This cache is part of the Emmet County History Quest Geo-Trail. When discovering the historic places in Emmet County as you travel from cache to cache, you will need to answer a specific question on your passport. Information and the passport can be downloaded from the Emmet County web site http://www.emmetcounty.org/geocache/
Once you have completed 20 of the caches in this tour, take your passport to Emmet County Building, Suite 178 or mail the passport to Beth Piehl, Emmet County Building, Suite 178, 200 Division St., Petoskey, MI 49770 to receive a collectable souvenir tag for this series.
The cache is NOT at the listed coordinates. These coordinates will however take you to the first of two places you will need to visit to figure out the correct coordinates for this cache. The first two sites and the final are all located within a very short walk of each other (less than two blocks).
The correct coordinates will be: N 45* 25.ABC, W 084* 59.DEF
If you visit the coordinates listed at the top of this page (N 45* 25.839, W 084* 59.044) you should be standing in front of a historical marker. To find the number represented by 'A' above, count the letters of the fifth word on the third line. DO NOT count the gentleman’s name in bold text listed at the top as a line. Line one will start with “The many...” To find 'B' count the number of letters of the first word in line five. To find 'C' count the number of letters of the third word on the third line.
Now go to site two located at N 45* 25.829, W 084* 59.086
You will once again find yourself in front of another historical marker. Note that one side is in the Native Language of the Odawa while the other side is in English. To find 'D' above, count the letters in the third word of the fourth line. As before, DO NOT count the bold text header at the top of the sign as line one. For 'E' count the number of letters of the first word of line four. To find 'F' count the letters of the last word in line five.
Now that you have the final coordinates, take the very short walk to your prize. The cache was placed with permission of Mary Cummings, director of this “historical spot”. NOTE: If you are filling out the passport for the Emmet County Historical Quest, you will need the numbers and/or letters located under the lid of the cache (this “code” is also located at the top of the log).
Please re-hide it well so that it will be there for the next cacher.
For more information on these sites:
ECHQ -Harbor Springs History Museum:
The Harbor Springs History Museum is located in the former city hall building on Main Street. The museum not only serves as the home to the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society, it also features exhibits documenting the unique history of this area. Leading a journey beginning with the first residents, the Odawa Indians, the exhibits escort visitors through time, stopping to visit with missionaries, homesteaders, loggers, downtown merchants and resorters. With the arrival of each of these groups, whether by foot, horse, canoe, steam ferry, train or automobile, a connection was made with this place. And with each of these connections, another chapter in the Harbor Springs history was written. For admission rates, hours and special events, check the web site: http://www.harborspringshistory.org
ECHQ -Ephraim Shay House:
The inventor Ephraim Shay (1839–1916) designed this unique hexagon-shaped house in 1892 as his home in Harbor Springs. The interior and exterior walls were made of stamped steel. Today the home is in private ownership. Please respect the owners privacy.
Shay's principal invention, the Shay geared locomotive, ran on wooden rails over rough terrain, enabling Michigan's logging industry to reach previously inaccessible stands of timber and to expand into a year-round operation. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hexagon is the last remaining building in a complex that formerly included Shay's machine shop and the waterworks that he constructed for the town of Harbor Springs.
Ephraim Shay died in 1916 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Harbor Springs.
ECHQ -A.J. Blackbird Museum:
The Andrew J. Blackbird home, built by a local carpenter around 1860, was the residence of the Andrew and Elizabeth Blackbird and their four children and also served as the post office during Blackbird’s appointment as postmaster from 1869 – 1877. Blackbird, son and successor of an Ottawa chief, also served as Emmet County Clerk and U.S. interpreter for the Mackinac Agency. Blackbird published two books on the Ottawa language and legends, one of the few autobiographical accounts published at that time by a Native American. In 1948, forty years after Blackbird’s death, his home was purchased by the Michigan Indian Foundation and the Andrew J. Blackbird Museum was established.