Colter's Cache Traditional Cache

This cache is being put out as a tribute to two men who both love/d adventure and the great outdoors:  John "Mountain Man" Colter and Tony "Eravau" Colter.   It is being placed with the permission of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC Special Use Permit has been granted).    

John "Mountain Man" Colter

• His last name has also been spelled “Coulter,” but Colter is the accepted version
• Colter was experienced in woodcraft and the use of firearms, and was strong, active and intelligent.  Colter joined the Corps of Discovery, also known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, on October 15, 1803 at Maysville, KY, the fourth man to join the company.
• After incredible toils and hardships, they reached the mouth of the Columbia in the first week of November. Near the Pacific Ocean they built a post named Fort Clatsop, where they spent the second winter.
• On the way back to St. Louis, Colter met up with two trappers, Joseph Dickson and Forrest Hancock, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. They asked Colter to join them, and he, eager for more adventure, asked for his discharge. Captain Clark wrote, “As we were disposed to be of service to anyone of our party who had performed their duty as well as Colter had done, we agreed to allow him the privilege.” The rest of the company traveled on downstream toward St. Louis. Author Stephen Ambrose writes, “Colter turned back upstream, back to the wilderness, back to the mountains, on his way into the history books as America’s first mountain man and the discoverer of Yellowstone National Park.”
• Colter finally returned to St. Louis, where his stories of discovery and adventure were met with skepticism by some and with awe by others. His claims have been verified over the years, however, and a stone with the inscription “JOHN COLTER -1808” carved on it is now on display in Yellowstone National Park.
• John Colter took a tract of bounty land on the south bank of the Missouri River in Franklin County and turned to farming. He married Sarah “Sally” Loucy, and had at least two children: a son, Hiram and a daughter, Evalina, both of whom grew to adulthood.
• Never one to shirk his duty, Colter served in the War of 1812 under Nathan Boone, son of Daniel, beginning his service on March 3, 1812 and being discharged three months later on May 6. He must have been ill when he enlisted, as he died of jaundice on May 7, 1812. Nathan Boone held Colter in very high regard, naming his son, born May 13,1816, “John Colter Boone.”
• Many believe that John Colter was buried in Franklin County on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near New Haven. There is an old cemetery where his son, Hiram, is buried. An old headstone with the initials “J.C.” carved into it was uncovered close to Hiram’s grave.

Tony "Eravau" Colter

• Tony Colter moved to the Union/Labadie area in 2003.   It was my privilege to be his pastor for about 1 month before I resigned and took an administrative position in our denomination's district office in St. Louis.   No, I did not resign because he started attending! 
• The pastor who took my place at the church, Darth Cole, introduced us both to geocaching, although be it as separate times.  Eravau and I became caching partners sometime later.  
• together we have fulfilled some caching milestones:   On November 5, 2012, we completed both IBE power trails in Illinois, racking up 202 finds that day.   On March 14, 2013 we found nine different cache types in one day.   In April 2013 we both attended our first MOGA.   Although both our wives support our geocaching, neither of them enjoy the sport, so we most often head out just the two of us. Once we even caching well past midnight with an hour drive still to get home and both had work the next day!  
• Tony has done a lot for the game in the St. Louis area by placing great caches. His Dance to the Music cache (GC47FTM) is one of my all time top favorite caches. He currently serves on both the SLAGA Board and the planning committee for the upcoming Geo Woodstock being held in St. Charles in May.
• For more of Eravau's statistics, visit his geocaching profile at http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=07659ec7-a78a-4a6a-9b16-3656b4be43fb
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  I've added some extra pictures of Tony to the gallery. If you have been caching with Tony, and have pictures of him, please feel free to upload them with your logs!
  
  Original cache contents included an un-registered 2,000 Finds Geocoin, a package of dice, a pack of heart stickers, and a small bell.
  
  *** Congratulations to Eravau on a legitimate FTF! ***