Note April 2017: The Benson Hotel has apparently been torn down. The question for that stop is multiple choice, so just keep guessing until you get the right one, then move on.
The listed coordinates are for the first stop. Photos are welcome but please no spoilers. Please note your favorite piece in your log.
Thanks to Bob of the Benson Visitor Center for his help with interesting stories of Benson in its heyday of the Old West.
For hundreds of years the San Pedro valley was inhabited by the Sobaipuri tribe of Pima Indians. In 1692, a Spanish missionary, Father Keno, brought Christianity to the Sobaipuri and Spanish settlers, cattle droves, figs, grapes, wheat, corn and barley farming to the valley. The tribe helped the Spanish settlers fight Apache aggression for a hundred years. Disease and dwindling Spanish settlers caused the Sobaipuri to migrate north away from the valley. The Apache then grew bolder and more troublesome, so a military presidio was built. This lone military establishment was so isolated that the attacks continued and eventually the Spanish abandoned the valley. Dust blew over the abandoned villages, ranches and wandering wild droves of cattle.
After the Civil War ended, Anglo settlers migrated to the valley. The Apache attacks continued. The Butterfield Trail stage line was established and a stage depot was built in 1850. This and mining in the area began to establish the stop as a transportation hub between Dragoon and Tucson. Eight soldiers were stationed at the depot.
Benson was founded in 1880 when the Pacific railroad was established, and was originally called the San Pedro station. Initially its main function was to serve as the shipping start point for the flourishing new town of Tombstone. The president of the Pacific railroad, Charlles Crocker, had a friend in Judge William Benson, the namesake of the town.
In 1882, the body of Morgan Earp was transported through the railhead in Benson, after his assassination in the town of Tombstone to the south. Virgil Earp and his wife came through the next day, guarded by Wyatt and Warren Earp and Doc Holliday.
New to Wherigos?
Wherigo FAQs Here is a play anywhere Wherigo tutorial. And Wherigo forums are the best place to find information about WIGs and your device.
Here are some quick tips:
Wherigos seem to work better on smart phones than on gps devices.
To play the Wherigo, you will need a Wherigo-enabled device. (For Andriod the app is called "WhereYouGo") info here First upload the Wherigo application to your device, then download the cartridge you want to play from the Wherigo web site, using the app. There is a link to this cartridge above.
As with all Wherigos, make sure you have uploaded the most recent version of the cartridge before you go. COs sometimes make changes to the cartridge and if you have the older version you will have glitches when you go to use it. So just upload it again just before you plan to go.
While using the cartridge, if you are at a zone and there is a glitch of some kind, step 30 feet away and try to enter the zone again. (Wherigo dictates the zones are only 10 feet around.) All zones/ locations are located on public property.
Save frequently during cartridge use.
Choose times of low traffic. Bring paper and pencil to jot down completion code (or take a screen shot) and to sign the log at the final.
Unique to Wherigos, there are two places to log them once found. Post a find on geocaching.com as usual. Groundspeak created another web site just for Wherigos: http://wherigo.com. Note there are no GC codes on this site; you have to do a search by area. To log this cache on Wherigo.com, go to the cache web page and click on the key icon, and enter your completion code. The cartridge will give you this code after the very last stop of the cartridge. Be ready as it is only given once!
FTF cwgrizz !
Thanks again to Ranger Fox for his easy-to-use Wherigo kit! RF WIG kit
References: The thesis of Peter B. Wilharm (1985), The Cococino Weekly Sun, Arizona Weekly Sun, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov