I’m in the Bay Area of CA – San Francisco/Oakland/Silicon Valley area.

Unknown

Unknown:
I will be in the Chicago area next week and throughout the holidays, so I can try to take some photos.  It just so happens that I am giving my wife a digital camera for Christmas, and we do have a scanner.

Hello everyone.  I’m back, and it’s very refreshing to see some new people in on the hunt.
I am still catching up on all the new posts (I haven’t visited these boards in months), so hopefully I will have something to add soon.  I have to say that the person who does those close-up highres pictures is a godsend!  Would you be able to do it on some of the other pictures?  For example, I would love to see a close-up of that lion-face in Image 4 — the one with the Centaur on top of the arch.  Thanks in advance!
Did you take the pictures?  I’m sure we would all love to see the site.

author=johann
link=board=Secret#=1071476289&start=0#7
date=12/18/03 at 21:37:21

The flowers on the image are morning glories, which matches the time-month-flower-gem system explained in another thread of this discussion board.  I don’t know of any particular planting of morning glories in Grant Park, so perhaps the appearance of these flowers in the image is just for indication of the flower-gem system (unless I have missed or unknowingly stepped on these flowers while walking around the park).
Someone else in another thread has proposed that the Emerald-Irish theme is connected to the high Irish population in Chicago.

This brings up the interesting and/or frustrating point that the flower/month/gem system may have nothing to do with where the treasure is located.  In the Grant Park picture, the connection of Ireland and Chicago is pretty tenuous.  However, it is possible that this is the only purpose of the system.  So, I see 3 possibilities:
1.  The system is just a red herring, and means nothing.
2.  The country where the faeries are from “suggest” the American city in which their treasures are located.
3.   The system will help us figure out which verse to match with the picture.  For example, each picture gives us a month of the year — this gives us a number (Jan. is 1, Feb. is 2, etc.) — the clocks give us the same number.
If we assume that either the 2nd or 3rd possibility is correct, let’s try and figure it out.  Here is what I believe the concensus is on the matches thus far:
1 — Jan/garnet/carnation — Pic 3 (Armor) — Verse 3 — Engl — Mass?
2 — Feb/amethyst/?? — Pic 10 (Juggler) — Verse ?? — Germ. — ?
3 — Mar/aquamarine/?? — Pic 4 (Centaur) — Verse 6 — Greece — Penn?
4 — Apr/diamond/daisy — Pic 2 (Lion) — Verse ?? — Africa — ?
5 — May/emerald/lilyofvalley — Pic 5 (Grant P) — Verse 12 — Ireland — ?
6 — Jun/pearl/rose — Pic 1 (Dragon) — Verse ?? — China — ?
7 — Jul/ruby/?? — Pic 8 (Desert) — Verse ?? — Arabia  — ?
8 — Aug/peridot/?? — Pic 11 (Ms.Blue) — Verse ?? — Italy — ?
9 — Sep/sapphire/aster — Pic 6 (Rock) — Verse ?? — Spain — Fla?
10 — Oct/opal/?? — Pic 9 (Mr.Hands) — Verse ?? — Lowlands — ?
11 — Nov/topaz/chrysntmm — Pic 12 (Water) — Verse 10 — Russia — NY?
12 — Dec/turquoise/?? — Pic 7 (Clock) — Verse ?? — France — New Orleans
So, we know these matches:
Pic      Verse
3 —— 3
4 —— 6
5 —— 12
12 —– 10
Well, for pics 3,4,5 (increasing by 1), the verse #s double (3,6,12).  Any thoughts?

author=johann
link=board=Secret#=1071476289&start=0#7
date = 12/18/03 at 21:37:21

Perhaps all those living in the US or Canada can report their general locations so that we can focus the hunt on a possible treasure site in physical reach of us.
–Johann

I am in New Jersey, not far from either New York or Philadelphia.  I also have a friend in Philadelphia who is also working on this.  He has visited several sites already.

BTW, one more thing.  My friend from Philly is a skeptic at heart, and he keeps asking this question, to which I don’t have a good answer:
If a treasure casque really was found in Chicago, why don’t we know who that person is, and why hasn’t there been even one objective source reporting the incident?
For my own thoughts:  Why hasn’t this person surfaced somewhere, looking for other treasures?  Why doesn’t Byron Preiss tell us who the person is?  Wouldn’t someone who lives near Chicago have been able to find something on this?
hmmm.

That is a sad skeptical and entirely rational question to pose. I wonder if maybe Chicago was found accidentally and therefore all we know is that it’s not available. But would we know which verse and photo matched to it if the publisher did not release those details?
I hope it’s just a case where the winner wanted to stay private, as some puzzlers do. But I’m open to the skeptical interpretation too.

I reread the article about the found casque, and it does not say when it was found.

Well, I’m attempting to find the original news story itself, but it’s not easy.  Would anyone like to call up Byron Preiss’ office and see if they have a copy of the article?

Egbert, I think it has validity! I have also been bothered by the map in the book on page 10.. It shows the migration paths of the various fair folk; It seems they show a vertical relationship (North to South), but I have not finished looking at it yet. I thought that if I used the celtic folk and the chicago find as middle line perhap the folks who migrated north of the celts, would also be located north of chicago, and visa versa south… Anyone else looked into this aspect?
Also Egbert, with regard to finding the identity of the first casque finder… might I suggest that you contact a librarian in the Chicago area, ask them to research the newpapers for references to the story about the find. Many librarians will do research for you, at no cost. It’s part of what librarians do.
Manley

forest_blight

I really like how this introductory news piece comes right out and mentions the book Treasure Island, which just so happens to be where the To Hesitating Purchaser bit was discovered to fit the opening of Verse 6.

Ha! No, johann, you were very forthcoming with your finds. A true gentleman.

All is good.
I hope someone digs up another soon.

Is there any relationship between the “country” and where the casques are buried?  For example, the “Greek” casque, signified by aquamarine, was buried in the Greek Cultural Garden.  Do you all think there may be a similar m.o. for the rest of the casques  (Don’t know enough about the Chicago find/Grant Park to determine if there was an Irish connection to the spot it was found.)?
-Dan

Unknown

Unknown:
Is there any relationship between the “country” and where the casques are buried?  For example, the “Greek” casque, signified by aquamarine, was buried in the Greek Cultural Garden.  Do you all think there may be a similar m.o. for the rest of the casques  (Don’t know enough about the Chicago find/Grant Park to determine if there was an Irish connection to the spot it was found.)?
-Dan

Unknown

Unknown:
I think this chart is a great help, but have one question of clarification.  Why does Kill Devil (not the other way around) Hill have a question mark by Verse 11?  This link seems relatively firm whereas maybe you meant to put the question mark by the Verse 6?  Also, it probably makes sense to call this location Outer Banks, NC or just North Carolina as the casque could certainly be some distance from the Wright Bros. Memorial (see Verse 11 thread).
Thanks!

A while back, I proposed that very theory — and I think we concluded that there is a connection between the faeries’ countries of origin and the cities where the treasures are buried.  It appears that there are 2 possibilities for each hiding place:  either the hiding place connects with the country (the “Greek” garden of Cleveland) or the city where the treasure is located connects with the country (the Irish population of Chicago, the German immigrants in Milwaukee, the Russian immigrants in NY, the Asian immigrants in SF, etc.).  This could help us in some places, such as Houston, where there should be an Arabian connection — maybe the llamas?
Oh, I agree that verse 11 connects with Kill Devil Hill.  But since this chart is ordered by the months in each Image, I couldn’t figure out another way to express the fact that we don’t know where Kill Devil Hill (tied to verse 11) fits.  So I just put question marks next to the city and the verse.  Please let me know if there is another way you would like to see this chart.
As for using the name of the city, I was hoping that maybe there would be some alphabetical connection that we could see, based on the city or town where the treasure is hidden.  You’re right, it might not be in Kill Devil Hill, but I just left it like that for now.

