CJS - Port Deposit Traditional Geocache
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Size:  (regular)
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Come on a journey to remember and commemorate
the history and travels of Captain John Smith!
Over four hundred years ago, Englishman John Smith and a small crew
set out in an open boat to explore the Chesapeake Bay. Between 1607
and 1609 Smith mapped and documented nearly 3,000 miles of the Bay
and its rivers. Along the way he visited many thriving American
Indians communities and gathered information about this
“fruitful and delightsome land.” In December 2006 the
U.S. Congress designated the routes of Smith’s explorations
of the Chesapeake as a national historic trail—the first
national water trail.
Are you ready to follow in the wake of Captain John Smith? Visit
sites along the National Historic Trail and learn about the native
cultures and the natural environment of the 17th-century Chesapeake
through the Captain John Smith Chesapeake Geotrail. The Trail
provides opportunities for you to experience the Bay through the
routes and places associated with Smith’s explorations.
Caches will be located in museums, refuges, parks, and towns in
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware along the rivers and creeks that
Smith and his crew explored four centuries ago.
The Captain John Smith (CJS) Geotrail launched June 4, 2011 with
over 40 caches within Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. A trackable
geo coin will be awarded to the first 400 geocachers, while
supplies last, for locating at least 15 CJS caches. To be eligible
for the coin, geocachers must download a passport from either the
CJS Geotrail or Maryland Geocaching Society website.
Geocachers must find and log at least 15 finds, record the code
word from each cache on their passport and post a picture of
themselve at each cache location. After discovering the 15 required
caches, geocachers may have thier passports validated in person or
via mail at the National Park Service, Chesapeake Bay Office
located at 410 Severn Ave, Suite 314, Annapolis, MD 21403. Please
refer to the passport for complete validation instructions.
Participating in the CJS geotrail is fun and we hope that many
people join in. However, it is not a requirement for logging your
find on this cache once you find the container.
You are seeking a traditional hide which contains a special FTF
prize. Placed near the Town hall by the beautiful granite terraces
and waterfall that graces the town of Port Deposit MD.
Port Deposit "Granite"..... a coarse-grained, granite gneiss with
an obvious foliation produced by black mica. The rock was used in
early days by colonial settlers, but commercial use did not occur
until about 1816 when stone was needed for the abutments to the
Susquehanna River Bridge. A quarry was established at Port Deposit
and by the 1830's much of the stone was being shipped to Baltimore.
Other quarries were opened in Cecil County as the stone gained
acceptance. Some of the buildings in which this popular stone was
used are: Fort Carroll, Fort McHenry, the Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Haverford College in Philadelphia, and part of the old
Goucher College in Baltimore. It is now quarried north of Havre de
Grace by the Arundel Corporation for use as crushed stone.
Port Deposit is a historic town, extending one mile along the east
bank of the Susquehanna River. Into the 1800’s, Port Deposit
served as a junction point for trade in grain, coal, whiskey,
tobacco, and lumber felled in Pennsylvania and floated down river.
It is the furthest navigable point upstream for ships plying the
Chesapeake Bay.
Quarries north of town helped Port Deposit become known for the
production of granite of a superior quality. It was the tone and
texture of the stone that made it a favorite aesthetic choice. The
quarries provided the granite used for many churches, schools, and
buildings in Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. Nowhere in
the county was there a stronger stone masonry building tradition
than in this small town along the Susquehanna.
Port Deposit is close to the only undisputed Chesapeake site that
Captain John Smith named after himself. “Smith’s
Falls” was the river point marking the head of tide, and
where navigation became impossible for all the rocks. It is telling
that Captain Smith gave equal measure to his fellow crew members in
selecting names for land features around the Chesapeake:
“Poynt Warde” for sailmaker William Ward,
“Momford’s Point” for Thomas Momford,
“Pising’s Point” for boat carpenter Edward
Pising, and “Sicklemore Point” for Michael Sicklemore,
for example.
Born in 1580 in Willoughby, England, John Smith left home at age 16
after his father died. He began his travels by joining volunteers
in France who were fighting for Dutch independence from Spain. Two
years later, he set off for the Mediterranean Sea, working on a
merchant ship. In 1600 he joined Austrian forces to fight the Turks
in the "Long War." A valiant soldier, he was promoted to Captain
while fighting in Hungary. He was fighting in Transylvania two
years later in 1602. There he was wounded in battle, captured, and
sold as a slave to a Turk. This Turk then sent Smith as a gift to
his sweetheart in Istanbul. According to Smith, this girl fell in
love with him and sent him to her brother to get training for
Turkish imperial service. Smith reportedly escaped by murdering the
brother and returned to Transylvania by fleeing through Russia and
Poland. After being released from service and receiving a large
reward, he traveled all through Europe and Northern Africa. He
returned to England in the winter of 1604-05.
In 1606, in England, Captain John Smith became actively involved
with plans by the Virginia Company to colonize Virginia for profit.
After setting sail on December 20, 1606, this famous expedition
finally reached Virginia in April 1607 after enduring a lengthy
voyage of over four months in three tiny ships. When the sealed box
that listed the names of the seven council members who were to
govern the colony was opened, Smith's name was on the list. This
angered the “gentlemen” who considered Smith’s
yeoman background to be beneath them and less than equal.
Thanks to The Dam Trolls for helping with this hide and to the
Maryland Geocaching Society for assisting with this
project!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ABEGU BS JNYY