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William Stover Microbox LbNA #13652

Owner:Ramdelt
Plant date:Mar 6, 2005
Location:
City:Fort Collins
County:Larimer
State:Colorado
Boxes:1
Found by: Ramdelt
Last found:Apr 18, 2015
Status:FaFFFFFFFFFFFFaaO
Last edited:Mar 6, 2005
This box has been replaced for a 3rd time and is active as of it's new plant date of 4/18/2015.

This letterbox is the seventh in a series commemorating the history of Northern Colorado, and will take you to various outdoor historical sites.

William Stover was born into a wealthy family in Virginia, later moving to Indiana. In the spring of 1860, Williams father sent him west with horses, a wagon, clothing and provision in an attempt to start his own life. When he arrived in the Poudre Valley at age 19 Stover sold everything for a squatters claim south of present day Loveland. The following spring he used all of his money to buy potato seed and planted them in hopes of a huge profit. When his provisions ran out, Stover had to dig up his potatoes to eat himself. By winter, Stover had eaten all of his own crop and had nothing to sell. To make matters worse, William had not proper shoes, only gunny sacks made into moccasins, and the weather was getting cold. He and a friend walked all of the way to Boulder, borrowed eight dollars, and bought a pair of boots. Stover paid back the eight dollars the following year by putting up hay. He then sold his land and left the Poudre Valley for Virginia City, Montana and the gold rush. A couple of years later he returned to Indiana to borrow more money from his father, bought a fleet of wagons, stocked them with provisions and headed back to Montana. Flour was selling for $100 a sack and Stover made $5000 on that trip. After many more trips, Stover sold his equipment, paid back his father, and returned to the Poudre Valley. In 1870 he moved north to Fort Collins and in the company of John Mathews, bought out Joseph Mason’s store. Since it was the only general store in the area, Stover did very well.

In 1881 William Stover partnered with Abner Loomis to build the Poudre Valley Bank, costing $32,000. The bank later became the Linden Hotel. This bank was to compete with Franklin Avery’s new bank. The Loomis Andrews Building stands at the corner of Linden and Walnut.

There will be a first finder “prize” for the first finder of this letterbox. ENJOY!

Clues:

1. Find the street in town named for this historical person and head to it’s midpoint.

2. Near this point you will find a building that used to be an elementary school with a mascot of a Bulldog. The previous location for this box was in the rear of this building near the parking lot. Now head south down the road and turn left just before you cross a bridge.

3. Just after turning left, you will see a trial marker and small parking area. Park here and enter the trail heading away from the bridge.

4. Eventually you will reach a post with a blue sign on it on the left side of the trail. You are now 0.75 miles from College Avenue. Across the trail from this sign you will notice some trees that have been cut down by what appears to have been a beaver. To the left of these stumps you will find a large tree that is whitewashed and missing some bark. You may also notice some nails in the tree for no apparent reason. At the base of this tree is William Stover's new home. Please note that the opening faces the trail and thus it is critical that you re-hide the box well with sticks and bark. You will also notice that people will pass by often so make sure you are very stealthy.

Since this is a public place, please be discreet. Leave a short message in the journal if you wish. If you want, please let me know when you find the box and it‘s condition. After you are done, check out the other letterboxes in Northern Colorado.

Planted by Ramdelt.
A handmade stamp, journal.