Welcome to the Pembina Walsh Historic Trail (PWHT). Earn and log a commemorative coin after finding five caches in each county! Fill out the PWHT Passport at https://rendezvousregion.com/download/passport.pdf and submit it to receive your coin(s)! Our caches are located at the most interesting historical sites in Pembina and Walsh County in northeast North Dakota. This trail includes a number of gadget caches designed by Trycacheus.
Permission has been granted by the school district to place this virtual cache at the site of the monument. Since this is an active school, cachers must limit their activity to only the area of the monument and to stay off the school grounds.
North Dakotans have always prided themselves on good schools with strong academic programs. In particular, state residents have recognized the importance for vocational and agricultural education at the high school level. One indicator of this can be traced back at least 106 years—to action taken by the 1911 legislative session. In 1911, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly recognized the need, value, and importance of providing agricultural and vocational education in the high schools of the state. Among the laws passed by the 1911 assembly was one providing for the establishment of departments of agriculture, home economics, and manual training. This legislation would become commonly known as the “State Agricultural High School Act.” Although the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 would later provide federal funds for vocational and agricultural education in public schools nationwide, the adoption of the State Agricultural High School Act in 1911 was a progressive action pre-dating the federal action by a number of years. The State Agricultural High School Act is outlined in Chapter 40 of the 1911 general session laws and provides in part: Any state high school having satisfactorily rooms, equipment and a tract of at least ten acres within one mile of the school house, having shown itself fitted by location and other wise to do agricultural work; having trained instructors in agriculture, Agricultural High Schools in North Dakota – 1911 manual training and domestic economy; maintaining well organized and short courses and agricultural, manual training and domestic science and art courses, and meeting such other requirements as the state superintendent of public instruction may define, shall upon application be designated by said superintendent to maintain an agricultural department; … The legislation provided an appropriation of $2,500 to each school designated by the State Board of Education as a “state agricultural high school.” The law also stated that no more than five schools would be established in the first year—1912-13. A total state appropriation of $12,500 was made to carry out the provision during the 1911-13 biennium. What’s an “Aggie”? Many North Dakota high school athletic teams have traditional team names like Eagles, Panthers, Trojans, and Mustangs. Other teams have names and mascots identifying something unique to the community. Two North Dakota schools, Velva and Park River, have a unique team name rooted and based in the 1911 legislation creating state and county agricultural high schools. Velva, once designated a “state” agricultural high school, and Park River, once designated a “county” agricultural high school, both continue to sport “Aggies” as their athletic team names. The 1911 legislative action also provided for the establishment of “county agricultural and training schools” to be maintained jointly by the county and the state. Unlike the state agricultural high schools, funding for county agricultural high schools was left to county residents. The legislation also allowed county residents to petition county commissioners and vote to establish a county agricultural high school. Two schools were established under the provisions of the 1911 legislation—the Walsh County Agricultural and Training School in Park River and the Benson County Agricultural and Training School in Maddock. Requirements for establishing and maintaining county Velva Public and Park River Area Schools both maintain the “Aggie” team name, honoring their early history as an agricultural high school. Walsh County Agricultural High School (WCAHS), Park River, North Dakota, 1920s. The name of the school and “Agriculture” were incorporated into the brick and mortar. (Courtesy Park River City Auditor) The WCAHS in Park River was one of two county agricultural high schools created by the 1911 legislation, opening in 1913. This image of the WCAHS grounds shows the main high school at the center. On the left is the school gymnasium fondly referred to as “The Peanut.” On the right is the home of the school superintendent. There are no longer any high schools in North Dakota with the “state” or “county” agricultural high school designation. However, many North Dakota communities offer strong vocational and agricultural education programs. One of the most lasting contributions of the State Agricultural High School Act of 1911, and the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, was the organization of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program. The FFA organization is a direct result of these two pieces of legislation. Without these two school initiatives, FFA would not exist.
In order to use this cache as part of your passport to a commemorative coin, the passport code is the answer to this question: What is the shape of the gym, according to information on one of the plaques?
Logging task: In order to get credit for this virtual cache, post a picture of yourself standing at the posted coordinates, in front of the plaque with your log. Logs without the required photo will be deleted.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.