UPDATE: 3/1/2024:
2019 was the 100th Anniversary of Michigan State Parks and we're still celebrating!. Join the Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Geocaching.com for the first official GeoTour in Michigan.
This tour was originally scheduled to run for three years, kicking off on Friday of Memorial Weekend in 2019 and continue through May 31, 2022. The success of this awesome tour has not gone unnoticed. On February 2, 2022, The DNR announced the extension of the GeoTour through September 24, 2024! Join us in making a final push to complete this very popular and very successful GeoTour before the sun sets on it.
Each geocache is in one of Michigan's state parks. The geocaches are arranged by MiGO Region, with twenty-five geocaches per region. The Ticket to Celebrate 100 is available for download from the DNR's Geocaching page. It explains how to qualify for prizes in each of the four regions and for the GeoTour as a whole.
Day use areas of state parks are open from 8AM to 10PM. Geocaching is limited to those hours. Entry into Michigan's State Parks requires a Michigan Recreation Passport. See the Resources section below for more information.
The sun will set on the MSPCGT at midnight Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The MSPCGT will go off the air as a GeoTour and the caches will disappear from the map. There is a lot of construction going on in our State Parks in 2024. Some of the GeoTour caches will have to be pulled earlier. The remaining geocaches in the tour will be archived October 1, 2024. Players will have until December 31, 2024 to claim any prize they have earned. Hiders will be contacted to request removal of the geocaches they hid unless they have made arrangements with park managers and have their own permit in place to keep the geocache in play, with a new GC Code.
Now for some good news: MiGO and the DNR are busy working on a new project that will kick off in the Spring of 2025, code named MSPGT 2.0. Are you interested in helping? Keep your MiGO Membership up to date and stay tuned to the website.
Cache:
This is a two-stage multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the location of the cache, go to the posted coordinates and do a little math using information from the historical marker.
Using the coordinates N 42° 36.128 W 085° 27.791, ...
add the number of guests mentioned to both the north and west fraction. From here it is a short walk to the geocache. You will find a significant object, appropriate to the history of this place. PLEASE don't try to force the cache. It will open easily if you follow the hint. This cache represents many hours of construction at a significant cost. The lockset is for maintenance purposes only. You do not need a key. Return everything as good or better than you found it.
Thank you
The Macho Homemaker
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Top images courtesy of cacher "The Macho Homemaker", Historic images from Michigan Historical Collections vol. XXX
Clockwise from top left: Fall at Hall Lake, Historical Marker, Winter on Hall Lake,
Mary Goodwin - wife of Yankee Bill, Two of Bill's great-grandchildren at the spring, William "Yankee Bill" Lewis
Collage of photos around Yankee Springs
Yankee Springs Recreation Area:
Yankee Springs Recreation Area is a landscape of rugged terrain, bogs, marshes, lakes and streams, which lends itself to many forms of outdoor recreation, including 30 miles of hiking trails, 12 miles of
mountain bike trails, 10 miles of horseback trails, two public beaches, picnic shelters and two universally accessible fishing piers (one at Gun Lake and one at Deep Lake). In addition, cross-county skiing on more than 10 acres of Nordic ski trails, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and ice fishing are available in the winter. Altogether, nine lakes are located within the park boundaries and provide excellent opportunities
for fishing and water sports of all kinds.
The park is home to a modern campground on the shore of beautiful Gun Lake and rustic camping at Deep Lake, as well as equestrian and youth organization campgrounds. Three special points of interest include Devil's Soup bowl (a glacially carved kettle formation), Graves Hill Overlook and the Pines.
History - Yankee Springs Inn:
The park is stepped in history as it was once the hunting grounds of the Algonquin Indians and the famous Chieftain, Chief Noonday. The site was established in 1835 and the village was made famous by Yankee Bill Lewis who owned and operated a hotel along the stagecoach run from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids.
