any longer. Therefore, I have archived this cache. If you haven’t done so already, please pick up any remaining cache bits as soon as possible.

When repairs to this cache are completed and it is time to have it reposted, it will be no problem. Just drop me a note and let me know the GC waypoint number of the cache or better yet, the URL of the cache page. You will still be able to access your cache page just as before by going to your “My Cache Page” and clicking the link of your cache.

I will be more than happy to take a look at your cache again to see if it is still is within the guidelines of the Geocaching.com website for cache placement and posting. I want to thank you for the time that you have taken to contribute to geocaching in the past and am looking forward to seeing your cache up and running in the future.

Thanks for your understanding,
CTReviewer
Groundspeak Volunteer Reviewer
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Hidden : 3/24/2010
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

NOTE: THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE POSTED COORDINATES!

Before we begin, you should know that though I highly recommend reading the story, it has very little to do with solving the puzzle, and is almost solely for entertainment. It's not required reading.

Also, if you care to read the story, please know that it is ABSOLUTELY true, and can be proven with historical artifacts, medical records, and various reports. So, here we go...

At my camp, there is a very old, very true legend. It speaks of times both old and new, of a place many miles from here. Each session of camp, the tale is told to those who do not believe, not to entertain, but to educate…and warn. So, prepare to step into a new world...the world of the Hessian Village.
For those of you who don’t know, Hessians were German mercenaries in the Revolutionary War. Well, to call them mercenaries is a bit harsh; oftentimes, they were forced by the British to fight in exchange for their homes, their families, or their lives. Very little was known about these Hessians, but one thing was clear: they were excellent, merciless, and barbaric fighters. No American wanted to meet a Hessian in any fight. This story deals with one particular group of Hessians who camped in Northern Connecticut in late 1779.
Now, this group of Hessians was awaiting orders from their British superiors, and decided to stay in one spot until they received them. So, they found a nice piece of land by a little stream and set up camp. Then they waited. And waited. By early December, it was obvious that they would spend the winter in their camp.
That winter was a particularly bad one in the Northeast. Storms raged throughout the hills of Connecticut. Not until March did a British officer arrived at the Hessian camp. Upon entering the camp, he noticed that the little stream had run dry. Figuring it was nothing, he headed into the camp. And found it absolutely empty of life. Every last Hessian was simply lying dead in their huts. So began the legend of the Hessian village…
Note: you can still return to the village sight and see the foundations of the Hessians’ huts.
Around 80 years later, in the 1850s, a little place called Shawtown stood right on the ruins of the Hessian village. But this was no ordinary town. No, Shawtown was a home for escaped convicts, many of which came from the state jail 5 miles away. The residents of Shawtown, though they led somewhat restricted lives, were simply happy to be free of their prison cells. They had food to eat, people to communicate with, and a nice little stream running just outside their home. That all changed on one warm summer’s day.
Just outside of Shawtown, a woman owned a small farm. Though she knew the convicts were living just off of her property, she was a generous soul and let them stay. One day, she was grazing her sheep when one began to escape. Before she knew it, her animal had disappeared into the woods towards Shawtown. So she did the obvious: she chased it.
As the woman ran through the woods after her sheep, all sounds gradually stopped. Even the sounds of the forest were silent: no birds chirped, no crickets hummed. The woman was too busy chasing to notice. As she kept running after her animal, she also barely noticed that the little stream had once again gone completely dry. She DID notice when she stumbled into Shawtown. And realized that every convict there was lying dead on the ground. No markings, no sign of disease. Simply gone. And so the mystery continued…
Another 80 years later, two Boy Scout camps had moved into the area: Sequassen and Workcoeman. Both camps led regular hikes to the historic Hessian village. Naturally, nobody believed the area was cursed or haunted; they were just ghost stories after all, right? Still, some wiser counselors always checked the stream near the village, to make sure it wasn’t dry. But fate and bad decisions can change even the best of planning in a heartbeat.
One night, towards the end of a camp week, a few campers from Workcoeman decided to go out on their own to the Hessian village. We’ll never know if they were aware what they were doing that night, but we do know from confessions that they stepped over a dry stream on the way into the village. The night was fairly normal. None of the campers died, and when they returned to their campsite, the visit appeared harmless.
Less than 48 hours later, Camp Workcoeman was put under a full quarantine. Doctors were running up and down the aisles of the cafeteria, which served as a makeshift hospital, trying to figure out what was wrong with the hundred or so victims lying on the tables. As much as they tried, they could not cure the disease that had befallen the camp. Before the strange sickness abated, Workcoeman was quarantined for a month, and the neighboring camp, Sequassen, was evacuated. Medical records show that the quarantine occurred in 1933, exactly 77 years after the stream ran dry and killed Shawtown. And the Shawtown incident occurred 77 years after the original Hessians were wiped out. If we follow the pattern forward 77 more years, what year do we end up in? 2010.

