Before dying, Mr. Toberman requested that this unusual rock be used as his headstone in the cemetery. Permission was requested from the Evergreen cemetery board to place the stone. After permission was denied because it wasn’t a “real” engraved marker, it mysteriously showed up on his plot the following week.
Meteorite? According to an article published in a local newspaper (the Courier Press) a few decades ago, the marker is a meteorite that fell as a fireball on the deceased’s farm when he lived in the Prairie du Chien area. From the looks of it, it is easy to imagine that it came from outerspace and became deeply pitted as it burned through earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor-wrong? Another theory is that it is a rare stone formation that can only be found in 2 or 3 places in the world (the St. Croix valley in Wisconsin, someplace in China, and possibly someplace in Arizona). This theory is that it is made of limestone that was eroded into its current shape by swirling vortices of water. According to this story, Mr. Toberman discovered the rock in the St. Croix River valley while working there as a lumberjack.
Determining coordinates for the final cache: The 4-digit birth and death years on this grave marker can be used to find the actual cache hidden elsewhere in the cemetery. The final cache location can be determined by using the simple formulas (subtracting numbers from the years) as given below:
Final cache location is
N 43° 01.YYY’ W 091° 07.XXX’ where
YYY = (year of birth) - 1024
XXX = (year of death) - 1173
The cache container is a large pill bottle containing a logbook, pencil, and a few small items. Only small items or travel bugs will fit in this container. Please return the cache to its original location and state of concealment. Please do not include the dates in any photos submitted.
If you like historical/interesting sites like this, you may also want to check out my “Well, Well, Well: 3 Artesians” cache (which was placed at the same time) while you are in the PDC, WI area.
P.S. Help!: If you know any more details about this grave marker, or in particular the date of issue of the newspaper article talking about it, please let me know so I can add it to the description. My understanding is that the article was published in the Courier Press in the 1960’s or possibly early 1970’s and that most of the details were provide by a gentleman named Charlie Fuka who is also now deceased. Thanks.