Spirits of Squawkie Hill Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(regular)
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You will be looking for a regular sized ammo can. Park manager Roland Beck recommends you park at the coords given below, where there is a small parking area just outside the gate (so no charge!) and start down trail 20. This route will give you a lovely 2.5 terrain stroll. As always with caching, the closest way may not always be the best. Parking closer could result in a ticket.
FTF gets a slice of amethyst, used in meditation to calm the spirit and evoke positive energies
While we were hiking around the park, we came across this area and were immediately struck by the "feel" of the place. The very air seemed heavy with spirits, but were they good or bad spirits? When we got home, we did some deep research to find out.
If the spirits we felt were negative ones, they most likely belong to John Jemison, the "Witch of Squawkie Hill". Although much is written about Mary Jemison and her oldest son "Buffalo" Tom, by her first husband Shenigee, little is written about John, possibly because of the tragedy he caused in Mary's life.
John was the oldest son of Mary and Hiokatoo, a Seneca chief. He was renown among the Seneca as a healer and seer, a powerful man of medicine. Reportedly there had been some event in John's childhood that caused his brother Tom to label him a "witch" and cause lifelong enmity between them. Indeed John killed his half-brother Tom in a drunken brawl. If that weren't enough, one year later in yet another alcohol-fueled fight, John also killed his youngest brother Jesse.
He was never convicted of these murders, possibly because his magic and power frightened those around him. Some years later, he himself was murdered-on Squawkie Hill, by 2 Senecas who lived there. The tribal council banished both men from their ancestral village, and shortly afterward in their grief and despair they both committed suicide on Squawkie Hill.
Quite possibly the energy felt in this place is positive. The modern Druid culture considers Squawkie Hill to be one of the sacred places of North America. A place to commune with the spirits of nature and our ancestors. A place of power and mediation that brings healing, inner peace and spiritual harmony. A place that must be cherished and protected.
For a real feel of the essence of the area, be sure to visit the way point listed below, where the wisteria vines have twisted the trees into a kind bower springing out of the ground in the middle of the old homestead there.
LSP permit 36. Thanks to Park manager Roland Beck for his approval of this cache.
**Adding a note-now that the greenway walking bridge across the river is open, we have cheked out the area and found an old, overgrown roadway from the bridge parking up the side of the hill. The terrain is about a "3", but it is a fun way to access this cache from the greenway without needing to enter the park**
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Treasures
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