The first stage is at the posted coordinates, where you will find a State Historical Society sign detailing information about the history of Stoddard County, the largest of Missouri's six southeast lowland counties. Named for Major Amos Stoddard, the first American civil governor of Upper Louisiana, the county was part of the 1808 Osage Indian land cession.
To compute the coordinates for the final stage:
"Dexter, the county's largest town was laid out in 18A3"
Southern pioneers began to settle here in, 18B7
At the second stage you will find one of two cabins built in the 1800s by Morton and Mary Elizabeth Barnett in the swampland southwest of Clines Island.
These cabins are surprisingly well-preserved. They are built of hand-hewn poplar logs, and this one stands two stories while the other, situated across a covered pedestrian bridge is a single story cabin with two porches.
To compute the coordinates for the final stage
C = The number of fireplaces in the cabin
D = The fourth digit of the year Morton finished building the cabin
The third stage is a new historical sign. The Stoddard County Historical Society has undertaken a project to add twenty new historical markers within Bloomfield and this is one of nine that have been completed at the time of this writing.
This Marker is located at general John W. Davidson's Bloomfield Camp. General Davidson brought 6,000 Cavalrymen, their horses and 16 pieces of field artillery to Bloomfield and camped here while the road to Little Rock was scouted. Bloomfield, the largest community on Crowley's Ridge, was thought vital to control of the region because only the road on the ridge was serviceable in all seasons.
Bloomfield had fared poorly in the war and most of it's 1,100 citizens had abandoned it by this time and all but a few buildings had been burned.
To compute the coordinates for the final stage
General Davidson's command was ordered to stike camp and be prepared to move out by 8:E0am on July 19.
General Davidson's 1863 occupation of bloomfield with more than 6000 Cavalry men and thousands of horses lasted 1F days and is said to have resulted in the most productive gardens in the town's history.
The original container was discovered by local teens early on and frequently left by them out in the open. It finally went missing and we had to replace the container. We took the opportunity to move the final to a more secluded area of the park. The container should be fairly well hidden as is, but please recover it with leaves to ensure the best camouflage possible
** Permission obtained from the Director of Bloomfield Parks **