During this cache you will learn about George Nicholas Rees, famed gardener and poet. This is a multi-cache, with two segments.
But first, here's a biography of George Nicholas Rees:
- Born in 1907 on a farm just southwest of Nixa MO.
- George's father, Carroll, was killed in an accident when George was very small.
- George and his brothers grew up on a portion of the homestead that had been worked by their grandfather, Nicholas Alexander Inman. Legend has it that because Nicholas was the town's first settler and a blacksmith, the town of Nixa was named after him by taking his first name and middle initial. I also read that they called it "Nicks-A".
- Because books and writing were a part of every day life, George met poetry at an early age.
- At age 8, he was reciting his own poems. At age 15, his first poem, "Trails", appeared in a national writer's magazine, and soon it was circulating all over the world.
- Valedictorian of his class in 1927. He enrolled a year later at Springfield Teachers' College (now Southwest Missouri State University), but dropped out because he "missed the farm".
- With the crash of 1929, the Depression, years of extreme drought, and illness in the family, money that was borrowed to purchase additional land brought about the loss of the family's farm and home in Nixa. In 1937, George, his brother Charles and their mother started looking for a house.
- George was a commercial artist at the time, and his first book of poetry, "The Golden Lark", had just been published. The proceeds from the successful book made the first payment on 80 acres in Craig Hollow (which was referred to as "Crag Hollow" in Rees' poetry). The small cottage beside Craig Creek was poorly built, had no electricity or water, and gave little comfort from rain or snow.
- In 1938, with more than 500 poems and articles published around the world, George was acclaimed Poet Laureate of the Ozarks.
- George wrote many poems about his love for Craig Hollow.
- He never married, but spent his time learning new things, such as how to build crystal or battery radios. He also planted a flower garden, and started experimenting with cross-breeding irises.
- In the 1930s, George and his brother Charles weather-proofed their cottage by using the stones and gravel that resulted from the WPA laborers blasting the low bluffs across the creek to build a new road.
- In 1942, George was summoned into the Army during World War II. He was not sent into combat, but developed a severe case of diabetes and was sent home. He regained his strength in Craig Hollow by wandering the hills, tending his flowers, and studied how computers were built.
- In 1947, after the war had ended, the Reeses rented out the house in Craig Hollow and moved back to Nixa. George took with him the 150 prized iris bulbs that he had developed and established the Nixianna Gardens west of town. The bulbs grew to 500, then a thousand varieties. This soon became a highlight for visitors to Nixa who wanted to see the famous gardens. It was reportedly the largest tourist attraction of the area in the 1950s.
- For the next 20 years, George wrote many more poems that were published all over the country and brought many accolades.
- In 1963, the State of Missouri named George a living State Treasure.
- In 1965, he passed away and was buried beside his mother in the family plot in Payne Cemetery north of Nixa.
- In the early 1990s, George's nephew Paul and his wife Naomi restored the little cabin down near the creek using the skilled craftsmanship of local Amish construction workers. It used to be a vacation/retreat home (known as the Little House in the Hollow) and could hold up to six guests.
Several of George's books, which were privately printed, are available in the Christian County Library in Ozark, Missouri.
Now on to the cache, which is made up of two parts. The difficulty of the cache is mainly due to the fact that this is a multi-cache and involves a 12-mile drive after you find the first part. The terrain on the first part is level ground and the distance to the first part shouldn't be very far (depending on where you park your car). The terrain on the second part is a short walk (about 200 feet) but on a slight slope.
PART 1: PAYNE CEMETERY The coordinates for this cache will take you to George Nicholas Rees' grave in Payne Cemetery, which is in northern Christian County and just north of Nixa.
Look for the headstone and footstone of George Nicholas Rees using the coordinates for this cache. You will need to look at what is engraved on the pink-marbled headstone (that has flowers on it) to get the coordinates for Part 2 of this cache.
Fourth line on the headstone, last one-digit number is ___ = A
Third line, last one-digit number is ___ = B
What is the two-digit combination of numbers that appears five times on this headstone? ___ = C
Fifth line, last one-digit number is ___ = D
Coordinates to Part 2 (which is the ENTRANCE to the property where the cache is located but NOT the final cache location) are:
N 36 AB.B4A
W 093 C.4DA
(Note that C is a two-digit number)
OPTIONAL: Before proceeding to Part 2, if you wish to visit the grave of Nicholas A. Inman (who they named the town of Nixa after), you can go to N 37 05.524 W 093 18.587 (also in Payne Cemetery). The grave is a little difficult to find because the inscription faces south, where the inscriptions on the other graves face east and west.
OPTIONAL: Additionally, you can also drive past the former site of the Nixianna Gardens on the way to Part 2 of the cache. I was going to make this part of the multi-cache, but decided not to for various reasons. You cannot really tell a garden was there anymore. To get there, take Highway 160 to Nixa, then turn west on Highway 14, and turn south on Gregg Road. After a couple of miles, you will reach Rosedale Street. From my research, supposedly the Nixianna Gardens were located on the southwest corner of the intersection.
PART 2: CRAG HOLLER (CRAIG HOLLOW) This second and final leg of the cache will take you on a 12-mile trip from the cemetery to George Nicholas Rees' beloved Crag Holler. To get there, take Highway 160 south of Nixa. After you cross Highway 14, go 6 miles to Harris Road and turn right (west). Follow Harris Road for 2.2 miles to White Ash Road. NOTE: The final part of the cache is on PRIVATE PROPERTY but when I hid this cache in July 2004, I received generous permission from Paul (nephew of George) and Naomi Rees to place the cache on their property. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS CACHE AT NIGHT.
If you approach the cache from the south, as you drive up to the cache site (if you turn south on White Ash Road and then make an immediate right, you will drive past their former house on the right (Paul passed away in 2016, and Naomi passed away in 2006). You can go ahead and drive up to the little cabin (George's home as described above) on up a ways a bit and park there. You can then walk across the bridge to the cache. Note that the creek may be flooded and might be flowing over the little bridge as you near the cache, so your shoes might get wet. When I was there in the middle of July 2004, the bridge was dry and the creek was low, but when I re-visited it in April 2018 the creek was flowing freely over the bridge and I had to take my shoes off to cross it to get to the cache. Careful--the bridge can be slippery!
If you approach the cache from the north by continuing to drive straight on Harris Road and not turning onto White Ash Road, you can park close to the cache and either walk through the open gate, or climb over it if it is closed. That way you won't have to cross the bridge if the creek is flowing over it, but you won't see the cabin.
It will be very obvious where the cache is located when you get close.
Original contents of the cache container:
- Waterproof logbook
- Pen & Pencil
- Instructions
- Elvis Presley playing cards
- Spiked rubber ball
- Sonic Drive-In toy car
- Little metal toy car
- Toy shark
- Finding Nemo bubble toy
Good luck!
