AP, i’m not convinced that design is for the theatre.  you’re already at lake park with the verse, and going straight from the theater would take you to juneau park.  (that’s how it looks to me from google earth)
seems to me that design should be in the park, like the bridges there with the iron work, some of those look pretty close to the design to me….
3 more months of winter there?  aighhhh that’s rough. ..i think i’ll keep working on the southern hunts a little longer, lol

That is very cool meaty. Your layout shows the jewel in this direction down from the Lighthouse.
As I look at this it reinforces my theory for me even more. I just realized from this angle how much the top part of her cape looks like the area from along the Oak Leaf Trail and the Lake down and around the North Point Water Tower and Fountain back up to the marina.

Fenix

This is pure gold. Not clear but with suspicion…

He’s probably right though.
I’m still convinced Josh came from SA. The thread there gets popular again, people there start poking fun at the threads here and all of the sudden Josh happens?
I mean to be fair… EU happened around the same time, but still. Josh seems like something SA would be proud of.

I don’t disagree. There’s some Stanford Prison Experiment level shanannigans goin on.

Unknown

Unknown:
Your layout shows the jewel in this direction down from the Lighthouse.

It actually shows it closer to Wolcott.
You guys remember Wolcott, don’t you? The statue that 421 pointed out 3 or 4 pages ago? In Lake Park? The one with “country” written in stone. right past the Par 3 golf course? And from where you can actually see the red tee markers, especially if you are digging on the back side, near the southern foot of the horse? Which might also be shown in the image?
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=773&start=600

Euhirudinea

It actually shows it closer to Wolcott.
You guys remember Wolcott, don’t you? The statue that 421 pointed out 3 or 4 pages ago? In Lake Park? The one with “country” written in stone. right past the Par 3 golf course? And from where you can actually see the red tee markers, especially if you are digging on the back side, near the southern foot of the horse? Which might also be shown in the image?
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=773&start=600

In my previous post, I originally had a short paragraph about the location of the gem in relationship to the neckline matching up with Oak Leaf Trail, but removed it because A) My scale might be a little off, which would throw the placement of the gem off, and B) While I think the gem’s placement on the image helps identify where the gem may be; there are several things on the Image that it could be in relation to, including the golf balls as four21 points out. At any rate, I think the way things line up, the gem on the Image is well south of the lion bridges. Wolcott is north of the lion bridges. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything is right or wrong, it might simply mean that the gem’s location on the image is in relation to something other than the neckline.
I do like four21’s Wolcott theory. Has anyone explored that area on the ground?

Unknown

Unknown:
I do like four21’s Wolcott theory. Has anyone explored that area on the ground?

I’m guessing anyone in the area who is interested in this hunt and has access to this information is already all over it. That’s the way things work around here.

burnstyle

He’s probably right though.
I’m still convinced Josh came from SA. The thread there gets popular again, people there start poking fun at the threads here and all of the sudden Josh happens?
I mean to be fair… EU happened around the same time, but still. Josh seems like something SA would be proud of.

That’s what I thought too, but the SA Secret thread is pretty much contained to trolling itself. Plus we’re dunking on him over there, too. I can’t recall any derogatory jokes about any q4t content that didn’t also insult the earnest SA searchers, as well.
I think this is just an example of Poe’s law: Never assume “that person must not be for real” just because they are posting stuff on the Internet that seems too ridiculous to be believable. Someone found an old youtube account of Josh’s, so unless he’s been working on this persona for years, it’s real. Plus there have been times when he’s genuinely attempted to be helpful.
Meaty this is some great work I haven’t seen before. would searching for art installations in the area(online) help?

If you line up the “V” in the neck of her shirt in Image 10 with the portion of North Lake Park Road that is north of the intersection of that road, East Ravine Road, and the Oak Leaf Trail, quite a few things quickly start to line up. For one, North Lake Park Road follows her right collar of her shirt. Oak Leaf Trail closely follows her left portion of the V-neck and collar, even through it’s several turns. Here’s a crude overlay to illustrate:
Hopefully someone with better Photoshop skills can do it more justice. I don’t think I have seen this connection made before, but forgive me if this is not new, I tried to look back through this thread again and didn’t see anyone make the connection. Hopefully it helps confirm Lake Park as the park to be in (if there was any doubt given the verse).

drunknerds

Meaty this is some great work I haven’t seen before. would searching for art installations in the area(online) help?

Thanks! I don’t know how the discovery helps find a solve, but at least it answers why her neck and collar are so oddly shaped. Art installations may help, there’s probably plenty of things to still find in each of these Images, solved or not. Whether they lead to an immediate dig spot or not is a different question.
I have something else from the Image line up on the map that I’ll post when I get home tonight. I don’t think it’s a game changer for Milwaukee, probably just another “Huh, so that’s what that is.”

Euhirudinea

It actually shows it closer to Wolcott.
You guys remember Wolcott, don’t you? The statue that 421 pointed out 3 or 4 pages ago? In Lake Park? The one with “country” written in stone. right past the Par 3 golf course? And from where you can actually see the red tee markers, especially if you are digging on the back side, near the southern foot of the horse? Which might also be shown in the image?
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=773&start=600

I thought this was a cool solve myself except that the Wolcott statue isn’t past the Lighthouse or West of the Par 3. And I couldn’t find an anwer to it concerning a hearth so I kept searching after I looked at that statue.
Also one other thing I like about the North Point Water Tower is that the water fountain grounds connected to it have the same pattern as the design around the woman’s neck. But of course that pattern is seen in all kinds of places in Milwaukee.

MrBackstop

Just to be clear, are you saying this is a potential match?

Unknown

Unknown:
I thought this was a cool solve myself

I agree.

slappybuns

cormac, that site doesn’t work for me, would you try again?

Here we go… figured out what the picture likely was, duplicated the idea, posted picture.
Basically just a picture of the Red Balls at Miller Park Milwaukee

I probably don’t have to point out that Miller Park is less than 10 years old.  Wikipedia should have told you that.
But also, isn’t it more likely that the red balls represent the markers for the women’s tees on the golf course in Lake Park.  They’re the same.  If you’ve ever golfed more than one course, you know that tee markers can be different shapes and sizes (within reason) — but the ones on the Lake Park course happen to be spheres.  This fits with the best “solve” for this casque I’ve seen — the one that addressed a large felled birch near the tees of one of the holes on this course.  (It’s somewhere in one of these threads… I believe ShadowRunner came up with it a few years ago?  Not sure.)
I don’t mean to be contrary here — but all the best-supported interpretations of this image and verse point to a burial in Lake Park.

There are facets of image ten that may have been overlooked.  If that gem is indeed a Sapphire, then according to the litany, it implies Spain.  Second, the person appears to be standing on a shoreline.  Hazy, indstinct, but there seems to be water behind the dirt.  Second, the castle is (possibly) a view of the Milwaukee City Hall from behind– from the front, an optical illusion makes it look like one, tall skinny tower.  This is on most of the street signs in Milwaukee, and is used as a general ‘civic symbol.’  The two red balls also appear in front of Miller park by themselves.  Every single painting conatins a key, or sometimes two.  The juggling may refer to the Great Milwaukee Circus Parade, a cultural icon of Wisconsin in general, since Baraboo is where all of the midgets and ‘freaks’ live (or lived) since Barnum and Bailey’s world circus and museum is there.

decibalnyc

Second the image that everyone is calling a locust is the stone archway on all of the city hall entrances.

Let’s compare images and see which is a better fit. Here’s my match for a cicada nymph:
I see the segmented or banded rear section on the left, where it curves and tapers to a point. I see the flattened dorsal areas on the right. In the lower right I see the three pairs of legs, the oval eye, and the pointed snout. Seems like a perfect match to me.
Can you post a photo of the stone archway so we can see a side-by-side comparison of that? Without a picture it’s hard to imagine how an entrance archway could be asymmetrical like the drawing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h54tr3sth4455 … t.jpg?dl=0

I have always seen it as a cicada,
however a cicada is not even close to a locust.
a Locust is a grasshopper,they are longer and skinnier and BP a NY native would know the difference.
That part of the image looks nothing like a locust.

Interesting to note that cicadas were not out in that part of the United States
during the the time the book was created .
http://www.magicicada.org/about/brood_p … odXIII.php

maltedfalcon

whats the building at the top of the stairs
and does it have a cornerstone?
and is it a masonic cornerstone?

MF, The building at the top is the Lake Park Bistro, I think it used to be a country club of some kind before that. As you come up the stairs, there is nothing at all on the back side of that building that relates to anything in the image. There are 2 ways to go. The building blocks any line of sight to the lighthouse from there. If this is the top of the “grand 200” you are left with a couple of choices, which have often perplexed me in the sense of following a “liner path” via the verse. If you go right, you will see a bridge, but no compass. At one time (as I mentioned) I thought the “compass” could be the vane on the lawn bowling shack sending you right however you can’t see it from the top of the stairs. Until I got the info on the lamp posts I even thought the Masonic compass, which would send you left must be it. Truth remains that even if the masonic symbol is the compass and it sends you left, you would arrive at the choice of 2 bridges to reach. When you get to the top of those stairs, there is really no indication of which way to go, and unless the verse tells you to turn, or the grand 200 line means something else…you are standing at the top of the stairs looking for a compass.
If you take the bridge to mean the Ravine Rd. bridge, then you have to account for the “rock and soil” aspect of pacing from “below the bridge.” You wouldn’t be crossing rock and soil, you would be on pavement.
If Lake Park is the correct spot, then we should assume the bridge in question is one of the Lion’s bridges as the closest image match we have in the Image and Lake Park is the giant cottonwood tree in the clearing along LMD. At this point, on this solution, I think the search should be for the clump birch pictured in the cape…be it by the Lion’s bridge OR by Ravine Rd. That clump birch is a good candidate for the “pass 3” and finding it would move this solution forward. If you look at the 2nd cottonwood tree from the south ravine, you’ll see that it resembles the cape image much more than the cottonwood next to the south ravine does.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a88j5kiu3dykd … 5.jpg?dl=0
The tree to the right in the above picture curves, as does the tree image on the top of the cape. Coming out of the north ravine, from that angle, that 2nd cottonwood has many similarities to the one in the image – much more so than the wider tree which was excavated. Is it as simple as choosing the wrong tree…possibly, but it still leaves the question of “letter from the country.”
We also must consider that the proud tall 5th could be a monument or something other than a tree, in which case a letter from the country could be any inscription tied to Germany.
In any case, we need to find that clump birch somewhere, in some photo.

decibalnyc

If you take the bridge to mean the Ravine Rd. bridge, then you have to account for the “rock and soil” aspect of pacing from “below the bridge.” You wouldn’t be crossing rock and soil, you would be on pavement.

Once you cross the East Ravine Road footbridge, the culvert on the far side leads directly down to the Locust Street Trail. That’s why there’s an image of a cicada nymph (a “locust”) in Image 10. The Locust Street Trail goes below the bridge and heads southeast, over rock and soil and past the stump of at least one birch, on the way to the millstone.
http://thesecret.pbworks.com/w/page/86290075/Verse%2008

Ok but a couple things on that….first off the Masons compass is on the other side of the staircase, the north side is blank.
Second the image that everyone is calling a locust is the stone archway on all of the city hall entrances.

