Louis Thoen's Stone Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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On March 14,1887 in a rock quarry on Lookout Mt near Spearfish SD, Louis Thoen and his brother discovered a flat sided piece of sandstone with the following message carved into it.
“Come to these hills in 1833—7 of us—Delacompt—Ezra Kind—G.W. Wood—T. Brown—R. Kent—Wm. King—Indian Crow—all dead but me, Ezra Kind—killed by Indians beyond the high hill—Got our gold.
June 1834—Got all the gold we could carry—Our ponies all got by the Indians—I have lost my gun and nothing to eat and—Indians hunting me.”
Most residents of the area thought that this stone tablet was a hoax planted by someone to gain attention. Why would anyone hunted by the Indians take the time to carve out a message in a rock? Especially since it had a good chance of never been seen by anyone.
Later that same year another Spearfish resident, John Cashner took a trip back east and made the first in series discoveries that went far in authenticating the stone. He told the story to a reporter at the Detroit Free Press which ran an article about the discovery. Harvey Brown Jr. of Troy Michigan read the story and contacted Cashner. He thought that T. Brown might be his half uncle, Thompson Brown who headed west in 1832 with another man and had never been heard from since.
Four other names on the stone; R. Kent, Wm. King, Indian Crow, and Ezra Kind have all been confirmed as belonging to men who headed west in the 1830’s never to been seen again. R. Kent had sent a letter back east saying he had “found all the gold he wanted” and would be heading home soon.
Interviews with miners from the Black Hills gold rush era revealed that rusted picks, shovels and the remains of a sluice box had been found several feet below the existing surface of a local streambed. The gold rushers were surprised to find the remains of what appeared to be a long ago abandoned mining camp.
Also noted that interviews with Indians have confirmed that several groups of miners were killed in the early 1800’s to keep the white man from learning of the rich gold deposits in the Black Hills. It therefore stands to reason that the Indians either dumped or hid the gold that Ezra Kind and his group had when they were “killed by the Indians beyond the high hill”. It is believed that Crow Peak to the west of Lookout Mt is that high hill noted on the stone.
In any case it’s not hard to imagine Ezra Kind running from the Indians –alone, unarmed, hiding by day moving by night. And in a ravine he finds a piece of wet sandstone and carves his message along with the names of his fallen comrades hoping that someday it would be found and their families would know their fate.
You can still see the original Thoen Stone in the Adams Museum (N44 22.540 W103 43.751 )in Deadwood SD. But treasure hunters are still looking for what was for seven men on ponies "all the gold we could carry”. To read more about the Thoen Stone visit the Grace Balloch Memorial Library in Spearfish were there are 2 books about the stone and the facts surrounding it.
To get to this cache, take exit 12 off of Interstate 90 park at N 440 29.622 W1030 50.826 cross the fence into what is now know as Lookout Mountain Park follow the path that leads to the cross on the west hillside. You can see this cross on the west side of Lookout as you approach the exit. This is a log only cache to small for any trade items; bring your own writing instrument. CITO!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f nyy va gur fgbar
Treasures
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