Pit or cave?

[Bumbalawski]

With the many theories on the Beale treasure afloat these days, there seems to one question I have pondered. Was the Beale trove buried in a pit, i.e. an open surface location or within a cave? Or better yet, a pit within a cave? What are your thoughts?

 

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[bigscoop]

First one has to determine if there ever was a treasure as described in the narration? When one considers all of the discrepancies and inaccuracies in the narration then it starts to become extremely doubtful, if not completely impossible. We know it was impossible for the alleged treasure to have been mined as detailed in the narration so if it came from somewhere else then where? Second, was the description of the treasure in the narration in actual weights as assumed or was it in British pounds, the later being the only possible way in which it could have been mined. If the later is true then suddenly we'd be speaking of a much smaller amount, one that would hardly be worth the investment and tome to recover.

Then there comes the possibility of an actual trust, such as a blind bank trust, the fact that Morriss was being made an executor of a trust with a ten-year term attached to it certainly making that a possibility. So cave? A pit? I seriously doubt that either were employed given that such a transferring of funds could have taken place at all without a lot of advanced planning. Neither a cave or a pit would be a secure location so it is extremely doubtful that either would have been risked.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Well, I think the Beale PAPERS Pamphlet stated that the FINAL "resting place" for BOTH "Deposits" was in a VAULT... walls covered with "river stones", 6' down; sounds like a GRAVE to me... MAYBE, in the Old City Cemetery on 5th Street in Lynchburg, Va. There IS a plaque on the "grounds" stating that the Beale Treasure IS buried there...

 

[Bumbalawski]

What if the "treasure" was from the plundering of a British ship or ships and the "mining adventure" was just a cover story? Hardly possible to put it in a bank. Maybe the cave in which the treasure was to be hidden in, turned out to be a cave that to well known by locals. And a member of Beale's men had a "not so known" cave on his property. Just another idea.

 

[Old Silver]

The story says excavation. Doesn't sound like a natural structure, and also a cave was mentioned in the story, but the location chosen was not call a cave, but an excavation or vault, lined with stones. The 6 feet down does sound like a grave, and I can't think of any place safer to hid something than in a grave. But, who knows.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

What if the "treasure" was from the plundering of a British ship or ships and the "mining adventure" was just a cover story? Hardly possible to put it in a bank. Maybe the cave in which the treasure was to be hidden in, turned out to be a cave that to well known by locals. And a member of Beale's men had a "not so known" cave on his property. Just another idea.

Some of us think it is the Western Virginia "portion" of the CSA Treasury... "ear-marked" for Lynchburg, Va. (LAST state capital of Virginia - April 7-10, 1865) & VMI/Lexington, Va., which was burned down by Yankee "Black Dave Hunter; General Early (CSA) kicked his arse back to West Virginia (MOSTLY)... Heh.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Now, as to the "cave"... could ONLY be "Murder Hole" in Botetourt County, or Natural Bridge Cave in Rockbridge County, Va. (once owned by Thomas Jefferson).

 

[Bumbalawski]

Thanks for all the input. It gives me some more to think about.

 

[bigscoop]

If it had been me, and I truly wanted a safe & secure location to hide my wealth in a manner in which I could still easily access it later, then I would have arranged for a crypt to be built ahead of time. Once this crypt was in place I could freely move in and out of it even in the public eye, even with my iron pots that I could openly exchange whenever I wanted to. Nobody would think twice seeing me carry a new pot loaded with flowers into the crypt and a pot without flowers back out. In their eyes I'd simply be exchanging a freshly decorated pot for an old and decade decoration. Safe & secure if it was in the right location.