I think this chart is a great help, but have one question of clarification.  Why does Kill Devil (not the other way around) Hill have a question mark by Verse 11?  This link seems relatively firm whereas maybe you meant to put the question mark by the Verse 6?  Also, it probably makes sense to call this location Outer Banks, NC or just North Carolina as the casque could certainly be some distance from the Wright Bros. Memorial (see Verse 11 thread).
Thanks!

Okay, I think we have enough new stuff for another chart.  We actually have 11 of the 12 sites!  Here is a summary.  I put the cities in alphabetical order, and I put significant numbers in there in case there’s a pattern.
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month
Kill Devil Hill —— Image 9? — Verse 11 —- 10th month?
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month
Images 3 (armor) & 10 (juggler) haven’t been matched yet.
Verses 2, 5, 8, & 9 haven’t been matched yet.

Try
abebooks
and
here
.
Mark

Here is an update to what we (think we) know after The Giant Squid successfully linked V2 to New Orleans (and hence to P7). So much for our St. Louis theory!
Image  Verse  City          Month      Country  Stone      Flower          Latitudes  Longitudes
1      7  San Francisco  June      China    Pearl      Rose                37,38    122,123
2  3,6,10  Charleston    April      Africa  Diamond    Daisy              32,33      79,80
3      11  Roanoke        January    England  Garnet      White carnation                    75
4      4  Cleveland      March      Greece  Aquamarine  Daffodil            41,42          81
5      12  Chicago        May        Ireland  Emerald    Lily of the Valley    41      87,88
6      9  St. Augustine  September  Spain    Sapphire    Aster                  82
7      2  New Orleans    December  France  Turquoise  Narcissus              29      90,91
8      1  Houston        July      Arabia  Ruby        Larkspur              30      95,96
9  3,6,10                October    Dutch    Opal        Calendula          46,47
10      8  Milwaukee      February  Germany  Amethyst    Primrose
11  3,6,10                August    Italy    Peridot    Gladiolus          41,42        112
12      5  New York City  November  Russia  Topaz      Chrysanthemum          41          74
Verse  Image  City          Month      Country  Stone      Flower
1      8  Houston        July      Arabia  Ruby        Larkspur
2      7  New Orleans    December  France  Turquoise  Narcissus
3  2,9,11  Boston
4      4  Cleveland      March      Greece  Aquamarine  Daffodil
5      12  New York City  November  Russia  Topaz      Chrysanthemum
6  2,9,11
7      1  San Francisco  June      China    Pearl      Rose
8      10  Milwaukee      February  Germany  Amethyst    Primrose
9      6  St. Augustine  September  Spain    Sapphire    Aster
10  2,9,11
11      3  Roanoke        January    England  Garnet      White carnation
12      5  Chicago        May        Ireland  Emerald    Lily of the Valley

Does anyone know anything about the casque that was found in Grant Park, Chicago? which verse, which picture?

I am in Houston and would be glad to contribute.
wilhouse

I like your immigration theory as well, Egbert–the roving fairies finding new homes is a good structure.

btw, the “immigration port” of Galveston, Texas is right near Houston.

Just a thought: Even though BP told me there is a St. Louis treasure, I am not certain anymore.  I have not been working on St. Louis because I am absolutely stumped on this one.

Good point… does anyone know how the verse 12 was matched to image 5. According to the information Johann gave (Kudos to you!), you would have to determine “M&B” to mean Man and Beast, or perhap have known about the Congress Riot…
Is there something else I’m missing that connects the image and the verse..

Hello all!
I was just doing some reading to see how the clues to the Chicago find went with the verse…
I felt the mention of ‘brush’ was not to mean as in woodsy…but in the context of a brush as in a painters brush… an art institute is located within Grant Park.
I am humbled though by the brain power of you all.!  The one correlation I could make was for one already solved!!!

Unknown

Unknown:
Just a minor correction to Egberts observations.
Picture 9 is about the fairies from the Netherlands. Many Dutch paintings feature checkerboard floors. The opal is the wonderstone of the Dutch fairies. They landed in Manhattan and settled at Wildcat Creek (it does exist!).
The whole picture has an appearance of a Dutch painting.
Also the fairies from Scotland and Ireland are considered one nation.

I am not as sure as you are as to whether it applies to the Netherlands or to Scotland.  Here is the section regarding the opal — which is image 9:
The Opal of the Lowland Gnomes:
A cloud of shining, shifting smoke.
“The Lowlands,” according to a search I did on the internet,can refer to a number of places, including Scotland and the Netherlands:
http://www.lowlands-l.net/
http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Scotland/lowland_scotland.htm

I have updated the chart, and I will continue to update it as we get more info.

Regarding Chicago, someone actually did find the casque by following the clues.  It was so long ago, but I remember reading the article in  one of the papers, either the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun-Times.  It included his name and even his picture with the casque.  I don’t recall what his name is, and I’m not sure whether or not the papers have an easily accessible and searchable archive.  I would like to reach the guy and get him involved in this discussion board.  I also wonder whether or not he continued the hunt.
I failed to take pictures of the site, but I will be up in Chicago in two weeks (in St. Louis now).  I’m afraid I will be going up there for a “flash” in-and-out weekend, but perhaps I can find some way to sneak away with a camera.
The contemplation of a possible system to picture-verse matching is worth trying, as long as we have the valuable skeptics keep our enthusiasm in check.
–Johann

FB,  I’ve been reading all of these threads going back to the beginning, and I just can’t find alot of the things that I remember reading. Especially what the month,flower, clock and so on have in common.  I’ve read Egbert’s posts on locations and verse match-ups and I’m still baffled, eg. what does the X mean in image nine?  What does month, flower, and jewel have to do with image 4 in Cleveland? If you can take a little time, please explain it to me like I’m a 2 year old.  I feel like that because I’ve read so many things on line and in books that up has become down. Help. Por favor!

egbert, can you switch the chart, so that they are listed by monthe.  I think the stones in each picture represent a month’s birthstone (obviously), but maybe by re-sorting a pattern may appear.
Ps.  Saw the article in the Bergen Record.  Congrats.
Unknown

Well
I
spent a successful morning at UNC’s library. In the space of 40 minutes, I found not only an early article on
The Secret
, but also the elusive Chicago Tribune article announcing the discovery of the first casque. I will post the latter on the Image 5 thread. Following are three scans from the Nov. 16, 1982 Chicago Tribune.

Skim through this thread and see what has been posted regarding the Chicago find.  Happy post-hunting.  I only wish there was a treasure still there for you.

The Chicago site has not changed much at all.  It is pretty much the same.

Well, if there’s a treasure in Canada, we now have 13 locations.  So, something is wrong.  Here is the chart of what we know, and what we don’t know:
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month
Kill Devil Hill —— Image ? —- Verse 11 —– ?? month
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month
Unmatched:
Images 3 (armor), 9 (funny man) & 10 (juggler).
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Locations:  St. Louis & Canada
So, if 2 treasures are in St. Louis & Canada, then one of the locations in the chart is incorrect.  The most tenuous ones appear to be Florida, Boston, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City.
Thoughts?

