Finding this set of marks was a two-day adventure for me (three days for Rich, but the first day was planned only as a scouting expedition for him). Early on the morning of the 18th, we met at the start of the jeep trail just off of Olyphant Avenue. I hopped into Rich’s car (the more rugged of the two) and we drove in about 1/4 mile, as far as he felt comfortable. We approached the mark on foot through dense woods and brush.
The station mark was easy for me to locate because Rich had unearthed it and cleaned it off just days before. The reference marks, however, gave us more of a challenge; the historic descriptions did not match what we found in the area, and we could not reconcile some of the measurements. We attempted to position a stake in the location of the second witness post (in accordance with the 1974 description) and we took our measurements from that point. We took great pains to measure the distances and directions and probe the earth, but for two hours we came up with nothing.
Just as we realized the hour was getting late and we needed to leave, Rich’s probing paid off and he uncovered RM 2 at approximately the distance noted (in 1974) from what remains of the cherry tree.