The Secret a Treasure Hunt

Scottrocks

Greenie
Mar 22, 2016
10
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
In 1982 a book entitled "The Secret a Treasure Hunt" was published. About a year or so earlier the author Byron Preiss went to 12 cities in the U.S. or Canada and buried a ceramic casque worth about $500.00 in a park or other public area. The casques were put in a Plexiglas box before burial.

To find the casque one first had to figure out the city by finding clues in one of 12 paintings in the book. The paintings had landmarks hidden in them that would ID the city and general area within the city to search. The paintings also had numbers hidden in them that if correctly arranged would spell out the latitude and longitude of the city.

Once the correct city and general area had been found the picture had to be matched with one of 12 poetic verses. If the correct city and general area was ID from the picture and the correct poetic verse was selected the clues in the verse would lead you to the correct site to dig up the casque.

Inside each casque was a key that could be returned to the author in exchange for a jewel worth about $1000.00.

To date only 2 of the 12 casques have been unearthed. Byron Preiss was killed in a car accident in 2005 and it is believed he took the location to the remaining casques to his grave.

This is important: a man named John Jude Palencar did the paintings that contained the clues. Several people over the years have asked Palencar for information about the pictures and he has repeatedly said he can not help anyone. Please DO NOT try to make contact with Mr. Palencar regarding these paintings.

A website thesecret.pbworks.com has all the images and verses and how it is believed they fit together. Please look at this website to get up to speed.

In a few days I will make a second post outlining my theory as to how it all fits together. I am generally in agreement with the wikki but there are a few areas I do not agree with.

I will tell you now I do not think there is one in Boston. I will go into all of this in detail in my next post.

I will also in the near future make a post about why I think Mr. Palencar will not discuss the pictures and what we might be able to do get him to discuss them. But for now once again please do not make contact with Mr. Palencar.

Look at the website and post any comments on this thread. Any help any of you can give will be appreciated.
 

OP
OP
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Scottrocks

Greenie
Mar 22, 2016
10
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
First lets talk about what was confirmed by Priess before he died
1) A casque was buried in Canada
2) A casque was buried in St. Louis
3) A casque was buried in New York but not in Central Park
4) No casque in Philadelphia (he said he did not remember burying one there)
5) A casque is buried in Houston at the Children's Zoo in Herman Park.

Below is a list of the cities I think the images represent. Most of this matches the Wiki but there are some differences. I will explain those differences bellow.
Image 1: San Francesco The latitude and longitude lock it in
Image 2: Charleston A map of the city is hidden in the image.
Image 3: Roanoke Island a map of the island is hidden in the image
Image 4: Went to Cleveland and was found in 2004
Image 5: Went to Chicago and was found in 1983
Image 6: St. Augustine Florida the Ponce De Leon statute
Image 7: New Orleans the latitude and longitude match and the "horsehead" is Louisiana upside down
Image 8: Houston the latitude and longitude match
Image 9: St. Louis Missouri ignore the "legeater" the arch is hidden in the image as is the old courthouse. The latitude and longitude are close to STL as well
Image 10: Milwaukee the rebus puzzle locks it
Image 11: Windsor Ontario the 42nd line of latitude goes right through Windsor. Also I believe the tip of a blade on the Canadian Maple leaf is hidden in the flowers in K&L 8. Ottawa and Toronto could also be the Canadian location but they do not fit as well as Windsor.
Image 12: New York the image is full of NYC landmarks.

For more information on all of this check out the Wiki. In the near future I will post about the verses and how I think they fit with the images and possible locations to dig.

If anyone is familiar with ground penetrating radar post here. If it is practical it could be helpful in finding some of these.
 

OP
OP
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Scottrocks

Greenie
Mar 22, 2016
10
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Below is a list of what verses I think go with each of the images and why I think they fit.
I will also discuss some of the locations I think may contain a casque.
It looks as though most images contained an item referenced in the verse to aid in the matching of verse to image.

Image 1 and Verse 7 most likely go together. The link is "stonewalls gate"
The park is most likely the Golden Gate Park. The location is most likely Strawberry Hill
A less likely location is the Japanese Tea Garden

Image 2 and Verse 5 likely go together. Nothing specifically links it in the image. Citadel in the night is likely a reference.
Ft. Maltrie or an area plantation house is likely the location.
Either of these places would not be a public park. Thus why it says get permission to dig out.

Image 3 and Verse 11 are an exact match. The link is the "land near the window. Roanoke Island is the location.

Image 4 and Verse 4 went together. This one was found in Cleveland in the Greek Cultural Garden.
Image 5 and Verse 12 went together. This one was found in Grant Park just beyond the sitting Lincoln statue.

Image 6 and Verse 9 likely go together. Nothing in the image links it.
It is believed that the Fountain of Youth Archeological park is the location.

Image 7 and Verse 2 likely go together. The link is likely "namesakes meeting"

Image 8 and Verse 1 definitely go together. The Children's Zoo at Herman Park is the location of the casque.

Image 9 and Verse 6 likely go together. The link is "two arms extended between the bar that binds"
Turn the image upside down and this will be very visible.
I would say that the casque is in the Muney/Pagoda Circle area of Forest Park

Image 10 and Verse 8 are a definite lock. The Grand 200 and the 75 steps are in Lake Park.