Unknown

Unknown:
From :
thanks! yes, there is a treasure in Canada.

Well then–that’s good enough for me.  🙂

another Doubting Thomas speaking up here.  Did anyone ever get a copy of that email where the publisher confirms the location of St. Louis?
BTW, I have a friend who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and she is having a look at the verses to see if anything pops out as familiar.

Thanks Fox.
That is about the fastest maps yet on the internet!
Sorry I haven’t been around for several months. Got laid off from my job of 23 years in NY this past December 04.
Been a trying time with finding a job, with this topsie turvvy telelcommunications field this past year.
Sorry I haven’t had any reall good input into this Treasure Hunt. I dearly wish and pray you all find another casque!
Good hunting!
KRO-magnum

Yeah, thanks Fox. That’s the best.  You can switch back and forth between map and satellite anywhere.

I am officially joining the hunt for The Secret after a short delay of 23 years
..not exactly sure how I missed this way back in 1982 but I did. Better late than never methinks!
However, I am having a heck of a time finding the book. Can anyone assist with this? Is there a known site that has the book at reasonable cost? I did find some selling it for near 50 bucks, but Im not wanting to pay that much for it.
Thanks in advance, Smack

Whenever I’m looking for a hard-to-find book,
bookfinder.com
is the first place I look. It is the “dogpile.com” of online book vendors. They currently have several copies listed, ranging from $20 to $50. Search for (title) “The Secret: A Treasure Hunt” or (title) “The Secret” and (author) “Preiss.”

Use “Sean Kelly” as the author (using “Preiss” may not work).  For instance, Better World Books is currently showing a copy at about $30.

Forgive me Johann et al for being a tad confused here.  The ideas for P9 and S.L. are quite interesting indeed….but…  The confusing part is this:  The main reason we began looking about the gateway city was because of the Jewel Box.  Wasnt the “pandora’s box” in P11 what got us onto this line of thinking?…or was it the line in a V stating “jewels abound”?  Sorry for being out of the loop….

I think it makes a lot of sense for New York to correspond to the Dutch fairies (well, “lowlands,” but lowlands is the literal meaning of Netherlands/Nederlands).  I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but New York was originally called New Amsterdam, and had a strong Dutch presence once upon a time.  Harlem, for instance, is named after the Dutch town of Haarlem.

Regarding who has found the Chicago casque….. your right we don’t know who found it, it may have been found by mistake, or it may have been found on purpose…. It has been 20 years since the book was published, someone may have said “hey, we better let people know these are still out there!” So they dig up one caques release tidbits of information to the press, and the search goes on!

Just since we haven’t played “Competing Tables” for awhile, here’s my current version:
San Francisco—-Image 1—Verse
—China
Charleston——-Image 2—Verse 6—–Africa
Kill Devil Hill——Image 3—Verse 11—-England
Cleveland——–Image 4—Verse 4—–Greece
Chicago———-Image 5—Verse 12—-Italy
St. Augustine—-Image 6—Verse 9——Iberia
New Orleans—–Image 7—Verse
—-France
Houston———-Image 8—Verse 1——Arabia
New York——–Image 9—Verse 5 —-Netherlands
Milwaukee——-Image 10—Verse 8—–Germany
Boston———–Image 11—Verse 3—–Ireland
Vancouver——-Image 12—Verse 10 —Russia
Unsure: Verses 2 and 7
It’s interesting that (in my view) we’re down to San Francisco and New Orleans for the undetermined Verses, and that both cities have significant Twain (V7) connections.  Anyway, argue away.
Pine

I like PT’s summation.  If I may, I would reassign Ireland to the Chicago find P5 V12, instead of Italy.  The stone is emerald brought by the  Celtic folk.  Although Boston is a good choice for Ireland, the Chicago find is a done deal and who can forget the green rivers they’ll have there on St Patty’s day.  Right now, I think Italy is homeless–could that be Boston??

Oh—one more thing–We should be cautious in thinking about strictly major immigration centers in trying to assign the Fair Folk’s country of origin.  That is, where into the U.S. did the irish, germans, spanish, russians, etc…  mostly immigrate to.  For the most part, the pattern does seem to fit.  Examples would be San Fransisco and Chinese,  St. Augustine and Spanish, and others.  This seems intuitive.  But I’m from the Cleveland area and I would not have put Greeks and Cleveland together,  but they obviously were matched.  Cleveland was a city with the largest Slovenian immigrant population as their major in coming group.  I just think that some of the match ups could be slightly looser connections than we think.

I uploaded that one rhino pic here:
http://catwood.leftbrained.org/TheSecre … c00059.jpg
It’s not a high-bandwidth server.

a couple of comments on image 8:
pole with rhino on top looks suspiciously like Dsc00059.jpg in
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/arm … rmannPark/
that I posted.
also, note in trees clear 30, N 95, Houston Lat/long.
finally, note in background 4 posts or pillars, which might be the “four alike” in verse 1.
I agree these are not solid leads.

I think I missed something–how do we know there is only one in Canada?

You are quite right that the pic 11 Pandora’s Box first had us exploring St. Louis, but at some point (or over some time) opinions changed.  I began with pic 11 and verse 2, then left verse 2 for too many other verses, then juggled between a few possible pics and verses, then somehow came back to verse 2 and finally pic 9.  In short, I was (and perhaps presently am) confused.  Your concern is valid.

I am in St. Louis, and I often travel to Chicago.
–Johann

don’t you need the flower and gem and time to match the poem to the picture?

So after re-reading Johann’s explaination of the Chicago find… I propose that there is no particular meaning to the month, flower, gem themes of the images???? perhaps these are themes, but don’t neccessarily have meaning.

Oops, as fox pointed out literally years ago, the relevant “10” in P9 is the Roman numeral X, not the number of petals on the flower. The revised list:
P1
: clock (6)
P2
: clock (4)
P3
: clock (1)
P4
: triangle (3)
P5
: number of warts (5)
P6
: number of asters (9)
P7
: clock (12)
P8
: number of columns (7)
P9
: Roman numeral X (10)
P10
: number of red balls (2)
P11
: number of gold squares in the hoop under the big globe (8 )
P12
: clock (11)

Wow, no one has posted on this thread for a long time; but I did not know where else to post this.
Perhaps we should do more work regarding the Canada treasure so that we can assist our process of elimination in an attempt to pin down the pictures (cities) conclusively.
This post might be a “well, no kidding” post.  Yet, we have not made much of an effort on Canada.  It seems to be on the burner behind the back burner.
–Johann

i think trying to find something in canada is alot harder then finding something in the states because the states in canada are alot bigger and diverse then the states

I’m with you johann.  As a matter of fact, just the other night, I spent about 2 hours looking at buildings/images from different Canadian cities found on the good city link posted on the Resources thread.  Didnt find anything very useful however.  I did find an interesting statue outside of the legislature bldg in Winnipeg (i think).  On the back of the statue, there appears to be an image of what looks kind of like a person with outstretched arms (the armor P?).  I emailed a University in Winnipeg about what exactly is on the statue and am awaiting word….not holding my breath though  :-X

if you really need info about Winnipeg, I know several people who live there.
However, my intuition tells me that the Canadian treasure will be in a port city, somewhere with a history of real immigrants.  (Even Cleveland has a port on the Great Lakes, and Salt Lake City is the ultimate story of emigrants establishing a new home.)  I’ve been concentrating on Victoria, BC and Toronto, ON so far, looking at Montreal next.

