Treasure Lust

Introduction In 1822, a tall dark man named Thomas J. Beale left three coded ciphers with a hotel manager in Lynchburg, Virginia. A metal box contained a note telling what the ciphers would reveal once they were decoded. The first cipher was decoded 1845, and it read: “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; . The deposit consists of two thousand nine hundred and twenty-one pounds of gold and five thousand one hundred pounds of silver; also jewels, obtained in St. Louis in exchange for silver to save transportation The above is securely packed in iron pots, with iron covers. The vault is roughly lined with stone, and the vessels rest on solid stone, and are covered with others....” This was the beginning of a tidal wave of treasure hunters. Who sought the vast treasure promised in the ciphers? The lust for gold and riches drew people from all lifestyles, each one thinking they had the key to where the treasure rested. This heavily desired fortune now better known as the Beale Treasure. For well over a hundred years, many people have tried to decipher the other two coded messages. Many have spent their lives and fortunes seeking this treasure. Some have even died for it. One hundred and seventy years after its deposit, three groups of people formed a triangle of intrigue around the Beale Treasure. One group was comprised of wealthy and prominent executives who were out to gain fame and to line their pockets with more wealth. Since they did not really need the money, the hunt for the Beale Treasure was more of a game to them. It was an escape from the monotony of their day-to-day money making ventures. The second group included couples in love. Each person in this group was innocently and inadvertently been drawn into the search for different reasons. One of those reasons was not to seek material wealth, though. Each couple had their own treasure in their love for one another. The third and more ominous group had no wealth and felt they had a claim to the treasure. They would stop at nothing to assure that the treasure ended up in what they thought were the rightful hands, their hands. Murder became their method of operation. Secrecy and deception were the founding principles of their code of honor. There was no price too great to pay for the rights to the treasure, as long as it was not them paying the price. Contained in this book is the actual cypher written by Thomas Beale, if decoded it discloses the supposed exact location of this vast treasure. That to this date has never been found.