Bored at the Adjutant General (AG) Captains Career Course, I found myself alone in the hotel researching South Carolina’s historic areas.  I’m not on the east coast very often and wanted to see what the state had to offer.  I decided to use this information to coordinate a State House scavenger hunt for class physical training.  With over 30 memorials on the state house grounds, I enjoyed the tour as many of the clues including statues dating into the 1800s. I think my classmates enjoyed it also, despite the early morning humidity.

CLUES

Complete in order.

Clue 1- Find the monument dedicated to South Carolina’s fallen Law Enforcement Officers and complete 20 elevated push-ups using the ledge of the monument.

Fill in the blank quoting the inscription on this monument.  “Lest    ____    ____________”

Clue 2- Find the symbols that mark the locations the State House was hit by artillery on February 19^th, 1865 during the Civil War.

What is this symbol?    ____________________

Clue 3- Find the “Palm Tree” monument and complete lunges in a circle around the entire structure.

This monument honors what regiment that fought during the Mexican War? ____________

Clue 4- Find the tallest statue on the State House grounds and conduct 25 flutter-kicks at its base.

The monument was unveiled on what day? ________________________

Clue 5- Find the man carrying a rifle and complete 25 over-head claps in front of him.

What test did the South Carolina troops volunteer for according to the monument?  _____________

Clue 6-Find the monument with the broken cane and take a picture of each team member next to it.

Name the president holding the broken cane.  ___________________________

Clue 7-Complete 20 push-ups in front of the African-American monument.

According to the monument, slaves were transported from what four areas in Africa?  _____________________________________________________________________

Clue 8- Find the General on his horse and complete 25 crunches next to the monument.

What is the General’s name?   _________________

Clue 9… FINAL CLUE- To find the last clue, unscramble the letters below to name the Army officer and first person in United States history to win a major election by write-in ballot.  (Hint: A street on Fort Jackson is named after him.)

MSRTO MNTRDHUO                       ___________      ___________________

Once every member of your team touches this monument, you’re done!

My almost-thirty member class split into teams of three and completed the scavenger hunt in about 30 minutes.  We ran a couple flights of the State House stairs to finish off our physical training (PT).

Cut out the PT parts of the clues and I think anyone could complete this hunt.  The clue answers are located at the bottom of this post.  Check out the Columbia’s State House website for an interactive state house map and additional historic information.

Happy Hunting!

Clue 1:  ”Lest We Forget”
Clue 2:  Star
Clue 3:  Palmetto
Clue 4:  May 13, 1879
Clue 5:  Yellow Fever
Clue 6:  George Washington
Clue 7:  The Congo, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone
Clue 8:  Wade Hampton
Clue 9:  Strom Thurmond