Old Bookaroo
Silver Member
- Dec 4, 2008
- 4,318
- 3,510
"Documented Proof: The 30 Million Dollar Beale Treasure Is a Hoax" by Tom Kenny
Dear Friends:
I've been cleaning out the archives, putting some choice items of treasure hunting literature up for sale on eBay, donating books, and generally trying to weed a garden that has been growing for close to five decades.
I just came across a fascinating publication The 30 Million Dollar Beale Treasure Is A Hoax" by Tom Kenny (Brunswick, MO: 1990) a fascinating self-published 52-page work that, to my mind, settles the issue.
It meshes nicely with the Thread here that points out the astonishing similarities between the Beale narrative and Edward Fitzgerald Beale's account of his travels.
To be fair to Mr. Kenny, I'm not going to reproduce his efforts here. I will point out that he demolishes the hoax on several levels:
I. Basic history: Why would the party travel to Santa Fe and risk almost certain arrest? Why would they travel to New Mexico to hunt buffalo when the great herds were across the Plains?
II. Language: Anachronistic words - the "Beale Papers" contain words that were not in use at the time they were supposed to have been written.
III. Linguistic Evidence: That the same person (Ward) wrote the narrative and the Beale letters.
IV. Cipher No. 3 is much too short to contain the information it is supposed to have.
There's more, of course. I find it quite a stretch that anyone would claim Colorado Indians willingly helped white folks mine gold.
Bottom Line: The Beale Treasure is a hoax, plain and simple. Written by Ward to raise money and sell books.
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo
Dear Friends:
I've been cleaning out the archives, putting some choice items of treasure hunting literature up for sale on eBay, donating books, and generally trying to weed a garden that has been growing for close to five decades.
I just came across a fascinating publication The 30 Million Dollar Beale Treasure Is A Hoax" by Tom Kenny (Brunswick, MO: 1990) a fascinating self-published 52-page work that, to my mind, settles the issue.
It meshes nicely with the Thread here that points out the astonishing similarities between the Beale narrative and Edward Fitzgerald Beale's account of his travels.
To be fair to Mr. Kenny, I'm not going to reproduce his efforts here. I will point out that he demolishes the hoax on several levels:
I. Basic history: Why would the party travel to Santa Fe and risk almost certain arrest? Why would they travel to New Mexico to hunt buffalo when the great herds were across the Plains?
II. Language: Anachronistic words - the "Beale Papers" contain words that were not in use at the time they were supposed to have been written.
III. Linguistic Evidence: That the same person (Ward) wrote the narrative and the Beale letters.
IV. Cipher No. 3 is much too short to contain the information it is supposed to have.
There's more, of course. I find it quite a stretch that anyone would claim Colorado Indians willingly helped white folks mine gold.
Bottom Line: The Beale Treasure is a hoax, plain and simple. Written by Ward to raise money and sell books.
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo