Welcome to the James Brown House, a fascinating bit of little-known history just north of Ooltewah Tennessee!
James Brown was a Cherokee Indian judge who lived in this area prior to the Trail of Tears in 1838. He judged the “Chickamauga district”, which ran from north Georgia up to Ooltewah. Mr. Brown built this home in 1835, and just three years later Chief John Ross (who had married Brown’s daughter) nominated him to lead a group of 1,000 Indians on the infamous Trail of Tears. These Indians—mainly Cherokee—were specifically from the Ooltewah/Cleveland area. They left on September 10, 1838, camped at Ross’s Landing until that October, and arrived in Oklahoma in March 1839. Later on, Brown was elected to the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation and became the Cherokee equivalent of the American Vice-President.
Before leaving Tennessee, Mr. Brown sold his home to his good friend Dr. John Yarnell, a physician who worked at the nearby Brainerd Mission. Even though the James Brown house is on the National Register of Historic Places, there is no marker present and sadly the house has fallen into disrepair. It’s private property now, but is still on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and people are welcome to view the home from the roadside (there is a nice little bit of driveway which you can park on).
Perhaps the thing that perturbed me the most was how little-known this awesome bit of local history is! Hopefully this puzzle cache should change that. ;)
OK, so here’s how it works: Go to the James Brown house (coords to it are in the “additional waypoints” section of this cache description page) and on the gate across the driveway there is a sign. Count how many words are on the top line of the sign, and that number will henceforth be called “X”. Using “X” and the directions below, you should very easily be able to figure out the coords to the final of this puzzle cache, a very easy hide located nearby in Ooltewah.
The Directions:
The coords to the final of this cache are as follows: N AB CD.EFG / W HIJ KL.MNO
To get A, take X and add 1.
To get B, take X and add 3.
To get C, take X and subtract 2.
To get D, take X and add 3.
To get E, take X and subtract 2.
To get F, take X and subtract 1.
To get G, take X and add 7.
To get H, take X and subtract 2.
To get I, take X and add 6.
To get J, take X and add 3.
To get K, take X and subtract 2.
To get L, take X and add 1.
To get M, take X and add 2.
To get N, take X and add 2.
To get O, take X and subtract 2.
Have fun! 