A look at the roots of both Letterboxing, Geocaching

The Lake Oswego Review, Feb 4, 2010

Carolyn Osmond uses a handheld GPS system to search for and record her “finds.”

vern uyetake / lake oswego review / west linn tidings

ADVERTISEMENTS

A history of Letterboxing starting in Dartmour, England in 1854:

James Perrott, a Victorian guide, is credited with starting letterboxing by placing a bottle in the wildest, most inaccessible area in Dartmour, England, along the banks of Cranmere Pool. In it, he placed his business card so future visitors could contact him and leave their own calling cards. Little did anyone know this small act would become the hobby known today as letterboxing.

The first suggestion for a rubber stamp appeared in a logbook in July 1907, by John H. Strother, who wrote, “Reached the pool at 7:10 p.m. misty day with cool breeze, and would suggest that a rubber stamp … be provided and kept here. If this were done it would be proof that cards posted had really come from Cranmere.” The letterbox finally came to be a box such as we know today, with logbook and a rubber stamp.

Letterboxing stayed a mostly Dartmoor-only tradition until April 1998 when Smithsonian Magazine published an article in the United States about this British hobby. Through this effort, Letterboxing North America (LbNA) was born. Today, letterboxing is worldwide activity with participants in more than 200 countries and territories. Atlasquest.com reports 113,960 active boxes.

LbNA has a membership of more than 42,000.

A History of Geocaching

An American invention

At midnight on May 2, 2000, a switch controlling selective availability was thrown, and 24 satellites around the globe processed their new orders, and instantly the accuracy of Global Positioning System technology improved tenfold. Tens of thousand of GPS receivers around the world had an instant upgrade.

GPS enthusiast Dave Ulmer wanted to test the accuracy of the new system by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the “great American GPS Stash Hunt” and posted it in an Internet GPS user’s group. The idea was to hide a container in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.

The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of a GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: “Take some stuff, leave some stuff.”

On May 3, Ulmer placed his container in the woods near Beavercreek, Ore. He shared the waypoint of his “stash” with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav: N 45º 17.460 W 122º 24.800

Within three days, two different readers read about his stash on the Internet and used their own GPS receivers to find the container. They shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week, others excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes, began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates. Like many new and innovative ideas on the Internet, the concept spread quickly.

1 | 2 Next Page >>