WhiteRabbit

The castle in the distance resembles image 5…and the figure too; like an older and sadder version, with blue cap

“Tall, proud fifth” and “its southern foot” just doesn’t sound like a tree to me. How many feet do they have? I think it must be either something that has more than one foot, like a bridge, or something which extends geographically north and south, like a road or park. It could be a name you see on a map with a letter from “Germany” in it.
For one thing, you simply wouldn’t be able to dig close to the base of a tall tree, and so, where…? How far away…? At the very least, it would have to be beside a wall or some other reference point to the south of the tree IMHO. With BP so keen on not “despoiling nature” and all, I can’t imagine him encouraging people to go hacking around beside tree roots.
Those shapes in the cloak don’t look like trees either. Their most distinctive feature are those strange ridges.
There’s a lot of lions going on here – Lake Park, and also “the Grand Staircase in the East Hall of the [German club] with its twenty-four lion heads took one craftsman seven years to build.”
Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac, so “tall, proud fifth” might conceivably be a “tall, proud Leo”. I was hoping Mitchell would be a Leo, but unfortunately he isn’t (not the actual one the park was named after anyway). The only one I’ve found so far is Juneau, who also has a couple of decent image matches; the pose, the hand, and that brown texture. If you get back on Lincoln after Lake Park and “stay west”, you go past him.
I don’t know what the “it” with the southern foot would be though – maybe Lincoln Memorial Drive itself, which goes for miles (North section and South section). Copper seems to feature quite prominently, with the coppery collar, verse reference etc.
Or…the
Oak Leaf Trail
which winds alongside Lincoln Memorial Drive for miles, goes right over those Lion Bridges, past Juneau, and plummets south to Grant Park. That’s a long way away, and would be very sneaky.
Grant Park has a mill pond too. That sign is on a flight of steps at the entrance to its Seven Bridges Hiking Trail.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wimomz/3283129404/
What’s another connection…? Grant Park!
A dozen paintings share the clues
Yet fairy secrets come in twos

So get this, Kosciuszko the “proud tall fifth” General was a harpsichord composer!  Whowuddathunkit!?

WhiteRabbit

A dozen paintings share the clues
Yet fairy secrets come in twos

That is an interesting take on those lines.  I have always thought, and still basically do, that those lines simply meant that you need a pair of clues for each casque…the pair being (1) an image (2) a verse.

(Yep, I’m sure that is the basic meaning, as the rest of the verse explains. Still, I’ve always been interested in the possibility of “twinned” pictures, or of finding additional clues for a casque in a different image, so I thought I’d throw it in…)
Millstone…the treasure waits…the treasure weights…?

I wanted to just give up on figuring out the path from Lake Park to Kosciuszko since the discovery of the tree near the statue, but I still feel the need to figure out 100%.
At a glance, what do we see?  A woman.  She’s juggling balls.  The balls are bright red and stand out in a dark and drab setting.  The rest of the details offer little mystery at this point.  MILL-WALK-KEY easily puts us in the right city.  The iconic courthouse building’s spires are set in the background at a perspective that fits one particular street intersection.  The woman’s pose is a combination of the Juneau on the Juneau statue plaque and Marquette in a well known oil painting.  Here cloak looks like a tree segment rotated clockwise 90 degrees.  Some minute features, like her hood, her collar and the flower in the juggling pattern are all that are left if there isn’t something of a map segment integrated where edge meets edge.
Using Falcon’s image path, where do we start?  If it’s just like the Cleveland image, then I’d say we are bound to start at the E. State St./ N. Water St. intersection where the two spires of the courthouse line up to match the perspective.  The problem with this starting place is it’s the midpoint of a long trek spanning Lake Park and Kosciuszko Park…juggling indeed!  Perhaps this is the point of the juggling motif.  So, let’s hop on this non-linear train and see how we can connect the dots.
What connects the State/Water intersection to Lake Park?  The Oakleaf Trail.  There is a statue at the intersection of E. State and the Oakleaf Trail.  Leif, the Discoverer, son of Erik the Red.  This statue sits upon a large red sandstone base.  Is this our link to the red juggling balls?  For those convinced that this hunt begins and stays in Lake Park, this would represent the first major turn (a right turn) in a path should we start with climbing the Grand Stair, pass the compass (north point) and continue in that direction.  Perhaps the KEY to solving this puzzle is to WALK all over the place back and forth and MILL (grind) for these connections.
I can see right now that a view of the Wisconsin Club isn’t fitting in with a simple route.  My next move is to find the most direct way to 2nd street going south, because it seems the best fit for the line “at a distance in time”.  I think that means I’ll need to cut through Pere Marquette Park which is actually about 100 paces south east worth of traversing soil.  This puts me on Plankington and that puts me on 2nd St.  I’m just not going back to find a view of the three stories of Mitchell.  I am left to wonder if there’s a different three stories that I’ll encounter further down this path.  Looking at the map I see that W. Mitchell St. is coming up as I continue down 2nd St.
(tbc)

walking around and grinding out the connections… I like the motif idea, but it sounds brutal.

Letter from wonderstone’s hearth?

Okay, gotcha…that makes a lot of sense. I gotta get to work on some other areas on this one and come up with options. I’ll be going to Milwaukee sometime this year to catch a Brewer’s game.
And you may ask why would someone from Cincinnati do that? One of my players (I’m a pitching instructor), who used to work for me pitches for the Brewers, a young player named Brent Suter. If nobody finds the treasure I might add a day to my baseball trip.

Who’s Renner? That was the guy with Gates?

Well, it is a possibility.  I have seen several structures that could represent the pic, but it is a fairly common shape.  Yet, I have found little that exactly matches the pic.  Then that brings us to the debate about how literal or representational to take the clues.  Yet, it is still a possibility worthy of consideration.
You made me look at her collar a new way.  I always assumed (a dangerous thing) that it is a small pattern on a vertical surface or on floor tiles.  I have never before thought about it as a large pattern of a garden.

How about Milwaukee?
1.  She’s juggling a classic rhebus (millstone + walking stick + key = MILL + WALK + KEY = Milwaukee.
2.  Milwaukee is highly German, and that has been suggested as a theme.
3.  Her neckline is an image of Whitefish Bay and Milwaukee Bay on the city shoreline, with the Milwaukee River included.
4.  The right-most portion of the “skyline” image behind her looks a lot like the City Hall.
5.  Milwaukee was the home of General Billy Mitchell, which might be a tie to V8.  That’s even the name of the airport.
6.  Lots of lakeside parks.
Cheers.

i just posted full solution, considering i went to red herring.

you only need one birch…and it would have been near to where the well is that people call the millstone. the pass three refers to bridges, in line with the clear bridge theme in the milwaukee puzzle.

JoshCornell

you only need one birch…and it would have been near to where the well is that people call the millstone. the pass three refers to bridges, in line with the clear bridge theme in the milwaukee puzzle.

that’s the part I don’t understand! How do people even ends up over that “millstone” spot??? both SouthEast and staying West should get you to the opposite end near where the Lions are….am I wrong?
and on google map, what is that red spot in 43°03’53.4″N 87°52’14.8″W?

the alternate reading of the proud tall fifth clue is a musical reading via an italian (italian theme intro’d at smith mansion) musician and publication from boston…this gives us a 3:2 ratio (one two three step one two step), which you use to get to the treasure.
first three steps give us our starting location, and first action (hartford and downer at downer college).
at a distance in time is an allusion that is used to tell us that history can only be understood in retrospect; context can only be derived after a period of time has passed…this takes us to the history dept at UWM in holton hall.
4th and fifth steps get us to our next location…two blocks away at downer and kenwood (passing mitchell hall on the way).
fifth sixth and seventh clue take us to marietta which is 4 blocks from downer and kenwood (walking now along kenwood)…the logic here is that a distance in space is so large that it is measured with integers…because our number is two…we use 2 squared…to get 4…4 blocks.
silently playing directs us to move south (toward pabst theatre).
step on nature cast in copper gives us lake park, path to pabst takes us along lincoln in combination with latter clue.
next three tell us to go to grand staircase (previously alluded to when we are taken to the wisconsin club on wisconsin ave via the cape/awnings (similar to ones on pabst mansion down the street, alluding to pabst theatre being the silently playing clue)).
reach, tells us we have reached a turning point and must cross the lake park footbridge and turn to follow the stairs down to the locust trail.
next two clues direct us to the culvert under the bridge where locust trail meets ravine rd.
we turn around and walk the 100 paces along the locust trail to where ravine rd meets lincoln memorial drive (on oak leaf trail pathway)…there was a birch likely by the old well that people call the millstone. (using next three clues)
pass three (bridges) staying west, to a letter from the country…which i assume is a letter on a plaque on a statue like on the german statue outside washington park. (note: youll have to climb the grand staircase for a second time!!! hence why there are two clues alluding to the staircase, implying we must climb it twice)
clues 19-21 tell us we must go to the water tower, and look for the letter S or A (as wonderstone is from south africa…when we get there we see the sign about it being niagara limestone, but if we look this up its from wauwatusa (alluded to by the cream city bricks seen in the collar of the character)).
final two clues give us location to dig at S foot of water tower.

Hi All. Quick question for Milwaukee searchers. I understand that there has never been any documented birch trees on Lincoln Memorial (?) near the proposed dig site. Is there evidence that birch trees existed at the alternate location on the path above where the lions are past the lighthouse ?

Hi, I’m new to the forum. I’ve been trying to read through all the posts related to the Milwaukee search (wow, there are a lot!). I was wondering something. Has anyone given the area where Lincoln Memorial Drive turns onto E Ravine Rd a good searching through? The birch trees aren’t there anymore, but I was wondering if anyone tried randomly probing the area or maybe used a GPR there since the area between the millstone/sewer cap thing (that isn’t there anymore) and the road isn’t all that big of an area, assuming he would have buried somewhat close to the path. Seemed like the area was discussed for a bit, but the discussion fizzled out, so it wasn’t clear to me if someone tried and didn’t find anything or if the area was dismissed for some reason.
Neal

nealday

Hi, I’m new to the forum. I’ve been trying to read through all the posts related to the Milwaukee search (wow, there are a lot!). I was wondering something. Has anyone given the area where Lincoln Memorial Drive turns onto E Ravine Rd a good searching through? The birch trees aren’t there anymore, but I was wondering if anyone tried randomly probing the area or maybe used a GPR there since the area between the millstone/sewer cap thing (that isn’t there anymore) and the road isn’t all that big of an area, assuming he would have buried somewhat close to the path. Seemed like the area was discussed for a bit, but the discussion fizzled out, so it wasn’t clear to me if someone tried and didn’t find anything or if the area was dismissed for some reason.
Neal

Hey Neal welcome
Turns out GPR isn’t all that great at finding something like a casque
very good at locating disturbed soil though. but it is safe to say in that park over the last 30+ years all the soil has been disturbed to some point or another.
When you say isn’t all that big of an area
Lets say you have it down to a 5’x5′ area you can either dig up the whole area. 5x5x4x40 = 4000ibs of soil (2 tons)
or just probe it, 25 square feet you would need to probe every 4 inches to be assured of not missing a 5 in target. or 15×15 probes or 225 times in a 5′ square