ahh, good idea Cat.  Do you then suppose that the US casques will either be located in port cities or at least cities with a history of immigration?  Hmmm, Chicago? (check),  Cleveland? (check),  SF? (check),  N.O.? (check), Houston? (check), 4corners?  😉 (umm, nope) lol.
See if you can have one of your friends check and take photos of the statue located in a small park surround by traffic near the Winnipeg legislature.  Dont know if this link will work but here it is
http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=208789

I like this game. Here is the worksheet I’ve been keeping. Give me a holler if you want the Excel version.
Image     Verse     City           Month     Country   Stone      Flower          Latitudes    Longitudes
1         7     San Francisco  June      China     Pearl      Rose                37,38       122,123
2  2,3,6,10     Charleston     April     Africa    Diamond    Daisy               32,33         79,80
3        11     Roanoke        January   England   Garnet     White carnation                      75
4         4     Cleveland      March     Greece    Aquamarine Daffodil            41,42            81
5        12     Chicago        May       Ireland   Emerald    Lily of the Valley     41         87,88
6         9     St. Augustine  September Spain     Sapphire   Aster                                82
7  2,3,6,10     New Orleans    December  France    Turquoise  Narcissus              29         90,91
8         1     Houston        July      Arabia    Ruby       Larkspur               30         95,96
9  2,3,6,10                    October   Dutch     Opal       Calendula           46,47
10         8     Milwaukee      February  Germany   Amethyst   Primrose
11  2,3,6,10                    August    Italy     Peridot    Gladiolus           41,42           112
12         5     New York City  November  Russia    Topaz      Chrysanthemum          41            74
Verse     Image     City           Month     Country   Stone      Flower
1         8     Houston        July      Arabia    Ruby       Larkspur
2  2,7,9,11
3  2,7,9,11     Boston?
4         4     Cleveland      March     Greece    Aquamarine Daffodil
5        12     New York City  November  Russia    Topaz      Chrysanthemum
6  2,7,9,11
7         1     San Francisco  June      China     Pearl      Rose
8        10     Milwaukee      February  Germany   Amethyst   Primrose
9         6     St. Augustine  September Spain     Sapphire   Aster
10  2,7,9,11
11         3     Roanoke        January   England   Garnet     White carnation
12         5     Chicago        May       Ireland   Emerald    Lily of the Valley

hey Dan, some time ago, we found a current article in some magazine (dont remember title) which was posted somewhere amongst these threads (cant find where) that stated that 1 was in Canada.
hope that kind of helps  ???

yeah, i was kinda wondering whether it was worded as “at least one” (could be more) as opposed to “1 of the 12”.
By my own inventory, I think image 11 is the only one without longitude/latitude numbers, or at least the only one not warmly claimed by a USA city.

Ok Dan, a copy of the actual article can be found here:
http://www.armchair-treasure-hunt.com/c … secret.htm
it does not specifically state only 1 is in Canada but I remember it was only 1.  Maybe it was conveyed to me by BP via email.  Let me check my archived messages and see if I can find it….    8)

Ok, here is the very brief response from BP.  Shortly after hearing of the article mentioning Canada, I dropped BP a short email inquiring about treasures in Canada…..look at his response.  “a treasure”.   Hope this helps…..
From :
Sent :  Monday, April 7, 2003 2:08 PM
To :  [email protected]
Subject :  Re: “The Secret”
|  |  |  The Secret | Inbox
thanks! yes, there is a treasure in Canada.

also, if anyone is questioning whether the jewels are still available (I’m sure Egg will tell us soon) here is another email straight from the BP’s mouth re: the jewels
From :
Sent :  Tuesday, April 8, 2003 8:20 AM
To :  [email protected]
Subject :  Re: “The Secret”
|  |  |  The Secret | Inbox
In a message dated 4/8/2003 3:44:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected]
writes:
I hate to bother you again but you seem to have avoided the
question as to the status of the jewels availability.  Dont worry, if you
say they are no longer available, I will still wrack my brain over this book
until at least one of the riddles is solved.  Thanks again for your time and
such a wonderful adventure.
jewels still available!

sorry to pull this thread up to the top folks but I didnt know where else to put this.
google has a new mapping service that allows not only maps but aerial views of the city you want.  I think an actual photo of a city may come in handy…. here it is
http://maps.google.com

I just heard abou the book recently and searched around online to find a copy.
Finally
, I came up with Albiris books,
www.albiris.com 
It took me a while to search the all the books listed with the words “The Secret” in the title but I finally found it.  In retrospect, I found it was much easier to search by the books ISBN which is 0553014080.  That should make it a little easier to get your copy.  Good Luck !

Wow! Very impressive! Johann, I will assume you live in chicago, I have often thought that certain details (like the fence) would stick out for those firmiliar with a the areas. Is that how you traced what you have here?
I am in Southern California, I have just started looking thru the verses again, I was hoping to find some references to my local, so I could do some physical tracking…..

I will be in the Chicago area next week and throughout the holidays, so I can try to take some photos.  It just so happens that I am giving my wife a digital camera for Christmas, and we do have a scanner.
The flowers on the image are morning glories, which matches the time-month-flower-gem system explained in another thread of this discussion board.  I don’t know of any particular planting of morning glories in Grant Park, so perhaps the appearance of these flowers in the image is just for indication of the flower-gem system (unless I have missed or unknowingly stepped on these flowers while walking around the park).
Someone else in another thread has proposed that the Emerald-Irish theme is connected to the high Irish population in Chicago.
Perhaps all those living in the US or Canada can report their general locations so that we can focus the hunt on a possible treasure site in physical reach of us.
–Johann
–Johann

Johann,
Is there relevence to the Emerald (green Gem) in the picture. Nothing pops out at me. Also the flower on the man’s collar, It’s not the state flower… Is there a different meaning?
Thanks,

Johann,
Thanks Thats Great!
I was wondering if anybody who lives in Chicago could go take a picture of the area where the casque was buried, so we could see what its like.
maltedfalcon

Johann, THANK YOU…knowing the methodology of one puzzle is always useful in figuring out the others! This will offer huge insight.

Well, that’s what I get for not doing a complete Google search!  That certainly looks like the place in Image 12.  Let’s see if we can find more pics!

Well, Egbert asked us to kick this around, so please hear me out on all the highly unconventional stuff I’m about to say…
Within the text you have the keys.  Holy cow friends, how did we miss it?  Stercox and the St. Augustine discovery blew it all open for me.  I believe the arrangement looks like this:
San Francisco—-Image 1—Verse
—China
Charleston——-Image 2—Verse 6—–Africa
Kill Devil Hill——Image 3—Verse 11—-England
Cleveland——–Image 4—Verse 4—–Greece
Chicago———-Image 5—Verse 12—-Italy
St. Augustine—-Image 6—Verse 9——Iberia
New Orleans—–Image 7—Verse
—-France
Houston———Image 8—Verse 1——Arabia
New York——–Image 9—Verse
—-Lowlands
Milwaukee——-Image 10—Verse 8—–Germany
Boston———-Image 11—Verse 3—–Ireland
Vancouver——-Image 12—Verse
—Russia
Unsure: Verses 2, 5, 7, 10
I’ll start with textual references:
– End of p13 and beginning of p14 start to point the Lowlanders toward NY.
– p22 relates the Iberians and the Timuca/Calusa tribes in FL, as stercox pointed out.
– p23 connects the British with (among others) Catawba and Cherokee in NC.
– p23 sends the Arabians toward the SW (Houston).
– p24 mentions Vancouver.
– p29 says “…the leprechauns of Erin…were doubtless in Massachusetts…”
– p29 places the Lowlanders on Manhattan island
– p30 places the Iberians in Florida at the Fountain of Youth
Other arguments:
– I believe Chicago was Italian and Boston Irish.  Both could go either way from an immigration standpoint, but the jewels look better to me this way, and the p29 deal is the closer.
– I believe Image 11 is clearly Boston.  It has the lat/lon numbers and the Irish jewel.  Further explanation is in an old post on the Image 11 page, if I remember correctly.
– Think about actual immigration patterns.  The best place for the Dutch has to be NY, and p29 really seems to cinch it.
– Vancouver might be a stretch, but think about the only area of North America that Russia ever tried to colonize.  It was Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, so I went looking for mentions of cities there.  The Vancouver mention in the text is quite deliberate.  I think this is our Canadian casque.
Now all this is just my opinion, and I know I changed the format of the table, but fire away.
Pine

