The Grave of Willem Van Kikkerblij LbNA #8920 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | N/A |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 21, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| City: | ????? |
| County: | Montgomery |
| State: | Pennsylvania |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | NattyBumppo & Walker
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|---|---|
| Found by: | Not yet found! |
| Last found: | N/A |
| Last edited: | Jun 21, 2004 |
THE GRAVE OF WILLEM VAN KIKKERBLIJ
MISSING!! 07/26/04
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR REPLACEMENT
Difficulty: Do Your Homework: Easy.
Time: Do Your Homework: 10 mins.
Willem Van Kikkerblij is not one of the most well-known Dutch Explorers of the 1600s. If he is remembered at all, it is for his complete ineptitude at navigation and his incredible run of luck.
It is completely possible that Van Kikkerblij was the first European to visit many Pacific Islands and African Coastal tribes. He is never credited as a “discoverer” because he never really knew where he was. could not find his way back, and was basically stopping off for water and directions every time.
Some of his difficulties can be traced to the fact that he often wore a highly magnetic lodestone on his belt. Some crew members took it as a lucky sign that the compass would often follow the Captain around the deck. Wiser Seamen who survived his voyages quickly sought other berths.
The legend of his luck grew from a trip to Portugal to buy cork. Van Kikkerblij somehow landed in Venice at the same time as two merchant fleets with cargos of Chinese silk. He filled his ship, “Der Dwaas” with silk and headed for home. Months later he dropped anchor somewhere in southern Africa. As fortune would have it, the local tribes had never seen silk before and they were more than willing to trade some of the local rocks for the amazing fabric. Van Kikkerblij set sail for London with a new cargo of diamonds. It is often said that aiming for London is what finally brought him home to Rotterdam. And he came home a very rich man.
By 1625 trade with the New World colony of Plymouth was booming. The Dutch fleet was engaged in a triangle trade of goods between Europe, the Caribbean islands, and the American colonies.
Van Kikkerblij lost much of his fortune gambling. As luck would have it, one of the things he lost was his lodestone belt buckle. That may explain why his first run to the Caribbean was so successful. When the crew returned the lodestone belt, recovered from a Rotterdam pawn shop, to him to celebrate their departure for Plymouth Colony with a hold full of sugar and other tropical delights, his luck may have run out.
He never made it to Massachusetts. A sudden squall drove him into Delaware Bay. Bad judgment sent him up the Schuylkill River near present-day Philadelphia. And greed drove him on after the river ripped the bottom off his ship. Van Kikkerblij left his crew and set off in a row boat, convinced that the Northwest Passage to the Pacific (and the riches of the Orient) were right around the next bend of the river.
Unfortunately around the next bend were more rocks that punched holes in his boat. Some trading with the local Lenape Indians got Van Kikkerblij and his Cabin Boy, Dirck, a canoe in Conshohocken and they continued up the Schuylkill.
Here the story gets fuzzy. A letter Dirck wrote to Pope Alexander VII in 1660 claimed that a tumble from the canoe brought Van Kikkerblij face-to-face with the largest bullfrog he had ever seen. The frog (or “kikker” in Dutch) had great significance for Van Kikkerblij. It was a totem featured proudly on the family crest.
According to Dirck, the frog took off hopping up a stream near modern-day Norristown. Taking it as a sign, Van Kikkerblij followed with Dirck in pursuit. One and one-half leagues up the rocky creek bed, the frog disappeared up a smaller creek. A crazed Van Kikkerblij disappeared with him. When Dirck found him the next day, he was face-down in the creek bed surrounded by frogs. A delirious Van Kikkerblij asked if they had found Plymouth Colony.
“East Plymouth,” Dirck lied to his dying Captain.
Captain Willem Van Kikkerblij surveyed the high creek bank around him. “I am happy to die in this fine valley. A valley of happy frogs.” And with that, he passed away.
Dirck made his way back to the Schuylkill River and downstream to his shipwrecked crewmates. A week later, a burial crew returned to lay their captain to rest. They dammed the creek briefly and dug his grave in the creek bed where he had died among the happy frogs.
Two centuries later, the creek they followed from the Schuylkill River was named the Saw Mill Run. The creek that runs over the bones of Willem Van Kikkerblij has no name. It is as anonymous as the man buried there. To this day the area is called East Plymouth Valley. Most of the frogs are gone, but it is Home to Spartans and Fields of Diamonds. A bridge crosses the creek over the spot where Willem Van Kikkerblij lies. Pay your respects and claim your prize under the bridge.
1. BYO Ink Pad
2. Many many prying eyes. Recover and replace the box discreetly.
3. Contact me if box is damaged or missing: Nattybumppolbna@aol.com
4. Note: Store-Bought Stamp [SBS]
MISSING!! 07/26/04
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR REPLACEMENT
Difficulty: Do Your Homework: Easy.
Time: Do Your Homework: 10 mins.
Willem Van Kikkerblij is not one of the most well-known Dutch Explorers of the 1600s. If he is remembered at all, it is for his complete ineptitude at navigation and his incredible run of luck.
It is completely possible that Van Kikkerblij was the first European to visit many Pacific Islands and African Coastal tribes. He is never credited as a “discoverer” because he never really knew where he was. could not find his way back, and was basically stopping off for water and directions every time.
Some of his difficulties can be traced to the fact that he often wore a highly magnetic lodestone on his belt. Some crew members took it as a lucky sign that the compass would often follow the Captain around the deck. Wiser Seamen who survived his voyages quickly sought other berths.
The legend of his luck grew from a trip to Portugal to buy cork. Van Kikkerblij somehow landed in Venice at the same time as two merchant fleets with cargos of Chinese silk. He filled his ship, “Der Dwaas” with silk and headed for home. Months later he dropped anchor somewhere in southern Africa. As fortune would have it, the local tribes had never seen silk before and they were more than willing to trade some of the local rocks for the amazing fabric. Van Kikkerblij set sail for London with a new cargo of diamonds. It is often said that aiming for London is what finally brought him home to Rotterdam. And he came home a very rich man.
By 1625 trade with the New World colony of Plymouth was booming. The Dutch fleet was engaged in a triangle trade of goods between Europe, the Caribbean islands, and the American colonies.
Van Kikkerblij lost much of his fortune gambling. As luck would have it, one of the things he lost was his lodestone belt buckle. That may explain why his first run to the Caribbean was so successful. When the crew returned the lodestone belt, recovered from a Rotterdam pawn shop, to him to celebrate their departure for Plymouth Colony with a hold full of sugar and other tropical delights, his luck may have run out.
He never made it to Massachusetts. A sudden squall drove him into Delaware Bay. Bad judgment sent him up the Schuylkill River near present-day Philadelphia. And greed drove him on after the river ripped the bottom off his ship. Van Kikkerblij left his crew and set off in a row boat, convinced that the Northwest Passage to the Pacific (and the riches of the Orient) were right around the next bend of the river.
Unfortunately around the next bend were more rocks that punched holes in his boat. Some trading with the local Lenape Indians got Van Kikkerblij and his Cabin Boy, Dirck, a canoe in Conshohocken and they continued up the Schuylkill.
Here the story gets fuzzy. A letter Dirck wrote to Pope Alexander VII in 1660 claimed that a tumble from the canoe brought Van Kikkerblij face-to-face with the largest bullfrog he had ever seen. The frog (or “kikker” in Dutch) had great significance for Van Kikkerblij. It was a totem featured proudly on the family crest.
According to Dirck, the frog took off hopping up a stream near modern-day Norristown. Taking it as a sign, Van Kikkerblij followed with Dirck in pursuit. One and one-half leagues up the rocky creek bed, the frog disappeared up a smaller creek. A crazed Van Kikkerblij disappeared with him. When Dirck found him the next day, he was face-down in the creek bed surrounded by frogs. A delirious Van Kikkerblij asked if they had found Plymouth Colony.
“East Plymouth,” Dirck lied to his dying Captain.
Captain Willem Van Kikkerblij surveyed the high creek bank around him. “I am happy to die in this fine valley. A valley of happy frogs.” And with that, he passed away.
Dirck made his way back to the Schuylkill River and downstream to his shipwrecked crewmates. A week later, a burial crew returned to lay their captain to rest. They dammed the creek briefly and dug his grave in the creek bed where he had died among the happy frogs.
Two centuries later, the creek they followed from the Schuylkill River was named the Saw Mill Run. The creek that runs over the bones of Willem Van Kikkerblij has no name. It is as anonymous as the man buried there. To this day the area is called East Plymouth Valley. Most of the frogs are gone, but it is Home to Spartans and Fields of Diamonds. A bridge crosses the creek over the spot where Willem Van Kikkerblij lies. Pay your respects and claim your prize under the bridge.
1. BYO Ink Pad
2. Many many prying eyes. Recover and replace the box discreetly.
3. Contact me if box is damaged or missing: Nattybumppolbna@aol.com
4. Note: Store-Bought Stamp [SBS]