Idaho's 150th – The Great Middleton Bank Robbery Traditional Cache

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QuireNerd: Gone.

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Hidden : 6/1/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Idaho Territory's Sesquicentennial


Idaho Territory was organized by Congress on March 4, 1863, and signed into law by President Lincoln. This cache series is meant to commemorate the 150th year since Idaho’s inception.

The Great Middleton Bank Robbery



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On May 23, 1926, two strangers entered the State Bank of Middleton (now Our Place Saloon) intending to rob it. They found P.A. Watkins (the bank’s vice president), Mrs. Lela Painter (the cashier) and her assistant, Miss Mabel Burkett.

One man brandished two automatic guns, while the other directed Mr. Watkins and Mrs. Painter into the cashier’s enclosure. He then took Miss Burkett into the vault to find the cash. When he showed interest in taking one of the boxes containing insurance policies and personal keepsakes, Miss Burkett requested that he leave them. He did.

The money obtained, the triggerman was about to shut the three employees in the vault, but his companion protested, saying, “They’ll die in there.”

While the robbers were distracted, Mr. Watkins jumped the gunman, knocking him to the floor and grabbing for his wrists. Mrs. Painter ran out the door yelling for help, while Miss Burkett reached the emergency phone to alert the authorities. The gunman managed to club Mr. Watkins in the head, while accidentally firing a shot through the window.

The robbers made it to their Studebaker with cash in hand. Many citizens also jumped in their cars, unarmed, and pursued them as they sped westward out of town. The robbers turned south on Whiffen Ln, thinking it would be a better route to evade their pursuers. Unfortunately for them, this road was a dead end. They smashed through a fence and into a quagmire, where their Studebaker stuck.

The robbers were easily apprehended after this, although only $230 of the stolen $1,600 was ever recovered.

References


-- Foote, Morris. One Hundred Years in Middleton. Middleton: Boise Valley Herald, 1963.

Cache Information:


Coords are the average of several waypoints I marked, but the power lines were giving my GPSr fits. You may need to use the hint. Very muggle heavy on weekend nights. Be prepared to hear some karaoke!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

HEC ng gur pbeare

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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