As I stood in the in the orchard and gazed at the trees, a brid flew by and called out to me. Hello friend, did you know a family once tended to the land you see? In memory of the children who once played with me, how about a game of hide and seek?
Helpful Tidbits
- This is a field puzzle
- You will need to answer the questions below to get your hands on the cache container
- The answers can be found below OR on the orchard's interpretive sign
This History
In the 1880s tnere lived a man, a baker, a city councilman, a cartoonist, a husband and a father. Wow is this starting to sound like an intro to a joke or is it just me? ...Anyways, this man's name was A.W. Piper. Prior to the Great Seattle Fire Mr. Piper lived with his wife and children on Boren St. and ran the Puget Sound Candy Factory. In 1889, the Great Seattle Fire ravished the central business district, claiming many buildings including Andrew's factory. Robbed of his livelihood, Andrew and his son Herman traveled to Alaska in hopes of re-starting their bakery business.
Things did not go as the two men had planned and so they returned to Seattle. Upon their return the family moved to the land where this cache now resides. Originally the family called their property Piper's Canyon or sometimes smiply "The Ranch." The largest structure on the property was the cookhouse, a remnant from the logging days, which straddled Piper's creek. It served as the joint family kitchen and social hall. With the exception of Paul Piper, the family chef, the extended family was spread out among three smaller structures. Two of the houses had been cabins abandoned by loggers; the third was nicer and specifically built for Mrs. Wilhelmina (Minna) Piper. It's been said that the house you can see today was built on the site of one of the original cabins.
The Orchard you see has been around since the Piper family owned the land. Although Mr. Piper is often credited with planting the orchard, records show that Mrs. Piper was a gardener/grafter and perhaps the true cultivator of the orchard. Besides mainting fruit trees, every year Minna would plant thousands of bulbs; she continued this into her 90s until she passed away.
The Piper family owned the land until 1927 when it was sold to the city for $30,000 to become a part of the new Carkeek park. Unfortunatly, the Piper homestead fell to ruin in the following years. By 1981 the fruit trees were all but forgotten. Today the orchard has been restored with hopes that it'll be enjoyed for generations to come.
Dates are the key
A = When was the orchard pruchasesd for Carkeek Park?
B = When did the Great Seattle Fire take place?
C = A - B