The Great Deep River Bank Robbery Traditional Cache
The Great Deep River Bank Robbery
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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In Fountain Hill Cemetary off High Street in Deep River. Hours are dawn to dusk; dogs allowed on leash.
History: Deep River was an active little Connecticut River town during the latter part of the nineteenth-century. It was home to the world-famous ivory piano-key factory of Pratt, Read & Company, and an abundance of businesses serving the maritime interests on the river. It also had a vigorous commercial center, so the community easily supported two banking institutions, the Deep River National Bank and Deep River Savings Bank, unusual for a town so small. The Deep River National Bank had been the target of several unsuccessful robbery attempts over the years. Then, in 1899, both banks received warnings from intelligence sources of the American Banking Association that a gang of burglars intended to rob a Deep River bank soon. The Deep River Savings bank (now the Citizen’s Bank) took these warnings seriously and hired a night watchman, one Harry Tyler, and armed him with a new riot gun from the Winchester Firearms Corporation in New Haven. For several months, Tyler patiently manned his nightly post, watching and waiting. Then in the early morning hours of December 13th the gang struck. A barking dog alerted Mr. Tyler to goings-on in the rear of the bank. Two men were trying to force open a window while two more watched from the shadows. Noticing that one of them carried a weapon, Harry Tyler raised his Winchester and let go with both barrels. The man closest to the window was killed instantly and the others fled, never to be found. No one came forward to claim the body, so it was buried in Fountain Hill Cemetery in an unmarked, donated plot. Several weeks after the incident, Tyler received an unsigned letter, apparently in a woman’s handwriting, requesting that the burglar’s grave be marked with a simple monument containing the last three letters of the alphabet. He fulfilled this simple request, erecting a wooden marker with the letters “XYZ”. The mystery of this strange request deepens, however. After some time had passed, local residents began to take note of a woman dressed in black who arrived on the train each December 13. She walked up the tracks from the Deep River station to the cemetery and laid a bouquet of flowers on the grave each year until 1947. Nobody ever thought to ask her name or reasons for visiting. - Adapted from "Legendary Connecticut" by David E. Philips. The cache is located in one of the oldest sections of the cemetery. There are also some letterboxes in this area. You are looking for a small peanut butter container hidden in the vicinity of XYZ’s final resting place. It contains a variety of goodies and you will find coordinates for his tombstone on the first page of the log. From the tombstone, look up the slope and you can see a mausoleum bearing the name of the institution that led to his end. As you gaze upon his stone, you may hear the sound of the Essex steam train and perhaps see a mysterious woman dressed in black coming out of the woods to pay her respects once again. **If you want to visit XYZ's grave, it's close to the road, down maybe 50-75' past the road ending. Coords provided. During my last visit there was a pile of coins in front of the small headstone.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arne Onaxf znhfbyrhz bs pbhefr, angheny zngrevny.
Treasures
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