I LIKE IT!!  I think that there is a lot of information to be gained from the first part of the book, including the margin pictures, many of the sketches match up with the pictures, with subtle detail changes.

I think this is the best collection we’ve had since I started on this hunt for ernest almost a year and half ago (not to mention 22 years ago…). This makes sense, though we need to reconcile the boston image as there was a bit of work done on it.
I know Preiss has said that you don’t need the other parts of the book to solve the puzzles, but the picture of the train, with a number 82 on it, and a big H on the page makes me think there can’t be NO relationship.
wilhouse

wilhouse,
it’s certainly very nice of you to do all of this for ernest.  who is he?
Pine

all right.
earnest.
-1 for spelling
wilhouse
hey, my 400th useless post…

Well, nobody even laughed at my recent “x marks the spot” joke over on the Image 6 thread, so I figgered I’d try again.
Just in a good mood over the Vancouver/New York deal.
Pine

Oops, getting late.
Meant to describe that as my “what-I-thought-you-posted-as-an-x-marks-the-spot-joke-but-then-realized-you-mig
ht-have-been-serious-and-and-tried-in-vain-to-continue-it” joke.
No more humor from now very serious Tree.
Going to bed.

Pine – didn’t Johann say he had confirmation from BP that one was buried in St Louis? If that is true then it would leave Milwaukee and New York as the most likely candidates for replacement. Although I like the links to Milwaukee in the verse and image, and NY seems like such an important immigration center I can’t imagine it not being included. Quick, everyone look for the MYLMLVR!! (j/k..)

I don’t remember whether BP had specifically confirmed St. Louis or not.  I’ll try to look around for an answer, but others may remember more than I.

Unknown

Unknown:
…and since everyone likes Image 3 and Boston, I stuck Kill Devil Hills in the remaining spot.

Unknown

Unknown:
– I believe Image 11 is clearly Boston.  It has the lat/lon numbers and the Irish jewel.

I am one of the naysayers on this point.  I think Image 3 definitely holds the outline of Roanoake Island moreso than the Boston park as offered.
I might be seeing things differently on this point as well.  Image 11 holds the Italian gem peridot, not Irish; the numbers  I see in this image are 111/112 longitude and 41/42 latitude, putting it in Salt Lake City.
I’m leaning towards matching verse 5 with New Orleans, mostly because of the “arc of lights” line.
I feel a renewed need to spend some time with Google Image Search today…

Unknown

Unknown:
I feel a renewed need to spend some time with Google Image Search today…

Nice to have you back and active, Cat!
Pine Tree, I really like those ideas.  The North Carolina and Image 3 do seem to match, just as Cat says.  My buddy Siskel had pointed out to me in the past that the suit of armor with its arms out certainly seems like it is flying (ala Wright Bros.).
BTW, there are no onion-domed churches in Vancouver.
However, I do like the table suggested because all of the cities are either immigration coastal ports or near those ports.  Salt Lake City still bugs me as well, but it is not a port city, so maybe we are reading the 112 incorrectly.

http://www.holyres.org/

Gurya,
As I said in my PM to you….welcome aboard.  We cant wait to hear some new ideas.  You never know, you may just be the one who holds the piece of the puzzle we all have missed.

Unknown

Unknown:
Okay, here is the latest summary, with the addition of the countries from where the fairies originate:
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month — France
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month — China
The most tenuous ones appear to be Florida and Salt Lake City.

Im pretty sure verse 7 goes with SF and image 1 –
and the map of florida in the picture almost makes it definite especially now that weve seen the clevland treasure had an ohio map in it.

Will do, MF.  Here’s an update:
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Kill Devil Hill —— Image ? —- Verse 11 —– ?? month
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month — Spain
Unmatched:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (funny man)(Dutch)
Image 10 (juggler)(Germany)
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Locations:  St. Louis & Canada

Will do, MF.  Here’s an update:
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Kill Devil Hill —— Image ? —- Verse 11 —– ?? month
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month — Spain
Unmatched:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (funny man)(Dutch)
Image 10 (juggler)(Germany)
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Locations:  St. Louis &
Canada

Egbert–  Thanks.  Part of my confusion came from the color of the stones in both online and book pics.  I was concerned about being exact because . . . (see below message to dan)
dan–  Yes, I have been considering the history of the heavily German population of immigrants and how that relates to St. Louis.  There are also neighborhoods associated with the Irish (Dogtown) and the Italians (The Hill).  The tricky part is the Irish cane among the juggled objects in the pic.  Yet, these neighborhoods are bordering each other.  The most tricky part is finding things that actually match specifics in the pic.
I have checked nearly every neighborhood in the city.  But, tomorrow I am going somewhere I have not been before.
When (if) I find something substantial, I’ll report on the appropriate threads.
Thanks for help, Egbert and dan.
–Johann

It would be intresting to know if the site where the Chicago casque was found looks substantially the way it did when BP buried the casque in 1982.  I guess what I am asking myself is did BP choose twelve sites that were not likely to change much with the passage of time?  Reading the
Plain Dealer
magizine supplement on Egbert’s Cleveland find would suggest otherwise. In the article BP states that he thought all the casques would be found within a month, and that he thought the hunt would be too easy.  Thus, he might not have chosen the sites with the idea that the casques would go unfound and unclaimed for decades. In other words,the sites may have been chosen for reasons other than the longevity factor. From all I’ve read about the Cleveland find, it does appear that the site has not changed much since the casque was buried.  So what about the Chicago site?  And what about the ten other locations?  What I am getting at is that it makes a big difference whether BP chose to bury the casques in places that were not likely to change much over time, or in places like the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a possible casque location, that have changed substantially over the past 23 years.

No one lists verse 5 with Charleston anymore?  Where’s the love?

I’ve got your love right here, lobster. How’s this?

That treasure corresponds to Image 5 and Verse 12.

Mr. Preiss did indeed tell me there is a casque in St. Louis.

That is the most difficult step in the whole process, matching the correct picture and verse.  I had recently thought that I was at a solution for a casque, but I believe I had the wrong verse with the (I hope) correct picture.  That is also the reason my father and I were tragically close to the Chicago treasure 20 years ago.  Alas, correct picture but wrong verse.  I do not see any easy method of proper pairing of verse and picture.  Perhaps there is a method that I am blind to.
–Johann

Some time ago, I tried to contact employees of both of Chicago’s large newspapers and they could not locate any information or stories relating to the found casque.  Maybe I just happened to get the wrong people….maybe not.  I would love to find this invisible man.

