St Gilman Traditional Geocache
moviecatz: making room for something new.
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Placed with permission by the Osceola County Conservation Commission
Almost 130 years ago there was a little village in Osceola County called St. Gilman. The first resident of the Gilman Township was Capt. Eldred Huff, who served as an officer with the Union Army during the Civil War. He hauled a load of lumber all the way from Sioux City for his house because there were no trees on the prairie. The town of St. Gilman was laid out in 1872. The first businesses included a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop and even a hotel. A millinery shop and a saloon followed. Then came the grasshoppers.
"They ate everything green; which included corn, grain, potatoes, the grass and leaves and bark of the young trees," according to "Growing Together," a history book of Ashton published in 1982. "The storekeepers sold, what they could and packed up everything else and left. The hotel had no customers and went out of business, the saloon keeper had to tend to both sides of the bar and do all the drinking himself.
In the early 1870s however, things began to improve. In 1883 business revived in Ashton, which had been renamed the previous year after May Ashton, the daughter of a railroad man who traveled in the area. The town was incorporated in 1885.
We find history interesting in that little things affect the future. If the railroad had never put its tracks through Ashton maybe it would still be named St. Gilman. In any case enjoy this nice little park just a little way off Highway 60. If you wish, and come at the right time of year you can even do a little swimming in a good old honest to goodness sand pit swimming hole.
You are looking for a small container (no blinkie). BYOP
Congratulations to Kinderteach1 for FTF
Good luck and Happy Hunting
The MovieCatz
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