Dam, Ditch, and Aqueduct Virtual Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(virtual)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
While visiting San Antonio from Seattle, we toured the Mission Trail. It was one of the highlights of our trip so we decided to make this cache. For more info on the mission trail, check our log on Cache Mission Concepción by mtn-man from Georgia.
This is a virtual, multi-cache. If you are in the San Antonio area this is a must. The Mission Trail ends in this area.
Espada Aqueduct
The arches of the two centuries-old Espada Aqueduct.
The Espada Aqueduct over Piedras Creek completed by 1740, still functions.
Espada Dam
The Espada Dam was an integral part of the acequia system that irrigated the missions’ fields.
Mission Espada
The History:
The success of any new mission was dependent upon planting and harvesting crops. Sparse rainfall and the need for irrigation made the construction of seven gravity flow ditch systems, known as acequias, a high priority for the missionaries and Indians. Five dams and several aqueducts along the San Antonio River ensured a continual flow of river water into the system. So important was the irrigation in Spanish Texas that cropland was measured in suertes, or the amount of land that could be watered in one day. The 15 mile network irrigated about 3,500 acres of land.
Mission Espada has the best preserved of these acequia systems. Espada Dam, completed by 1745, still diverts river water into an acequia madre (mother ditch). The water is carried over Sixmile Creek (historically called Piedras Creek) through Espada Aqueduct - the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States. Floodgates controlled water sent to each field for irrigation and for auxiliary uses such as bathing, washing, and power for mill wheels. Today, nearby farms still use the water from this system.
The Cache:
WAYPOINT #1
At the coordinates N 29 19.949 W 098 27.708 you will see a plaque titled Dam, Ditch and Aqueduct. Use the number carved into the stone to the left of this plaque to find the final cache coordinates.
Subtract the number found at the waypoint above from 9,824 and place the difference in the blanks below to find your final destination.
N 29 20.771
W 098 2_._ _ _
WAYPOINT #2
When you arrive at the new coordinates above you’ll be near a memorial used to be a tree planted here. Now to finally log this multi-cache email me the answer to this question.
Who was the tree planted in memory of?
Please don’t post the answer on this website.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f n cerfvqrag.