I haven’t tested the idea out to get a time on it, but I was thinking about pre-drilling some holes into a 2’x4′ plywood template. Like you say, they would have to be about 4″ apart, so I think that would make for about 55 holes in that size template. If it’s reasonable to probe 2 holes/minute, each section would take about 30 minutes. It be some work, but with a couple friends helping, we might be able to knock out a good sized area over the course of a few hours.
I’m not sure what to expect for false positives with the probing though. Too many of those would probably derail the effort.
I imagine I’d probably need to get park permission for something like this too. Sounds like they haven’t been allowing people to search much lately, but the area by that footbridge is under construction right now, so maybe they’d be agreeable to it.
Neal

nealday

I haven’t tested the idea out to get a time on it, but I was thinking about pre-drilling some holes into a 2’x4′ plywood template. Like you say, they would have to be about 4″ apart, so I think that would make for about 55 holes in that size template. If it’s reasonable to probe 2 holes/minute, each section would take about 30 minutes. It be some work, but with a couple friends helping, we might be able to knock out a good sized area over the course of a few hours.
I’m not sure what to expect for false positives with the probing though. Too many of those would probably derail the effort.
I imagine I’d probably need to get park permission for something like this too. Sounds like they haven’t been allowing people to search much lately, but the area by that footbridge is under construction right now, so maybe they’d be agreeable to it.
Neal

a boroscope costs 35$ on amazon. but you would basically have to scope every rock you hit.

kpenguins

There were for sure birch trees along ravine road near the “mill stone” sewer cap. There still IS at least one birch stump but it is dug up and its location may have changed. I saw it 2 weeks ago when i was at the park. I have found old photos online showing birch stumps. There was no pattern or three in a row or anything like that. I don’t know if there were ever birch trees on any other trail in the park. I disagree that there is any evidence that there weren’t any. The trails were rehabbed (totally changed) some time in the early 2000’s I believe, as I have found photos of trails in different conditions including very barren looking. I don’t know the dates of the photos. All of this can be found with a few google searches. My biggest question is why narrow down the clue to a number of paces and then after that have people walk for blocks to some other location?? That doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway I just wanted to clear up some speculation I saw here.

k, I see what you are saying with you ideas but I think you are flawed with your thoughts that the puzzle is narrowed down to a number of paces. I don’t see it as being narrowed down at all, just the opposite. It’s just a part of the journey.

I think the two balls she’s holding are for lawn bowling.  Just NW of Lake Park Pavilion (at the top of the staircase) are the pitches (fields) for this sport.  Apparently a 1980 lawn bowling championship of some kind was held right here.
Pine

Hey everyone,
I have put together my proposed solve for Milwaukee in a PDF. Many thanks to Goonie68 and drunknerds for their assistance and feedback regarding this puzzle. Although I do not have an exact dig spot, the clues seem to bring us to the Wolcott statue or very close to it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7wri998hna4iw … 1.pdf?dl=0
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them here.
gManTexas

nope.

anus905

nope.

Go f**k yourself. Don’t ever reply to another one of my posts.

anus905

nope.

Hey Josh!
I see where your reddit Ask me anything got taken down for lack of proof of claims…
bummer!

Great work Gman. That is a very thorough and well thought out solve. Nice to see you could get on the ground, walk the area and come up with a logical solve. My hats of to you.

MrBackstop

Great work Gman. That is a very thorough and well thought out solve. Nice to see you could get on the ground, walk the area and come up with a logical solve. My hats of to you.

Thanks!

Has anyone ever considered that the three primary colors in the painting are gold, blue, and red which correspond to the three colors displayed by the flame on the top of the Wisconsin Gas Company building? This flame / light may be the reference to the compass in Verse 8 as this was used by ships on Lake Michigan for navigation purposes.

Catherwood – do some of your high res magic on this picture.  On the floor to the right are some details. Also to the right of the wheel in the castle background, there is an image that is hard to see.
I am not sure it is a 15 in her sleeve, but there is something there.
If the armor picture is not Kitty Hawk, that only leaves this one.
wilhouse

I cropped a few pieces out of this image and saved them in a manageable size.
http://catwood.leftbrained.org/TheSecre … 0-blob.jpg
is the blob to the right of the millstone
http://catwood.leftbrained.org/TheSecre … spires.jpg
is the mountain in the distance, with the building spires that probably need to be identified
http://catwood.leftbrained.org/TheSecre … stline.jpg
is the area of her cape to the right and below.  My thinking is that the edge of the cape represents a coastline, a river, or a border of the location, especially the upper half above the ground line.
The full image is at
http://catwood.leftbrained.org/TheSecre … mage10.jpg
at super high resolution — and super large download size/speed, sorry — with thanks again to Dan Amrich for the original scans, yay!

See my post under the “pp.20-21” thread.  This is a tough picture with which to match a theme, along with pic 11.  After being fairly confident with matching the other 10 pictures to themes, it leaves me with only 2:
One should be:
February (no indication of time in either pic)
Amethyst (pic 11 — is that gem purple though?)
Violet or Primrose (pic 11 has a purple flower, but it doesn’t look like a violet or primrose, it looks more like Gladiolus)
German Theme
“Dwarves’ treasure: purple Amethyst,
Imperial star of Germany.”
The other should be:
August (ball glowing at 8 o’clock in pic 10?)
Peridot (are either of these gems green)
Gladiolus or Poppy (what is that flower in pic 10?)
Italian Theme
“Peridot of old Italy:
antique, and olivine, and rich.”
However, the gem in this pic appears to be blue — not purple (Amethyst) or green (Peridot).  So, perhaps I have mismatched a pic and theme somewhere else, though I don’t see how.  Does this pic remind someone of Germany or Italy at all?

I don’t want to be the guy to throw cold water on all of this, but I did in fact probe the ground on all sides of the Erastus Wolcott statue about 4 years ago as far as I could and I came up empty handed. There is a layer of concrete that is not too far down, which leads me to doubt it could have ever been buried there.

I’ve posted some recent photos from Milwaukee at Webshots:
http://community.webshots.com/user/quantpsy/

Hi all,
Ok, I have went back through the posts and wanted to play devil’s advocate. Has anyone ever wondered if this picture is not Milwaukee? This city has been searched for over 10 years, and I feel that the casque is never to be found. I believe that the casque for this picture is located in Salt Lake City. Here are some points I would like to make about this picture:
1. Of the two casques found, both had a latitude and longitude identifying the city. The community has believed that a rebus identified the city. Why would the this picture deviate from the others?
2. If you follow this belief, you discount potential clues to solving the puzzle. The cane, key and millstone will be excluded because they are used in the rebus.
3. If the picture needs to include a lat and long numbers, where are they?
4. If you turn the picture upside down. Look at the empty hand. If you look at the pinky finger, you will see a ‘4’ in the shadow. The index finger shadow makes a ‘1’. So, you can see 41 as the latitude. If you believe this, you will realize that Milwaukee is too far north.
5. The right size of her hair, you can see three 1’s. So, 111 is the longitude.
6. Salt Lake City is location is 40.7,111.8 , so this fits.
7. I think the cane is a match for the Brigham Young statue, who was the founder of the city.
8. There are many churches in the area that I am sure one will match the building in the background.
That’s all I have for now. I will be investigating this city to see if I can identify additional clues. I look forward to a great conversion about this theory.
Cheers!
Toasty

Just a couple things to remind you all about….
First off, I do have confirmation from a tree expert at the Mitchell Gardens (yup that’s been checked out too with some very interesting finds) that the image in the inside of the cape is what’s known as a “clump birch” the expert said they normally grow with 3 trunks, this is obviously our “Pass 3” Whatever the upside down J shape in the middle of the clump birch in the image is may be of some significance, but you can clearly see it’s a 3 trunk tree, to indicate that you aren’t passing 3 trees, but 1 tree with 3 trunks. The image which some feel is a tree in the top of the cape, could also be waves along a shoreline.
As Egbert said there are more things in the image, like the building in the neck, arrow on the forehead, bell in the hand, and some possibilities like the dark outline of what looks to be another bird with it’s wings spread between the 2 images of trees in the cape. I have also found the likeness of bust on the Masonic building on Wells.
The Juneau statue is a good guess, and was my focus of study initially (and now I know who was making prod holes 🙂 but it wasn’t till recently that I figured out the bust on the side of the Juneau statue was possibly only a path confirmation and not the final ah ha. From that statue, looking at the relief on the side, just to your left you can see the Lincoln Memorial Bridge…so that’s your bridge. Following the directions from there puts you in front of the War Memorial (just beyond the statue of Lincoln above you). Because the Calatrava building was constructed there, along with other developments, historical photo’s will be required to see if a clump birch like the one in the image existed near there…from there, we can only hope he put it somewhere that wasn’t constructed upon.
Remember, if we take the verse somewhat literally on the instruction of walking from “under the bridge southeast” I have found only 2 places SO FAR in the DT area that would match up, and both are viable in the construct of what we know of these puzzles. One resides near a statue of Lincoln, the other is in a park in the middle of downtown.
I am not 100% on either location yet, but I am convinced that seeing all the visuals along Wells St. gives me a strong indication that there is more to be seen downtown AND in the image. For those who missed here is the link to my earlier solution about half way down the page…
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=773&start=390#p129509

It wasnt very long ago people were completely invested in the Lake Park area.  I liked it also for many compelling reasons.  Its a good case, as is much of what we do around here, of latching on to one idea and carrying it too far while ignoring or suspending attention towards other clues which should be treated equally for lack of proof otherwise.
Ive come to the point of view that some stratification of importance or weight changed as we consider the verse.  I like the idea of there being a loose introductory element to the first line, followed by some discretely defined or characteristic clues and then the last lines as being very specific to the purpose of pinpointing the casque.
I let go of the Kosciuszko idea completely in order to focus on some possibilities related to the words “at a distance…time/space” and the possibility that an actual arc drawing compass could be a simple tool used with a map to yield a league (unit based on 3 miles distance traveled in one hour of walking).  The circular or radial idea depends entirely on where the decision to place a point of origin.  I referenced the city hall image clue as a good choice and then inspected the options for where an arc may be drawn out at 3 miles distance.  Not far away, at the Plankinton Arcade, the circular stairs of 4x 23 (sum to 92 steps) seemed to offer a better basis for originating the arc.  It makes sense from a linear approach that the setup of this compass method involve the early to middle lines of verse, leaving the latter lines for pinpointing or describing the final details.  I think of the compass on a map as a rough step.  The Kosciuszko Park idea comes into play only at that point, where it fits the refinements better than all the other options, like Mitchell Park or Lake Park.  Its fascinating how every single line of verse can be resolved in a practical or literal way.  I cant say Im absolutely certain about all of it, but some lines just play too nicely with the whole process.  Kosciouszko wrote for harpsichord.  The Reds were the name of the Kosciuszko baseball league.  The Polish idea handles the wonderstone idea in terms of rock tumbling, becoming the polished stone baubles which best gain attention as stones of wonderment.
Now that ive abandoned the loose and wild forms of interpretation, this looks incredibly real and concrete.  Each step leads to the next once you start with the right kind of compass, a city map, and happen to discover the mall on Grand ave near the city center.

Actually if you were trying to force fit that Juneau statue, the fact that he was a Leo, and that is the 5th sign of the zodiac is a better “force fit” than Doe Rae Mi

erexere

Is there a list of strong references to Solomon Juneau in the city? Street named after him right?

Deuce

City Hall’s bell is named “Solomon Juneau”. City Hall and a bell, both in the image. Plus the statue relief. Hard not to suspect this area.
And… Do Re Mi Fa
So/Sol
La Ti Do. The “fifth” note of scale is So or Sol. Sol is a nickname short for Solomon.
Just some forgotten ideas to ponder.

decibalnyc

Actually if you were trying to force fit that Juneau statue, the fact that he was a Leo, and that is the 5th sign of the zodiac is a better “force fit” than Doe Rae Mi

How about this for a “force fit”…
The “Solomon Juneau” bell was silenced in 1925 by mayor Daniel Webster Hoan. He was the mayor as well as the city attorney for some time. Where else have we seen an attorney named Daniel Webster? Check the book. Alibi Elf, pages 126-128, referencing “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, a retold German tale. Look at both pictures for Alibi Elf. Each picture has a person with the same general arm position as image 10 and the Juneau statue relief, just reversed. Both are even holding papers like the relief. Now look at page 127. The elf is actually pointing to the briefcase where we see the letters C. G. E., the biggest letter being the C. In music, a C major chord is the notes C E and G, with G being called “perfect fifth”. The C major scale is C D E F G A B. Note that G is the “fifth” note. And it might just be coincidence that when the bell did ring it was in the note of G.

that’s awesome.

