In the early 1800s, miner thomas beale and a team of thirty other miners dug up gold and silver in new mexico. The true story of the beale treasure washington and new york, 1973, pp. Reviewed in the united states on september 26, 2001. He gave the innkeeper, robert morriss, a box for safekeeping. B ward began selling a pamphlet which purported to contain information about a sizeable treasure trove buried in the present state of virginia. The beale ciphers were first documented in a pamphlet released in 1885. I was just wondering if someone has already found it or if people are still looking. The directions to the vault area, construction details, talley of the pots plus contents and the final directions leading to the beale vault were entirely decoded from this cipher and no other. Beale paper 1 is said to provide the exact location of the hidden treasure. It was on this occasion that he met morriss for the first time. But i have been interested in the beale treasure since the early 80s.
A facsimile of the pamphlet is reproduced in peter viemeisters book, the beale treasure rev. This wealth allegedly had been amassed by one thomas jefferson beale and his associates, who travelled into the american. Comprising three ciphertexts, the first unsolved text describes the location, the second solved ciphertext the content of the treasure, and the third unsolved lists the. Comprising three ciphertexts, the first as yet unsolved text describes the location, the second. The area was video taped before and after excavatin. Beale s use of landmarks, the location of the excavation site and his method of concealement for both the treasure and the ciphers were absolutely. In the houston airport, i found a bookstore there in the gate area and began looking at a few books. Afterwards beale disappeared, never to be seen again. On august 22, a vast team of researchers from britain, the netherlands, france, canada and america announced that they had cracked a code. A frank vito bounty hunter series, is a gunblasting western, full of grit and spirit, that will keep your heart racing right up until the stunning conclusion. The beale ciphers or beale papers are a set of three ciphertexts, one of which allegedly. He was an actor, known for madame bovary 1964, eugenie grandet 1965 and treasure island 1977. Thomas jefferson beale was a mason and used the masonic key to encode the 2 and 3 page.
The following is a reprint of the beale papers published in 1885 by j. Among the most ardent treasure hunters attracted to the beale ciphers were the hart brothers, george and clayton. Beales treasure is just out there, somewhere, waiting for the right person. This video details the excavation area located 4 miles from the buford tavern site of montvale, virginia. Using the census of 1790 and other documents, viemeister has identified several thomas beales, who were born in virginia and whose backgrounds fit the few known facts.
To reduce the weight, beale traded some of the gold and silver for jewels, and in 1820 he travelled to lynchburg, found a suitable location, and buried the treasure. The lost treasure of thomas beale gcx1df was created by know future on 782006. Being an avid reader of treasure stories, i found a copy of the beale code solved in an old copy of treasure hunter. This site contains pictures and information concerning the beale ciphers and the discovery of the beale vault in bedford county virginia. What motives could have influenced him and so many others to risk their health and their lives in such an undertaking, except the natural love of daring. Exploring places of the beale treasure and possible simple. The treasure mapsdiaries were also being sold at every port of departure to the gold fields of california. Then he meets ellie, a fiery woman in search of the storied beale treasure, and everything changes. Undoubtedly, beale researchers will continue to study the codes, searching for a breakthrough. In 1818, a band of 30 virginians were on a hunting expedition in the great western plains when they discovered gold and silver somewhere in the rocky mountains. Peter is a local historian who does an excellent job with the history of the beals treasure. The beale papers wikisource, the free online library. The beale treasure suffer from the same problem as so many other legendary lost treasureslack of falsifiability.
Beale treasure codes solved rockhounds new treasure. Every step of decoding these ciphers is verified as you decode them by beal himself in clues left 200 years ago. The treasure was said to have been obtained by an american man named thomas jefferson beale in 1818 one of beale s letters suggests crevice mining of metallic gold, somewhat implausibly in the claimed terrain, but nothing else is known somewhere in what is now the american southwest. Legend says thomas jefferson beale found the treasure out west, brought it home to virginia, buried it and left behind three ciphers that will. When beale left at the end of the winter, he rejoined his men, who had continued to work the mine during his absence. For the full story, check the museums beale cryptograms page.
To reduce the weight, beale traded some of the gold and silver for jewels, and in 1820 he traveled to lynchburg, found a suitable location, and buried the treasure. First thing we look at are the dates given on the front page. The guardian 1999 as a result of the media frenzy over this weeks hotmail debacle, it would be easy to overlook another major story that concerned security on the internet. They brought the treasure to virginia, where beale. The second text, the only one deciphered, explains what the treasure is, and the third supposedly details the names of relatives that should get the treasure.
Ward published the beale papers, a pamphlet containing three coded messages, the solution of which, ward claimed, would lead to sizeable buried treasure. As you know this throws in lettters down through the message and when you get to. Beale codes and clues rockhounds new treasure hunters. Led by a charming yet mysterious adventurer named thomas j. Introduction thomas jefferson beale was a gentleman of leisure, a big game hunter, a wilderness adventurer and an. Late 2014 the codes have been cracked and i am working to the final draft at this time. Thomas beale was passing through when he gave a box to a local innkeeper by the name of robert morriss. Gcx1df the lost treasure of thomas beale unknown cache. This is a local mystery and i love to read different perspectives on the beale treasure. Then beale created a series of ciphers to make sure the treasure could be located in the event he and his group were killed. In 1992, i learned about the beale treasure while researching my book, the slave children of thomas jefferson. The world first learned of the beale ciphers in 1885 with the limited publication of a pamphlet in lynchburg, virginia entitled the beale papers. Some ports were as far away as china and australia. The mystery of the beale treasure originates from a small pamphlet published in 1885.