So, time for a journey of the imagination. You are a camper at Camp Sequassen in the year 2010.The stream has once again run dry. But this time, the stakes are higher. The village is, indeed, haunted by Hessian spirits. And this time, they’re not waiting for you to come to them…they’re coming for you. And the only way to stop them is to find this cache. It contains…well, safety. Kind of like a reverse Pandora ’s Box. It lets hope out and traps evil within. Again, all purely imaginational ?. There happens to be a slight problem, though…you don’t know where the cache is. There is hope, though…clues have been left around the camp; fifteen to be exact. There was also a numbered map of the camp. I have done you the service of collecting these clues and putting them here. As for the map, it can be found here: (visit link)
Print it out, and it should be readable. Number the map as follows:

Rocky’s Place Pavilion: 0 (this, by the way, is the closest point in the camp to the Hessian Village)
Archery range: 1
Rifle Range: 2
Shotgun Range: 3
Pioneer Area: 4
Royal Wood: 5
Nathan Hale: 6
3 Judges: 7
Climbing Tower: 8
Low Cope: 9
Roger Sherman: 0
Eli Whitney: 1
Cedar: 2
Health Lodge: 3
Handicraft Lodge: 4
Camp Office: 5
West Hill Pond: 6
(Moving south of the road now)
Polaris: 7
Baden-Powell: 8
Aquila: 9
Trail (campsite name): 0
English Dining Hall: 1
Clark Field: 2
Ledge: 3
Hillside: 4
Jerome: 5
Northrup: 6
International: 7
Loyalty: 8
Chapel: 9

If you have any trouble at all finding places on the map, e-mail me, and I’ll help.

And now, for the clues!
Format for coords:
N AB? CD.EFG
W HIJ? KL.MNO

Clue A:
If you go north on Workcoeman Road,
Count two on your right, the first part of the code.

Clue B:
Don’t “shoot” the breeze, to this place you’ll go;
If your weapon of choice would be the bow.

Clue C:
To find this answer, look back through the fable;
This place has Sequassen’s “operating tables”

Clue D:
Go as far south as the camp goes;
Following trails, the answer’s quite close.

Clue E:
North of the road, follow the bend;
The clue is the north loop’s southernmost end.

Clue F:
Solve clue E, and then move on here;
Rotate north past the path and the answer is clear.

Clue G:
A weapon may help while fighting a Hessian;
Use the range furthest east to complete your mission.

Clue H:
Go westward on west hill as west as you can;
Then travel far north to pull off your plan.

Clue I:
Go far from the village, the south camp it calls;
Proceed to a site that welcomes countries all.

Clue J:
In these troubled times, we welcome help;
Go towards the white cross and see for yourself.

Clue K:
Find the answer, and do it with speed;
It’s the only south campsite where three trails lead.

Clue L:
It’s the center of goings-on here at the camp;
Find the southernmost flagpole, and you’ll be a champ.

Clue M:
If you travel back north, you’ll find the right thing;
Find the campsite that rests blatantly mid-ring.

Clue N:
Through the hills, it’s surprising how west you can fall;
But maybe true west is not real west at all.

Clue O:
The camp is large, but where is its north edge?;
The final clue takes you to the very “ledge”.

Good luck, and happy caching!
P.S. there are several more parts of the story. If you would like to hear them, e-mail me. But you have to have found the cache first :)

You can check your answers for this puzzle on

Geochecker.com. (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[e-mail me for puzzle hints, cache hints, and/or parking]

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)


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