Poudrecacher , a geocacher who lives in the Poudre Canyon, placed a series of unique and innovative caches in and around the Poudre River Canyon. His “Nature Bats Last” series was a delight featuring varied and challenging hides. They became the favorite of many who geocached the Poudre Canyon. There comes a time when maintaining caches become physically challenging and Mother Nature says it is time to move on. This was the case with Poudrecacher, who with great remorse, had to archive many of his caches. So as to not lose these very special caches, ten of them are being re-born in a new series called “Poudrecacher Favorite”. This will allow these innovative caches to live on for the geocaching community to enjoy. Thanks Poudrecacher for allowing the rebirth of your caches and for the enjoyment you have given to geocachers seeking your caches!
Description from the original cache page:
Heading west into beautiful Poudre Canyon, drive 7.7 miles from the cattle guard at the mouth of the canyon and park off the road on your right.
The wild and scenic Cache La Poudre River, pronounced 'pooder', is French for "hide the powder". The history, and mystery, of its name certainly is colorful.
***In 1820, expedition leader Major Stephen H. Long, said this river was called Pateros Creek "from a Frenchman who was said to have been bewildered upon it, wandering about for twenty days almost without food."
***C. A. Duncan shared a story of an old fur trader "camped in a dugout in the winter of 1839-40" along the river near Greeley. He was found to be insane and was in a "pitiful condition". The river was named the Piteux...French for piteous.
***In 1949, John Colhoff, an Indian historian from the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota, "told of the days when his grandparents, members of the Ki-Ya-Ksa Indian band of the Sioux, called the river Minni Luzahan which means 'swift current'."
***In 1883, Abner Loomis told a story about Antoine Janis. Antoine told Loomis a party of trappers in 1836 working for the American Fur company were on their way from St. Louis up to Green River, Wyoming. They camped near the current site of Bellvue. Antoine's father was the captain of the party. Antoine was only a boy of 12. The trappers decided to lighten their load after a heavy snowstorm. They dug a deep cellar-like pit and buried some goods and a large amount of powder. Then they burned a brushpile on top of it to make it look like an old campsite. After reaching Green River, some of the team returned to recover their cache...hence, the name Cache La Poudre.
***Now, it gets real interesting. There was no known American Fur Trade expedition to this area in 1836. Some historians think Antoine Janis may have been talking about William Ashley's 1825 expedition. The mystery continues...
Trappers, cached powder, heavy snowstorm...sounds like She was batting last back in the day, too. Have fun and enjoy the swag!
(Fort Collins Public Library Archives: Rheba Massey)