26. Hamilton, Hamilton County

Such an impressive courthouse for such a tiny town…  As I did my traditional walkaround (and bathroom stop, but that’s a different issue all together, I was a little surprised that the building was even open.  It was a national holiday after all, but not exactly one of the big ones.  It also started raining a bit.  It had rained on the way here (which would come back to haunt me later) though the weather reports hadn’t shown any indications of rain.  I really have only one regret: that I did not take photos of all the haybale art.  I must admit that I didn’t even know that haybale art was really a thing.  But it was everywhere: in yards, in front of businesses, on the courthouse grounds.  That was a real opportunity missed.

One interesting thing, though is that, other than having it’s obligatory military monument, there was this one to Ann Whitney.  As you can see, she was a teacher killed protecting her students from Comanche attack.  I have no doubt I could turn this into a metaphor for current events, but I won’t.  Had I thought about it, I should have gotten a photo of her actual grave because I had to go out there for the cache.

There aren’t any caches close in town so I had to come out to the Graves-Gentry to get one.  Small town cemetery with really old stones.  The cache itself was near the grave of a former congressman, hidden in a tree under a porcelain sheep’s head.  The name of the cache was “‘Sheepshead’ Near History” so I don’t feel I’m giving anything away here.  More importantly, this is a milestone cache of sorts.  This one represents surpassing 10% of the counties in Texas cached.  I know it’s not much, but great oaks from little acorns grow or some kind of crap like that.  I came, I saw, I logged, and then I left and hit the road for…