Fractured History Lessons #1 - Eugene Alcorn
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache is located about 1.5 miles from the parking area at Mountain and Phelps road. It will take about 30 minutes at an average of 3 mph to get to it. The cache is hidden about 175 feet off the trail, and was hidden with +/-13 feet of accuracy. There are some steep sections, but nothing too crazy. The container is a small lock and lock, with enough room for small trades. The cache started off with one trackable to move along, and an unactivated trackable for a FTF prize.
Hugh Mead Alcorn was born in Suffield in 1872. State’s Attorney, First Suffield native honored as Republican nominee for Governor of Connecticut, Legislator, and all-around good guy. When he walked down the street, people exclaimed “There goes a good man.” Many a Suffield native has heard the name, but not many have heard of his nephew Eugene. Grave robber, ether addict, and scientist of questionable methods. When he walked down the street, people exclaimed “Something just ain’t right about that boy.”
Young Eugene had a voracious appetite for knowledge, and read everything he could get his hands on. Fiction, non-fiction…it didn’t matter. It was often said that he could recall the location of every book in the town library. Well, at least the ones in there up until the time he was banned. The combination of missing house pets, and his bragging that he had read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 27 times led the town leaders to proclaim that he was one individual who would be better off a little ignorant.
In the fall of 1892, sensing that their son was quickly falling out of favor with the townspeople, his parents sent him to Boston to study with a prominent veterinarian/dentist/barber by the name of Jebediah Allen. Jebediah was proud to write Eugene’s parents regularly, letting them know of how quickly their progeny had taken to the trade. He wrote that the boy had a great love for helping all living things live a full, happy, and healthy life. Mr. Allen was happy to relay that young Eugene once told him that all he wanted to do in life was “…make all living things a little bit better.” Unfortunately, Jebediah was soon to find out what Eugene actually meant by “better.”
A little-known tale, stricken from written word, and only whispered in the darkest corners of taverns and back alleys, tells of a time better off forgotten. Under the flicker of a dying light, in a haunt that a gentleman would never dare go, you may find mention of “The Release.” It was the Spring of 1894, and the people of Boston were thrilled to be out of yet another harsh winter. They were all harsh winters back then. So, when there didn’t seem to be quite so many birds, and rats were no longer invading the cellars, nobody thought much of it. Heck, what good were rats and common birds, anyway? And the cats? Well, sometimes they don’t come home at night, and get taken by the cold? The dogs? Well, they were probably just fighting over the limited food, and naturally lowered their own population. Some livestock missing here and there? Well, it was a harsh winter, and some people needed to find food wherever they could. These things just happen, they said, and went on with their lives.
The weather was improving, and life was getting easier, but strange rumors were starting to be shared among the people. Maybe the mention of a strange howling at night, or some drunk claiming that he saw an animal that he had never seen before. Nobody thought much of it. But, then came the discovery of the pilfered grave sites. Too many strange things were happening at once. And, as the people of Massachusetts always do, they organized a witch hunt.
Fearing a repeat of the past, Eugene knew what he had to do. He was going to release the fruits of his labor so the people of Boston could see how he, Eugene Alcorn, could make animals “better.” Raccoons with human feet, pigdogs, cats with a snake for a tail. Anything you could imagine, but mainly things no sane person would ever imagine, swarmed into the streets of Boston. As the streets were overrun with his creations, Eugene proudly climbed to the roof of a nearby building, and shouted “Behold! For generations, science has made living beings’ lives better. Now, science has made living beings, themselves, better!”
As could be imagined, the people of Boston were quick to embrace the young scientist. Embrace, beat, bind, pack in a crate, and ship back to Connecticut. After being returned to his hometown in disgrace, Eugene was shunned by all. He tried as hard as he could to find work, but he kept hearing the same response from prospective employers. “I’ll hire you when pigs fly.” Obviously, this was something they probably shouldn’t have said to a man with Eugene’s history. The young Alcorn decided it was best to leave the society that didn’t want him to begin with. It is rumored that he spent the last of his days in an old root cellar he had converted into a laboratory, right over by Peak Mountain. Nearby residents claimed that they often heard loud squeals, followed by a thud, over by the ridgeline. Did he ever succeed in making a pig “better” by making it fly? We may never know.
This cache is hidden by the supposed location of Eugene’s underground laboratory. Hopefully you can find it, and with a little luck, you may just find the entrance to his lab.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Yvxr nyy tbbq guvatf, guvf uvqr fcbg jvyy abg ynfg sberire.