I am stunned that this invisible man is not still searching or working on the book!  The prizes are only becoming more valuable.

boogieman – my pleasure!
The X in Image 9 is the Roman numeral 10, and refers to the 10th month (October).
Each of the 12 images contains a reference to a month (see my previous post), where the number corresponds to the month in the usual way (i.e., 1 = January, etc.). Each image also contains the traditional birthstone and birthflower for that month. See my reply #109 (July 3, 2005) on this thread for the full list.
It is not clear what, if anything, the month/birthflower/birthstone has to do with locating casques. Perhaps nothing. They were not necessary for finding either the Cleveland or Chicago casques, and I can think of no post hoc connection between them and the solutions.

Hey, thanks dude!  Seems that finding the conection with that theme would pretty much solve this whole damn thing. Obviously those things are there for a reason. I’ve always consentrated on the link between Native Americans and the place where the Fair People came from even before I found this site a year ago.  As well as this site has evolved, reading back just throws me for a loop. Let me try to line all this up:
Native Americans
Fair People
Foriegn Countries
Birth Stone
Birth Month
Birth Flower
300 years ago (+ or – ) (from 1982)
12 images
12 verses
12 locations (one in Canada)
only ten remain
Looks easy….

Unknown

Unknown:
im new and i was wondering if the image number is the same as the verse number and if not, does anyone know so far what images go to what verses.  :-*

I hate to state the obvious but you need only look back two postings…

im new and i was wondering if the image number is the same as the verse number and if not, does anyone know so far what images go to what verses.  :-*

Oculus, you just have to look at the chart.
As requested, I am going to re-order the chart in the order of the months.  I am also probably going to get some sneers from some of you, but I am going to put in my proposed solutions, including what has still not been matched (yes, I’m taking out Florida).  Okay, here it is, in order of the months, with question marks next to the ones we are still debating:
Boston ——— Image 3? —- Verse 3 —– 1st? month — England?
Devil Kill Hill? —- Image 10 — Verse 11? — 2nd month — Germany
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
Canada? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month — Spain
St. Louis? ——- Image 9 —- Verse ? —– 10th month — Dutch
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
Unsure:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (funny man)(Dutch)
Image 10 (juggler)(Germany)
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Milwaukee, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…  🙁
Please note that the St. Louis and Canada locations could easily switch — so far, we have no clues attaching either city to either image (as far as I am aware).

Oculus, you just have to look at the chart.
As requested, I am going to re-order the chart in the order of the months.  I am also probably going to get some sneers from some of you, but I am going to put in my proposed solutions, including what has still not been matched (yes, I’m taking out Florida).  Okay, here it is, in order of the months, with question marks next to the ones we are still debating:
Boston ——— Image 3? —- Verse 3 —– 1st? month — England?
Devil Kill Hill? —- Image 10 — Verse 11? — 2nd month — Germany
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
Canada
? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month — Spain
St. Louis? ——- Image 9 —- Verse ? —– 10th month — Dutch
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
Unsure:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (funny man)(Dutch)
Image 10 (juggler)(Germany)
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Milwaukee, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…  🙁
Please note that the St. Louis and
Canada
locations could easily switch — so far, we have no clues attaching either city to either image (as far as I am aware).

yep, i also spent a lot of time yesterday with New Brunswick.  The greatest influx of Irish immigrants in Canada seems to have come thru there.  Halifax, NS is not a very large city, but it is an immigration port, and they have a fort there known as The Citadel.
I am concentrating on image 10 for Canada, and I would love to find the building in silhouette on this picture.
(We should have started a new thread for this latest discussion, to save this thread for “what we know” summaries.)

Unknown

Unknown:
…my intuition tells me that the Canadian treasure will be in a port city, somewhere with a history of real immigrants.  (Even Cleveland has a port on the Great Lakes, and Salt Lake City is the ultimate story of emigrants establishing a new home.)  I’ve been concentrating on Victoria, BC and Toronto, ON so far, looking at Montreal next.

Ah… don’t overlook the Ottawa (the Capital of Canada); Niagara Falls (the Honey-Moon Capital of the World); Quebec City (Capital of Quebec); all of these are on navigation systems and would be well-enough known and captured in pictures to be readily searchable for the arm-chair hunter out there. I suggest – strictly based on population distribution that you could give the east-coast a pass. By the way if you are considering Victoria – you must also look at Vancouver, larger – also has a port.

Stercox,
I think you’re right that it only needs to be a “pretty good” fit for the immigrants, and that there were no hard-and-fast rules of association.  I suspect BP had the list of fair folk countries, picked out the obvious connections, for continuity’s sake (like the French in New Orleans) and then had a few left-overs, like probably at least Greece and Arabia.  The Arabia-Houston connection was probably oil (in my mind) and after a little looking around he probably figured that Cleveland was as good a candidate as he was going to find.
The whole thing seems to fit the actual immigration / landing pattern pretty well, which is one reason I’m strong on the Dutch at NY and the Russians at Vancouver.
Where in the Cleveland area are you?  I used to travel to the Solon area for work a lot, but didn’t learn about
The Secret
until afterwards.  Kindof a letdown to think that I had spent a bunch of time in Cleveland when there was a jewel there, and I never even knew about it.
Pine

Hi. First off, I’m a big newbie. My girlfriend brought home a copy of “A Treasure’s Trove” and I’ve since become addicted. Anyway, I live in Chicago (not the suburbs but the actual city) and am pretty familliar with Grant Park as I went to college across the street. I have to go pick up some things this week and can take some pictures if you can give an idea what I’m looking for.

Egbert–
I strongly believe that the question mark can now be taken from the “St. Louis”/image 9 on the chart.  Check out the latest discovery on the image 9 thread.  If you feel that the evidence is strong enough, you may want to consider it decisive.  If not, we are in need of help in the midwest.
Well, I’m sure many of you think the midwest needs help.
Thanks for all you are doing here.

It is certainly more than coincidental that the book, “Abroad in America: visitors to the new nation, 1776-1914” (by Marc Pachter), contains excerpts found in 2 of the verses from The Secret.  The book came out in 1976, around the time when Byron Preiss came up with his idea of burying treasures across America using the theme of “visitors to the new nation.”  He was involved in book publishing, and must have had this book when he came up with the verses.  My friend Siskel and I are going to get the book and look through it for other references.  Hopefully, other treasure seekers here will do the same, and we will find other references.  This could develop into our “Rosetta Stone.”