The Spring at Yankee
Along the Great Indian Trail from Kalmazoo to Ada, you will find south of the intersection of Norris Road and Gun Lake Road the remains of a spring. All that is left is a glazed terra cotta pipe sticking about eighteen inches above the ground. Its side has broken away so the water no longer flows over the rim to the rocks below. Even though Gun
Lake is only about a mile away, the water flows generally northward to Deep Lake and then to Turner Lake, making its way to the Grand River in Ada via Turner Creek, Bassett Creek, and the Thornapple River.
The flow of the water roughly parallels the Great Indian Trail, used for untold years by the Native Americans and, finally, by the pioneers. Since clean water is a necessity for life, these clear, cold springs were a mandatory stop for those using the trail.
Then only flowing from the hillside, the piping was added later, possibly to increase the flow or convenience of drawing water from the spring.
This is only one of the springs which give the park its name. There are several in the immediate area, surrounding the low knoll which is now the parking area for the North Country National Scenic Trail.
This knoll and the lower field to the west is the site of the famous Yankee Springs Inn. Please respect our history and leave any artifacts in their place.
William Yankee Bill Lewis Coming to Michigan
During the summer of 1836, William Lewis, his wife Mary Goodwin Lewis, their daughters, Phoebe, Mary Melissa, and Harriet, their son Calvin, and adopted daughter Flavia Stone set out from Wethersfield, New York to their new homestead in Mishawaka, Indiana. They took the prairie schooner line through Niagara Falls into Canada and on to Detroit, taking six weeks to make the trip. Still intending to settle in Indiana, they took the primitive Detroit-to-Chicago wagon trail west.
As it was his practice never to work or travel on Sunday, William and his family stayed at a tavern in Gull Corners, in Kalamazoo County. During his Sunday conversation with proprietor, Timothy Mills, William realized that his brother, Calvin, had set up a homestead eighteen miles north along the Great Indian Trail and decided to visit him. At this time, William had not heard from his brother in over two years and had feared he had died.
It thus happened that in the month of August of the year 1836, William and his family arrived at the two room window and door-less cabin of Calvin Lewis and his wife. It was during this stay that William fell in love with Yankee Springs and offered to buy the homestead from his brother. It is believed that his brother then moved northward along the trail and resettled somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Caledonia.
William then sold his farmland in Mishawaka and used the money to buy 1000 acres around the springs. (Much of this land is now part of Yankee Springs Recreation Area)
"Yankee Bill" acquired his moniker, not because he was a Yankee (a term then reserved mostly for those who hailed from New England), but because the spring had been named the year before by a small group of men resting by the spring and conversing. When it became clear that all of the men were from New England, it was decided by one of them to name the springs Yankee Springs. This was made official by a young man in the group named Charles Paul who carved the name in the side of a large oak tree next to the spring. At the time of the Lewis family's arrival, this had been replaced by a shingle hanging from a poplar tree, possibly hung by William's brother.
Going Into Business as an Inkeeper
While not unusually learned or experienced in the trade of
inn keeping, William knew that his property was an ideal spot for an inn
serving travelers journeying between Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, and Grand
Rapids. Within fifteen years, his homestead had grown to seven cabins
serving travelers and two outbuildings for care of their animals and
the operation of the farm which provided food for the guests.
The reputation of the Yankee Springs Inn grew, thanks to the
abundant and delicious fare served the guests, as well as William's
ability to connect with literally anyone who walked within his door.
His almost inhuman memory allowed him to greet repeat guests
personally, regardless the time between visits, and even greet persons
whom he had never met based solely on their descriptions given to him
by earlier guests.
The picture on the left is a photograph of a painting of the Yankee Springs Inn done in 1844 during its heyday.
As many as one hundred guests would spend the night at the only
place to rest between Whitneyville, 25 miles to the north, and Gull
Corners, 18 miles to the south. As if the geography wasn't enough,
Yankee Bill made sure his guests had the best fare he could grow or
purchase.
Yankee Bill and the inn were, however, most revered for the
hospitality Bill and his family displayed. Every guest, regardless of
religion or station, was treated as one of the family. No one was
turned away because they had not enough money to pay for their room and
board. Any guest was allowed to work off his debt by caring for the
gardens or at other needed tasks. At times, there were dozens of men
and women working in the fields or at the inn.
