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Mr Flagler's Railroad Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

team:CHETT: Area cleared out and no good place left for a hide. We will be back in a new incarnation someday!

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Hidden : 3/14/2004
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

A cache to introduce you to one of the most important events in the history of Okeechobee

The town of Tantie/Okeechobee was doing alright in the early 1900s. It was growing slowly but steadily, but things were about to change! Getting to and from the area was not an easy thing to do, roads were poor at best and at times impassable. The only alternative was steamboat travel. You could come down the Kissimmee to Bassinger or up the Caloosahatchee from Fort Myers. In 1915 the decisive event in the history of this area occured when the FEC, Mr Henry Flagler's Railroad came to town. The railroad was rebuilding their main line along the coast and they took the used materials and ran a spur all the way from New Smyrna to Tantie.
After the trains started running they hauled cypress and pine lumber for Consolidated, Cypress, Osceola and Andrews Bay lumber companies as well as turpentine for Lake Wales Naval Stores and Henry Evans. They also hauled catfish by the thousands of cars. This also made it easy for tourists and new residents to get here and the town boomed.
One of Flagler's vice presidents, J.E. Ingraham was put in charge of the project and he allowed his wife Opal to name the turpentine and lumber stops along the line. Mrs. Ingraham used Creek Indian words for the names, not bad as names go. Some of the names used were
Efaw - dog
osowaw - bird
yeehaw - wolf
nittaw - day
hilolo - curlew
lokosee - bear
apoxee - tomorrow
and the strangest one of all was
Holopaw - sidewalk! Who would have even thought there would be an indian word for sidewalk??

The cache is hidden near the old Hilolo turpentine stop where the former Hilolo road (now ne 48th ave.) meets Highway 68.
It is a Rubbermaid rectangular box and when hidden it contained:
Pen and log
Wheresgeorge dollar
playing cards - dice - nailclipper/knife - lip balm and a variety of toys, balls, and matchbox car. It also had a Travel Bug (flamingo-bear). It is at ground level, covered and should not be too hard to find.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

evtug qbja gur srapr n fubeg jnlf cnfg gur pbapergr cbfg haqre cnyzrggbf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)