For Beale Newbies: Taking on the Beale Problem

[bigscoop]

For Beale Newbies: Taking on the Beale Problem

The Beale story isn’t a mystery, in truth, it’s a problem. I say this because no matter what avenue you choose to follow you can find just enough coincidence and possible evidence to speculate upon. Privateers, Confederate Treasury, Edgar Allen Poe, the Lincoln Assassination, a scheming publisher, a secret adventure out west that ends in death, and the list goes on and on. So the Beale story is actually a problem instead of a mystery because, when allowed enough speculation, there are so many avenues that can appear to be connected to the tale. Thomas Beale can become Thomas Beall, or Thomas Beal, or even an entirely different name and identity all together. Genealogy is a tool that has been frequently used to try to track possible connections, but as my mother has said many times in her 84 years, “Heck, I was born in Harlan County, Kentucky, and we had relatives all over those mountains and in several different counties that we never even met.” It’s just another example of the problem that surrounds the Beale story, because in the Beale problem you’ll discover if they were related then there also had to be a meaningful connection if we allow ourselves to be fooled or lured in by such speculation. Just because we are related to someone, or knew them, doesn’t mean we had anything to do with their daily activities or that we even knew about those activities. When we step back and take good hard look at the number of avenues the Beale Papers has followed it’s absolutely amazing, and all of it has been pursued by way of the same far-reaching problem that the Beale Papers present, “the evolution speculation”. Truth is, after 126 years of research and chasing (from the pamphlet’s publication date) there is still very little fact to work with. And this even holds true with the works of Innis and the Hart brothers, if you dare look deep enough, if you dare acknowledge the total lack of fact and hard evidence?

To be sure, the Beale Papers have given birth to some fascinating theories and tales over the years, and not to be excluded from this pack, I’m just as guilty as the next guy. But for those of you just leaping into this little treasure tale, it would serve you well to remember that just about everything you read in regards to this story has been built upon speculation, because for the most part, after 126 years of chasing this story a lot of speculation is still all we have. Do the remaining ciphers hold a true clear text? Who knows. Is there a buried treasure in Bedford Co., Virginia? Who knows. Will you have better luck solving this problem then the rest of us have had? Who knows. Do the Beale Papers hold any measure of truth at all…well....truth is…nobody really knows for sure. And this is just about the only truth surrounding the Beale Papers. Just something you’ll want to keep lodged in the back of your mind as you proceed with your adventure and investigation into this unknown. Hope you have better luck then the rest of us have had.

 

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[Rebel - KGC]

AGREE; continue with R & I, tho. LOTS of info available about "BT" on Rockhound Forums, too. Check 'em out! Coffee?

 

[bigscoop]

I just wish someone, "anyone", would solve the ciphers and find a huge treasure or a box with a note in it that says, "ha, ha". But if I end up going to my grave and this thing is still unsolved.....well......that just wouldn't be right.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

HA! What makes cha think, you WON'T find out after you "die"? Peter died last year (RIP); PROBABLY already has the answer, and MAY "prompt" FUTURE R & I for the "solution"... it MAY be YOU! Coffee?

 

[allenroyboy]

There may be some truth in the story, but cracking the ciphers is going to be the only way to discover their truth. I can understand trying to find some kind of clue to the correct key by trying to nail down the truths in the story. But so far, that hasn't helped much. I'm spending quite a bit of time analyzing cipher two and it's key and it's solution to see how the encripter built the cipher. I'm hoping that that analysis will help in understanding the other two ciphers, because chances are that if the same person did them all, then he probably used the same concepts on them. I've learned things like the Ward cipher has 48 numbers different from the Hart cipher. And that the differences are methodological. the first 6 changes were changed apparently randomly, but then the next 10 or so were changed by subtracting 1. Then the next 10 or so were changed by subtracting 10. Then he went back to changing them by 1. then some were changed by subtracting both 1 and 10 and finally the last one was changed by adding 10 and subtracting 1. Ciphers 1 and 3 are nearly identical between the Ward and Hart ciphers, but for 6 numbers in each cipher. And, true to form, the six numbers were changed using exactly the same methodology and used in cipher 2. Someone obviously had the original ciphers, but then modified them before passing them on to the rest of us. We would be none the wiser if the originals had not survived through different means.

Also, all three ciphers have 'outlier' cipher numbers. These numbers are the highest 2 or 3 or 4 numbers. In cipher 2 there are the 3 numbers above 800 which represent V, Y and X, the least used letters of the alphabet. (and unlike all the other numbers, Y and X are NOT the first letters in the corresponding words.) In cipher 1 there are a 4 numbers from 1800 to 2906, these are also very likely V, Y and X (or perhaps Q and Z). The same is true for cipher 3. This could be useful information in solving the ciphers.

I expect to find more stuff as i continue.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

LOTS of work, that is... BUT! MHO is that BC # 2 CAN'T "fit" what is deciphered... " I have buried... etc"; I just think that the DOI was aimed at Abe Lincoln (& yanks) by REBS during the CONFEDERATE WAR, as a "shot-gun blast" BROADSIDE pamphlet, and BC # 1 & BC # 3 weren't meant to be deciphered; just MEANINGLESS. BUT! I DO think the BEALE PAPERS are a "RUSE", and "cover-story" for REBEL "assets"... AND! Peter Viemeister (RIP) in his last book on the Beale Treasure, even ALLUDED to THAT "theory". HE called it a novel... I call it FACTION, Fiction based on FACTS! http://www.peterv.com/confed_treasure.htm

 

[werleibr]

Well i know many people have been trying to solve them. Now I am going to try.. Well during some free time. So far We know the second one was based off the decloration of independence and nothing of the second two. Well what I am doing is going through all historical documents. I am only using the first 15 numbers from each paper and checking them against the documents. If i get tangeble words within those I will do the entire page that that worked for. Well here goes nothing.. Doing the Articles of Confederation as we speak....So far...just jibberish...So on to the next.

 

[Franklin]

Well i know many people have been trying to solve them. Now I am going to try.. Well during some free time. So far We know the second one was based off the decloration of independence and nothing of the second two. Well what I am doing is going through all historical documents. I am only using the first 15 numbers from each paper and checking them against the documents. If i get tangeble words within those I will do the entire page that that worked for. Well here goes nothing.. Doing the Articles of Confederation as we speak....So far...just jibberish...So on to the next.

Stay with the DOI. The "KEY" is there you just have to find out how he used it?

 

[Rebel - KGC]

(WINK)