Ward, in 1885. Edgar Allan Poe, whose story "The Gold Bug" centers around a cipher, prided himself on his skill as a cryptographer, and in 1840 wrote a magazine article in which he offered a subscription to any reader who could send him a coded message that he couldn't solve. You have to believe me. The men abandoned their recreation and worked the mine, extracting a fortune in gold "as well as silver, which had likewise been found," according to the letter. In 2018, Lucas Reilly was a senior editor at the media outlet Mental Floss. So, I used my imagination and thought R for Right, S for South, P for Port Side and Q for Quarter Turn. Its fun to go into their world every so often. Ward, the pamphleteer. to the Beale Vaultwere entirely decoded from this cipher and no other.Beale's use of landmarks, the location of the Of the many locations to consider, the one I most wanted to seek out was on the mountain above where Bufords Tavern once stood. New information will be on display hereasas Beales Brewery uses the treasure story to make its signature brew: Beales Gold. Now, following this thought I explored further and counted the total numbers per line and translated that number to a letter of the alphabet interstignly enough the lines worked out to mostly R S P and one Q. The buried 6 feet is one clue to go on- I dont think the phrase was given as a puzzle to solve.but since that is all we have, then it is worth some thought.and sort of is. They tell a fascinating story which has become a part of Virginia legend?a tale of adventure, early bonanza, lost treasure, secret codes which remain unsolved. Such an action would have changed everything for the region. But even if it doesn't, the Beale Ciphers two of which remain unsolved have continued to fascinate both amateur and professional cryptographers, to the point that the National Security Agency actually has compiled a file of articles and reports on the mystery. Shes the author of Introduction to Codes and Ciphers, Plus 20 Famous Unsolved Codes, Ciphers, and Mysterious Writings; Mysterious Writings is the name of her longtime blog covering all things coded. These frequencies are not uniformly distributed some digits are more common than others. Beale promised he would leave the information needed to analyze the ciphers with a friend in St. Louis and, should he never return, the friend would mail that envelope to Lynchburg in 1832. All that is presently left of Bufords Tavern is a chimney. [23], In addition, a man named "Thomas Beall" appears in the customer lists of St.Louis Post Department in 1820. It drags you down into a pool of historical quicksand. [There was] no evidence save the word of the unknown author of the pamphlet that he ever had the papers."[11]. Near a church. The Beale Ciphers are still unbroken. Before we depart, Johnson gives us a sheaf of papers with possible cipher translations. Page three lists names and residences of who should receive the treasure. This gorgeous Victorian brick building on a corner in downtown Bedford houses just about everything thats ever been published about Beale, Morriss, Ward and the rest, and shes very happy to bring out box after box of files, magazines and correspondence related to the legend. Beale later sent Morriss a letter from St. Louis, instructing him that if Beale didn't return, after 10 years Morriss had permission to open the box. Obviously, the treasure remains to be found and so the spot has not given up any of its secrets. The other slight changes probably have no consequences. Visitors come from all over the world to experience the Blue Ridge Parkway, Peaks of Otter and Smith Mountain Lake, and also to see the National D-Day Memorial, she says. Unfortunately, missing data from three other states made this search fruitless. The only clue to its whereabouts is a three page coded message known as the Beale Ciphers. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. The teacher gave the class the second Beale cipher and a copy of the Declaration of Independence and told us to figure it out. After a few miles, I pull over to put the top down and enjoy the afternoon sun before heading to the country roads that will eventually take me to hateful Interstate 81. All Rights Reserved. Many think so. And he ought to know. James B. Wards pamphlet on Amazon: The Beale Papers: Containing Authentic Statements Regarding The Treasure Buried 1819 and 1821, Bufords, in Bedford County, Virginia, Which has Never Been Recovered. In March of 1822, Beale called the innkeeper to his room. Just too many fault lines. Beale registered simply as being from Virginia where exactly in the state, he didn't say and he never said anything about his family, or much of anything about himself at all. Near a small graveyard. It's amazing how the story can't be conclusively determined to be all false or true.". Can you break it? Thomas Beales code. Three of the documents were written in cipher, requiring a key to interpret. They traveled to St. Louis, where they geared up for buffalo and bear hunting. The one thing I know definitely that is real is that people looking into this get so wrapped up in it that in some cases they change their entire lives. For the geographic code classification system, see, Statistical analysis of the last digits in the Beale Ciphers. I have deposited in the county of Bedford, about four miles from Buford's, in an excavation or vault, six feet below the surface of the ground, the following articles, belonging jointly to the parties whose names are given in number three, herewith: The