This cache has been placed as part of an initiative by the County of Peterborough, its member municipalities, the City of Peterborough and local First Nation communities to celebrate Canada 150+. There are 23 geocaches placed throughout the region showcasing local history.
The geocoin stock has now been exhausted. Please continue to enjoy exploring local history through other geocaches within the Canada 150+ collection.
GC Codes full list: GC74A7F - Payne Murders & First Execution, GC74A76 - Victoria Museum at "Inverlea", GC72PWE - Memengweshii, GC72PWP - Historic Curve Lake Village, GC72PX1 - Old Rail Road Stop, GC72PXA - Hiawatha Church, GC72VFW - Sucker Hunt at "Welbeck", GC74A7Q - Richard Birdsall, GC74A7V - John Deyell, GC74A7Y - Cavan Blazers & Paddy Maguire, GC72VG3 - Balm for her Wounded Heart, GC72VGA - Sedgwick Lime Kiln Park, GC72WDJ - Nepheline Syenite A Global Lustre, GC75D68 - Havelock Public School, GC72WDT - The Brush Factory, GC72VGJ - Sam Edgar Crypt, GC72VGQ - Nelson Brawl at the Keene Hotel, GC75D6H - Lang Grist Mill, GC72VGW - Catharine Parr Traill, GC72WDZ - The Pope Stallion, GC75D5Q - Adam & Eve Rocks, GC74A8B - Going to School on the Oregon Trail.
For almost 75 years, the mill dam down the road in Westwood would close at 8am on the 1st Friday in May. As the water subsided at Welbeck, a well-known nearby farm run by the Brackenridge family, men, boys & sometimes girls waded into shallow water and threw the white suckers onto the banks with their hands or forks. These spring "sucker hunts" were once common across rural Ontario, while these fish migrated upstream to their spawning beds.
Locals gathered the fish into sacks or baskets to be taken away and eaten immediately or canned for later use. Many tons of fish were taken each year. So popular was this day, that it was recognized in Westwood as a school holiday. In 1925, 300 people were reported in attendance, while there were more than 100 cars parked at Welbeck in 1938. The tradition continued for as long as patriarch, Bill Brackenridge, was alive.