The Silver Madonna and Other Tales of America's Greatest Lost Treasures

by W. C. Jameson

  At Morris’s invitation, the miners stayed at his inn for several days. When they left for Colorado, Beale told Morris that if someone did not return for the strongbox and its contents, that he, Morris, was to open it. Beale told Morris that within a few weeks he would mail him the information he would need to decode and interpret the information he found in the box. A few days later, Beale and his companions bade Morris good-bye and rode away. Morris watched them disappear down the trail and into the dense forest to the west. He never saw them again.

  Two months later, Morris received a short letter from Beale that had been mailed from St. Louis. The letter reiterated what Beale already told Morris—that the contents of the strongbox would be meaningless without the decoding keys. He said the necessary keys were in a sealed envelope with Morris’s address on it. The envelope, according to Beale, had been given to a friend in St. Louis with instructions to mail it to Morris in June 1832. Morris never again heard from Beale, nor did he receive the envelope ten years later.

  Although the designated time had elapsed, the honorable Morris refused to open the strongbox, thinking that Beale or someone from his party would eventually return to claim it. More time passed, and Morris forgot about the strongbox that had been hidden away under some clutter in an old shed behind the inn. One day, about twenty-three years later, Morris was searching through the shed for a harness when he spotted it.

  After some difficulty, Morris broke open the lock and opened the strongbox. The first thing he saw was a letter addressed to him lying atop the other contents. In elaborate detail, the letter described the expeditions of Beale and his companions to the west, the discovery of gold and silver, and the subsequent trips back to the Blue Ridge Mountains to bury the treasure. The letter ended by asking Morris to use the code to locate and dig up the treasure. Morris was to divide it into thirty-one equal portions—one for each of the miners and one for himself.

  Morris examined the three pages of ciphers that were in the box, the Beale Code. Each contained what appeared to be a random series of numbers, ranging from single to quadruple digits. Intrigued, Morris spent many hours trying to decipher the curious arrangements of numbers, but in the end could not make any sense of them. Off and on for the next several years, Morris tried to decipher the complex Beale Code, but he eventually gave up.

  A few more years passed, and when Morris was convinced no one from Beale’s party was going to return to claim the strongbox and its contents, he showed the letters and codes to a friend, James Ward. For months, Ward pored over the three pages and eventually broke Cipher Number Two. Purely by accident, Ward discovered the code was based on the Declaration of Independence. After several days of intensive effort, Ward had the message written out in its entirety. It read:

  I have deposited in the county of Bedford about four miles from Buford’s Inn in an excavation or vault six feet below the surface of the ground the following articles belonging to the parties whose names are given in number three herewith. The first deposit was ten hundred and fourteen pounds of gold and thirty-eight hundred pounds of silver. This was deposited November, 1819. The second deposit was made December, 1821, and consisted of nineteen hundred and seven pounds of gold and twelve hundred and eighty-eight pounds of silver. Also jewels obtained in St. Louis in exchange to save transportation and valued at thirteen thousand dollars. The above is packed securely in iron pots with iron covers. The vault is lined with stones and the vessels lie on solid rock with other stones. Paper number one describes the exact location of the vault so no difficulty will be had in finding it.

  Ward, suspecting the other two pages would likewise be deciphered by using the Declaration of Independence, eagerly tackled them. He was soon disappointed to learn that their interpretations were based on something else entirely.

  Ward was particularly interested in breaking Cipher Number One, the one that allegedly provided directions to the location of the treasure cache, but could make no sense of it whatsoever. Over the years, hundreds have attempted to break the code, but none have succeeded. Below is the code in its entirety:

