History May 2000 geocaching group
The first geocache was hidden on May 3 2000, by Dave Ulmer. The announcement of the hide took place on a newsgroup that was frequented by techies who were into GPS use.
(check my comments below this post for links to the May3 2000 usenet announcement of about hiding a geocache.)
By May 15, 2000 a group was set up on Yahoo for Dave and his cohorts to discuss this new hobby. All the original posts are still available to see. The name geocache had not been created, so the group was called gpsstash · Global Positioning Stash Hunt. It retains that name.
Here is a link to the page with the first message. I am not certain if you have to be a member of the group to see the messages
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gpsstash/messages/1?l=1
A lot of the early discussion and arguments involved finding a name for this hobby. Item 62 seems to be the first mention of the name geocache. Here is that message from May 30 2000
Message 62
the word “stash” with “cache”? “GPS Cache Hunt”
and “Geocache” still sound find. I believe it still works
with all of the variations that David came up with
(Geocaching, geocacher, etc).
Here’s my reasoning:
1) Several people have already stated their dislike for
the term “stash” on the basis that it sounds illegal.
To my ears, “stash” sounds a little immature, but that’s
a personal feeling.
2) “Back in the old days”, especially in the Yukon and
northern climes, explorers would leave caches of food
and supplies at known locations so that they’d
have them on their return trip. Some caches were
“community property” and known by all who took a
particular trail. If they needed something, they took it,
and if they had extras of something, they left it. Sound
familiar?
3) The word “cache” both brings forth feelings of nostalgia for the
days of exploring, as well as a “techie” feeling for those
that associate it with computer memory.
Personally, when I get a chance to check on my cache’s
again (they’re 6 hrs from where I live) I’ll remove all references
to any particular game. I’ll probably add a custom rubber
stamp and register the cache with the letterboxing folks as
well. Might as well double the fun. My “clue” for the letterboxing
folks will simply be the lat/lon coordinates. I believe their game
is flexible enough to allow that.
Matt
***************************
I had no idea the original posts were still there. VERY cool
Even better…. Here is the link to Dave Ulmer’s announcement of the idea of caching.
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.satellite-nav/browse_thread/thread/bc5e45a8542e4526/1256e6953148b1cf?q=
Interestingly he not only mentions hiding, he suggests trading, signing a log book, and logging your find online.
Here is the May 3 2000 usenet posting announcing the first hide
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.satellite-nav/browse_thread/thread/99c847733cb3547a/78ecbcc171b3f4a7?q=