I recently physically traced the Chicago find in order to see how it worked.  It was found in Grant Park along the lakeshore.  Image 5 has the famous watertower in the upper right corner, as a windmill that probably refers to the “Windy City,” even though that nickname originally referred to the shifty Chicago politicians.  To the left is a silhouette of one of two Indian-Archers-on-Horseback statues at an entrance to the park very near the treasure site, which was near the Art Institute museum.  The fairy pouring water is a sideview of one of five woman-figures (none with wings) in the statue “The Spirit of the Great Lakes” in an outdoor courtyard of the museum.  Each statue represents one of the lakes, and they pour water down into each others shell-bowls in the order in which the lakes flow into one another.  The fence-image in the archway looks exactly like the fence posts along the fence at the treasure site.
Now for Verse 5:
“Where M and B are set in stone
And to Congress, R is known”–Man and Beast are the Indian
statues, which are cast in bronze but fixed to stone
bases.  They are at Congress Street near the Congress
Hotel, which was the site of that infamous 1960s
Democratic Convention riot.  The RR tracks of the
commuter trains are there too and run alongside the
fence where was the treasure.
“L sits and left / Beyond his shoulder / Is the Fair Folks’ /
Treasure holder”–Facing the Abraham Lincoln statue,
beyond his shoulder, which is his right shoulder but
left to you who are facing Abe, you can see along
the fence to your left as it ends in a concrete wall
not too far in the distance, near the art museum.
“The end of ten by thirteen / Is your clue”–The wall is
alongside Jackson St. (J=10th letter) which nearby
to your right, if you are at the wall, it meets
Monroe St. (M=13th letter).  Since these streets
are running up towards the lakeshore here, they
simply must end.
“Fence and fixture / Central too”–The fence meets the
concrete wall (to your left) and on the wall is an
electrical box (to your right).  I assume the casque
was buried exactly/Central between these two.
We’d have to contact the finder for the details.
“For finding jewel casque / Seek the sounds / Of rumble /
Brush and music / Hush.”–The rumble is obviously the train,
the brush is naturally throughout the park, and I’m
not sure about the music.  The Petrillo Music Shell
may not be close enough to actually hear the music
unless the volume was turned up.  There is not always
a performance there.  Perhaps if one really did “Hush”
the occasional music could be heard, but perhaps one
should respectfully keep “Hush” when a mounted cop
asks you who you are burying with that shovel.  This
is Chicago.
–Johann

New Yorkers have made it to the bottom of my list!  I guess I expect too much, being from the South.  Well, at any rate, I’m telling my story and letting it cause what destruction it may.
Let’s pair verse six and picture 3.  Two arms extende and the bar that binds?  Yeah.
So take into account first, the first lines of verse 6:
Of all the romance retold
Men of tales and tunes
Cruel and bold
Seen here
By eyes of old

Huh?

The onion domed church  was constructed in 1954

Is this in West Vancouver by chance?  I have some ideas/discoveries, which I will post on the image 12 and verse 10 threads.

I’ve been doing some thinking about matching Ps to Vs lately, which led to some musing about the “month / hour” theme. I think the “month / hour” associated with each image is given by:
P1
: clock
P2
: clock
P3
: clock
P4
: triangle
P5
: number of warts
P6
: number of asters
P7
: clock
P8
: number of columns
P9
: number of petals on the calendula
P10
: number of red balls
P11
: number of gold squares in the hoop under the big globe
P12
: clock
Does anyone disagree? My suggestions for P9 and P11 might be new. Useful? Who knows, but if we can eliminate these parts of the images as cues to the month theme, then these details probably have nothing to do with the solution and can be safely ignored.

Well, thanks to Stercox and his Florida find, I think we can now update the locations, which we have not done in quite some time.
Okay, here it is, in order of the months, with question marks next to the ones we are still debating:
Boston? ——– Image 3 —– Verse 3? —- 1st month —- England
Milwaukee ——- Image 10 — Verse 8 —- 2nd month — Germany
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Kill Devil Hills? — Image 11 — Verse 11? —- 8th month — Italy
St. Augustine — Image 6 —- Verse 9 —– 9th month — Spain
St. Louis? ——- Image 9 —- Verse ? —– 10th month — Dutch
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
Unsure:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (gnome)(Dutch)
Verses 2, 5, & 6
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Canada, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…
Please note that the Boston, Kill Devil Hills and St. Louis locations could easily switch — so far, we have no clues attaching those cities to any image (as far as I am aware).  Nevertheless, since Image 9 may lead to the Jewel Box in St. Louis (the collar looks like the building), and since everyone likes Image 3 and Boston, I stuck Kill Devil Hills in the remaining spot.
Please let me know your comments and thoughts on this, everyone!

I am trying to find out how to access the archives of either the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun-Times, but I am not getting anywhere.  One of the Archives goes back to 1985 online, but I was unable to find an article on The Secret.  Going back further probably involves a number of calls and some money.
Anyone in the area willing to go there?
On the subject of the gems/months/etc. system, it certainly appears that the fairies’ “immigration” into North America somewhat parallels the real immigration.  Irish in Chicago.  Russians (mostly Russian jews) in New York.  Spanish in Florida.  English in Massachusetts.  French in Louisiana.  It is starting to make sense.
Here is a link which discusses the major immigration ports, etc.:
http://www.genealogybranches.com/arrivalports.html
The 5 major ports are Boston (Image 3?), New York (Image 12), Philadelphia (Image 4), Baltimore (?), and New Orleans (Image 7).  There was also a port in Galveston, Texas.
Perhaps I am going way out on a tangent on this one, but the flavor of the pictures seem to suggest the actual immigrant population that arrived in the city.

Hi Everybody!
Just making myself known, I’ll be getting my copy of The Secret in the next few days and am looking foward to putting my thoughts into the melting pot. Going through the arduous catching up phase but I hope to be ready to work by the time the book gets here!
Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu
-Matt

Unknown

Unknown:
I am going to put in my proposed solutions, including what has still not been matched.
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Milwaukee, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…  🙁

Okay, so I was wrong.
It looks like Image 10 is Milwaukee.  Here is an update:
Okay, here it is, in order of the months, with question marks next to the ones we are still debating:
Boston? ——– Image 3 —– Verse 3? —- 1st month —- England?
Milwaukee ——- Image 10 — Verse 8 —- 2nd month — Germany
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Canada? ——– Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
Kill Devil Hill? —- Image 6 —- Verse 11? —- 9th month — Spain
St. Louis? ——- Image 9 —- Verse ? —– 10th month — Dutch
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
Unsure:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 6 (conquistador)(Spain)
Image 9 (gnome)(Dutch)
Verses 2, 5, 6 & 9
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…
Please note that the Devil Kill Hill, St. Louis and Canada locations could easily switch — so far, we have no clues attaching those cities to any image (as far as I am aware).  Nevertheless, since Image 9 may lead to the Jewel Box in St. Louis (the collar looks like the building), and since 112 degrees in Image 11 probably points to Canada(112 doesn’t go with the other 2 cities), I stuck Devil Kill Hill in the remaining spot.
Please let me know your comments and thoughts on this, everyone!

Unknown

Unknown:
I am going to put in my proposed solutions, including what has still not been matched.
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Milwaukee, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…  🙁

Okay, so I was wrong.
It looks like Image 10 is Milwaukee.  Here is an update:
Okay, here it is, in order of the months, with question marks next to the ones we are still debating:
Boston? ——– Image 3 —– Verse 3? —- 1st month —- England?
Milwaukee ——- Image 10 — Verse 8 —- 2nd month — Germany
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse 7? —– 6th month — China
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Canada
? ——– Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
Kill Devil Hill? —- Image 6 —- Verse 11? —- 9th month — Spain
St. Louis? ——- Image 9 —- Verse ? —– 10th month — Dutch
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse ? —– 12th month — France
Unsure:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 6 (conquistador)(Spain)
Image 9 (gnome)(Dutch)
Verses 2, 5, 6 & 9
Other Locations, but no room for them:  Florida, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Pittsburgh, etc…
Please note that the Devil Kill Hill, St. Louis and
Canada
locations could easily switch — so far, we have no clues attaching those cities to any image (as far as I am aware).  Nevertheless, since Image 9 may lead to the Jewel Box in St. Louis (the collar looks like the building), and since 112 degrees in Image 11 probably points to
Canada
(112 doesn’t go with the other 2 cities), I stuck Devil Kill Hill in the remaining spot.
Please let me know your comments and thoughts on this, everyone!