I thought someone was doing a bunch of digging at one of the areas I was searching. I thought it was gophers but the patches of dirt were later identified as mole activity, the mounds were flattened by groundskeepers.

Xieish

I think it’s a bit haughty to come out here and pretend like this place is a magical fairyland of socialism.

I totally get what you are saying. There are some rotten elements who might decide to spoil the game for everyone. But it is worth remembering that treating this forum like a magical fairyland of socialism led directly to finding casque #2. Teamwork and cooperation is what did it. The forum is a place to share information, and if that leads to a casque, then more power to you. But I do hope you document the discovery and share it with us here if you find one. Play fair, be a decent person, and everyone here will toast your success.

I’m willing to eat crow and say that I was being a bit of an a-hole this weekend. *shrug* It had less to do with this board and more to do with real life, not that that’s a real excuse. I stand by a lot of what I said, wish I said it in a better way, but I’m a big enough person to suck it up and apologize.
Anyway I’ve slept on it a few nights and people are 100% right, without a casque it’s dumb to even give up on trying to improve your own theory. Constant falsification is the way I try to solve these puzzles, and it’s dumb to stop working on it and say “IT’S GONE” because even if I were right… I can’t prove it for real real.
I have a theory though and I’m asking for help with it (and also understand if I’ve alienated people toward not helping, that’s my own bed to lie in): Do people believe that the BIG image in each picture, not individual image matches, but the big over-arching picture, is the start location, or the treasure ground?
FWIW I don’t believe that the pillars in Image 4 are the BIG PICTURE, they’re the “fence and fixture” of Image 4, the thing you dig right in front of and can see from the treasure ground. The actual planter wall is not dominant in the image, and are also not really hidden (as are the Fence & Fixture, they’re small but not hidden the way a lot of our other images are).
Because I have a theory about the start of this puzzle, and it relies on a potential image match. If I’m right about it, it also involves a long arm extending over an often-suggested slender path.

Its hard to say. I think there is a main feature and symbolic message in every pic. The castle and/or giant being the largest elements of image 5 couldve also served a primary role. Im still evaluating the “bristle” word theory. Image 4’s faint wall sketch in the interior of the wall above the columns is strong, but the centaur standing on top of it all seems a strong indication of climbing up to dig the casque so its very possible the others do something similar.
Here we have a towering building in the distance in an overcast sky. A juggler performing and looking tbrough the hole of a rounded stone. That in itself says “in the distance” and objects being tossed are all about the same separation in timing and distance along an arc…seems to me a good chance we look at a map and identify some roughly equidistant landmarks and see if we can “catch” the next right spot in the landscape.

Page 11 has a paragraph that seems to fit several items related to my theory about a boot in Milwaukee.
Ruddy Alf followed by reindeer hide boots. Does Ruddy Alf sound like Rudolph to anyone else?
Im considering a view of Kosciuszco’s boot on the equestrian statue from 9th street. Rudolph was the 9th reindeer?
Also a deer may be called a buck…Milwaukee Bucks?
Suspicious.

topo map
No one on this forum seems to have mentioned the contour lines on this topo map of Lake Park except for their use in counting the 92 steps.
http://bit.ly/1u1lVGn
This view of Lake Park bears a remarkable likeness to the folds on her robe and cloak. I think the dent in the cloak marks the location of a bridge at the top of the 92 steps.
Previously, I downloaded a huge 30Mb detailed map of Milwaukee from USGS which cut of the piece of land containing Lake Park (shown by a vertical black line on the topo map). Then I had to download another huge 12Mb map east of that one and guess what, it contained 99% pale blue water of Lake Michigan.
(6069)

Unknown

Unknown:
Bluffs and Ravines
Research has been done on the Frederick Law Olmsted vision. Historic photos, planting plans, maps, correspondence, and old park annual reports have been collected and studied.
http://www.lakeparkfriends.org/projects.shtml

wow if someone could get a look at this material/files, may help in what BP saw in 80/81
credit lake park friends

Euhirudinea

but for this one, all we need is a historic photo of LMD at the foot of the NLB Ravine circa 1982.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0645635 … AgLMEg!2e0

Wow, nice one! I’m loving the many-trunked tree.

Being that the GS trail came in here, it woulda might coulda likely been a tree that the markers were hung on:

animal painter

This is a photo I found in the basement of the Milwaukee County Parks Administration Building…
(where all of the old papers and photos are kept in old file cabinets)
On the back, the date of “1940” is written.
It is the only photo that was of any value that I could tell.
The original photo is sepia in color. I posted a copy of the photo scanned in black and white.
If these are the same trees that we are considering as our counting trees, they look very much like birch trees!
Maybe we did not give BP enough credit in his knowledge of trees. At least we can see why he might have called
them birches…if they looked at all like this in 1982.
Notice the multi-trunk tree at the end of the ravine trail by the PT5th. When was that removed?
See the other trees that were growing there originally. Maybe one of them is responsible for the “divot” that was found by Pine.
AP
(this and other photos…old and new… are at webshots…at the link below)
http://tinyurl.com/66gbfa

four21thrasher,
I found that same photo at the Milwaukee County Parks Administration Building.
If I remember correctly, it was either from the 1930s or early 1940s.
AP
This quote is from “Milwaukee Update” thread, April,2008.
The Webshots photo is not there any more, but I have the photo on my computer.

Unknown

Unknown:
I’m loving the many-trunked tree.

Me too. But if that picture dates from the 30’s or 40’s, what are the chances that those are our trees? The smaller trees are almost certainly not the “young birches” that Preiss saw, but it’s entirely possible that one of them is the “proud tall fifth”. And even if our tree is gone, the ground may still contain evidence of where it once stood. Unless they are ground down or dug up and removed, stumps and root structures of large trees stay intact for a long time before they naturally decompose and rot away.

Glossiphoniidae

Being that the GS trail came in here, it woulda might coulda likely been a tree that the markers were hung on:

It is written in the Girl Scout Hiking Trail brochure…
“Past Bradford Beach, watch for trail sign on tree
as you enter the first ravine”
So I take it that there was a GS sign on the big
cottonwood by the South Lion Bridge ravine entrance.
It would have been removed in the 1990s when the
Lake Park leg of the Hike was discontinued.
AP

It may be that this flattened area on the trunk of the Big Cottonwood by the South Ravine Entrance
was where a metal marker was attached for over ten years.

There are birches in at least three locations as you can see from the referenced document from the Friends of Lake Park however they are in different areas and at least some appear to be more recent additions from the comments. Birches grow quickly so pre-1981 smaller stumps would be at least 30 years old and trees from that era would be at least 40-70 feet tall. It does not identify the trees in the area you are looking, however I am not convinced that birch relates to trees or at least not those trees.
http://lakeparkfriends.org/wp-content/u … k-2016.pdf

Stercox, just curious, how many steps are there (going up from street level to the museum)?

I don’t know if we actually did the stair count on these, there was a locked iron gate at the bottom of the stairs going up into the italian gardens there, if I remember right, denying access.  The
top
of the hill closer to the building was residential, without bridges or compasses or culverts or birch trees.  Prior to our tour in Milwaukee, we looked at this site on line and you can get a little info and some pictures of the interior courtyards.  Once we saw it on our visit–We dismissed it–because it was not a good fit–but, like I said–we dug at our favorite spot and the casque was not there either–so, although, I still don’t think that it is a good fit–It’s still a possibility and still in the game.

Geez!  Nice find Shadow.  That’s a good compass!

That’s the Charles Allis Villa Terrace Art Museum.  Yep, we checked this out extensively during our tour in Milwaukee.  It never really added up to V8, the verse of interest for Milwaukee, nor any other verses. But hey, we didn’t dig it up either–so any new thoughts are always welcome.

First off, we need to know how long that compass has been there.  If it was there prior to 1981, then that would be too much of a coincidence to just throw away.  Shadow, know how long?

WhiteRabbit

Ay, remember Palencar saying there was something about the hat, but never seen that.

It’s the post immediately subsequent the one wk just linked to. Your mention of Palencar and the hat back then made me want to figure out what it was… I didn’t have to look far
Knowing something is a clue and searching for it is so much different that trying to find what might be clues and search for them.
Anyhow… do you know where that window is that I posted for the Milwaukee image?

http://goo.gl/maps/l8SH0

Glossiphoniidae

The link you create will lead the user to google maps with a view of exactly what was in your screen when you created the link:

1. click the create link button once your view is where you want it.
2. create a short url by checking the box, then copy and paste it where ever.
…

wk

http://goo.gl/maps/l8SH0

to
LOL, wk… how far you have come!! You are good!

Glossiphoniidae

Remember how Cleveland apparently used the window of the house across the street from the columns in the image, perhaps we see the same thing in this image:

I missed that, which part of the image?

maltedfalcon

I missed that, which part of the image?

This is the house DIRECTLY across from the columns.

I like also the use of a feature that covers our heads. Nice find 421.

Ay, remember Palencar saying there was something about the hat, but never seen that.

We never saw it until I found the Google Streetview of the Greek columns.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=755&p=127190#p127190

Slappy,
This is a link to page 10 of the “Milwaukee Update” thread.
The pictures I posted show a great similarity to the collar design.
The park is within walking distance of Lake Park.
AP
http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/forum/h … 637#p64637

Key = “in door”
Snooker Balls = “pool”
Natatorium?

Just to be clear, are you saying this is a potential match?

Yes indeed

Take a look at the photo on the left of this page.  There is/was a Primrose railroad substation in Milwaukee.
http://www.trainweb.org/milwaukee/homepage.html

oh boy, here we go again. the ‘castle’ was determined to be the milwaukee civic center long ago. i remain hesitant to suggest perusing the past threads.

Civic Center and City Hall are the same place; I looked up images of both and received the same building, which is the one in the painting.  I assumed people would know I’m in agreement.  I forgot to mention– City Hall (the one on E.Wells St, the ‘castle’) and veterans park/juneau park/lake park have about 7 blocks between them.  Easily within walking distance, assuming BP didn’t drive or take a bus.  The bus might have even taken him to the Transpotation Center, which is sort of caddycorner to Burns Commons as well…

yes, city hall is what i meant

Me too…

I saw this police call box from Milwaukee and I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of key went into those big keyholes.
examples of keys used to open old police call boxes.  The key in the picture might be an indication of one of these in addition to being part of the Mill-walk-key rebus.

An idea regarding the “blob” to the right of the mill wheel:
and…
Just sit back from your monitor for a minute and stare. What on earth…?
Update:
Oops, I forgot to mention – these are common fleas, highly magnified.

It may be critical to find a point of view in the landscape where your “millstone” idea matches the exact angle as its presented in the image. That spot might not be where the casque is found but it would hopefully give a clue towards perceiving the next step.

If you stand in that archway, it’s a whole different thing, those stones that go around the arch are fairly prominent …
Here’s a better look

Also notice the color

maltedfalcon

I have always seen it as a cicada, however a cicada is not even close to a locust.

