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Curwood Castle LbNA #39439 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Prince Igor
Plant date:Apr 12, 2010
Location:
City:Owosso
County:Shiawassee
State:Michigan
Boxes:1
Found by: Butterfly Lady
Last found:Aug 4, 2013
Status:aFFaFFFFFFFFFm
Last edited:Apr 12, 2010
***THE BOX IS MISSING*** 7/5/15
I found the camo pouch near the tree trunk, but the stamp and the logbook were not in it. It's gone. I will be carving a fifth stamp very soon.


This is the fourth stamp that I have placed at this site.
The first stamp disappeared after the tree in which it was hidden was cut down by lumberjacks. The second one was along the riverbank and disappeared, probably floated away. The third stamp’s fate we’ll never know. My wife jokingly thinks that someone is collecting Curwood Castle stamps. That would be pretty pathetic.

The hand-carved image on this fourth stamp is the same as the other three. I’m getting really good at carving this image. It should be noted that the third stamp was a reverse image of the other three. I forgot to turn the tracing paper over and so I carved a positive instead of a negative image. The image is facing the wrong way on the third stamp. If you have an impression of that third stamp, you may have a collector’s item. Cherish it forever. This fourth stamp, however, has the correct orientation and has better carved lines.

Curwood Castle is a large house constructed in the style of an 18th century French chateau. It was the writing studio of the author James Oliver Curwood (1878 - 1927) who wrote many wilderness adventure stories. The castle is now a museum owned by the city of Owosso and is located in a park alongside the Shiawassee River. It is located a block northeast of the intersection of M21 and M52 in downtown Owosso.

Starting from the front door of the castle, walk along the river, go to the footbridge and cross the river. Walk along the sidewalk on the other side of the river until you are opposite the castle. You will see an island in the middle of the river. There you will see ankle-deep rapids (series of submerged rocks) between the shore and the island. Looking along the length of the island you will see, downriver, a large fallen tree with the top half hanging in and above the river. That fallen tree is your goal. Walk across to the island along the rapids. The river bottom is very rocky so you may want to wear sandals. Once you reach the island, walk downriver along the riverbank, in the water. The island is covered with thick vegetation, possibly poison ivy, so forget about walking on the island. After a short distance, you will come across a small sandy landing with the base of the large fallen tree before you. The fallen tree has a hollow interior (not the stump but the tree trunk itself). This hollow tree trunk is about waist to chest high off the ground. In that trunk is the letterbox, in a camo bag hidden under some tree bark.

When you are on the shore, you can easily see the large fallen tree trunk, with its jagged edges. It’s a very large fallen tree on the downriver end of the island. And there’s a small sandy landing right at the base of that fallen tree. You could possibly wade over at that spot. The river is just a little deeper there. In the spring time, the water level is much higher and wading could be problematic. In the winter, the river probably freezes over so walking across is a possibility.

Be very careful when wading! Also, this is a high traffic area. There are fishermen wading in the river as well as people wading in the water just for fun. There are lots of pedestrians and occasionally there are wedding receptions in the park. The letterbox is in an area that is not very easily seen or frequented, so you should have no problems getting to the box.