Dairies of Vancouver 2 Traditional Geocache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A small cache within arm's reach of the sidewalk. No need to walk into the planted area.
This is the site of a former dairy in Vancouver. The cairn nearby commemorates the site of McGeer's dairy farm. Jim McGeer had a dairy farm near this area at the edge of what was known as the Tea Swamp due to the native vegetation known as Labrador tea from which some of the settlers brewed tea. Although Jim was the dairy owner, his son, Gerry McGeer became much more well known.
Gerry McGeer was a mayor of Vancouver who died in office Aug. 11, 1947 during his second term. Gerry McGeer's campaign against L.D. Taylor, called the most exciting in the city's history, was really a lot of name-calling with snide intimations about law and order and the lack of it, and managing public dissent. The election itself was a slaughter for Taylor who lost by more than 20,000 votes. McGeer was voted into office on a mandate to fight crime, and to do away with slot machines, gambling, book-making, white slavery and corruption in the police force. True to his promise, McGeer confiscated 1,000 slot machines in his first week. His extraordinarily zealous and vigorous management style led many to call him a megalomaniac. He was both praised and vilified for his reading of the riot act, putting down a strike by 2,000 workers from federal government camps and calling in police to arrest the leaders. In April 1935 unemployed men from the camps converged on Vancouver, marched to Victory Square and demanded financial assistance from the city. A delegation paid a call to the mayor. The mayor had them arrested and then went to Victory Square and read the Riot Act, calling on the crowd to disperse. That night, police raided worker headquarters, a riot ensued and police on horseback were called out to control it. This led to a serious fracture in the population, with Mayor McGeer firmly entrenched on the side of the moneyed interests of the city fearful of communist takeover, while alienating many would-be supporters who sympathized with the strikers. Meanwhile, his proposal to float baby bonds to finance a new city hall opened him to charges of extravagance and corruption, further alienating him from more voters in the city. He won his choice of Strathcona Park at 12th Avenue and Cambie for the city hall after yet another bruising battle. (Many people, particularly businessmen, wanted it downtown). After he was voted out of the office of Mayor of Vancouver, he became a two term Member of Parliament and later a Senator. In 1947 McGeer won the mayoralty again with a huge majority, but died in office just six months later. More has been written about Gerry McGeer than about any other of the city's mayors.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
oruvaq vasbezngvba pnvea FJ pbeare