first deposit consisted of ten hundred and fourteen pounds of gold, and thirty-eight hundred and twelve pounds of silver, deposited Nov. eighteen nineteen. I might even help them a little bit. We asked amateur treasure hunter and codebreaker Mason Goad to make a custom cipher for Northern Virginia Magazine. So there is gold in Bedford, and you can take it home in six-packs. Beale placed the ciphertexts and some other papers in an iron box. Nickell argues that the tale is thus a work of fiction; specifically, a "secret vault" allegory of the Freemasons; James B. The second was made Dec. eighteen twenty-one, and consisted of nineteen hundred and seven pounds of gold, and twelve hundred and eighty-eight of silver; also jewels, obtained in St.Louis in exchange to save transportation, and valued at thirteen thousand dollars. The Ward document included the authors breakthrough on page two of the sheets: He or she managed to use the Declaration of Independence to break the code and learn the contentsnot the location; thats on page oneof the cipher. The directionsto thevault Somewhere in the green hills of Bedford County in southwestern Virginia, lies a buried treasure worth over an estimated 60 million dollars. Its so interesting to talk to someone who is a true believer, he says. Then they find all manner of ways to explain away their failure and debunk the skeptics. Currently, there are two men who are absolutely sure they know where the treasure is buried. 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. But it didn't contain a map or simple instructions on how to find the fortune. The voice from the dashboard tells me to take the next left, Route 741 to Beale Trail Road, and I have a silent laugh. Ward published a pamphlet, The. And it isnt going anywhere. area,construction details,talley ofthe pots plus contentsand thefinaldirections leading Remaining hidden since the 1820s, the riches are described in a ciphered document which was decoded in the late 1870s. The differences are shown here as {alleged decipherment | actual decipherment}: I have deposited, in the county of Bedford, about four miles from Buford's, in an excavation or vault, six feet below the surface of the ground, the following articles, belonging jointly to the parties whose names are given in number {3, | three} herewith: The first deposit consisted of {one thousand | ten hundred} and fourteen pounds of gold, and {three thousand | thirty-} eight hundred and twelve pounds of silver, deposited {November, 1819 | Nov. eighteen nineteen}. This is all new to Danny Johnson. (No source given. Ward, whose 1885 pamphlet brought the Beale Papers to light. While I drive, Goad reads the allegedly transcribed page one from the gent in England; the first sentence says look to Oteys place. We look around at the breathtaking scenery and shrug our shoulders. *Some PagesUnder Construction* There hasnt been any clue saying, here I am. Beales letters contain words that were not in the English lexicon in 1820. Reflecting on the past is bittersweet because my family was split up. Eventually, he had to stop the research, write the story and publish it. The whole story of the Beale Treasure was made up over 15 years after Robert Morris had died. Danny Johnson recalls some 14 different television crews, including the BBC, the Travel Channel and a team from Seoul, Korea. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. One of the three ciphers which has been decoded specifies that the Beale Treasure is buried six feet below the surface. This of course is the common depth for a grave. The story has fascinated people and treasure hunters since 1885 when James B. But how does one go about solving an unsolvable cipher? I like those the best, she says. If I, along with others, agreed to hide a treasure in a cave we all thought was secret and then went there only to discover it being used by other people, I wouldnt say, well, lets go use that other cave. From the experience given on the first, I would be extremely cautious in thinking any other cave of the area is unknown and safe enough to hide a valuable treasure in. 2016-2020 Cape Fear Publishing Co. Inc. Theyve wasted incredible amounts of time. The author/Beale described it as six feet below..and so it could be in a grave to my mind. The area has been repeatedly explored through the years, and possible locations for the Beale Treasure investigated. Despite the Beale Papers' unproven veracity, treasure hunters have not been deterred from trying to find the vault. I just thought youd get a kick out of seeing the extent people will go to when they become true believers, says the 81-year-old Johnson, who grew up on the farm his family purchased in 1918. To extract the hidden message, the following five modifications must be applied to the original text: Finally, in the decoded text there are six errors, probably due to wrong transcription of the original paper: Additional Declaration differences affect paper number 1: word 210 of the modified text ("more") is shown as "now"; words 919 and 920 of the modified text ("fellow citizens") are shown hyphenated (also affects paper number 3); two extra words ("made" and "the") are shown in modified text positions 1058 and 1188; a word is removed ("of") after modified text position 1125. . Beale emphasized the boxs importance and requested the proprietor keep it safe until Beale returned. If using the first Cypher and add all the numbers all the way across it comes out to be approximately 1 nautical mile. 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