A simple pill bottle cache--phone service is almost non-existant in this ravine, so prepare with downloaded coordinates and description accordingly!
This cache is located at a very unique spot--not because of what's here, but because of what isn't: the state line. And because it's not here, dating back over 200 years, where you stand currently could have been in Georgia, or even South Carolina! It's all because of a little known piece of US History known as the Walton War, fought over the Oprhan Strip, a 12 mile North-South and 100 mile east-west strip of land on the far western tip of North Carolina, including parts of (now) Cherokee, Clay, and Transylvania counties, and the cities of Murphy and Andrews, as well as other smaller communities.
If you look closely at the coordinates for this cache, the North coord is almost exactly 35°N, which is where the north Georgia border *should* have been according to colonial charter and acts of Congress creating the state boundaries--in other words, that speed limit sign could also say "Welcome to Georgia!" However, the land was improperly surveyed, placing the 35th parallel 12 miles north (on the ground) of where it actually was, and creating a strip of land that the states of Georgia and North Carolina (and to a lesser extent, South Carolina) fought over for several years. In 1803, the State of Georgia created "Walton County" (named for Senator George Walton, a signer of the Declaration of Indpendence) to establish a claim to the area, on top of the existing claims by North Carolina to the same jusrisdiction in the Orphan Strip--a move which motives are still debated to this day, whether it was to attempt to take land from North Carolina, or to provide order for the settlers in the area. Violence broke out in 1804 as the government of Walton County, Georgia attempted to collect taxes from residents who had already paid their due to Buncombe County, North Carolina (the county boundaries have changed since that time) with the obvious result of angry residents, and even more angry government officials. A man by the name of John Havner was killed in the skirmishes that ensued, the only recorded casuality of the war.
By 1807, South Carolina had dropped its partial claim to the Orphan Strip, but Georgia and North Carolina could not agree on the boundary location, and thus formed a commision to resolve the issue once and for all...but when the commission (headed up of Joseph Caldwell, president of the University of North Carolina, and Joseph Meigs, president of the University of Georgia) agreed that the entire Oprhan Strip belonged to North Carolina, the State of Georgia openly refused to agree with the findings, even hiring (Georgian) Andrew Ellicott, a famous surveyor of the time, to resurvey the boundary once again. Much to the chagrin of Georgia, he too agreed with the commission, and surveyed the 35th parallel as the border...except he made a minor mistake and placed some markers *south* of the 35°N line (in some cases over 1/2 mile!), which is why this cache is not located on the state line. Thus, in admitting defeat in 1811, Georgia, in it's quest for *more* land, actually ended up with even less than it was originally intended to have. The issue was revisited in 1971, when the Georgia legislature declared the state once again had claim to the Orphan Strip, prompting the North Carolina legislature to authorize the governor to use National Guard troops if necessary, but the issue was quitely dropped with no boundary changes taking place.
Congrats to w27phantom for the FTF!
Most of the material in this cache description came from the Wikipedia article on "The Walton War" (accessed 11/21/19), and the book "How the States Got Their Shapes" by Mark Stein.