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Restin' in Doherty's Cemetery Traditional Cache

Hidden : 8/24/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

You will be looking for a small bison tube located just off Doherty Rd. at Doherty's Cemetery.


Doherty's Cemetery not your usual cemetery. You'll find a white picket fence surrounding a couple of mature trees but nothing indicating who is buried in this small cemetery.

When placing the cache, the best accuracy I could get was 10 m. A detailed hint is available to make the cache an easy find.

The Doherty roadside cemetery has been beautifully restored and properly marked by the Township of Muskoka Lakes. On the road named in their honour, John Shea, a former clerk of Watt Township, in the present Township of Muskoka Lakes, first erected a picket fence around the previously unmarked cemetery, only a few metres off the roadway. Upwards of four members of the Doherty family, dwelling near the site of the graveyard, perished in one evening, suffering from either influenza or diphtheria, despite the effort of those in the rural neighbourhood, who had tried to help them battle the sickness. Due to the contagious nature of the outbreaks, in those backwoods circumstances, and without proper medical intervention, burials were often conducted in this fashion, on homestead acreages, and often in the late evening, and early morning hours, to avoid having any attendants and spectators, who might also have become infected by association. Even the grave diggers and undertakers were taking major risks in tending to the deceased because of the potential of contracting the same illness. The surviving family members moved away following the deaths that fateful evening, and for many years the plots were marked only by the lilac trees planted as a memorial tribute. John Shea had taken it upon himself to erect a fence to identify the burial ground, and to provide some added memorial recognition for a pioneer family that had been nearly wiped out as a result of a raging illness. A similar picket fence enclosure had been re-created, to define the once overgrown, and hard to locate family plot. Info referenced from T. Currie

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur ynetrfg gerr gung lbh frr gb gur yrsg unaq fvqr bs gur fvta sbe gur przrgrel. Unatvat ba n oebxra bss oenapu nobhg fubhyqre urvtug.

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)