Wikipedia
: “
Cicadas are often colloquially called locusts
, although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are various species of swarming grasshopper.” (emphasis added)

I know that BP is from NY. I also am from upstate NY
And we did call the cicada “locust”. The drawing in image 10
Is more like the “shell” that the cicada leaves behind when
It emerges. The drawing doesn’t have any wings…which an
adult cicada does. The color is also right for the “shell”.

We called them locusts in western NC in the ’80s. Of course, now I know they are really cicadas.
I think we’ve already had this conversation, back in January, 2006 and March, 2008 in this very thread. Check it out.

forest_blight

I think we’ve already had this conversation, back in January, 2006 and March, 2008 in this very thread.

Yep. And we’ll probably keep on having the same conversation every other year or so until we find someone in Milwaukee who is willing to do a proper investigation at the foot of the Locust Street Trail.
Look folks, the forecast shows that the weather in Milwaukee tomorrow will be brisk and refreshing. There’s a time in the early afternoon when the temperature might even reach the positive digits. So would someone please-pretty-please go out for a pleasant stroll and get us a series of good photographs showing the north side of Ravine Road from the millstone to the footbridge??
We need the photos taken now, in the dead of winter, because
this is when we’ll be able to see the stumps of the birch trees
. Those historical street views on Google were all taken in the spring, summer, or fall. They just show a sea of
Ailanthus
. And photos taken later in the winter will probably just show a snowpack. But, right now, the trees are bare and the ground is bare and we can finally count how many birch stumps are found along that stretch. This is your chance to make that discovery.
Carpe diem.

Unknown

Unknown:
I think we’ve already had this conversation, back in January, 2006 and March, 2008 in this very thread

Put me in the cicada/locust camp. We have the triangle in the Cleveland image for Euclid Street, the Michigan nymph in the Chicago image for N/S Michigan Avenue, and now the cicada exuvia for East Locust Street. All three streets lead directly to the parks where the treasure was either found, or in this case, where it is presumed to be. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Preiss and Palencar followed this convention universally for the next nine images. Maybe Palencar lobbied for more creative flexibility. Or maybe Preiss felt the first set contained too much information, rendering the puzzles too easy to solve. Either way, and unfortunately for us, the pendulum swung too far in the other direction for the next three, as the New York, Boston, and Montreal puzzles have proven to be some of most difficult of the set, compared to the first three.

Theres no millstone as shown in the picture, it’s a cement drainage sump with lid.

Unknown

Unknown:
Theres no millstone as shown in the picture, it’s a cement drainage sump with lid.

Close enough to the image that I’m willing to give it a pass. What concerns me more is that even by his own reckoning, we pass right by it (even closer than on his map since we are more likely to be on the sidewalk than on the street), so why double back? That is, we can incorporate the lid into the solve without necessarily making it the dig spot confirmer.

maltedfalcon

Theres no millstone as shown in the picture, it’s a cement drainage sump with lid.

Really?? They’re not grinding the Milwaukee wheat crop at the base of East Ravine Road???
I use “millstone” as shorthand for “concrete disk that resembles the millstone shown in Image 10.” But, to be totally clear about it, I went back and added quotation marks around “millstone” in the map.

The reason the rebus puzzle is in this image instead of coordinates is because, there is a casque in Chicago.  Milwaukee and Chicago are too close together to have different coordinates.
Sorry if this has been posted already.
-regulus

Is this a birch?

erexere

Is this a birch?

looks like it
probabably about 8 years old or so…

What about this tree, assuming the same growth rate as ‘white birch’?
I’m a beginner when it comes to trees and their growth.  Fortunately I grew up in a town that is similar in latitude and in the ballpark for elevation as well.  Main difference is it’s colder in the winters for Milwaukee and it rains a lot more in the Summer there.  The Pacific Ocean vs Lake Michigan isn’t an easy thing to compare, but hey, lots of water, check, so we’re not looking at a desert vs an island…
A lot of environmental factors may be considered when it comes to tree growth.  I hope comparing growth rates might be useful to at least help me rule out or maintain some ideas where trees are concerned.  The picture above is of a tree in front of my childhood home.  I know it was a tiny thing when I learned to emulate Evil Knievel in 76; I would bunny hop that little thing with my bicycle…oh that tree must hate me…then there was the time I landed on it when doing leaps from the roof in 1980.  It use to look real sad like that tree in Charlie Brown’s Christmas.  Anyways, it’s all grown up now and there is no sign of the sugar maple that preceded it, planted about 12 feet to the right.  I remember the sugar maple grew at about the same rate as the cherry in the back yard.  The data chart I referenced confirms that as well.  I totally wanted to tap it for syrup some day, but never got around to it before moving off to college.
I think the white birch I posted earlier could be pushing 40 or more.  If it’s anywhere between 22 to 26 inches in circumference then it’s gotta be over 7 (diameter) x 5 (growth rate) = 35 years old.
Here, I found a picture of a nearby car to get an idea that this is probably a good 8 inch in diameter tree.
The reason I am getting into this is that this looks like the only birch in the Kosciuszko Park.  That just makes for an interesting case when heading south from this tree, staying on the west side of the park and passing three street light poles takes you to a mailbox (Letter from the country?  I wonder if this sign or one similar to it was here 30 years ago.)
The yellow rectangle is approx. where this tree is located, though you can’t see it through the foilage, across from 822 W. Lincoln Ave.

WR,
I have dug and probed around the edges of the Southern “foot”.
What makes it difficult is the rocky foundation soil. My thinking
was that this was the 5th bridge.
AP

What did you think of those two image matches for the corner though AP…? It narrows it down to a couple of square feet. Have you tried digging at that specific spot…? Pretty please…?  😉

forest_blight

Rereading “Walk 100 paces / Southeast over rock and soil” makes me wonder if the verse simply leads us *across* Lincoln Memorial to the other side of the road, where there are considerably fewer (and at the time, more obvious?) trees to choose from. It would be southeast, after all.

****************************************************
****************************************************
OK, I’ve finally made up my mind about this verse.
I don’t care where you start.
Agreed.
Pass three, staying west
Head west on Lincoln Memorial Drive and pass three of something. Birches? Maybe. Whatever.
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
Continuing down this way, you eventually spy Juneau, straight down Kilbourn from the towers identified in the image. Here he is, seen from Lincoln Memorial Drive, with plenty of “German” letters on him.
I’m convinced the juggler shows Solomon Juneau, founder of Milwaukee, a tall proud Leo (fifth sign), as depicted on this monument.
At its southern foot
The treasure waits
Juneau/Leo is a cryptic hint for the lion bridge. At the southern foot of the lion bridge, the treasure waits.
These tall arch shapes under the bridge are the sleeves.
There are various shapes that could be the bridge itself.
I reckon it was buried somewhere around the base of the bridge at its southernmost point, and that we’re looking for a visual confirmer in the image. I have an idea that it might be on a corner, with this clue in the fingers…
Remember that it’s a key that was buried.
(Would be interested to see some more pics of this corner area. Or just dig there. Surely worth a try…?!)

I have been pondering this picture as well.  I like Pine’s thought about this, thinking that V8 may be a good match.  “View the three stories of Mitchell”.  Mitchell is a big name in these parts with a Mitchell Mansion (now the Wisconsin Club”) looks to be three stories tall,  a Mitchell Building downtown, that is 7-8 stories tall (probably not it), but of greater interest is the Mitchell Park Domes (architectually unique gardens).  There are three domes each with its “own tale to tell”.  One is a desert, one is a rainforest, and one changes with the seasons.  In looking at this picture there seems to be a dome shaped structure sitting in a landscape as part of her hair near HER left temple.  This area of her hair is very different from the other side, so I don’t think it random.  Check out Mitchell Domes and see what you think?  Could it be a starting place for this picture with V8???

Goldengate

“Tag along.” Like i said: so much good will. You are a pious and good king genius, aren’t you?
I can’t speak for the journalists and doc TV producers you’ve contacted about following your imminent victories, but I’m a producer who often screens interview subjects for production — and after reviewing your litany of self serving, bloviating posts, don’t expect your phone to be ringing off the hook.
Sorry, but I’ll be sure to schedule a root canal for the day you triumphantly dig up the San Francisco cache. That way I’ll be assured to be in more enjoyable company.
You’ve done a lot of work on following the clues, Josh, I won’t take that away from you. I think much of your work is interesting and I honestly believe you have the potential to be a positive contributor to this community. But maybe it’s time to work on yourself.
Despite your old account having been blocked by the admins, you took the time to sign up again with a new name so you could remain part of this community. Why do you try so hard to be a part of a group you claim to have no need of — especially one that wants nothing to do with you?
Nothing would make me happier than to cheer you on, Josh. But right now, while you will get “congratulations” if you find a casque, you certainly will have not have earned respect.

BOOM! What you said!

Last night I was checking out google earth if you have it check out milwaukee city hall
in that vicinity there are two parks Red Arrow Park and pere marquette and two bridges
but the one thing that stood out was that the ground in one of then matched the ladies neck

Ok, I have been following the secret for about 8 months now and have scouted a couple of locations in Milwaukee. I also own a copy of the book. I am going to throw out a ideas and see if anyone is still around on this board to help me build on them. Be forewarned, I have a divergent idea about where the treasure is than many others.
Lets start with some small stuff…
I think that hearth in the last couple of lines is referring to home, not a fireplace. As in the phrase, hearth & home.
One interpretation of the letter from wonderstone’s hearth is the Large B in the original logo for the Pabst Brewing Company. The B stands for Bavaria.
Another interpretation is that there is literally a letter written in another language that corresponds with the country that the magical creatures are from (in this case, probably either German or French). I’ll get back to this theory in a minute…
The bell on the figures hand is most likely the bell in the bell tower of city hall named after Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee’s first mayor. (a probably unrelated aside – It was designed and crafted by the Campbells, who were early pioneers in creating diving chambers and suits near the Great Lakes area during that time.) As a second theory, there are bells on the control towers of the bridges that run over the river.
I also think that there is a correlation between the circular “clock face” of the objects the juggler is juggling and the references to time in the verse “At a distance in time”. This might take the form of a clock at the final destination.
The two red dots also remind me of the 2 large red ladybugs on the ladybug club building downtown, but I am not sure I know how this relates.
Likewise, I think there is a strong correlation between These Depictions of Pere Marquette and the female figure in the painting:
http://www.pmlodge.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pere_Marquette.jpg
Notice how the stance and dress of the figure is similar:
Also, there are really only 3-4 structures in Milwaukee that refer to the Mitchel’s. The first is Mitchel hall at UWM, but since that is SO far from most of the other clues, I don’t think that it makes sense. The same can be said about the domes, and Mitchel’s bank on historic Mitchel street. So the only building that makes sense is the Wisconsin club, Mitchel’s old 3 story home where he lived with his wife and daughter.
Here are a few collected ideas from others that I find possible:
“I’m pretty sure ‘cast in copper’ doesn’t mean Lincoln, it refers to our courthouse downtown like on the back of the penny. I think the numbers just after that may refer to the steps of the courthouse as well.”
“There are a total of 200 steps from the street to the top of City Hall. 92 steps takes you to the landing at a window where you can see the harp at the top of the Pabst Theater. I understand the difference between a harp and harpsichord but did Byron Preiss? Did he say it to throw people off the trail?”
______________________________________________
So how does this all play out in terms of a workable theory? Well
Remember that statue of old Pere Marquette I showed before. It’s in Pere Marquette Park. only a few short blocks from the wisconsin club and across the street from the courthouse (with a small park separating them). It has a view of the city hall that matches the image (if it weren’t for the Milwaukee Center, which was completed in 1988). Maybe this is what the rock structure around the base of city hall was? The start of construction? Also, the sculpture has a backdrop that includes 4 trees and a fifth that is a birch in the form of a canoe (this is what native american canoes where covered with to make them waterproof). There are also 4 birches in the park as well. The area around the statue has no grass, only rocks and soil. It would be easy to dig up and put back without disturbing grass. And here is the kicker… there are two plaques in front of Pere, one in English and the other in French. At the base of the french plaque is where I think the fairy Casque is at.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pere+Marquette+Park/@43.042271,-87.913714,2a,90y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s29163722!2e1!3e10!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x51f9672e8c9b98de!6m1!1e1?hl=en
I could really use some 1980’s photos of the downtown area to see if I can fit in a few more of the clues, but I feel like this is a place few have tried. How would people proceed in terms of probing the area… where does one get a metal probe?
Let me know what you think…

