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The Settlement Traditional Cache

Hidden : 8/6/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


This geocache is located at one of the old sites of the Danish settlement outlined below.  This was the site of the old school, and if you look around you can still see some of the metal desk legs leaned up against trees. You're looking for a medium sized lock & lock, under a few sticks at the base of the biggest tree in the vicinity.  

From the Cape Scott Provincial Park website:

From 1897 to 1907 the first white settlement attempt was made at Cape Scott. The settlers were Danes, mostly from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota; they were hoping to establish an ethnic community around Hansen Lagoon and Fisherman Bay. The colony hoped to subsist initially on fishing until the government followed through on its agreement to build a road from Fisherman Bay to San Josef River and on to Holberg. This road was to provide the link necessary so that the settlers would be able to get their beef and dairy products to market. Unfortunately the road never materialized. The colony struggled to survive by fishing and trapping mink, river otter and beaver for their pelts. Eventually the trapping petered out and the men were forced to leave to fish at Rivers Inlet or to work in mines or logging camps. By 1907, the settlers had acknowledged the failure of their colony and plans were made for departure.Today, little remains of the Danish settlement except the names - Nels Bight, Hansen Lagoon, Frederiksen Point - and a few fragile buildings and other man-made relics.  

The population of the area between Cape Scott and Holberg numbered less than 60 in 1909. By 1913, another wave of settlers had arrived from Washington State, the prairie provinces, Eastern Canada and Europe to occupy land available for pre-emption. Many of these settlers established themselves in homes vacated by the Danes near Hansen Lagoon. Others took up land and built homes at Fisherman Bay and San Josef Bay. The population of the second settlement peaked at over 1,000, then began a slow decline as the new residents encountered the same hardships as the Danes had experienced. Conscription in 1917 for service in the First World War brought an end to this second community and soon Cape Scott was virtually deserted again. 

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