Long ago the city of Milton-Freewater was divided into two towns, Milton and Freewater. Milton to the south and Freewater to the north. There was a time in which the two firestations would outright battle each other over who would get to go to calls in between the cities. It was soon decided that Milton and Freewater would become one town. This cache is located in the heart of what would have been Freewater.
Here is an article that ran in the local newspaper on November 15, 1950:
YESTERDAY'S VOTING APPROVES MERGER, MILTON-FREEWATER Nov. 15, 1950— a new town was born in northeastern Oregon Tuesday as citizens of Milton and Freewater voted to consolidate their governments.
The precedent-shattering el¬ection answered a 50-year-old question about merging the two towns "in fact as well as form." It was the first time in the history of the state of Oregon that a consolidation proposal was approved.
The official vote was: Freewater — 240 for consolidation and 204 against. Milton — 464 for consolidation and 167 against.
The election also decided that the new town, to be known as Milton-Freewater, will have a city manager-council form of government. The city manag¬er-council charter won over the mayor-council charter 490 to 88 in 'Milton and 227 to 106 in Freewater...
Many Cast Ballot- About 92 per cent of the registered voters went to the polls in Freewater while 74 per cent of the registered voters cast their ballots in Milton. Of¬ficials said the election was the heaviest in the history of the two towns, and ". . . it was very orderly — we did not have an ounce of trouble."
Jubilant members of the M-F consolidation club broke into strains of "Happy Birthday Dear Milton-Freewater..." as the election report was made official from each town.
J.T. Monahan, Milton city attorney and president of the consolidation club said, "As a unified town we can look forward to a brilliant future development and growth."
Support Pledged- Immediately after the results of the election were known, Dale Amerman, mayor of Free-water and leader of the group who had opposed consolidation, called in person to congratu¬late Monahan and the consolidation club.
"We pledge our full support for the unified town," said Am¬erman. "The people have spoken."
Monahan said an election of officers for the new town will be held within 60 days. Spokes¬men for both groups said they anticipated no questioning of the legality of the consolidation election.
New Setup 'Ideal'- For years all civic and social organizations have been composed of members from both Milton and Freewater, and residents agreed Tuesday night that the "marriage of the towns' governments is ideal."
Bill Miller, member of the consolidation club, seemed to sum up the feelings of all M-F residents after the election when he said: "It will be nice to settle down and just make a living for a change."
A joint meeting of the pres¬ent city councils of Milton and Freewater will be scheduled next week in order to plan the establishment of governmental machinery for the new town.
There is a catch to this cache! So please read this: The cache container itself is non-movable (please do not try to move it). You will need a special tool to access the cache (a philips screwdriver). Never worry, if you find the cache, 4 feet to the due north of it there is a small tree. At eye level in this tree you will find a stubby philips screwdriver to open the cache with. Please take care not to lose the screws. Put the cache back just as you found it. If there's ever a problem or if something gets filched, let me know and I'll replace it.
Take care to avoid direct muggle infiltration and have fun with this regular sized, plain-sight, cache.
Your dog would be welcome at this cache if he were on a leash.
Your child would be welcome at this cache if he were on a leash. (okay, kidding).
This cache will take about 10 minutes depending on your 007 skills.
The park is closed at night, but this cache is very close to the sidewalk and you could get away with it.
There is a street light nearby but a flashlight would be helpful if attempting at night.
It's in a public park. Need I say more? Disguise: check the hint.
There is ample parking on the street and in the park.
This is a beautiful park with picnic facilities.
There is a drinking fountain in season.
The restrooms are only open during the spring, and summer.