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This is a small cache at the entrance to Willows(east side)
Park well off the road, but no need to tresspass.
Also benchmark KT0167 close by. Look for it on the north west corner of the bridge. Cache is near a canal, be carefull at night.
Fifteen miles northwest of Princeton there was a small grove of willow and cottonwood trees that stood out as an oasis in the dry plain of the Central Valley. Travelers from river ranches to the foothills used this grove of trees as a landmark on their western journey.The grove was soon called The Willows. At Willow and Walker creeks, a small lake was formed by springs, and willow and cottonwood trees stayed green during the long, hot summers. The trees furnished shade for the ambling cattle of Granville P. Swift, who had a stock ranch at The Willows in 1840.
Land along the Sacramento was first settled, and, by the late 1850's newcomers to the valley began to settle near the foothills, along creek banks, rejecting the dry plains.
In 1858 Milton French had a homestead 13 miles northwest of present day Willows and related the following; "There was to be seen between my place and Princeton but one house, if a box set upon the plains could be so designated."
Willow Creek soon attracted enough people that by the 1860's the village of Kanawha was created and, in 1871, a U. S. Post Office was established there at Swift's abode. By the 1870's the plains around The Willows were also becoming settled by farmers. Land could be purchased from $4 to $6 an acre. In August 1876 the Willows Grange was organized, when J. M. Zumwalt came from Dixon with family and settled where the town of WIllows would later be.
A store located northeast of the present intersection of Tehama and Walnut was opened in 1878 by William Johnson and Moses Hachheimer. The opening was a double celebration by the townsfolk, as it marked the birth of the town and also the nation's centennial. The occasion was properly observed by an expedition of men to the Coast Range Mountains for a tall fir tree to be used as a flagpole.
Perhaps the true birth of the town was September 5, 1876. At this time Daniel Zumwalt deeded the land for a townsite to Charles Crocker, one of the big four, who was currently bringing the Northern Pacific Railway up the West Side of the valley.
Traditionally, new towns created by railways have taken their names from the person who gave the land. In July, 1875 a U. S. Post Office was approved for the town of Willow, the "s" not being officially added until 1916. Although there had been talk of changing the name of Willows to Zumwalt, the existing name won. The original town consisted of 34 blocks - Sacramento Street on the east the alley west of Plumas and from a block north of Wood to one block south of Ash. Zumwalt's was the only house the that time and was soon turned into a hotel as business began to boom, to feed and lodge visitors to the new town. By the end of 1876 Willows consisted of two livery stables, two saddlery and harness shops, one grocery, one liquor store, one butcher shop, two saloons, three blacksmith shops, one boot and shoe store, one photography salon, one physician, and three hotels.
To quote Mrs. Edna Knight, "Willows is no longer a sprawling country town, but has become a city in which streets are well-lighted by night, shaded by day, plainly marked and it's houses numbered, in the city fashion."
Cache contains: FTF certificate w/ 4 pack AA batteries, mini die cast car, mini uno deck, ships wheel keychain, putty-eyed dog, mini 8-ball, dog bookmark, and compass keychain.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gerr Gehax