Koniska Bridge Traditional Geocache
Gat R Done: Hi Red_Devil35
Unfortunately, there has been no response from owner. If you have any questions, please contact me via email (gatrdoneMN@gmail.com) and include the GC# of the cache you are asking about.
Please be advised that archiving is intended to be permanent. Help Center Article
If a cache is archived by a reviewer or staff for lack of maintenance, it will not be unarchived.
Gat R Done
Community Volunteer Reviewer
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
**Cache is now a small lock n lock container**
Parking is available along McLeod County 11. Look for the 'historical site' sign. Please do not veer off the path as you are walking to the cache. County road 11 used to run over the 'Koniska bridge' until the new bridge was built nearby. People have been known to fish off this bridge with some luck! Please be careful on the bridge, it is rather old, and has a few small holes. The railing isn't so sturdy anymore either. You do not need to go off the bridge to find this cache!
"The story of Koniska goes way back, about as far back as the founding of the county. It was 1856, the same year that a post office was established in Glencoe and McLeod County was officially recognized. That same year, a man known only as Mr. Spencer was traveling along the Crow River when he came to a spot that looked good for building a mill. With thoughts of enterprise in mind, Spencer built a dam out of dirt, one that is still visible all these years later. With a mill in place, people began coming to the area, and soon the mill on the river had turned into a little town, complete with a blacksmith, a creamery and a few houses. It was a promising little town, one that the residents had named McLeod. They say those early settlers were a hardy bunch, single men looking to carve out a settlement in an unforgiving wilderness. An old legend has it that one day a Native American came into the settlement and took notice that there were no women about, that only men seemed to live in the little village. He asked them, “Where are your squaws?” When he learned that 52 men lived in the town and only one woman, he exclaimed “Koniska,” which according to legend meant “no women.” From then on folks ceased to call the town McLeod and began referring to it as Koniska.[....]In the years to come, Koniska would see its decline. When the railroads came through the county in the 1880s, they went clear around Koniska and the town began to dry up. In 1881, the dam burst due to high water and the mill was destroyed. The post office closed in 1882, and soon after people began moving out of the town. Today the town of Koniska is a distant memory, one that most have forgotten or have never known about. The only remains are the rusting hulk of a steel bridge built in 1904, a cemetery, and the rough remains of an earthen dam built over a century ago."
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp