The "real" National Treasure: The Beale Treasure

Hey legend trippers! Have you ever seen the movie "National Treasure"? For those of you who have never seen it . The 2004 Disney movie follows the adventures of treasure hunter Ben Gates, on his quest for a fantastic treasure collected by the Knights Templar and then hidden by the Freemasons, somewhere in the United States. He discovers clues left by them to the location of the treasure. It is an awesome movie (along with it's sequel), but I as watch it I couldn't help wonder “Where did the writers get the idea for this movie?” Was there a real national treasure out there? The answer is “Yes” and legend has it that it still hasn’t been found. The treasure is called the Beale Treasure.

This exciting treasure legend started off, in 1817, when a gentleman by the name of Thomas J. Beale, and his team of thirty adventurers, went to New Mexico to go buffalo hunting. Later during their trip, they stumbled upon a huge treasure of gold and silver. Now the story goes in two directions here. One version is that they found a cache of gold, silver and gems in a cave. The other version, which is more plausible, is that they found a vain of gold and silver in the mountains and then mined it out from 1819 to 1821. Anyway, the story continues on to say that Beale and party realized that the treasure was too large and too dangerous for them to keep the camp. They were located in a dangerous area where the mountains were full of bandits. So, they secretly transported the treasure across the United States and buried it in a cave, in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Buford's tavern, where all the men frequented.  

Before leaving his companions on the plains, with a load of treasure, it was suggested that, in case of anything should happen to the party, there should be a plan in place, so that the treasure not would be lost to the rightful heirs. Thomas Beale was instructed to select some person who could be confided in to carry out the wishes of the party in this regard. Subsequently Beale took up winter quarters at the house of Mr. Robert Morriss, in Lynchburg, Virginia. Robert Morriss was the trusted person that Thomas J. Beale selected to be his confidential agent. Thomas Beale returned to the mine in the spring of 1820 and found that the work still progressing favorably.

In 1821, Beale returned with an increased supply of gold and silver, which came through safely together with $13,000 in jewels purchased in St. Louis with silver to same transportation, and deposited it with the other treasure in the same Virginia treasure site. Before returning to the mine in 1822, Thomas Beale prepared three encoded messages or papers (known as the three Beale codes or three Beale ciphers) and two letters explaining his enterprise, which he placed in a locked box. He then went to Lynchburg, Virginia, and he met with Robert Morriss at Buford’s Tavern. Beale explained to Morriss about the strongbox, advising him that if he (Beale) did not return after ten years, to open it. Beale then departed and Morriss never saw him again.

After more than ten years, Morriss reluctantly opened up the strongbox and in it he found a letter and some numbered pages, presumably some sort of cipher or code. Morriss was unable to understand the meaning of these pages. Also the story goes that Beale had arranged for a letter from St. Louis to be delivered at this time, a letter containing the "key" to the ciphers and without which the treasure could not be found. For unknown reasons, this letter was never delivered and Morriss was never able to learn what the ciphers said.

In 1862, Morriss told anonymous friend the story of the ciphers and the treasure they guarded. Morriss turned over all of the documents to this friend; with the promise to carry out Beale's instructions should he succeed in deciphering the papers. The anonymous friend succeeded in deciphering paper number two and it reads as follows:

"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 first deposit consisted of 1,014 pounds of gold and 3,812 pounds of silver, deposited November 1819. The second was made Dec. 1821 and consisted of 1,907 pounds of gold and 1,288 of silver; also jewels obtained in St. Louis in exchange to save transportation and valued at $13,000...."

But, after twenty years of effort, the friend could not solve the other two pages. During this time the friend supposedly had spent so much time with the other two pages that he neglected his business, which suffered. 1885, he stopped trying to decode the ciphers and publish a pamphlet revealing this story to the world.

The pamphlet was published as “The Beale Papers, Containing Authentic Statements Regarding the Treasure Buried in 1819 and 1821, in Bedford County, Virginia, and which has Never Been Recovered”. James B. Ward was chosen to handle the business of publication. In a letter dated March 26, 1884, he applied to the Library of Congress for a copyright. He asked that he be listed as "agent for the author." The copyright was issued on March 31, 1885.

Along with a narrative to outline the story of the Beale Papers, the pamphlet contained the ciphers and Beale's letters of explanation to Morriss. The friend had it published anonymously to protect the author from correspondents asking all manner of questions. The author explained, "I anticipate for these papers a large circulation, and, to avoid the multitude of letters with which I should be assailed from all sections of the Union, propounding all sorts of questions, and requiring answers which, if attended to, would absorb my entire time, and only change the character of my work, I have decided upon withdrawing my name from the publication ...."

Some people mistakenly believe that James B. Ward was the author of the Beale Papers pamphlet. According to the Beale Papers themselves, the author of the pamphlet was the anonymous person selected by Robert Morriss to be the custodian of the Beale Papers. James B. Ward was selected by this anonymous person to be his agent to publish the pamphlet. Ward applied for a copyright on the pamphlet. He handled the distribution and sale of the pamphlet, but he was not the pamphlet's author.

There you go Legend Trippers, a real national treasure to go look for. This legend is still popular today with treasure hunters and you can find all sorts of information about the story on the Internet. Unfortunately, some of this information is questionable, some is untrustworthy, and some is just plain incorrect. There is even speculation that the whole treasure is a hoax. This can be especially frustrating for a legend tripper just beginning to investigate and read about the treasure story. Who can you trust? And what can you trust? Well you do have the two remaining Beale ciphers. Who knows maybe you’ll find the key.