Famous guests such as Chief Noonday (then over 100 years old), Rix Robinson, Lewis Cass,
Governors Felch and Ransom, Senators Chandler and Stuart, Judge Pratt,
and unnamed "royalty" stayed at the inn over the years. The reason for
this was written by George Torrey, Sr., one of the editors of the
Kalamazoo Telegraph in 1844:
Did you ever go out to Grand River
From Detroit to Kalamazoo,
In a wagon without any kiver
Through a country that looks very new?
If you are hungry, and wish for dinner,
Breakfast, supper and lodging to boot,
If you are a Turk, a Christian, or sinner,
Yankee Springs is the place that will suit.
The landlord's a prince of his order,
Yankee Lewis, whose fame and renown,
Far and near throughout Michigan's border,
Is noised about country and town.
After enumerating the variety in the bill of fare at this log tavern, the poet assures us:
'Tis here the alimentative passion
Will be tickled in every part.
The Last Days
Yankee Bill's popularity grew along with his business and, in 1846, he was elected State Senator.
Like everything else he attempted, he represented his constituents
faithfully. He was one of the members of the legislature who supported
the moving of the capital from the "decadent" city of Detroit to
Lansing. The greater reason for the move was to escape the influence of
the British, just across the Detroit river in Windsor.
For whatever the reason, possibly failing health, William did
not sit for another term in the legislature. He died after a short
illness in 1853, at the young age of 51. He was initially buried at the
highest point of his property, looking over the meadows he loved (at
his wife's death, he was moved to be with her).
His wife, Mary, attempted to
keep the Inn going, but it soon failed and she moved to be with her
oldest daughter, Phoebe, in the town of Alaska in Kent County. There she
is buried with her husband in Alaska Cemetery along with her daughters,
Phoebe Campau, and Harriet Lewis. Her son Calvin is buried just a
couple of miles north in Whitneyville Cemetery and her daughter Mary
Melissa Holt is buried in Mountain Home Cemetery in Kalamazoo. William
and Mary's adopted daughter, Flavia Stone VanDeWalker is buried in
Prairie Home Cemetery in Richland.
The information in this page is taken from Michigan Historical
Collection,
vols. XXVI, XXX, XXXIX; Caledonia Historical Society, "Back
From the Attic" - vol. 14.
The last remaining cabin, probably the Kalamazoo Room
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Yankee Springs Gun Lake Unit has 200 modern campsites with access to playgrounds, swimming beaches, and boat launches. Swimming, boating and fishing are very popular. There are also several trails in the Unit:
- Hall Trail Loop is 2-mile loop from the Long Lake Outdoor Center that follows the shoreline of Hall Lake and continues to a spur trail leading to scenic Graves Hill and the Devil's Soup Bowl before looping back to its starting point.
- Chief Noonday Trail is a 4-mile beginning just off M-179, connecting with the Long Lake Trail.
- Long Lake Trail is 5 miles round trip. This trail adjoins the Sassafras Nature trail and has a starting point from Briggs Road just north of the area headquarters. The trail enters a boardwalk crossing to a beautiful bog area, continues down an old wagon road and leads to Graves Hill. From this point, the trail leads to the Devil's Soup Bowl where it connects with the Chief Noonday Trail. The Noonday Trail leads to signs and markers for a return to the Long Lake Trail.
- Sassafras Self-Guides Interpretive Trail is a 1-mile loop starting near the Gun Lake Campground Office. The flat wooded trail loops back to the starting point. Signs along the way provide information on the parks many habitats.
- Gun Lake Trail is a 1/2-mile linear, barrier free trail connecting the Gun Lake Campground with the Day Use area and travels across two boardwalks leading to the fishing pier on Gun Lake.
- Equestrian Trail, 10 miles total consisting of 2 loops, beginning and ending at the Horsemen's Campground. The six-mile loop connects to an additional four miles over rugged terrain. There is also a connector to additional trails in the Barry State Game Area.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Yankee Springs Recreation Area.
Special thanks to
aghudley
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cold Cache Crew and Silent Whistles for the Southwest regional prize.
Resources: