The Beale ciphers are a set of three ciphertexsts, one of which allegedly states the location of a buried treasure of gold, silver and jewels estimated to be worth over $63 million US dollars as of September 2011. The other two ciphertexts allegedly describe the content of the treasure, and list the names of the treasure's owners' next of kin, respectively. The story of the three ciphertexts originates from an 1885 pamphlet detailing treasure being buried by a man named Thomas Jefferson Beale in a secret location in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1820. Beale entrusted the box containing the encrypted messages with a local innkeeper named Robert Morriss and then disappeared, never to be seen again. The innkeeper gave the three encrypted ciphertexts to a friend before he died. The friend then spent the next twenty years of his life trying to decode the messages, and was able to solve only one of them which gave details of the treasure buried and the general location of the treasure. He published all three ciphertexts in a pamphlet, although most of the originals were destroyed in a warehouse fire.
However, in 1982 Joe Nickell published a scholarly analysis of the papers, using historical records that cast doubt on the existence of "Beale", and linguistic evidence demonstrating that the documents could not have been written at the time alleged (words like "stampeding", for instance, are of later vintage). His analysis of the writing style showed that "Beale" was almost certainly James B. Ward, whose 1885 pamphlet brought the Beale papers to light. Nickell argues that the tale is thus a work of fiction; specifically, a "secret vault" allegory of the Freemasons. James B. Ward was, in fact, a Mason himself.
Since the publication of the pamphlet, a number of attempts have been made to decode the two remaining ciphertexts and to locate the treasure, but all efforts have resulted in failure.
The Story
Beale allegedly placed the cipher texts in an iron box, and left it with a reliable person in 1822, a Lynchburg innkeeper, Robert Morriss. The treasure was supposed to be buried near Montvale in Bedford County, Virginia. Beale asked Morriss not to open the box, unless he or one of his men failed to return from their journey within 10 years. Beale promised a friend in St. Louis would mail Morriss the key to the cryptograms, but it never arrived. In 1845 Morriss opened the box and unsuccessfully attempted to solve the ciphers. Decades later he left the box and contents to a friend.
Using an edition of the United States Declaration of Independence as the key for a modified book cipher, the friend successfully deciphered the second cipher text, which gave descriptions of the buried treasure. The friend ultimately made the letters and cipher texts public, apparently by James B Ward, in an 1885 pamphlet titled The Beale Papers. Ward is thus not 'the friend'. Ward himself is almost untraceable in local records except that a man with that name owned the home in which a Sarah Morriss, identified as the consort of Robert Morriss, died in at 77 (Lynchburg Virginian newspaper, May 21, 1865). He also is recorded as becoming a Master Mason in 1863. There was no explanation of the accident which led to the solution of the second ciphertext, which perhaps suggests that there was additional information now lost (from Morriss?).
Size of the Treasure
The totals given in the second cryptogram come to 35,052 troy ounces gold (worth about US $63million in September 2011), 61,200 troy ounces silver (worth about US $1m in 2010) and jewels which were worth US $13,000 in 1818: this sum is worth around $180,000 in 2010 terms. The treasure would weigh about three tons.
Digging for the Treasure
Doubts have not deterred many treasure hunters, however. The 'information' that there is buried treasure in Bedford County has stimulated many an expedition with shovels, and other implements of discovery, looking for likely spots. For more than a hundred years, people have been arrested for trespassing and unauthorized digging; some of them in groups as in the case of people from Pennsylvania in the 1990s.
There is reportedly a story of a woman digging up the cemetery of Mountain View Church in February 1983, because she was convinced that Beale had hidden the treasure there. This took place at the top of Porter's Mountain exactly four miles east of Buford's Tavern.
Several other digs were completed at the top of Porter's Mountain. One dig was completed in the late 80s with the land owner's permission as long as any treasure found was split 50/50. The treasure hunters only dug up Civil War artifacts. The value of these artifacts paid for time and equipment rental; these hunters broke even.
The story has been the subject of at least two television documentaries (one is in the UK's Mysteries series; another is the 2011 Declaration of Independence episode of the History Channel TV show Brad Meltzer's Decoded), several books, and considerable Internet activity.
Many locals who believe in the treasure think it is near Peaks of Otter, although the Peaks are over four miles from Buford's Tavern. The majority of locals believe the treasure is located at the top of Porter's Mountain located just behind Buford's Tavern. A trip to the top of Porter's Mountain from Buford's Tavern is four miles. The land owners on Porter's Mountain are fully aware of treasure hunters and permission from these owners must be obtained before any hunting can take place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_ciphers
However, in 1982 Joe Nickell published a scholarly analysis of the papers, using historical records that cast doubt on the existence of "Beale", and linguistic evidence demonstrating that the documents could not have been written at the time alleged (words like "stampeding", for instance, are of later vintage). His analysis of the writing style showed that "Beale" was almost certainly James B. Ward, whose 1885 pamphlet brought the Beale papers to light. Nickell argues that the tale is thus a work of fiction; specifically, a "secret vault" allegory of the Freemasons. James B. Ward was, in fact, a Mason himself.
Since the publication of the pamphlet, a number of attempts have been made to decode the two remaining ciphertexts and to locate the treasure, but all efforts have resulted in failure.
The Story
- It is important to note that all of the following information originates from one source — a single pamphlet published in 1885, entitled "The Beale Papers."
Beale allegedly placed the cipher texts in an iron box, and left it with a reliable person in 1822, a Lynchburg innkeeper, Robert Morriss. The treasure was supposed to be buried near Montvale in Bedford County, Virginia. Beale asked Morriss not to open the box, unless he or one of his men failed to return from their journey within 10 years. Beale promised a friend in St. Louis would mail Morriss the key to the cryptograms, but it never arrived. In 1845 Morriss opened the box and unsuccessfully attempted to solve the ciphers. Decades later he left the box and contents to a friend.
Using an edition of the United States Declaration of Independence as the key for a modified book cipher, the friend successfully deciphered the second cipher text, which gave descriptions of the buried treasure. The friend ultimately made the letters and cipher texts public, apparently by James B Ward, in an 1885 pamphlet titled The Beale Papers. Ward is thus not 'the friend'. Ward himself is almost untraceable in local records except that a man with that name owned the home in which a Sarah Morriss, identified as the consort of Robert Morriss, died in at 77 (Lynchburg Virginian newspaper, May 21, 1865). He also is recorded as becoming a Master Mason in 1863. There was no explanation of the accident which led to the solution of the second ciphertext, which perhaps suggests that there was additional information now lost (from Morriss?).
Size of the Treasure
The totals given in the second cryptogram come to 35,052 troy ounces gold (worth about US $63million in September 2011), 61,200 troy ounces silver (worth about US $1m in 2010) and jewels which were worth US $13,000 in 1818: this sum is worth around $180,000 in 2010 terms. The treasure would weigh about three tons.
Digging for the Treasure
Doubts have not deterred many treasure hunters, however. The 'information' that there is buried treasure in Bedford County has stimulated many an expedition with shovels, and other implements of discovery, looking for likely spots. For more than a hundred years, people have been arrested for trespassing and unauthorized digging; some of them in groups as in the case of people from Pennsylvania in the 1990s.
There is reportedly a story of a woman digging up the cemetery of Mountain View Church in February 1983, because she was convinced that Beale had hidden the treasure there. This took place at the top of Porter's Mountain exactly four miles east of Buford's Tavern.
Several other digs were completed at the top of Porter's Mountain. One dig was completed in the late 80s with the land owner's permission as long as any treasure found was split 50/50. The treasure hunters only dug up Civil War artifacts. The value of these artifacts paid for time and equipment rental; these hunters broke even.
The story has been the subject of at least two television documentaries (one is in the UK's Mysteries series; another is the 2011 Declaration of Independence episode of the History Channel TV show Brad Meltzer's Decoded), several books, and considerable Internet activity.
Many locals who believe in the treasure think it is near Peaks of Otter, although the Peaks are over four miles from Buford's Tavern. The majority of locals believe the treasure is located at the top of Porter's Mountain located just behind Buford's Tavern. A trip to the top of Porter's Mountain from Buford's Tavern is four miles. The land owners on Porter's Mountain are fully aware of treasure hunters and permission from these owners must be obtained before any hunting can take place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_ciphers
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