Welcome to Livingston County’s Bicentennial GeoTrail!
My name is Find R. Fox. I’ll be your guide to super-sleuthing the hides at these amazing, historical locations all around our beautiful 200-year-old county!
To make your travel through history a bit easier, imagine yourself in a Time Machine (your best mode of transportation will do). Set the dial (your gps unit) to the first year (coordinates) listed below, check the waypoints for Parking and push the navigate button! Whirl your way there then switch your coordinates as needed to navigate to the geocache to sniff out the container and sign the log sheet. Good Luck & Enjoy the journey!!
Per request of the Town of Leicester, please visit this park during DAYLIGHT HOURS ONLY, as there has been some unfortunate occurrences of mischief in this area. There is ABSOLUTELY no need to check out the abandoned structure - unfortunately, due to past issues, restroom building is permanently closed.
This is the 3rd of 3 caches regarding the Sullivan Campaign.
After the ambush of Lt. Thomas Boyd’s scouting party where 15 of his soldiers were killed at the Ambuscade, Boyd and Sgt. Michael were captured and taken to Little Beard’s Town and were tortured and killed. This was the site of the 128 homes, the largest Seneca village in western New York.
On September 14, 1779, when Sullivan’s army arrived at the Seneca village, all the Indians had retreated to Fort Niagara to avoid confrontation with the army. The army discovered the mutilated bodies of Boyd and Parker and buried them with military honors. The next morning Sullivan’s men burned all the homes and fields of crops thereby fulfilling General Washington’s orders. This marked the westernmost destination of the Revolutionary War in New York State. The troops then retreated out of the area by the same route they came.
In 1841, the remains of Lt. Thomas Boyd and Sgt. Michael Parker were removed to Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester together with the remains of the soldiers buried at the Ambuscade during an elaborate ceremony.
The area remained under private ownership until 1927 when the Livingston County Historical Society obtained title to the property in preparation for the sesquicentennial of the Sullivan Expedition in 1929.
The University of the State of New York had appointed a committee to organize events across the state to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Revolution. Funds were provided to place a boulder and bronze tablet at the burial mound of Boyd and Parker.
On September 17, 1927 the monument to honor the soldiers was dedicated and a lavish historical parade coincided with the unveiling ceremony drawing upwards of 20,000 spectators with the automobile as the preferred mode of transportation.
In 1929, hundreds of Leicester citizens participated in a massive historical pageant a relatively and another memorial was permanently installed and dedicated by the Livingston County Historical Society.
The park (along with Ambuscade Park) was deeded to the New York State Park Commission in 1930 to maintain as a historic site. By the early 1970s the State closed the park due to severe cuts in appropriations and the town of Leicester acquired the park.
The centerpiece of Boyd and Parker Park is an ancient bur oak, standing over 70 feet high and 24 feet in circumference and estimated to be at least 250 years old. It is known far and wide as the Torture Tree, local folklore involving the death of Thomas Boyd and Michael Parker have surrounded this tree for more than two centuries.
The noble giant is revered local landmark and has garnered recognition for historic significance from outside of the area. During a U.S. Bicentennial observance in 1976 the age of the tree was officially substantiated by the International Society of Arboriculture and the National Arborist Association. In 1990, the Torture Tree was honored again as being among only eleven trees in the state placed on the New York State Registry of Trees.
Thanks to the Town of Leicester for allowing placement of this cache!
This cache is 1 of 36 caches comprising the Livingston County Bicentennial GeoTrail (LivCo200) placed in the summer of 2021 in honor of Livingston County’s Bicentennial by members of the local geocaching group called the Bee Hive. For more information about Livingston County’s Bicentennial, visit the County Historian’s Bicentennial web page on the Livingston County New York website at https://www.livingstoncounty.us/1115/County-Bicentennial
