In the 1970s, several folks found a volcanic tuff boulder above the Deschutes River south of Bend. Inscribed into that rock was the date "1813" and several initials. If the date is accurate, it would mean the first Euro-Americans arrived in Central Oregon much earlier than the historical record suggests. (Traditional history has Peter Skene Ogden, with a company of men from the Hudson's Bay Company, first arrving in this area in 1826). Of course Central Oregon was for many centuries a seasonal home to several Native tribes, including the Paiutes, and Warm Springs, but the 1813 date seems curiously early for white explorers to arrive in the region. Who, exactly, carved the rock has been the subject of much debate amongst Central Oregon historians since the 1970s. Could a fur trapping expedition have made its way to the Bend area in 1813? It's certainly possible; there were several trapper-explorer bands roaming about in the Deschutes River basin at the time. But it's also entirely possible that the rock was carved more recently, perhaps as part of a game or a prank sometime in the middle part of the 20th century.
Whatever its mysterious origins, the rock was eventually relocated from the cliff overlooking the river to this institution, where it peacefully rests in the lobby. To this day, no one has definitively solved its mystery.
In honor of this intriguing rock you are looking for it's mini-me version. The mystery of where the mini-me 1813 rock is located, however, is much easier to solve. Bring your own pen. Only room inside this cache for a small logbook and maybe a trackable or two.
After you find the cache, you can step into the nearby institution to see the real thing.
Congratulations to Slow&Velvet for the first find!