Hey everyone, I worked out a highly probable solution to the Boston puzzle over the last couple of days. I have also reached out to the user Bingo on this forum, who is local and has a great deal of knowledge about the area. He is also working with the local officials to gain access/permission to dig. I am putting a PDF of my whole solution online so I can link it here. I left out a lot of the historical information and confirmers, but it's built into the solve. Obviously, Bingo has to pulll the casque out of the ground for this to be completely solved, and I'm rooting for him, but I have a gut feeling on this one. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lw1tfmn9wo2bq ... 3.pdf?dl=0 If you have questions, post away or PM me. gManTexas

I just read through your solution document - amazing detective work. I am a sudden fan of all of this because of Expedition Unknown and even more of a fan knowing a Casque may be in Boston. I came up with a theory on the Boston Common/Public Gardens, but I'm sure I am way off since I have only been thinking about this for a couple weeks. Anyway, I will look very forward to hearing/seeing your success in finding the Casque! What a moment that would be! Slainte!

DelRayBoston wrote:: I just read through your solution document - amazing detective work. I am a sudden fan of all of this because of Expedition Unknown and even more of a fan knowing a Casque may be in Boston. I came up with a theory on the Boston Common/Public Gardens, but I'm sure I am way off since I have only been thinking about this for a couple weeks. Anyway, I will look very forward to hearing/seeing your success in finding the Casque! What a moment that would be! Slainte! Thanks for the kind words. I hope it is finally found after so many years!

gMan, well done. I look forward to seeing that casque pulled out of its resting spot.

MrBackstop wrote:: gMan, well done. I look forward to seeing that casque pulled out of its resting spot. Thanks Backstop. Me too. If this casque makes itself known, I think several more might be found.

MrSeabass wrote:: That's a good progression theory, but it's very similar to other solves like the wiki suggested one and some other proposed ones here. Nothing to really contest there. Almost all of them end up at the Commonwealth/Charlesgate block - it is very hard to dispute that area as the final search area, outside of the Boston University castle. I'd suggest instead of telling Mr. Bingo to start digging, he should get a camera and take *as many photos as possible* of that area - in the park areas, on the street, in the circles, etc. The one thing that is lacking here is reference images that aren't distorted Streetview images. Things like the sidewalk and the Mother's Rest features, we have nothing but stretched-and-smeared pixel images. A good camera is probably more valuable than a shovel right now. I agree with the progression. Many of the clues were already discovered, just not brought to a logical conclusion. When I started doing historical research is when it all began to fall into place. I settled on Mothers Rest based on features from back in the late 70s, then found the connection to the poem by O'Reilly. That's was my a-ha moment. A good photo survey and possibly video would be really helpful.

gManTexas wrote:: "then found the connection to the poem by O'Reilly. That's was my a-ha moment. For what it's worth, freedom was a frequent theme of John Boyle O'Reilly's. This is from his "Liberty Lighting the World," a poem he wrote to commemorate the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. I am Liberty,—God's daughter! My symbols—a law and a torch; Not a sword to threaten slaughter, Nor a flame to dazzle or scorch; But a light that the world may see, And a truth that shall make men free.

bosco61 wrote:: For what it's worth, freedom was a frequent theme of John Boyle O'Reilly's. This is from his "Liberty Lighting the World," a poem he wrote to commemorate the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. I am Liberty,—God's daughter! My symbols—a law and a torch; Not a sword to threaten slaughter, Nor a flame to dazzle or scorch; But a light that the world may see, And a truth that shall make men free. Good point. I saw some of these, but the Pilgrim poem seemed to fit really well, since it is about the Pilgrims coming to America as immigrants, and to Massachusetts specifically. I do like the verse you included above. References light, e.g. beacon, lamp post, the treasure...

bosco61 wrote:: For what it's worth, freedom was a frequent theme of John Boyle O'Reilly's. This is from his "Liberty Lighting the World," a poem he wrote to commemorate the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. And a truth that shall make men free. I like that. Nice writeup gManTexas.

WhiteRabbit wrote:: I like that. Nice writeup gManTexas. Thanks WhiteRabbit!

Is it possible that the lines: Face the water Your back to the stairs Feel at home All the letters Are here to see ...are another "waypoint", describing the nearby vista looking out at the Victory Gardens over Mothers Rest at the foot of that staircase, but not the final location; that you don't have to be standing in such a position to dig...? Then the final line "In truth, be free" could point you to the O'Reilly monument just up the stairs, with some visual clue in the image to identify the exact location. (Just brainstorming, as it's difficult to find any clear landmarks by the water, or any lines in the verse which seem to give an exact position.)

