Seward's
Folly
Daddy and
Mommy Ladybug met, married, and are raising a family in
Alaska. However, Mommy Ladybug grew up just a few miles from
the birthplace of William H. Seward, whose "Folly" led to the
purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, a bargain
at less than two cents per acre. Many Americans at the time
shared Russia's view of Alaska as an economic wasteland which is
why the purchase was called "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's
Icebox."
Less
than thirty years later, the great Klondike gold rush brought
thousands of prospectors through Alaska to seek their fortunes near
Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. This influx of people
seeking their fortunes led to discoveries of gold throughout Alaska
in the ensuing years. Subsequently, Alaska experienced a rush
of the "black gold" kind that began in the 1950's and culminated in
1977 with the start-up of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System that
transports oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez (click
for geocaches).
Come pay
tribute to the man whose vision and foresight led to the
acquisition of "The Great Land" (Alaska), and the eventual
formation of the geocaching team "Ladybug Kids." Read
the plaques in the area to learn more about William H. Seward's
service to New York State and the United States of
America. The
cache coordinates will bring you to the William Henry Seward
Memorial. To find the cache, you must solve the below puzzle
using information at the memorial site.
The second
stage coordinates are: N41° AB.CDE', W74° FG.HIJ',
where:
A = the last
digit of Seward's birth year
B = the last digit of the first year Seward served as Governor of
New York
C = the third digit of the year the memorial site was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
D = the first digit of the number on the S. S. Seward Memorial
Building (white on red)
E = the last digit of the year the bust was cast
F = the first digit of the year the memorial was restored
G = the last digit of the last year Seward served as Senator from
New York
H = the total (combined) number of years Seward served as New York
State Senator and Governor of New York
I = the number of the month Seward was born (e.g. January = 1)
J = the number of years Seward served as Secretary of State of the
United States
Anti-bad coordinates check sum: A + B + C + D + E + F + G + H + I
+ J = 46 (still stumped? E-mail the Ladybug Kids for a
lifeline)
If you have time,
visit the American Legion Veterans' Memorial adjacent to the
Seward Memorial to the south and the historical sign at N41°
19.985' W74° 21.418'.
This
cache was originally submitted as a virtual cache, but with helpful
guidance from the New York Admin and assistance from Orange County
geocachers Ziggy Crew, (one of whom
attended the school behind the memorial which demonstrates just
how small a world we live in) the Ladybug Kids were able to
establish this multicache. Ziggy Crew will maintain the
cache while we enjoy the cache vicariously from
afar.
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