Had you lived 179 years ago you might have been with the brave fighters at the Alamo. At that time, the Mexican general Santa Anna may have used the Mexican Army Cipher disk to plot your demise with commands to his subordinates. How this device was used by the Mexican army might have been quite a tale in itself. If you had intercepted one of their orders and deciphered it, you might have lived to tell the tale. Now, using the Mexican Army Cipher disk, your goal is to decipher the geocoordinates in this format:
N37 XX.XXX, W79 XX.XXX
The posted geocoordinates will only take you to the parking area where you will need to begin the hunt for this cache.
The coordinates are encrypted with the Mexican Army Cipher Wheel, a solid wooden device as noted above. They are encrypted as follows:
87 69 50 88 31 65 21 30 22 88 13 69 48 99 60 99 25 22 54 57 83
00 16 32 46 93 66 41 55 86 11 75 54 00 83 55 86 53 16 05 41 21 99
To decipher these coordinates you will need your own Mexican Army Cipher Wheel, and if you don't want to buy one, or take the time out in the wood shop to make one, here is the same thing in a text table form:
This table is not set up yet, which will be your task to undertake. There are several ways to set the table, and an internet search will reveal two. One is to set 4 of the 100 numbers beneath the 'A' column as the key. The second way, which is employed here, is to use a keyword, setting the '01' of the first line of the table under the first letter of the keyword, the second line with the '27' under the second letter of the keyword, the third line of the table with the '53' under the third letter of the keyword, and finally the fourth line of the table with the '79' under the last letter of the keyword-reconstructing the table as you go. Then, the deciphering can take place. So, what then is the keyword? It is in your eyesight, but you will have to figure it out. To give you a hint, you will find a large number on your left as you head south from the parking lot indicated above, about 510 yards away. Take that number and put it under the letter 'Z'. The '01' will then fall under the first letter of the keyword, but you will have to solve the rest of the word. Then fill in the rest of the table using the keyword as noted above. As an example of a keyword used, the picture of the wheel above has a keyword of "DLRC" dialed in. Also, you can make a paper version to use in the field like this:
Expect more than one attempt to make it work correctly. Bring your own pen too, since the cache is too small for a writing instrument.
Good luck!
Davey Crocket is depending upon your skills!
Here is a Geochecker which might be helpful, or not. If you decipher the code, you will have the clear text of the geocoordinates in hand.
Click to verify coordinates