Honey Old Boy Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A cache to introduce you to Mart Manning
(If the gates are closed, you will need to enter through one of the walk-through openings to the east.)
One of the most colorful characters in the early years of Tantie/Okeechobee was Uncle Mart Manning. Mart was a cattleman on the Kissimmee Prairie in the days of the big cattle drives to the west coast. On one of these drives a fellow by the name of Bass marked a few of his own calves with Mart's brand and turned them loose in Mart's herd. He then 'discovered' the calves and had Mart arrested for rustling and sent to prison for three years. When Mart got out of prison he had no cows left so he took to hunting for a living, then drifted on down to Tantie and took to fishing. Mart was already in trouble again for knifing Charles Montsdeoca after Charles hit Mart with a brass knuckle at a frolic in Bassinger. Mart took up with a big red-faced Swede and set out some nets in Chancey Bay.Mart had a reputation for being a rough character and few crossed him. If he called you Honey Old Boy he was not happy, if he smiled that wicked smile, you knew he was getting riled up, but when he laughed out loud, look out because somebody was fixing to get killed.Lawrence Will tells in his book "A Cracker History Of Okeechobee" that one time the Swede, for a joke, reached out and pinched Uncle Mart on the heel-string leader with his toes while they were pulling trotlines. Mart, thinking a turtle had bit him, jumped over the side into the lake. When he climbed back in he smiled that special smile and told the Swede " Honey old boy,Don't you never do setch as that to old uncle Mart again." It could be that the Swede didn't take the hint because nobody seems to know what ever became of him. As wild as the lakeshore was, the law finally came for Mart in the matter of Mr. Montsdeoca. A young deputy located him and stepped out of the brush, surprising Uncle Mart while he was mending some nets. Mart whipped out a pistol and told the lawman "Honey old boy, don't you reckon you'd live a heap longer and die a heap happier if'n you was to jest go back and tell folks that you jest couldn't find ol' Mart?" The deputy thought about that and deciding that Mart was probably right, did just that.Mart stayed on at the lake and fished for many years, and married the widow of 'Buster' Farrell later on. No one ever knew how old Uncle Mart was and when he died he was buried in the Okeechobee Cemetary without even a stone to mark his grave. There are no known photographs of mart, but years later, someone paid to have a nice grave marker made for him and I have included a picture of it. The cache is located near a place where Mr. Mart would often be found if he were still alive today. The container can be retreived by using something that he would be very familiar with. The cache was muggled and has been replaced and moved a couple of hundred feet. It may be just a bit harder to find than it was.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
fgbc jura lbh unir gbb gura xrrc tbvat n yvggyr zber
Treasures
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