From the older posting:
Here’s a verse in the book that describes each of the jewels.
This may help interpreting some of the pics:
What are the treasures the Fair Folk bring?
Easily named, and lovingly told:
Fairies of England proudly bear
Garnet, crown-jewel of their Queen.
Brilliant as the eyes of Celtic folk,
Cold morning green, their Emerald.
The Hadas of Iberia:
Sapphire, shy as a wild field flower.
Turquoise the Fays of France keep: stone
Rare as a blue midsummer’s day.
Dwarves’ treasure: purple Amethyst,
Imperial star of Germany.
The Opal of the Lowland Gnomes:
A cloud of shining, shifting smoke.
A Topaz is the Russian prize:
The royal sunstone, frozen fire.
Peridot of old Italy:
antique, and olivine, and rich.
The Ruby out of Araby:
Scarlet of the desert sky at dawn.
Africa’s Diamond, earth-born star,
Bright harvest of the midnight rock.
The Nymphs of Hellas cherish sweet
Aquamarine, spring-water clear.
From far Cathay, the dragon’s Pearl:
Chaste, perfect as the silver moon.
Each jewel in its weird-wrought casque,
Gift of the Viking craftsmen Elves.
Wonder and glory thirteen-fold:
These are the treasures the Fair Folk bring.

There also may have been some confusion early in some threads regarding the true color of the gemstones as compared to the lower quality online images (prior to the high-res ones).
Image 11’s is most definitely green and should be Italy — “olivine.”
That leaves the purple Amethyst and Germany with Image 10, though it is not the most purple thing I’ve ever seen.
I’ve read a great deal about German immigrants in St. Louis and there seem to be quite a few monuments to or about Germans.  In your experience, Johann, would you consider the German-St. Louis history to be on par with Irish-Chicago?

Cat–
I hope you do find pic 10 in Canada.  I had been considering this pic for St. Louis and came up with nearly zero.
I have heard it expressed somewhere on the board that this is the Italian pic.  What do you think?  I considered that the red balls were Bocce balls for lack of a better identification.
–Johann

Actually (sombody correct me if I’m wrong), I thought that Image 9 was Dutch, Image 10 was German, and Image 11 was Italian.
And there is also a “Citadel” in Quebec City, near the palatial hotel.

Unknown

Unknown:
(We should have started a new thread for this latest discussion, to save this thread for “what we know” summaries.)

I couldn’t agree more… I’ll start a new thread on Canada if no-one minds (or beats me too it).

Okay, here is the latest summary, with the addition of the countries from where the fairies originate:
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month —Africa
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month — Ireland
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month — Greece
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month — Arabia
Kill Devil Hill —— Image ? —- Verse 11 —– ?? month
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month — France
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month — Russia
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month — Italy
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month — China
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month — Spain
Unmatched:
Image 3 (armor)(England)
Image 9 (funny man)(Dutch)
Image 10 (juggler)(Germany)
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9
Locations:  St. Louis & Canada
So, if 2 treasures are in St. Louis & Canada, then one of the locations in the chart is incorrect, since that would give us 13 locations.  The most tenuous ones appear to be Florida and Salt Lake City.
For those new to the board, there is a theory that where the fairies are from is a clue as to where the treasures are hidden.  Chicago has a large Irish immigrant population, and the Irish fairies’ treasure was found there.  The Greek fairies’ treasure was found in the Greek Cultural Garden in Cleveland.  Thus, it would make sense that, for example, the French fairies’ treasure is hidden in New Orleans and the Chinese treasure is hidden in San Francisco, etc.

I could use clarification about pics 10 and 11.  How do we know which is Italian and which is German?
I do not intend to be argumentative.  I genuinely do not know the style and details that establish German or Italian.
This is shameful to me.  I am half Italian.
–Johann

Nothing to be embarrassed about Johann.  The countries are being associated with the pictures solely because of the type of gemstone/birthmonth/birthflower in each picture.  For those new to the board, there is a “poem” about the fairies’ countries of origin and which gemstones they carry.  The Italian fairies bring the peridot, which appears to be the gem in picture 11.  The German fairies bring the amethyst, which we agreed had to be picture 10 by process of elimination.  I forgot which thread all this was in — it could have been this thread actually.

I included St Louis because of Johann’s email from Byron Preiss confirming that there was one buried there

Congratulations Egbert on your find.
You are a true example of an Armchair Treasure Hunter.
I would like to suggest verse 6 to go with picture 6,
only due to the fact that the verse mentions both
palms and sand.
I still believe that the verse directs you to Key West, Fl.

Chart update.  Switching Image 3 for Image 9.  It appears that Roanoke Island is in Image 3.
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month
Kill Devil Hill —— Image 3? — Verse 11 —- 1st month?
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month
Images 9 (funny man) & 10 (juggler) haven’t been matched yet.
Verses 2, 5, 8, & 9 haven’t been matched yet.

either im blind, or you guys have a different book than i do, but Roanoke Island looks nothing like that “shape” in the picture.  they have a decent general shape match, but what so far in this hunt has been a “general match” ??  its always been EXACT.  and thats the only way that it could have been designed, beacause of things just like this.  Anyway, if that shape is in fact a clue, it’ll be found in Boston somewhere.  Im 100 percent sure that image 3 goes with it.  And im getting close to a starting location, just need that final “ah-ha!”.

so far we have definite or strong links to the following cities from verse or image
Chicago
Cleveland
Houston
New Orleans
Charleston
San Francisco
Boston
St Louis
Roanoake/Wright Bros memorial
That leaves 2 unknown US cities (plus 1 in Canada) and we have had speculation about
New York (statue of liberty face)
Atlanta (3 stories of Mitchell verse)
Salt Lake City (image clues)
Key West/Florida (image and verse clues)
Wash DC (image lat/long)
which means that 3 of these (or more) are incorrect. I think New York and Atlanta are probably the strongest. I’m going to try to find more connections with those two. Hopefully we can soon narrow down the list to 11 definitive US cities. Does anyone have any disagreement with the 9 “known” cities? any other candidates not mentioned?

I don’t think we’ve found any verse or pic that matches St.Louis yet, so I haven’t included it.  Due to the controversy over Image 3 and to which city it refers (Boston or Roanoke), I’ll take that Image out of the chart for now.  I’ll also leave my suggestion out for now of Image 9 possibly matching Roanoke.  So, I believe these are the clues we have relative agreement on:
Boston ——— Image ? —– Verse 3 —— ?? month
Charleston —— Image 2 —- Verse ? —— 4th month
Chicago ——– Image 5 —– Verse 12 —– 5th month
Cleveland ——- Image 4 —- Verse 4 —— 3rd month
Houston ——— Image 8 —- Verse 1 —— 7th month
Kill Devil Hill —— Image ? —- Verse 11 —– ?? month
New Orleans —– Image 7 —- Verse 7? —- 12th month
New York City — Image 12 — Verse 10? — 11th month
Salt Lake City — Image 11 — Verse ? —— 8th month
San Francisco — Image 1 —- Verse ? —— 6th month
Florida?? ——– Image 6 —- Verse ? —— 9th month
Unmatched:
Images 3 (armor), 9 (funny man) & 10 (juggler).
Verses 2, 5, 6, 8, & 9.

On Line Article about Egbert’s find.
http://www.cleveland.com/sundaymag/plai … 842130.xml