  Beale Cipher Number One

  71, 194, 38, 1701, 89, 76, 11, 83, 1629, 48, 94, 63, 132, 16, 111, 95, 84, 341

  975, 14, 40, 64, 27, 81, 139, 213, 63, 90, 1120, 8, 15, 3, 126, 2018, 40, 74,

  758, 485, 604, 230, 436, 664, 582, 150, 251, 284, 308, 231, 124, 211, 486,

  225, 401, 370, 11 101, 305, 139, 189, 17, 33, 88, 208, 193, 145, 1, 94, 73,

  416, 918, 263, 28, 500, 538, 356, 117, 136, 219, 27, 176, 130, 10, 460, 25,

  485, 18, 436, 65, 84, 200, 283, 118, 320, 138, 36, 416, 280, 15, 71, 224, 961,

  44, 16, 401, 39, 88, 61, 304, 12, 21, 24, 283, 134, 92, 63, 246, 486, 682, 7,

  219, 184, 360, 780, 18, 64, 463, 474, 131, 160, 79, 73, 440, 95, 18, 64, 581,

  34, 69, 128, 367, 461, 17, 81, 12, 103, 820, 62, 116, 97, 103, 862, 70, 60,

  1317, 471, 540, 208, 121, 890, 346, 36, 150, 59, 568, 614, 13, 120, 63, 219,

  812, 2160, 1780, 99, 35, 18, 21, 126, 872, 15, 28, 170, 88, 4, 30, 44, 112, 18,

  147, 436, 195, 320, 37, 122, 113, 6, 140, 8, 120, 305, 42, 58, 461, 44, 106,

  301, 13, 408, 680, 93, 86, 116, 530, 82, 568, 9, 10238, 416, 89, 71, 216, 728,

  965, 818, 2, 38, 121, 195, 14, 326, 148, 234, 18, 55, 131, 234, 361, 824, 5,

  81, 623, 48, 961, 19, 26, 33, 10, 1101, 365, 92, 88, 181, 275, 346, 201, 206,

  86, 36, 219, 320, 829, 840, 68, 326, 19, 48, 122, 65, 216, 284, 919, 861, 326,

  985, 233, 64, 68, 232, 431, 960, 50, 29, 81, 216, 321, 703, 14, 612, 81, 360,

  36, 51, 62, 194, 78, 60, 200, 314, 676, 112, 4, 28, 18, 61, 136, 247, 819, 921,

  1060, 464, 895, 10, 6, 66, 119, 38, 41, 49, 612, 423, 962, 302, 294, 875, 78,

  14, 23, 111, 109, 62, 31, 501, 823, 216, 280, 34, 24, 150, 1000, 162, 286, 19,

  21, 17, 340, 19, 242, 31, 86, 234, 140, 607, 115, 33, 191, 67, 104, 86, 52, 88,

  16, 80, 121, 67, 95, 122, 216, 548, 96, 11, 201, 77, 364, 218, 65, 667, 890,

  236, 154, 211, 10, 98, 34, 119, 56, 216, 119, 71, 218, 1164, 1496, 1817, 51,

  39, 210, 36, 3, 19, 540, 232, 22, 141, 617, 84, 290, 80, 46, 207, 411, 150, 29,

  38, 46, 172, 85, 194, 36, 261, 543, 897, 624, 18, 212, 416, 127, 931, 19, 4,

  63, 96, 12, 101, 418, 16, 140, 230, 460, 538, 19, 27, 88, 612, 1431, 90, 716,

  275, 74, 83, 11, 426, 89, 72, 84, 1300, 1706, 814, 221, 132, 40, 102, 34, 858,

  975, 1101, 84, 16, 79, 23,, 16, 81, 122, 324, 403, 912, 227, 936, 447, 55, 86,

  34, 43, 212, 108, 96, 314, 264, 1065, 323, 428, 601, 203, 124, 95, 216, 814,

  2906, 654, 820, 2, 301, 112, 176, 213, 71, 87, 96, 202, 35, 10, 2, 41, 17, 84,

  221, 736, 820, 214, 11, 60, 760.

  Ward worked on the two unbroken codes for months before deciding he was getting nowhere. In frustration, he gave up. With permission from Morris, Ward made the codes public. Since then hundreds of people—cryptographers, computer programmers, historians, treasure hunters, adventurers, mystics, and others—have attempted to decipher them, with no success. The Blue Ridge Mountains in and around Bedford County saw visits from thousands who arrived, each believing he would be the one to find the treasure. To date, it is still hidden in the treasure vault where Beale and his companions placed it almost two centuries ago.

  The Beale Treasure is considered the best known in Virginia. Some regard it as one of the richest and most elusive lost treasures in America. It is also one of the most sought after. In spite of this, there are some who contend that it is nothing more than an elaborate hoax, and that the treasure never existed. In fact, there are a few who claim that the man Thomas Jefferson Beale never existed. A handful of skeptics have suggested that innkeeper Robert Morris and his friend James Ward fabricated the entire story. As evidence, they point out that Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, on which one cipher was based, had a penchant for writing in numerical codes
and ciphers. It is also worth noting that a man named Beale brought word to the east of the gold discoveries in California during the early 1800s.

