Welcome to the Farewell to Finder’s Fest geo-art, brought to you by the Forest Minions! This series celebrates weird and unusual things throughout the Sunshine State. Please do not go to the posted locations. Rather, solve the challenging quiz found at the bottom of each page, for the final location. For the letterbox caches, please leave the stamp in the cache. They are not trade items. For the discerning traveler, we’ve included the GPS coordinates for these bizarre locations, when we were able to establish them.
Treaty Oak – Location 30.3170, -81.6581
There are a number of so called treaty oaks found around America, usually singled out as the location of an important agreement, or truce. But the Treaty Oak in Jacksonville is just called that so no one will tear it down. Believed to be over 250 years old, the sprawling live oak in Treaty Oak Park was almost cut town.
When developers set their sights on the property, to clear cut it, local reporter Pat Moran came up with a “shady” plan to save the tree. Moran fabricated a story about American Indians signing some kind of accord with white settlers beneath the tree, making the oak an historic monument. The ruse worked, and Treaty Oak was saved from the axe.
Here is the super duper, way challenging, really hard trivia question, which, if solved properly, will lead you to the final coordinates:
Question: What is the largest living organism on earth?
A: Field mouse = N29° 27.386' W81° 51.589'
B: Fire ant = N29° 27.386' W81° 51.579'
C: Aspen grove = N29° 27.386' W81° 51.569'