The four Benham Caches (Fort Benham, Benham View, Benham Falls, and Benham Bonus) are located on the Benham Buttes which are a group of 1.8 million year old rhyodacite domes. Access to the area is from the road to West Benham Falls trailhead. There are some roads into the area but the area is posted as no motorized vehicles so please respect the closure. Many of the roads overgrown but still make great hiking or biking trails. The first three caches can be done individually or all at the same time as part of a 5 mile loop. To do the Benham Bonus cache you must do the other three first.
The motivation for this cache was to find the location of Fort Benham, which I first visited as a kid in 1956. This fort was built for the filming of the 1955 movie “The Indian Fighter” starting Kirk Douglas. The fort was built under a Special Use Permit from the Deschutes National Forest to the Bend Chamber of Commerce. In 1957 some scenes of “Oregon Passage” were filmed at the fort. In 1958 the movie “Tonka” (later renamed “Comanche”) also used the fort. In 1960 and 1961 the fort was used in a number of episodes of the TV series “Have Gun Will Travel”. In 1962 a forest fire burned part of the area surrounding the fort which effected its future use so a few years later the fort was burned and the area was replanted.
Based on my memory of the general location and an old aerial photograph of the fort, I located the fort on map and obtained coordinates. I was able to locate burnt posts and all four corners. Overall size of the fort was about 200 by 225 feet.
The cache is in an ammo can a short distance from the fort’s location.
Waypoint 1.
The starting coordinates will put you at a power pole. There is a 5-digit number on the pole.
V = first 3 digits
W = last 3 digits
AAA = V-88
BBB = W+463
Waypoint 2.
N 43° 56.AAA'
W 121° 25.BBB'
Brass Cap for section corner
X = LS#
Y = date set
CCC = (Y-103)/12
DDD = (X/2)+58
Waypoint 3.
N 43° 56.CCC'
W 121° 25.DDD'
Fort Benham Site - Small metal tag at the base of a tree in the center of the fort area.
Z = Tag Number
EEE = Z - 639
FFF = Z - 440
Cache.
N 43° 56.EEE'
W 121° 25.FFF'
Be sure to record the Benham Bonus Number from log book or container lid.