  If the Beale Treasure is a hoax, there are two important questions that must be answered. First, what would have been the purpose of such a deception? On analysis, there appears to have been no obvious or profitable motive for such a sophisticated and elaborate trick. Neither Morris nor Ward ever profited from their association with the Beale Treasure, and both reportedly shunned any kind of publicity whatsoever. Second, the sheer intricacy of the codes makes it unlikely that they were devised merely as a prank.

  In the final analysis, most researchers are convinced that the Beale Treasure does exist and in the exact amounts described by T. J. Beale himself in Cipher Number Two.

  16

  Incan Treasure in Texas and America’s First Bible

  Professional treasure hunters agree that one of the most amazing and puzzling tales of buried treasure in the country involves a lost Inca cache of unimaginable wealth buried somewhere near the Salt Fork of the Brazos River on the Texas High Plains. This treasure, believed by researchers to be worth more than two hundred million dollars, consists of forty mule loads of gold and silver ingots, emeralds described to be “as large as goose eggs,” and hundreds of jewels consisting of precious stones arranged in artistically crafted settings of pure gold and silver. What may be even more valuable, at least to historians, is the probability that the cache contains what is believed by many to be the first copy of the Holy Bible to arrive in the New World.

  In 1531, the ruthless and bloodthirsty Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro led a force of nearly two hundred armed and mounted soldiers into the remote regions of Peru, South America. Accompanying the soldiers was the normal contingent of cooks, herders, livestock, priests, and women. Among the possessions of one of the priests was the first Bible carried to the New World. The Spaniards, in their lust for conquest and riches, attacked and looted every village they encountered, killing men, women, and children. They seized whatever wealth they could find in the form of gold, silver, precious stones, and jewels. Before long, their pack animals staggered under the weight of the wealth they transported across the mountains and through the valleys.

  After many weeks, the Spaniards arrived at the large Incan village of Cotapampas in the Andean foothills. Here they found even larger quantities of gold, silver, and other riches. With little hesitation, they attacked and seized the city, killing dozens of citizens in the process. When questioning several elders as to the source of the gold and other wealth, Pizarro was informed of the city of Cajamarca, located six hundred miles to the northwest. Cajamarca, it was explained, was a veritable storehouse of gold, silver, and emeralds. Eager to locate this great city of riches, Pizarro enslaved several of the Cotapampas Indians and forced them to guide his soldiers to Cajamarca.

  Around the middle of November 1532, Pizarro and his army arrived at the outskirts of Cajamarca, a city of two thousand residents. Pizarro sent one of his priests, along with one of the Cotapampans to serve as a translator, to seek an audience with the region’s ruler, Atahualpa.

  When Atahualpa appeared, he was informed by the priest that he and his people must immediately accept the teachings of Christianity, deliver all weapons to the gate, and allow the Spaniards to take possession of the city. The priest then pressed a Bible into Atahualpa’s hands. Surprised, and then angered, at the demands of the strangers, Atahualpa threw the Bible to the ground and ordered the gates of the city closed to the newcomers.

  The Spaniards, seasoned warriors all, wasted little time in attacking the city. Crashing through the gate, they swarmed through Cajamarca, indiscriminately clubbing, slashing, and spearing anything that moved. Though vastly outnumbered, the Spaniards were better armed and trained in warfare than the Indians. Two hours later the few hundred Cajamarcan survivors, including Atahualpa, were taken prisoner. During the ensuing week, even these poor souls were subjected to horrible torture and ultimately death.

  At the end of the week, Atahualpa was among the handful of survivors. Chained at the wrists and ankles, he, along with a dozen Indians, was brought before Pizarro and made to kneel. Pizarro then ordered the remaining Indians to travel to the outlying villages and inform the leaders that if they did not bring in all of their gold, silver, and precious stones, that Atahualpa would be slain. For the next several weeks the runners reached every village within one hundred miles of Cajamarca and soon the wealth was being delivered. By the time six weeks had passed, three entire rooms were filled to the ceiling with gold and silver ore, ornaments, jewelry, and statuary, along with heavy packs of emeralds.