Image 11 and Verse 3 likely go together. I would say the Sculpture Park in Windsor or the Canal area of Ottawa is the location

Image 12 and Verse 10 are a definite lock. The Gray Giant linked it. It is somewhere in lower Manhattan.

In my next post I will analyze some of the clues in the verse and how we can use them to confirm or rule out some of the above matches.
In the mean time those of you that live in or near the areas mention above may want to go to the parks and look around. You do not have to do any digging. I would look for the phrases that the verses reference. See if they are on a wall or sign etc.
In my next post I will go into more detail about what those of us who live close to the potential sites need to do to try to find the rest of the casques. I do not live close enough to any of the potential sites. The closest is St. Louis about a 3 hour drive away.

Talk to you all again soon.
 

OP
OP
S

Scottrocks

Greenie
Mar 22, 2016
10
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As I have stated in my previous posts the key thing we need to do is form a group of 10 teams consisting of people that live in the actual cities that have a casque.

Below is a list of what the likely cities are based on the clues in the pictures.
Image 1 San Francisco the latitude and longitude lock it
Image 2 Charleston South Carolina a map of the city is hidden in the image
Image 3 Roanoke Island a map of the island is hidden in the image
Image 6 someplace in Florida the outline of Florida is hidden in the image
Image 7 New Orleans the latitude and longitude lock it and the "horsehead" is Louisiana upside down
Image 8 Houston a confirmed city latitude and longitude lock it
Image 9 St. Louis a confirmed city
Image 10 Milwaukee the rebix puzzle locks it
Image 11 someplace in Ontario latitude and longitude lock it country of Canada is confirmed, a tip of one of the blades of the maple leaf is hidden in the flower on the wiki grid of the picture it is (k/l 8/9) Likely Windsor, Ottawa or Toronto in that order of likelihood.
Image 12 New York confirmed city loaded with NYC clues, is in lower Manhattan. I think the 'grey giant" was actually the original World Trade Center that did not have an antenna on it. Searchers should first try to reconstruct the shadow it would have cast to make sure they are in the right area.

These teams could work with the parks departments and the individual parks to try to find the casques. These teams and the park departments could help find potential clues and no longer existing landmarks etc that could help locate the casques.

In the near future I will post an updated analysis of the verses and how I think they go together. I will also make a post about why I think John Jude Palencar will not discuss the images with anybody and what might be able to be done to try to get him to talk with us. For now however please respect his wishes and do not try to contact him
 

cw0909

Silver Member
Dec 24, 2006
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agreed more folks looking might get more found
but the landscape has changed a lot after 30+ yrs

Image 9 St. Louis a confirmed city

Scottrocks, do you have a confirmed img
of the legeater in St. Louis, the only one
i know confirmed is in montreal

img 9 wiki
legeater
http://thesecret.pbworks.com/f/1155580231/9_dogleg.jpg
I-7, - The gold-colored square that contains the "legeater"
The Secret (a treasure hunt) / Image 09

legeater at 1440 Rue Drummond montreal
had to use a 2012 map of club mount stephen 1440 rue drummond montreal
b/c the 2016 map has sidewalk construction and cant see the legeater
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.499...4!1siDhQU-4Zq8ZLMYfbChxzdw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656



Image 11 someplace in Ontario latitude and longitude lock it country
of Canada is confirmed, a tip of one of the blades of the maple leaf
is hidden in the flower on the wiki grid of the picture it is (k/l 8/9)
Likely Windsor, Ottawa or Toronto in that order of likelihood.
i dont see the maple leaf,JMO 2c site im boston works for me


img 11
wiki
2c img 11 and @ charlesgate
http://thesecret.pbworks.com/f/Image11_WR01.jpg

scroll down for info on 2c
The Secret (a treasure hunt) / Image 11

2c gmap charlesgate boston
https://www.google.com/maps/place/4...m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d42.348319!4d-71.091704
 

Honest Samuel

Banned
Sep 23, 2015
8,814
4,969
Connecticut
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I agree with SKIPPY, made no sense, to find keys, and cannot return them to a dead author. Each to the own. Good hunting and good luck.
 

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Scottrocks

Greenie
Mar 22, 2016
10
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As for the first issue about the keys to the dead author, I do not think anyone is expecting to get a jewel. I think everyone only wants to find the casques. I think the desire to know the location of all the casques and a feeling of wanting to complete what Priess started. I also think the original plan was to later hide the keys for additional prizes in a future sequel to the original book.

As for the St. Louis, Montreal, Boston issue that has been a long standing issue. One reason to think that Montreal might not have a casque is that, as far as we know the book was never published in French. We know the book was released in Canada because their is a price in Canadian dollars. The logic behind burying a casque in Canada would be for the Canadian customers to have one to find. If I remember correctly, the law in Canada is anything printed or sold in Montreal or New Brunswick must be printed in French.

If anyone has memories of buying this book in Canada the specific location may help us narrow in on the location. Ontario is the most populous province so it would make sense that Priess would go to Ontario to burry a casque and only issue the book in Ontario.