WhiteRabbit wrote:: Is it possible that the lines: Face the water Your back to the stairs Feel at home All the letters Are here to see ...are another "waypoint", describing the nearby vista looking out at the Victory Gardens over Mothers Rest at the foot of that staircase, but not the final location; that you don't have to be standing in such a position to dig...? Then the final line "In truth, be free" could point you to the O'Reilly monument just up the stairs, with some visual clue in the image to identify the exact location. (Just brainstorming, as it's difficult to find any clear landmarks by the water, or any lines in the verse which seem to give an exact position.) Could be. It would help to be on the ground. I think Bingo is going there today or soon to investigate more fully. It helps that he is already very familiar with the area. Hoping he brought a camera, and some warm clothes.

So quiet around here...

Got a chance to go out to the proposed site yesterday morning. Went to the bottom of the staircase, with it to my back, facing the muddy river. Took 18 steps forward and 12 steps to the right. This puts you on a small secluded knoll near and old tree and close to the water. (12 steps to the left puts you next to the walkway in a pretty open space, not of much interest). I found a couple of neat situations. -There are 4 sets of 10 granite stairs on the staircase behind the Oreilly monument. (40 total, not sure if this is applicable to anything.) -There are no lights in the area. I looked for evidence of light bases or anything that may show that there may have been lights there in the past. Didn’t see anything. -When looking towards the water (roughly west), there is an old black fence in front of you and the nearest post looks very similar to the perch of the bird in the image. https://flic.kr/p/22WRW9S -When looking behind you (roughly east), something cool happens. You are standing in a direct line of the needle of the Prudential building and the Oreilly statue. Also, the Massachusetts Historical Society building is on that line as well. https://flic.kr/p/22Ei2jK -When looking (roughly north) you see the arch of the overpass bridge that looks identical to the bottom stone looking “C” in the image https://flic.kr/p/K5M4XR -I looked over the statue itself to see if I could find any clues or indicators from it. On the back that has the 3 figures, I found this familiar shape on the belt of the far left man in the statue. https://flic.kr/p/Entxwa I apologize for the crappy pics, it was still dark when I was there. More to come in the daylight.

Bingo, this is exciting stuff. Looks very promising!

this is so great!

Here are some better pics. Taken from gMan’s proposed spot looking at the Prudential/Oreilly statue alignment. https://flic.kr/p/22F6cnZ The purple can is the spot on the knoll where you land using the 18x12 step method. Fence post in the background. https://flic.kr/p/FUzyTJ You can see the light tower in Right-Centerfield at Fenway. You have to zoom in to the background to see it, but it is visible. https://flic.kr/p/22F6ck4 A random shot of the granite stairs and railing. https://flic.kr/p/Eoj3fM Still no evidence of a light pole in the area. I’ll look into some historical data to see if I can dig anything up for potential lighting in the past.

BINGO wrote:: A random shot of the granite stairs and railing. https://flic.kr/p/Eoj3fM Just at the bottom of the stairs there's a concrete slab. Perhaps the image with the lid being lifted might indicate something like that? Probably not. Might be worth brushing off the leaves to see what they look like, and how many there are.

This is exactly where I've been wanting to dig! The Mother's Rest area behind the O'Reilly statue. There's been a lot of discussion about this area on the Wiki boards but a lot of people there are convinced the casque is buried nearby at the Charlesgate Park that has two circular brick walls that look like the 2 C's in the painting. I've been starting (via Google Maps!) at the library, taking Boylston straight to the O'Reilly statue and then thought the stairs and the water seemed like a perfect match! So glad you've gone to check it out! I just listed to The Secret podcast and one thing they've discussed is that there will be landmarks and images that are unmistakable once you see them - that it will be incredibly clear you're in the right spot. Did anything pop out to you on the walk? That bird is driving me crazy as well as the symbols on her scarf and skirt. I'm hoping to head up to Boston in early March to look around. Thinking maybe there's some landmarks along Boylston Street???

Haarstick wrote:: This is exactly where I've been wanting to dig! The Mother's Rest area behind the O'Reilly statue. There's been a lot of discussion about this area on the Wiki boards but a lot of people there are convinced the casque is buried nearby at the Charlesgate Park that has two circular brick walls that look like the 2 C's in the painting. I've been starting (via Google Maps!) at the library, taking Boylston straight to the O'Reilly statue and then thought the stairs and the water seemed like a perfect match! So glad you've gone to check it out! I just listed to The Secret podcast and one thing they've discussed is that there will be landmarks and images that are unmistakable once you see them - that it will be incredibly clear you're in the right spot. Did anything pop out to you on the walk? That bird is driving me crazy as well as the symbols on her scarf and skirt. I'm hoping to head up to Boston in early March to look around. Thinking maybe there's some landmarks along Boylston Street??? It is possible that they are additional clues in the image. I think you could stare at it and see if anything pops out, then go ahead and share your findings. Happy hunting!