Oh, I forgot to mention that there is an old historic clock in front of the Milwaukee Historical Society not 100 feet away.
I Also found this timeline interesting (French, and Native Americans where the earliest settlers? The bridge wars? And the Historical Society used to be 2nd national bank, one of the only banks that survived the depression, thanks to the breweries)…
http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/educati … -timeline/
_________________________________________________________
In an unrelated theory, this plaque is up in juneau park milwaukee near and old cabin (mill stone?)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EthtTkedaho/UE1PQxyY4OI/AAAAAAAAFcQ/_lA-Che01PM/s1600/IMG_8774.JPG

Unknown

Unknown:
> We have no Rebus puns in any other image (that we know of), but that doesn’t rule it out here.

oh but I believe we have.  In egg’s find in Cleveland.  In the Plain Dealer article it was mentioned that using the bell in the P with the flower in the P you get Bellflower….a road running adjacent to the gardens.

Pine Tree, that’s genius!
And if everyone will look back at Verse 8 (first page), you’ll see it was suggested there that this verse 8 could be linked to Milwaukee too (though not by me…)
wilhouse

Gadzooks, that’s awesome!  Can someone put the geographical shapes next to the appropriate parts of the pic?  I believe you, Pine Tree, but I want the thrill of seeing the “Eureka!”.

Nice find Mr. Tree!  I had been tossing around (lol) ideas about the items juggled but never came up with the obvious Millwalkkey……love it!
Cat, would you consider this a port city?  just curious…

I’m not 100% sold yet, but it’s worth some investigation.  Some points to weigh:
> We have no Rebus puns in any other image (that we know of), but that doesn’t rule it out here.
> We still don’t have any latitude/longitude numbers jumping off the page.  Milwaukee would be 43N and 87/88W.
> I found two buildings in Milwaukee which could match the two towers; but because they are silhouettes, there could be other matches across the country.
> The coastline: I did not see any geographic shape to match the woman’s neckline as was posted.  If anything is going to be an outline to match, I feel it must be the edge of her cape on the right side of the image.  When I find a match, I’ll be convinced.
And I WILL keep looking.  But you realize, by adding yet another city to our list, we’re gonna have to drop something soon.
Oh, and the verse?  I like the Mitchell connection.  Whoever this General Mitchell was, he has a lot of things named after him in Milwaukee.  For the “climb the grand 200” I am looking at the Grand Staircase in Lake Park — why can’t i find out how many steps it has?!?

Re: Pere Marquette, this may have been suggested already…the beating of the world…Old World 3rd St runs alongside. World beaten into 3rd place…? Or maybe a reference to something that used to be there. (Just a random thought.)
This 1966 newspaper article
discusses a collection called “Masterpieces from Montreal” which included “Woman with harpsichord”, the first old master to be purchased by the Art Association of Montreal. But I can’t find anything tying the exhibition or corresponding book to Milwaukee.
http://www.amazon.com/Masterpieces-Mont … B000H4MAWU

atomicleprechaun

I have included a link to a flickr album that has images that relate to our hunt on it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywagphoto/sets/72157645709486983/
I am most curious as to why certain areas are glowing blue and others are not.

Lots of good stuff here, atomicleprechaun.
As far as the glowing, that just seems to be a technique that Palencar uses in his work judging by the illustrations on his website
http://www.johnjudepalencar.com/
. I’m not saying that he didn’t use some sort of pattern to hide clues, but it isn’t uncommon in his work beyond The Secret.
Regarding the pattern in the bricks, this is the parking garage on E Wells between Cathedral Square and the Pabst Theater:
I’ve always liked this one:
Laureate
, Just across the river from Pere Marquette Park.

Merlot Brougham

Laureate
, Just across the river from Pere Marquette Park.

Right next to the huge Usinger’s (pronounced You-zingers) sign and building, an 1880 sausage factory run by the German Immigrant and his family thereafter… Could that be the “You’ll see” and the “letter from wonderstone’s hearth”

Deuce

Found these on the bridge next to Pere park. Not sure how long they’ve been there but they look old. The bell is a nice match but not sure on the ball. It’s right next to the bell so I thought I would show it too.

Just to put into perspective the location of the Laureate sculpture, even though it doesn’t sync 100% with the particular culvert you pointed out:
I have no idea how time has treated this area, but the statue itself is from 1969. Today, it seems that including the patch containing Laureate, there are are 5 little patches of grass there appearing to each have their own tree. I can’t see how many and what type of trees those are, but using this image, it is five patches of grass for 5 trees, or 4 trees and the sculpture. Staying West at that point just means following along the river in a southeasterly direction.
The foot of the culvert
Below the bridge
Walk 100 paces
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young birch
Pass three, staying west
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.

I like the City Hall building for the left tower, but am only moderately sold on St. John’s Cathedral for the right tower.  (I have misplaced the specific street addresses for these buildings but they are easily found with a search.)  They are not next to one another at all, but I’m fine with that.
the building silhouettes
the two milwaukee towers
(I don’t put the pictures inline with this post, because that would be repeated hits to my server with every refresh — save them locally if possible.)

Well, I’m convinced.  That picture says it all — it’s an exact match.  I guess this matches with verse 8 — the 3 stories of Mitchell, which interestingly is my first post on verse 8 — finding a 3-story building called Mitchell Hall.
Time to research Milwaukee!
Also, we now have 14 locations and 12 treasures.  Two are wrong.
hmmm.

wow the city hall looks especially promising!
Edited to add:
I found this picture of the city hall from a slightly different angle, but it isn’t very clear unfortunately.
http://www.indexstock.com/store/Chubby. … ber=436517
It looks like there are two spire-like structures on the building.  I think if looked at from the right angle, the city hall will fit exactly with our silhouette!

Unknown

Unknown:
I’m not 100% sold yet, but it’s worth some investigation.  Some points to weigh:
> We have no Rebus puns in any other image (that we know of), but that doesn’t rule it out here.
> We still don’t have any latitude/longitude numbers jumping off the page.  Milwaukee would be 43N and 87/88W.
> I found two buildings in Milwaukee which could match the two towers; but because they are silhouettes, there could be other matches across the country.

Unknown

Unknown:
> The coastline: I did not see any geographic shape to match the woman’s neckline as was posted.  If anything is going to be an outline to match, I feel it must be the edge of her cape on the right side of the image.  When I find a match, I’ll be convinced.

Unknown

Unknown:
And I WILL keep looking.  But you realize, by adding yet another city to our list, we’re gonna have to drop something soon.
Oh, and the verse?  I like the Mitchell connection.  Whoever this General Mitchell was, he has a lot of things named after him in Milwaukee.  For the “climb the grand 200” I am looking at the Grand Staircase in Lake Park — why can’t i find out how many steps it has?!?

Which buildings did you find?
I don’t see it either.
Spent the day looking around Lake Park today.  (I’m the friend catherwood mentioned was going to take pictures for her).  The Grand Staircase has 95 steps to climb up on either side from ground level to the very top.  There are an additional steps in the center that don’t lead anywhere.  I took some pictures and will get them up tomorrow, but I don’t think the Grand Staircase is our place unless there have been some steps added.
As for other Milwaukee facts concerning Mitchell, I’ll put them in the V8 thread.

Hey folks! I’m new to the board but have been following along at the pbworks site and doing my own searching.
I am in Madison but am looking to plan some trips out to do some footwork myself.
atomicleprechaun, let me know if you have found a probe. I am looking to get one and would gladly come out to look around some more.
I’m still getting up to speed with everything but hope I can be able to lend a hand.

kpenguins

There were for sure birch trees along ravine road near the “mill stone” sewer cap. There still IS at least one birch stump but it is dug up and its location may have changed. I saw it 2 weeks ago when i was at the park. I have found old photos online showing birch stumps. There was no pattern or three in a row or anything like that. I don’t know if there were ever birch trees on any other trail in the park. I disagree that there is any evidence that there weren’t any. The trails were rehabbed (totally changed) some time in the early 2000’s I believe, as I have found photos of trails in different conditions including very barren looking. I don’t know the dates of the photos. All of this can be found with a few google searches. My biggest question is why narrow down the clue to a number of paces and then after that have people walk for blocks to some other location?? That doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway I just wanted to clear up some speculation I saw here.

via my visit we know you dont stay on the path…i did that…and it leads you a) to a location that doesnt fit precisely and b) is at the foot of a burial mound…so you have to go back up the grand staircase again and turn in the other direction. instead of going back down the path.

because he makes it a bit of a trick with the climb the gs twice thing…he takes you up the gs, over the lp footbridge, down the stairs to the path, forward to the culvert then back to the oak leaf trail via the paces, you are then back at the foot of the gs…so you go up it again (hence why it is referenced twice)…turn the opposite direction…and pass over three bridges (in line with bridge theme in mw)…to make way to what is the best spot we have yet. by far.

This pic is one of my candidates for St. Louis.  Byron Preiss told me in an e-mail, after I submitted a very impressive and wrong solution, that there is a St. Louis treasure.  I kept the e-mail and can send it to anyone who gives me an e-mail address.  (I am bad with computers and do not know how to post the e-mail here.)
The lat/long breakthrough left me with this juggler pic and the suit of armor pic as candidates.  Yet, it looks like Cat’s idea for the armor pic is becoming convincing.
Nevertheless, I can see little in the juggler pic that screams “St. Louis.”  The river-like lines in the cape may refer to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, which meet here, but it was common practice to begin any city along a river.
The sleeves, upside-down, resemble the famous Arch, but all upside-down sleeves look like the Arch.
There do not appear to be any numbers in this pic, but there may be numbers in the bottom right-hand corner in the straw-like material.  I could not get the full scan to examine that area.  The St. Louis lat/long numbers are 38 and 90.
I have been quiet about the St.L situation because I have nothing to say at this time.  I am stumped.  Yet, I am in St.L, and that may eventually count for something.
–Johann
p.s.  Help!  Please!

Well, I have some hope for you Johann.
If you look at my chart in “What has been found?” you will see that I put Image 9 with North Carolina.  However, Catherwood has presented a compelling case that Image 3 goes with North Carolina instead (the Roanoke Island match is almost exact).  So, that leaves Image 9 without a match  — maybe that is St. Louis?
P.S. — Can you send me your email from Byron Preiss?  Thanks.  It’s
[email protected]

also requesting the email:  [email protected]
Now, I really like the charts popping up in these threads; however, one thing kind of concerns me….that is…in no chart is there a mention of Atlanta.  hmmmm, looks like good ole fox may be wrong again…..

