**The
cache is not at the listed coordinates. The above coordinates are
for suggested parking. You must solve a puzzle to start on your
journey.**
Conspiracy Theory
One of a series
of five caches that are mostly based on conjecture, but some of the
characters are based on real persons in the history of the area. I
guess that you’ll have to decide which is real and what
isn’t.
When I was
just a young lad, roaming the bucolic streets of Castile on my
bike, I met an old man sitting on a bench in the center of town. He
was a character that I had seen around town before, but I
hadn’t spoken to him previously. Having nothing else to do,
as all of my friends were otherwise occupied, I stopped to say
“Hello” to the old man and readjust the pants clip so
my pants wouldn’t get caught in my bicycle chain. During our
conversation, I perceived that he was quite a storyteller. He asked
me if I had ever heard of the “Conspiracy Theory”. I
replied that I hadn’t and he related the following
story:
It seems that when he was just a young lad, about my age, his
great-grandfather had told him about seemingly strange happenings
that occurred in these parts when the great-grandfather was a young
boy. It was whispered about town that four of the men in the
Genesee region had somehow come into a large amount of money in the
early 1800’s, but no one could really prove anything. It was
claimed that the four, John Van Sice, William Morgan, Elias Johnson
and Charles Strong somehow went from eking a hardscrabble existence
in the pioneer life around here to an existence that was at least
bearable. His great-grandfather told him a series of tales, which
might or might not be true, but who knows? After several days of
listening to the old man telling what he had been told, he took me
to his little one-room hovel and gave me an old tin box that his
great-grandfather had collected and given to him. He said that he
didn’t have any descendants to give the box to, but because I
was interested, he would entrust the contents to me. The box
contained a bunch of very old papers that pertain to this so-called
“Conspiracy Theory” which I’ll sort out and
present to you later. I know that the dates of existence in the
area of the various characters in these tales don’t quite
coincide, but it does make a compelling story. I’ll retell
the tales one at a time for your entertainment and
pleasure.
The Tale of William Morgan
William
Morgan worked stone quarries near Batavia. He attempted to join the
Masonic Lodge, but was denied membership. He decided to expose the
Masons’ secrets in retribution.
After many
years of eking out a living in the harsh frontier, he happened to
meet Elias Johnson, Charles Strong and John Van Sice in
Whaley’s Tavern in Wolf Creek (now Castile). Morgan had just
threatened to expose the Free Masons’ secrets in a local
paper in Batavia and wasn’t very popular with the
Masons.
They got to
talking at the tavern about how tough life was treating them and
decided that they needed to figure out a way to get some money to
help them through their ensuing years. Now, money was short in
supply in this area, so they decided to head down into Pennsylvania
to see what they could find there.
When they got
near Philadelphia, they came upon a stagecoach that was stuck in
the mud. By happenstance, the stagecoach was carrying a gold
shipment destined for the Philadelphia Mint. The conspirators
quickly disabled the guards and the driver and made off with the
gold.
They got back
to Western New York with their heavy saddlebags after eluding the
lawmen sent after them and decided to hide the treasure until they
could be sure all pursuit had ended. To ensure that they could find
the treasure later, each hid a separate clue as to where the
treasure was hidden. The conspirators drew a map of where they had
hidden the treasure and divided it into four equal parts, with each
conspirator taking his fourth for future reference. Can you find
the final spot? Each schemer’s location contains that
conspirator’s part of the map. You will have to collect a
copy of a quarter of the map at each location to find the final
location.
Morgan was
subsequently arrested several times on various claims in relation
to the Masonic scandal and was put in jail. Van Sice couldn’t
bear to see his friend in jail and possibly tell about their
treasure, so he bailed his friend out with part of the loot and
gave him a horse and carriage to get away from the area and further
trouble. Morgan was never seen in the area again, but left a
cryptic message that was included in the old tin box.