Regardless, be it St. Louis, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Windsor, two of those cities have a casque.

As for a true dead end treasure hunt check out the thread I posted on "The Money Hunt" reward $1,000,00.00. If anyone has any information on this long defunct treasure hunt please post it in the thread I created for the Money Hunt. I know about the lawsuit that took place over the game. Something went seriously wrong. I have a copy of the game and still look at it from time to time.

In the near future I will post more information on Image/Verse connections and possible casque locations and search teams. I will also post why I think John Jude Palencar is not talking I can tell you now a lot of it is legal related. I will also discuss how we might be able to get him to help us and what he might know. For now though no one try to contact Mr. Palencar.
 

TDogger

Jr. Member
Jan 22, 2016
25
21
Mesa, AZ
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
This is an ongoing hunt. Byron Preiss' wife has confirmed that the remaining jewels are still in a safe deposit box.

I watched a Josh Gates show last night where they may have come close to fiding one of the keys but like most Josh Gates' shows, he didn't quite find any joy.

The intrigue is the hunt itself. Only 10 out of 12 have been found.

There are several interesting videos about the hunts on YouTube. While Preiss was alive he frequently offered additional clues to those who contacted him.

We are talking about ceramic casques in plexiglass boxes, so metal detectors will not help. You need to decipher the coded images and cryptic text.

If there was one hidden in my area, I would certainly be looking for it.
 

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RW

Hero Member
Feb 7, 2007
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Supposedly one in Houston in Herman Park by the zoo, narrowed down pretty good by online community but I haven't heard of any locals actually probing around there yet.
 

Jason in Enid

Gold Member
Oct 10, 2009
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This is an ongoing hunt. Pyron Preiss' wife has confirmed that the remaining jewels are still in a safe deposit box.

I watched a Josh Gates show last night where they may have come close to fiding one of the keys but like most Josh Gates' shows, he didn't quite find any joy.

The intrigue is the hunt itself. Only 10 out of 12 have been found.

There are several interesting videos about the hunts on YouTube. While Preiss was alive he frequently offered additional clues to those who contacted him.

We are talking about ceramic casques in plexiglass boxes, so metal detectors will not help. You need to decipher the coded images and cryptic text.

If there was one hidden in my area, I would certainly be looking for it.

I saw that episode last night too. Very good show! Even if you couldnt get the jewel now, it would still be a thrill to beat the code and find one of the boxes.
 

TDogger

Jr. Member
Jan 22, 2016
25
21
Mesa, AZ
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Supposedly one in Houston in Herman Park by the zoo, narrowed down pretty good by online community but I haven't heard of any locals actually probing around there yet.

Here's a YouTube video about the hunt in Houston. For those not familiar with this hunt, it will give you a taste of what it is about.

 

Mr Cheech

Jr. Member
Feb 5, 2018
40
46
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
My daughter and I were guided around a park by the verses and images to an exact dig spot.Impossible to dig in this day and age we sent in the snailmail form from the book and have been waiting for days for a letter or call. There was no provision for an email as it didn't exsist when the book was written. Waiting patiently.
 

RW

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Feb 7, 2007
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Jason in Enid

Gold Member
Oct 10, 2009
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My daughter and I were guided around a park by the verses and images to an exact dig spot.Impossible to dig in this day and age we sent in the snailmail form from the book and have been waiting for days for a letter or call. There was no provision for an email as it didn't exsist when the book was written. Waiting patiently.

You wont get a reply either. You could send all the location data and pics but its useless. The author is the only person who knew the bury spots, so no key, no win.
 

Mr Cheech

Jr. Member
Feb 5, 2018
40
46
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Verse 10- The grey giant is statue. From its shadow multiple images from the painting and or verses are clearly visable. To probe or dig one would be instantly arrested. My dream-If Josh Gates could cut a mile of red tape I would dig and the Preiss heirs could pluck the box from the earth.Good hunting!
 

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RW

Hero Member
Feb 7, 2007
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Verse 10- The grey giant is statue. From its shadow multiple images from the painting and or verses are clearly visable. To probe or dig one would be instantly arrested. My dream-If Josh Gates could cut a mile of red tape I would dig and the Preiss heirs could pluck the box from the earth.Good hunting!

I dunno, the author himself took risks just burying the objects, wearing disguises, going in after hours... both things he could have been arrested for. Being clever enough to figure out the location is the safe part of the problem, being clever enough to retrieve it without getting arrested is the part that could take courage. I don't think probing at dusk or dawn would draw much attention if done correctly. Might have more luck sending a letter to Josh Gates, but why not just do what he would do instead? Contact the Parks and Rec Dept. and convince them you know what you are talking about and get a permit. Easier than communicating with the publisher for sure.
 

Mr Cheech

Jr. Member
Feb 5, 2018
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The daughters of Preiss recently said something like fill out the form and send it in when they appeared on Expedition Unknown. The location is highly visable, before the police were done booking me the spot would be known, pinpointed for all eyes and an estute park employee would finish my hole and seize the booty. The treasure isnt important I would donate it all back to the park, its location is whats interesting.
 

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