In the “pp.20-21” thread, Fox and Shawn point out that the 2 balls being juggled could refer to the 2nd month — February.  However, how do you explain the flower and gem apparently not matching?
Anyone have a clue what’s on top of the hill in the picture?
Also, as we have seen from other pictures, sometimes a picture will contain images “spliced” from real life (the Chicago Water Tower, the Statue of Liberty face, the Chrysler Building bird).  Does anyone recognize any of the objects in the picture, or probably most importantly, how about the woman’s face?
The cape may also be a clue, since the gemstone is in front of it.  Could the cape be indicating a geographic shape, like the conquistador picture and Florida?

Reubnick

I don’t want to be the guy to throw cold water on all of this, but I did in fact probe the ground on all sides of the Erastus Wolcott statue about 4 years ago as far as I could and I came up empty handed. There is a layer of concrete that is not too far down, which leads me to doubt it could have ever been buried there.

Please post any thoughts or photos you might have.
Thanks!
gManTexas

Reubnick

I don’t want to be the guy to throw cold water on all of this, but I did in fact probe the ground on all sides of the Erastus Wolcott statue about 4 years ago as far as I could and I came up empty handed. There is a layer of concrete that is not too far down, which leads me to doubt it could have ever been buried there.

How about 100 paces off the statue? Or how far out of the statue did you probe?

Reubnick

I don’t want to be the guy to throw cold water on all of this, but I did in fact probe the ground on all sides of the Erastus Wolcott statue about 4 years ago as far as I could and I came up empty handed. There is a layer of concrete that is not too far down, which leads me to doubt it could have ever been buried there.

Yup.
But, recently, somebody dug behind the statue, in a corner along the top concrete slabs….I stuck my probe in that dirt (they had filled the hole back in) and it sunk down 3′ to 3.5’…..no concrete there. (Obviously, no casque for the guy who dug, either.)

Unknown

Unknown:
Zeidler Union Square
In 1835 five Milwaukee pioneers:  Byron Kilbourn, Solomon Juneau, Albert Fowler, James McCarty and Archibald Clybourn donated the 1.2 acre site to the City of Milwaukee.
The park, originally known as Union Square, is bounded by West Michigan Street on the north, West Everett on the south between North Third and North Fourth Streets. This site became the first public park within the City of Milwaukee.
The City of Milwaukee subsequently renamed the park Fourth Ward Square, which it was called when the site was ultimately turned over to Milwaukee County as part of the consolidation of parks in 1937.
During the 1950’s, the Milwaukee County Board named the park Pere Marquette.  This move coincided with the receipt of a gift from Marquette High School of a life-size marble statue of Father Marquette which was placed in the park.  (A bronze replica of the original statue now stands in the current Pere Marquette Park).
In the 1960’s, the site was renamed Carl F. Zeidler Park in honor of the former Mayor.  Carl Zeidler, a Milwaukee born and educated lawyer, who became the City’s 33rd mayor in 1940 when he defeated Daniel Hoan. In 1942, Zeidler left office to become an officer in the U.S. Navy.  Later that same year the ship he was serving aboard was torpedoed and all hands were lost.  His younger brother Frank served as Milwaukee mayor from 1948 to 1960.
Zeidler Union Square came into being in 1995 when the County Board renamed the park to recognize the contributions of the labor movement in Milwaukee County’s history.
The Milwaukee County Labor Council AFL-CIO constructed a new gazebo/bandstand within the park.  This facility, which contains features that symbolize various elements of the labor movement, replaced an aging bandstand which had been donated by Blue Cross of Wisconsin in 1977.
Thanks to the generosity of several civic-minded individuals almost 165 years ago as well as more recent contributions by business and labor, Zeidler Union Square is able to provide an oasis of green in the heart of downtown Milwaukee.

I was wondering about the perspective and angle of the image and noticed there’s a new building in the way at 111 E. Kilbourn Ave.  The Milwaukee Center was built in 1988.  I thought it was looking a bit newfangled compared to the City Hall.
From a distancing perspective that puts the spires at the right angle I end up several blocks to the south west.  That seems to take us away from Lake Park, any one know of any attempts to find a camera angle with a person standing in foreground that would resemble this image?  Preferably someone who can juggle.
Edit:  okay, I had some success doing some math based on estimations of the woman’s height and shoulder width (shoulders are about twice as wide as the distance between spires on the Cityhall in the image) and based on the angle of perspective that lands directly on a spot to the south west called Zeidler Park.
Earlier today I had a few ideas and thought this old painting of Jacques Marquette looked similar to the woman:
Here’s an excerpt from a document about the history of Zeidler Park:
I like that there is a Byron associated with the park’s history.  I like the way Marquette connects by being portrayed with a robe and hands that are similar to the woman and Marquette use to be associated with this park.  I noticed that the name changed to Zeidler Union Park in 1995.  It was Carl Zeidler Park when this hunt started.  Perhaps the initials “CZ” are a veiled reference to “Czech” or “Check” as in a checkerboard.  We see those in lots of images.

When I did the math and got to this spot I got the idea that it was a link to continue south towards Mitchell st.  I’m not sure how to interpret the verse because I’m still stuck on believing in Lake Park, but I came across some references to Mitchell being referred to as the Polish Grand and there is a cool horse and rider statue of a Great “Pole” at Kosciuzko Park.  Going southward in this direction comes from following the womans gaze after rotating the image to have the line of her hood match a river segment, thus rotating the image 90 deg right.
The verse that repeats “distance in time” “distance in space” helps support doing a distance calculation based on perspective.  All you need is a ruler and and the height of the Cityhall and distance between spires to triangulate.

erexere,
You do have a way of seeing things in a scientific, mathematical light.
It is true that we have not found the casque here yet, but…
If you were to walk the “trail” for yourself, you would be convinced
of the rightness of the Lake Park area along the lake shore.
AP

AP- I believe you…I just can’t help but see where an alternative angle might lead.  I have nothing that says it isn’t Lake Park.  The culvert and birches are enough to convince.
If I am finding anything that sounds good and puts doubt to your solution, I hope to also find a way to remove that doubt.  I just love the possibilities.
Edit:  I can’t find any certain beginning to the course taken.  Much uncertainty stands between things seeming certain and then I find myself rethinking those on some level…
Walking the beating of the world = ? Beach was my original thought, and then a war reference seemed more fruitfull…rethinking in accordance with Milwaukee history and path in mind, I wonder if it refers to the Bridge Battle between Kilbourn and Juneau.  Which bridge was that, where, still there since 1981?

Personally, I do not think that we have to be standing at the casque site to see City Hall.  I think it is just a unique building that when found…leads us to Milwaukee.  Just like the Terminal Tower and the old water tower lead us to Cleveland and Chicago. A picture of City Hall was located and posted somewhere in these threads that pretty much exactly matched the foggy outline in the image.

Zeidler Park looks a bit too exposed and neatly manicured. I think we’re probably looking for somewhere more scruffy and secluded…

Weird patterns in the hair (sort of looks like NY finger lakes?)
Lower Right with contrast way up:
Some have suggested a “15” at the elbow:
Interesting pattern around the neck (perhaps a pattern in some park?)
Bell in hand?
And something I have not seen mentioned before. (again, at 300 dpi I can’t do the right filtering that I want)… but, there seems to be some kind of numbering going on here… not sure.

http://www.ballparkdigest.com/images/mi … GP3682.jpg

Hi all,
I have spend a few minutes investigating the Salt Lake City theory. There is a millstone in a couple of places on display. The first is a millstone located near the Tabernacle. The second is located in a place called Benson Grist Mill just west of the city. I am still looking for reference for the key. As for Mitchell, I don’t like to try to match the verse to the puzzle until I have identified the park/location from the picture. But, with that said, I did find a famous person in Salt Lake City named Benjamin Thomas Mitchell. Maybe I can find the 3 stories that relate to him.
Cheers,
Toasty

Toasty

Hi all,
I have spend a few minutes investigating the Salt Lake City theory. There is a millstone in a couple of places on display. The first is a millstone located near the Tabernacle. The second is located in a place called Benson Grist Mill just west of the city. I am still looking for reference for the key.

Right next to the tabernacle!!
And in 2007…

I don’t think anyone is particularly closed off to anything at all. I’m not even against having a Millwaukee “rebus” being a red herring, but a Mill-walk-key rebus
and
a building that really looks like city hall?
I’ll give you that the City Hall image is probably the most obvious building in all 12 paintings (it took years to find the terminal tower in whitespace) though. With the Mitchell reference in the verse and the other image-matches that have slowly but surely turned up I’d say you’ll need at least something convincing for another city.
Do you have pictures of the statue you say the walking stick matches? I’m sure there are a few BY statues around.

Oh I haven’t given up per se. I just feel a dig is near impossible if it was in a smaller city park. Also, using modern images is very sketchy. The aerial map is found on the city’s website. There is a link I posted which can be found in the secret wiki now I see. It will take you right there. I’ve been using it to confirm buildings and surrounds of statues, etc.. the problem is it’s still 3-4 years older than the initial hunt. Can’t wait until the 1980 version is released.
You can’t identify trees but you can see their placement, their approximate age (size), and anything the size of a statue usually gives a nice shadow. It’s helped me realize that as you walk down streets, the 1985 version had some similarities but also a lot of differences when viewed side-by-side with Google Maps. Some parking structures look different. Parking lots changed quite a bit, Shop signs, etc.. enough to maybe be missing a clue. Enough for me to want verify everything with historical photos or something similar.

Here are two images I just screen capped to show you how the entire south end of Lincoln Memorial Drive is completely different from 1985 to now. There isn’t a spot of land that wouldn’t have been regraded and trampled by large heavy machinery. So, if it was anywhere in these images, I fear it completely lost.
That doesn’t mean we can’t solve where it would have been.
here’s the link again:
http://lio.milwaukeecounty.org/arcgis/r … /MapServer
Click the javascript link to zoom in

Just checking in to say that DecibelNYC is right on with what I’ve been following. I’m keeping my options open yet but, his theory is also my strongest theory though I do have others. Some things I should note: the area south of the War memorial parking lot was a big open green area with trees and what I believe was a Flag pole. You can see it in the aerial images from 1985 I posted. I was literally standing on Wells & Milwaukee about an hour ago and I could, clear as day, see silently playing, the garage’s neck pattern, AND city hall from there. It’s one of those moments you think “yeah this is just too much of a coincidence.” I feel like the distance covered to the War Memorial is a very long walk. Maybe someone can compare distance to one in Chicago? As much as this is the strongest of my theories and that since DecibelNYC confirms many of my thoughts as well, I just feel there is a few non-exacts (or missing info) in terms of the verses and the image that don’t make me slam my fist down and go “By jove, I think we’ve got it!”
Regarding the millstone: I just don’t buy that he would use a millstone as part of indicating the city AND some obtuse city drainage access cover. Seems silly to me. Besides, where then is the walking stick? or the key?
Regarding taking images in Kusco… probably wont happen this year. It’s cold now and I also don’t travel that way for work anymore. If I am near, I will try but, I will also say that I probably wont be able to see them. That statue is tall and I’d literally have to climb it to see the foot. Ironically, I’d probably get away with climbing it because it’s not the nicest of parks lately and a cop isn’t going to give a shit about some clumsy dude playing Tarzan unless there is a big gap in calls on his radio.

No worries crashdome. Dont bother climbing it. Just hold your cam high and snap a pic someday. If there are any benches nearby you might get a better angle. I think they’re not there any longer.

