Three Stories of Hidden or Lost Treasure

There are many unsolved mysteries of lost treasures, mines, and shipwrecks that leave the mind baffled and with an urge to get out and explore. Many people around the world set out and search for these hidden treasures, but few find what they are looking for and many perish. There is hidden treasure all over the world. There may be hidden treasure right in your very own backyard. Who knows? Here is a list of some of the world's most famous unfound treasures that I found pretty amusing,

Wikipedia: List of Missing Treasure

But today I want to talk about three of my personal favorite hidden treasure stories of my own. Let’s take a look.

First we have the Beale Stash. The Beale Stash consists of unsolved ciphers. It is said that The Beale Stash came about in a pamphlet in the year of 1885. It is supposed to contain somewhere near 43 million dollars worth of silver, gold, and jewels. It is said that 30 men who were led by Thomas J Beale came about a mysterious mine containing riches and wealth. A dream come true. The mine was found somewhere in Santa Fe in the early 1800s. Supposedly they spent 18 long months obtaining the gold from this mine.

After 18 months, he decided to finally hide the treasure. He ended up hiding the haul somewhere near the town of Montvale in the county of Bedford V.A. He created three ciphers. One cipher revealed the location. One cipher revealed a description of the sought after treasure, and one cipher revealed the owners.

In the year of 1822 he gave a closed, sealed box of the ciphers to an innkeeper, Robert Morriss who worked for the inn in the town of Lynchburg. He told him if he heard no word from him in 10 years to open the box. And with the box, he gave him instructions on how to unlock the box.

After not being able to solve the ciphers, he gave the box to a friend. Robert’s friend was only able to solve one cipher, which was the description of the treasure. No one since has been able to solve the other two ciphers. So where is this treasure? I would love to know!

My next favorite and probably one of the world’s most famous sought after treasures is that of the Lost Dutchman's. This tale of lost treasure is about a man by the name of Jacob Waltz. He came about a mine somewhere in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona near Weavers Needle. It took this man 18 years to extract the tons and tons of gold. He does in 1891 and what is left in the mine is said to have been worth around 200 million dollars. Some stories like this have different twists to the tale. One story is said that he did not reveal the location of the mine by his death. But another story goes on to say right before his death he sketched a map to the location.

Many people have perished in their search for these treasures. It is believed that more people have died in search of the Lost Dutchman's treasure than any other treasure hunt. Around 500 people are believed to have met a fatal end in search of this treasure. One man Adolf Ruth was shot to death. Many people think he was murdered for his map to the Lost Dutchman's location.

Last but not least, my absolute favorite tale, The Fenn Treasure. Forrest Fenn was an antique dealer in New Mexico. In 1988 Fenn was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And he was sure he was going to die. He planned to be buried in an unknown location with his 2 million dollars worth of gold, gemstones and jewelry. Miraculously, he overcame his illness. (Lucky man.)

After many years he decided to create a treasure hunt to inspire people to be more outdoors and to give them something to strive and hunt for. So he buried his treasure in 2010. He then created a poem that includes 9 clues to the whereabouts of the buried treasure and a treasure map a part of his autobiography called The Thrill of The Chase. The world first became well aware of Fenn's treasure when the story aired on NBC's Today Show in 2013.

Here is the actual poem:

As I have gone alone in thereAnd with my treasures bold,I can keep my secret where,And hint of riches new and old.Begin it where warm waters haltAnd take it in the canyon down,Not far, but too far to walk.Put in below the home of Brown.From there it’s no place for the meek,The end is ever drawing nigh;There’ll be no paddle up your creek,Just heavy loads and water high.If you’ve been wise and found the blaze,Look quickly down, your quest to cease,But tarry scant with marvel gaze,Just take the chest and go in peace.So why is it that I must goAnd leave my trove for all to seek?The answers I already know,I’ve done it tired, and now I’m weak.So hear me all and listen good,Your effort will be worth the cold.If you are brave and in the woodI give you title to the gold.

And here are the nine clues taken from the poem. Each is a sentence from the poem.

Begin it where warm waters haltAnd take it in the canyon down,Not far, but too far to walk.Put in below the home of Brown.From there it’s no place for the meek,The end is ever drawing nigh;There’ll be no paddle up your creek,Just heavy loads and water high.If you’ve been wise and found the blaze

Each sentence is a clue. 9 lines, 9 clues. Can you solve it and find the lost treasure? Four people have met death while trying to find his treasure. Will you risk it? My dream is to one day search for this treasure. I think Fenn is an awesome man trying to inspire people with his treasure. He has truly inspired me. What about you? Let’s put some hiking boots on and go for a treasure hunt. Why not? What do you have to lose? Or should I ask how much to gain?

I really hope you enjoyed my article on three awesome possible treasure expeditions. Can you crack the cipher of the Beale Stash? Will you discover the mine of The Lost Dutchman? Or, will you finally solve the 9 clues in Fenn's poem and discover his hidden location of buried treasure?