  While at Cajamarca, Pizarro learned of a city far to the north called Quito, a location believed to have a huge storehouse of gold, silver, and stones. He quickly ordered a contingent of soldiers, along with a priest and translator, to travel to that city, seize the wealth, and return with it to Cajamarca. When the party of Spaniards arrived at Quito, however, the citizens there mounted a resistance, and fighting broke out that lasted several days.

  When Quito’s treasure had not arrived within the appointed time, Pizarro ordered a dozen soldiers under the command of a trusted captain to travel to the area to look into the delay. When the soldiers arrived several days later, they joined in the fighting and in a short time the city was taken. The captain soon discovered that, indeed, the treasure of this northern city was quite impressive. He immediately commandeered a number of llamas to transport the gold, silver, and jewels.

  As the captain watched the treasure being packed, he marveled at the vast fortune that passed before his eyes: thousands of bars of gold as well as huge emeralds set in magnificent gold and silver necklaces, rings, and earrings. The more the captain considered this incredible fortune, the more he thought about the possibilities of keeping it for himself. Finally, convinced he could be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, he devised a plan wherein he, along with some trusted companions, would escape to the north with the largest portion of the treasure.

  Along with six soldiers who were not part of his scheme, the captain sent several llama loads of treasure back to Cajamarca, explaining that the rest of the contingent would depart the following day and meet them at the city. By the time the first pack train was well down the trail, however, the captain and his followers, along with a number of Indians who were taken as slaves, herded the second and larger pack train toward the north.

  Accompanying the captain was the priest, who traveled on foot carrying only a small pack containing his belongings. Among these was the Bible offered to Atahualpa.

  As the small party led the treasure-laden llamas northward along the ridges of the Andean mountains, far to the south Pizarro, despite his promises to the contrary, had Atahualpa slain. The three rooms of treasure that had been accumulated were loaded onto every available pack animal. This done, Pizarro led his bloodthirsty soldiers on a killing and looting rampage across much of what is now Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, taking gold, silver, and jewels and adding to the already immense load of riches they had accumulated. Pizarro’s zest for conquest, along with his numerous successes, distracted him from the issue of the desertion of his trusted captain and the loss of a portion of the Quito treasure. As a result, he never got around to organizing pursuit and, in time, simply forgot about the matter altogether.

  For many months the traitorous captain and his followers led the treasure-laden llamas northward across the high mountain reaches, dense jungles, and arid deserts. They passed out of the mountains and traveled the narrow Isthmus of Panama, up through the steamy jungles of Central America and southern Mexico, and in time crossed the Rio Grande into present-day Texas.

  During this time several of the Indians and two of the Spaniards were lost to fever, two of the slaves had been whipped to death, and the remainder of the party often suffered from hunger and thirst. Though their clothes had been reduced to little more than dirty rags and their boots had long since worn out, the c
aptain kept the soldiers encouraged by telling them of his dreams of establishing a new kingdom at a location some place farther north, one financed by the riches they transported, one in which they would all be wealthy men. When, after a time, his vision of a regime failed to inspire them, he would warn them that Pizarro had likely sent a contingent of soldiers in pursuit. With thoughts of the horrible tortures that would be inflicted on them should they be captured, the Spaniards found new strength and continued their northward march.

  Throughout the hardships faced by the travelers, the captain managed to keep precise notes of their progress on a piece of tanned leather. Included with the notes was a detailed map. One afternoon as the party was setting up camp near a pair of low mountains, the captain made meticulous additions to his leather journal and included sketches of all of the nearby landmarks. Many years later it was discerned as a result of interpreting this map that the site of the camp was near the Double Mountains in Stonewall County, Texas, between the Salt Fork of the Brazos River and the present-day town of Aspermont in the Texas Panhandle.

  As the captain carefully worked on this map, one of his soldiers approached and informed him that they were being watched by Indians. Looking up from his work, the captain spotted several dozen armed warriors observing the Spaniards from a nearby ridge.

  There was little sleep for the group that night, and it was a nervous party that broke camp the following morning and continued on their journey. As they traveled, they noted they were followed by the Indians and that their numbers had increased.