Trouble follows bounty hunter frank vito wherever he goes. If anyone is interested in the book it can be had at a local book store in bedford va. They explained that the beale code key was found in the back of thomas beales bible that was left with his family. The storyteller could be playing a game with the reader by leaving clues about the story. All information on beale and quotations have been taken from wards pamphlet as reproduced in the book. Beales buried treasure, theyd have to search like everybody else. Beale who in 1817 ventured west on a hunting expedition. List of blues clues episodes 1996 2004 krzysztofparzych duration. Beale, the group worked the mine for several years before returning home to bury their.
I took your solution to the code i have listed on my computer and used the simple function of replacing numbers with letters. Morriss the papers which form the subject of this history, is described as being a gentleman well educated, evidently of good family, and with popular manners. Myth hunters the mystery of thomas beales treasure tv. Two major television programsunsolved mysteries and arthur clarkes mysterious universetv reports, and countless magazine articles have fanned interest howard woodcock k. It includes the story of buried treasure left undiscovered, and encourages you to find it. The fifty cent booklet detailed circumstances in which an immense treasure was buried, and included coded messages left on how to find the secret stash of gold, silver, and other jewels. Lost treasure and the beale cipher mysterious writings. The best transcript of the pamphlet ive found, by someone identified only by the initials smb, is available for download here. Beale had discovered gold out west, with a group of fellow adventurers, and returned to bedford county, virginia, twice. To recap, thomas beale and thirty other people excavated a massive treasure between 1819 and 1821. There was a treasure buried by thomas jefferson beale in around 1820 and he left three sheets of clues as to where the treasure is. Perhaps the best indicator of this is the fact that b2 is keyed to the declaration of independence and a gentleman by the name of robert morris one s was one of the signers. The treasure chest is near pine trees, sagebrush and wildlife. Containing authenticated statements regarding the treasure buried in 1819 and 1821, near bufords, in bedford county, virginia, and which has never been recovered.
Peter viemeister, a local historian who showed me some of the places where treasure hunters have already looked, searched for evidence to prove that thomas beale existed. In light of this, it seems probable that beale would have taken into account the possibility that the key to his ciphers could be lost, and so would have left clues permitting the ciphers to be solved even without the key. Beale rode into the town of lynchburg, virginia, and checked. These mysterious unsolved clues lead to virginias lost. This book is an update from his 1987 book by the same title. Since the beale papers were printed in 1885, people all over the world have been fascinated by the beale treasure, purportedly buried near montvale, in bedford county. It tells the tale of the beale treasure and includes coded pages containing hundreds of numbers, plus a copy of the letter beale wrote in 1822 to the innkeeper. Many people do not know this, but thomas jefferson had children by several of his slaves. Innis and walter dean innis, gold in the blue ridge. Richard beale was born on may, 1920 in hackney, london, england as richard henry beale. The allure and fame brought to the person who does so, along with riches, is enough to keep people researching.
According to the pamphlet, the ciphers originated in bedford county, virginia in the 1820s. The treasure is in either new mexico, colorado, wyoming or montana. Apparently, beale instructed morriss to open the box after 10 years if no one claimed the buried gold, and a trusted friend would send along the key to decipher the coded pages. This treasure room may have been first established in those years, however, the beale portion of this treasure. Beale entered the washington inn in bedford county, virginia. The story of the beale ciphers begins in january 1820, when a stranger by the name of thomas j. We are told that this treasure was first buried in the years 1819 and 1821. The beale papers tells the story of a party of 30 virginians led by thomas j. The beale papers were one of hundreds of treasure maps that were being sold from the east coast of the us, all the way to the gold fields of the west coast. He could try to see how many clues he could leave without getting caught in a lie. Beale treasure new history of a mystery by peter viemeister. Thomas jefferson beale was a tall light skinned black man with reddish hair believed to be the son of thomas jefferson by his devoted slave edy.
They supposedly lead to a fortune buried in the virginia hills that has never been recovered. An even more persistent beale fanatic has been hiram herbert, jr. The beale treasure story is described in a 23page pamphlet entitled the beale papers, published by james b. They pored over the papers for decades, but clayton hart gave up in 1912, and george eventually abandoned hope in 1952.
It was first brought to the publics attention in 1885 by way of a pamphlet published by james b. If it can be deciphered, all thoughts for where the beale treasure would be solved. The only person who has decoded the beale ciphers using the key to each one in mid2009 i was on a business trip to the north carolina area. Brothers clayton and george hart try to crack the ciphers left by beale that allegedly hide the location of hidden treasure. The peaks of otter in the blue ridge mountains may be a clue to where beale buried gold, silver and jewels 160 years. Its a regular size geocache, with difficulty of 4, terrain of 1.
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