Spaulding Museum Cabin Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Could be a difficulty of 5 if there is snow. At a musuem along a main road.
Spaulding Museum Cabin
The cache is located by Buckskin Johnny’s cabin in Belle Fourche. His cabin was the first home in this area.
During the time of the 1800’s, John T. Spaulding was well equipped for life on the western plains. While growing up in Wisconsin, his closest friend and companion was a Winnebago Indian boy who taught him the Winnebago ways of hunting, trapping, and woodcraft.
In 1871, he headed west; commercial harvesting of buffalo hides was paying very well. In western Nebraska he teamed up with Texas Jack Sackett in a hide hunting partnership. The two scouts and hunters kept three skinners busy for the next five years they followed the migrating buffalo herds across the plains.
By the winter of 1875-76 hunting buffalo hides ceased to be profitable and rumors of the gold discoveries in the Black Hills reached the buffalo hunters. John Spaulding and WC Tomlins, (Buffalo Bill of the Black Hills), joined forces and left the buffalo range for the Black Hills. On their journey, they joined a big wagon train and Spaulding was engaged to act as scout and guide for the train. There were sixty-five men with the wagon train and many of them had the first name, “John” to designate John Spaulding from others they called him Buckskin Johnny; he was dressed in buckskin from his wolf skin cap to the soles of his feet. From boyhood he had killed deer and elk, tanned the skins, made his own clothing. Buckskin Johnny safely guided the wagon train to the Black hills. After their arrival in Deadwood Gulch, Spaulding and a couple of the men in his party killed a large silvertip bear at the upper end of the gulch.
An expert rifleman, Buckskin Johnny had no interest in gold prospecting. He put his skilled marksmanship to good use in supplying meat for the gold camps. In July 1876, he helped build the Spearfish stockade to protect settlers in the area from Indian raids. That fall he began building a log cabin along the Redwater River east of Belle Fourche. Other homesteaders moved into the area during the next five years.
Buckskin Johnny’s original log cabin was moved to Belle Fourche and restored as a historical museum. If you would like a tour of Buckskin Johnny’s cabin please ask the friendly folks at the Tri State Museum. The Free Tri State Museum has treasures of the past and many old time photos.
The cache is hidden in an open space by the cabin; it is not on or under the log building. You don’t have to move anything in your search. Finding the container may be the tricky part because it is disguised in some fashion. Use you ingenuity and you will prevail! You will need to bring a pencil to sign the log and the container is too small for trade items. Please watch out for mugglers and re-hide the container well. Thanks, and have a great caching day!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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