# Geocaching: first cache and replication

> A GPS treasure hunt grew from one Oregon bucket to 75 listed caches in four months.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Activity
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2000-05-03
- Milestone date: 2000-09-02
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 20 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Maker origin, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Dave Ulmer posted a hidden bucket’s coordinates to a GPS newsgroup. Other readers found it and hid their own caches. A shared directory and later news coverage helped the activity escape its original technical audience.

## Timeline

- 2000-05-03 — Dave Ulmer (Open web) — Ulmer hid a bucket near Beavercreek and posted its coordinates to a GPS newsgroup.
- 2000-05-12 — Peter McKellar (Open web) — Placed a red-bucket cache near Rotorua, New Zealand; the surviving listing invites others to create more hides.
- 2000-05-30 — Matt Stum (Open web) — Stum proposed the name geocaching on the GPS Stash Hunt mailing list.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/geocaching-first-cache-and-replication

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Geocaching: first cache and replication.” Case HIS-01078. Spread Score v1.2: 20/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01078