In the Shadow of the Giants Traditional Geocache
In the Shadow of the Giants
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Related Web Page
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Easy, Roadside Cache.
This must be what this country used to look like. Oil wells abound in this area and down into southwestern Oklahoma. Be sure to approach the cache from the northbound lanes and please pull far enough off of the road as to not be a hazard.
Cache is in a medium sized, clear tupperware bowl.
As a part of this cache, I would like to share some of the history of this area. American Plains Indians lived all along the Canadian River which is just a few miles south of here. The Texas Panhandle was, by treaty with the U.S. Government, set apart as a hunting ground for the Indians. By the late 1860’s hunters were violating the treaty and the Indians were seeing their livelihood, the bison, being brought to the edge of extinction.
Comanche and Kiowa were the tribes that lived in this area. Several battles between the U.S. Army and the Indians happened within just a few miles of this location. Gen. George Armstrong Custer fought against Black Kettle and his Cheyenne people just east of here in Oklahoma. The Battle of Buffalo Wallow, The Battle of Adobe Walls and many other battles, all part of the Red River War, happened within a 100 mile radius of where you are standing. By 1870, the Southern Plains Indians had been decimated and were forced into reservations.
The lack of fresh water sources along with hostile Indians kept many white settlers out of the Texas Panhandle for many years. The windmill came along first and then irrigation tamed the Great Planes desert.
Keep your eyes open for deer, pronghorn antelope and especially rattlesnakes as you travel through this area. Less than two centuries ago, you may have possibly seen millions of bison but, unfortunately, you will not see them unless you find a ranch where they are being raised. If you are in this area right after a rain, you may see remains of the millions of buffalo in their “buffalo wallows” or what most people there call, “playa lakes.” The buffalo loved to wallow in mud and the sheer number of them left depressions throughout the Panhandle of Texas and West Texas.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx ng gur onfr bs gur cbjre cbyr.