Unknown

Unknown:
It’s one of those moments you think “yeah this is just too much of a coincidence.”

Yes, yes, yes. I say this a lot these days to people, you have to build a case of “what is the probability that this is just a coincidence” because 32 years later we’re unlikely to see a smoking gun.
If it helps the “DIG HEAR” thing in my Boston solve is an obscure utility box. Fence and Fixture, etc. But how? It needs to tell you somehow what you should be looking at, shouldn’t it? I can’t find anything in the verse that ties in to the painting…

Crash,
Don’t give up on things because they don’t make sense just yet. The first thing I saw in the Rebus was the walking stick as a putter, the key was a flag pin, the balls tee markers, and the milstone as the green…that all pointed to Golf Course….then I overlayed the map of lake park on the Rebus and I got the Flower as the staircase, the walking stick as the golf course, the key as the lighthouse, the balls as the ravine path and the millstone as the running track and I thought…it’s a map…and so on…so just because something isn’t obvious right away, it shouldn’t be ruled out. I’d really like to see the 1985 picture you have of the area where the Calatrava is now. It would be nice (and painful) to see the clump birch in that area. I still feel there is more work to be done on this solution, but it’s a good start.

Wonder if this waterpark was in Milwaukee in 1982…or the Red ball boundary…they look awfully similar to the juggling balls in the image.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0330545 … 4352?hl=en

When AP and I did the mock casque burial, her MD was able to pick it up.

Huh.

First published in 1987, so it couldn’t have been an inspiration for P10, but it’s still a neat resemblance.

https://g.co/kgs/9NcGFQ

I’m not really holding out for a reference to the big letter G logo of the Green Bay Packers as a candidate for the “you’ll see a letter from the country” and some connection to other prominent citizens of Milwaukee like Alexander Mitchell, such as Plankington and Layton, who were involved in a growing their meat packing business. There’s a big disconnect there since the Packers weren’t based in Milwaukee and were founded by funds from different owners of a meat packing company in Delware.
Moving on to a different approach, I’ve thought about applying other considerations to the juggler in the image. She juggles 2 normal looking juggling balls, but then there’s a collection of other objects mixed in. We might want to take the view that she is using magic/illusion to transform the balls into objects. Maybe that’s a way to perceive her as performing tricks. Actually, jugging in general seems like a good reference to tricks. That perspective would go along with my analysis of the verse that it has something to do with playing cards. The games of bridge or whist involve “taking tricks”.
Another thought, perhaps she’s COLLECTING objects. That’s actually a simple idea. She starts with two red balls and then collects objects of interest. This would support my theory that “cast in copper” and “first young birch” might connect to the
US Coinage Act of 1792
when the first
“birch pennies”
were made. I really like this application for “first young birch”, which I believe doubles as a need to find an actual birch tree. (fyi, an earlier pre-birch penny was developed five years prior by Benjamin Franklin,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugio_Cent
, it was kind of cool, featuring a sundial and the phrase “mind your business”.) Along with the connection to collecting coins, I thought the line “you’ll see a letter from the country” could be a reference to stamp collecting.
The US Postal Act
was also passed in 1792 and I began cross referencing various statues/monuments in Milwaukee for being featured on a US Stamp. The one that I found most suitable to my theories so far is the 5-cent Thaddeus Kosciuszko stamp which was initiated by the Wisconsin Legislature and created in 1933.
So forget football, I think this puzzle has something to do with coin and stamp collecting. I like the way the birch penny and a 5-cent stamp correlate to the idea of finding one birch tree, passing three, and seeing a proud tall fifth.
Edit: note to catherwood, I apologize for many posts in the past where I’ve inserted images and since you’ve asked that we use clickable links whenever possible, I have done a poor job respecting your request.

I think its great to talk about the Solomon Juneau connection, but its just a drop in the bucket with many other visual and verse points to reconcile. Its nice to have a unique and non-obscure clue to work with. The question we should be asking is what next or what options does this place on a map give us? I’m a fan of marking the points on a map, because it allows us a compass (draft) calibration and a simple means to build a course of navigation.

I have a new thought… has anyone looked around here? It’s right next to the Grand Staircase, and you can either take that or the steps along the path on the other side of Ravine St. to get to the top (i.e., climb or ascend)…
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0687431 … PYa63w!2e0
It’s on the corner of Lincoln and Oak Leaf… and has the Lake Park park sign shape and Locust Street right there…
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0688148 … qnilJA!2e0
And right next to that the millstone shape see through the Locust sign…
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0688277 … pj4WHQ!2e0
The bridge ahead is the only one of five in the Park not made by Sanne, and it has about 92 steps leading up to the “red balls” on opposite sides…
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0690046 … iaFltQ!2e0
Nice tall tree being one of the five-trunked tree, eh?
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0690677 … 6QAmfw!2e0

I feel that darn millstone has a second significance somehow; maybe once it was the site confirmer. (Random thought; sawn-off trunk…? Is that what the thing in your pic is, or is that stone or something…?)

WhiteRabbit

I feel that darn millstone has a second significance somehow; maybe once it was the site confirmer. (Random thought; sawn-off trunk…? Is that what the thing in your pic is, or is that stone or something…?)

It’s concrete and directly across from the “key” that is the Grand Staircase, and it has the “two balls” that is the bridge between the two. The bridge has approximately 92 steps leading through the woods along Ravine Road up to it from this “millstone.”
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0685555 … a=!3m1!1e3
Read the verse like this, with the bold being the general area clues:
View the three stories of Mitchell
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distance in time
From three who lived there
At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
Step on nature
Cast in copper
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass and reach
The foot of the culvert
Below the bridge
Walk 100 paces
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young birch
Pass three, staying west
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.
If you read it like this, you climb the 92 steps AFTER exploring the rest of the park and being stranded at a Girl Scouts sign. You walk around in the area and find the “millstone,” then you “ascend the 92 steps” and find a five-trunked tree (with one EXTREMELY tall trunk in the group), which is on the southern foot of the only one-of-five bridges created by Ferry in the park (the others all created by SANNE).
PS – I don’t necessarily believe this to be true, but I thought I’d throw it out there as it seemed plausible and posed a new connection for the elements in the picture.

Unknown

Unknown:
PS – I don’t necessarily believe this to be true, but I thought I’d throw it out there as it seemed plausible and posed a new connection for the elements in the picture.

Thinking…
As you all know by now, (and even though I say it doesn’t) that inability to tie the “after climbing the grand 200” clue into the narrative does, in fact, bother me. It just seems so out of place. But what if we read the clue this way: “after climbing the grand 200, ascend the 92 steps” (in this case, climb is synonymous with hike or clamber and not necessarily an ascent)? This reading would suggest that after getting to the corner of Kenwood and LMD (“cast in copper”), we are supposed to go south on the Oak Leaf Trail (into the park-“step on nature”) until we get to the Locust Street Trail (ties the locust image in the picture to the verse), and then take that southeast until we get to the bottom of East Ravine Road, at which point we can “ascend the 92 steps”. However, in order for this to work, there has to be something that ties the Locust Street Ravine Trail to the clue, preferably something on a sign or in writing somewhere.
It doesn’t change the end-game IMO since there are too many visual confirmers that suggest we head south by southwest after going around the pavilion, but it would tighten up the verse a little bit more, which would be nice.

I’m going to go ahead and share some things with the group that I have been keeping close.
First off AP and I had an expedition on Saturday where we took a GPR to 6 or 7 suspected places in Lake Park. We did not see any anomalies in any of the area’s including 2 old dig sites we thought we would check to be thorough. Because of inconclusive readings, the next step is to bury a replica and test it with the GPR to see exactly what we are searching for, then do another full sweep of the area’s.
Something that 421 is on to, I also feel is correct…here is a bomb for all of you map and overlay people….
To understand this, I had to study the rebus code for a long time…I figured since almost everything in the verse has a double meaning, maybe the image contains that as well. It then became clear to me that the rebus code is also a map. To understand it, you have to see the dual meanings. Let’s start with the obvious…the walking stick is also, in fact a putter. When I first saw this, I realized that the two red balls were obviously the tee box markers for the golf course (I’ve played it many times…its a par 3, there are no women’s tees and up until 2009, the tee box markers were 2 red balls the same color as the image). Looking into it more I thought the Key was a flag on the green and the millstone represented the green itself…the whole thing screams golf course. This is when I concentrated my efforts on the Wolcott statue. Through much research I came to the conclusion (with AP’s help) that the statue was just a marker like the Bowman in Chicago, to let you know you are on the right track. It took some time but we were able to verify this visually with the image. A GPR search of the statue area turned up nothing, as did the GPR search of the southern area of the golf course.
While I was solving the puzzle of the bell in the hand (it’s an exact match to Lake Park Road which is shaped like a bell…I noticed the rebus map. I was attributing everything to the golf course, but it wasn’t that… Everything in the verse matches up to the rebus code, in order. It doesn’t line up exactly to an overhead map, but when you look at it as I will explain, it makes sense.
The Flower – The only flower garden you pass on this whole route is in the middle of the Grand Staircase, so the Flower is the Staircase
Walking Stick – Which is also a putter, represents the golf course which you walk by
Key – The Key represents the lighthouse…after all it is the key to knowing where to go…also the direction of the tines on the key shine on the juggler illuminating that side of the image
Red Balls – The red balls signify the bridge and the birch, if you draw a line through them you get a south east line
Gem – this is the treasure ground
Millstone – This took forever, but it finally dawned on me that the orientation gives it away, the Millstone is the oval track near the staircase
This puts the treasure grounds between the ravine and the oval track, just where the verse is leading you to.
Because there are obvious images of tree’s in image 10, I would be certain that he used tree’s for markers…this is unfortunate for reasons we all know.
So we are left with Pass 3 and a Proud tall 5th…I haven’t checked, but I think the oval is a 1/4 mile…although it’s not uncommon to have a 1/5th mile track. Also there is very little to go on tree wise in this area, and even less things with writing, save the girl scout markers that are also now gone.
Now that we have done our best checking that area, I’ll open it up to your thoughts, the next time we go to check, I will consider all of the theories posted here. Also if the casque is recovered it will be put on display at the Discovery World Museum here in Milwaukee, with the full backstory…so if you come up with the “A-HA” moment, AP and I will make sure you get the credit deserved.
With that…have at it, I can also answer any questions on this if any of it seems unclear.

FYI
I’ve heard many people talk about this “Locust” in the picture…the blurred image at the bottom of the City Hall picture yes?
This is only a representation of the entrance to city hall, its very striking…
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c … rchway.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5096/5452 … 003b_z.jpg

That does look substantial. It looks like a nice little shaft of metal, greater than a 1″ finishing nail.
I have zero experience with metal detectors. What model detector was used and are there any specific calibrations needed?

Here is a better photo of the key from that same article.
The metal detector was a Radio Shack Discovery 2000.
(Don’t know if they still make this model.)

Just to let you know that a Radio Shack metal detector
can sense the metal of a very thin Allen Wrench when it
is part of a ceramic “key” placed inside a ceramic object,
placed inside a 1/4″ thick Plexiglas box, buried 2 feet
under the ground!
This may help others in trying to find possible locations
before digging…

This is potentially good news! Can Sir Egbert verify how a small allen wrench compares to what was in the key he found? I thought it was more of a fragment of a paperclip.

This is a photo of the key found in Cleveland.
As you can see, the metal rod is a bit more substantial than a paperclip.
Here is a link to the article about the Cleveland Find.
It is very entertaining and interesting!
http://www.angelfire.com/dragon/egbert/secret.html