"Documented Proof: The 30 Million Dollar Beale Treasure Is a Hoax" by Tom Kenny

[Old Bookaroo]

"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

 

[lastleg]

Thanks Bookaroo

I came to that conclusion some time back and recited the evidence why the tale was bogus. Most Bealleites
do not know the history of Santa Fe and lower Colorado and still believe this imaginary yarn. My ancestor,
James Purcell, was detained and restrained from leaving Santa Fe by the Spanish governor. History says
he was the first anglo to Colorado, 1803.

"Great River" by Paul Horgan tells of Zebulon Pike finding him there when he was escorted to Santa Fe
for questioning. James was of the Kentucky clan that left Virginia after the Revolutionary War.

Thanks for your work in western literature.

lastleg

 

[Rebel - KGC]

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

LOL! YOU are confusing the BEALE EXPEDITION STORY with the BEALE TREASURE!

 

[bigscoop]

And that's documented proof, how, exactly? Basically what you are saying is:
A) "Whoever" wrote the pamphlet also penned the letters. Absolutely nothing in Ward's past to indicate that he was even capable of writing/crafting such a story, not to mention that the actual text doesn't compare to any other writing/writing style/etc., of Ward.
B) Nowhere in the pamphlet does it say that Indians helped in the mining of gold & silver.
C) A little heads up here - not the first time words appeared in a post dated publication that were "out of era".
D) Cipher #3 is only too short if you indeed know exactly what it says, which nobody does. Could be they could all be found at the same location? Oops, no, then it would be too long.

So what about this "Documented Proof" you say you have? Would love to see it sometime.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Rebel - KGC:

Nope. I'm not confusing anything. I didn't write the booklet - credit is due the author. As for the difference between the Beale Papers and the Beale Expedition - I don't think there is one, other than the obvious that the former if fiction and the later if fact.

I agree with the other Thread here - Ward used the Beale Expedition as a basis for his pamphlet.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Bigscoop:

I recommend the work. It is quite interesting.

"...no trouble was experienced in procuring assistance from the Indians in our labors."

I'm not buying it.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

franklin:

The word used wasn't "stampedo." That's the point.

As for Ward stating he was the agent of the author - do you believe him? Right through here I don't.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Rebel - KGC:

Nope. I'm not confusing anything. I didn't write the booklet - credit is due the author. As for the difference between the Beale Papers and the Beale Expedition - I don't think there is one, other than the obvious that the former if fiction and the later if fact.

I agree with the other Thread here - Ward used the Beale Expedition as a basis for him pamphlet.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

OB, I SAID Beale TREASURE vs. Beale Expedition; NOT the BEALE PAPERS/"JOB PRINT"/Pamphlet...

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Bigscoop:

I recommend the work. It is quite interesting.

"...no trouble was experienced in procuring assistance from the Indians in our labors.

I'm not buying it.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

Not buying what...? No friendly "Indians"...? LOL!

 

[ECS]

Thanks Bookaroo

I came to that conclusion some time back and recited the evidence why the tale was bogus. Most Bealleites
do not know the history of Santa Fe and lower Colorado and still believe this imaginary yarn. My ancestor,
James Purcell, was detained and restrained from leaving Santa Fe by the Spanish governor. History says
he was the first anglo to Colorado, 1803.

"Great River" by Paul Horgan tells of Zebulon Pike finding him there when he was escorted to Santa Fe
for questioning. James was of the Kentucky clan that left Virginia after the Revolutionary War.

Thanks for your work in western literature.

lastleg

"The Southwest spelled Sante Fe that far Mexican metropolis of Spanish settlements,Pike reported upon it;in 1806 he had found there on James Purcell,an American from Kentucky already domiciled".
-"KIT CARSON DAYS"(1809-1868)Col Christopher Carson c1914 A C McClurg & Co,Chicago

 

[ECS]

I agree with the other Thread here - Ward used the Beale Expedition as a basis for him pamphlet.

The question that remains is why and for what purpose.What was the motivation for the publication in 1885?

 

[Old Bookaroo]

ECS:

Probably to sell pamphlets.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

franklin:

Who wrote about "friendly" Indians? That's Rebel-KGC's word, not mine. You'd have to ask him about that.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[lastleg]

Santa Fe, like Santa Claus. Purcell wasn't looking for gold, he just said he found some placer gold in the
waters which had NO name at the time 1803-06. He joined up with a large party of Indians, probably
Utes or maybe Comanche, both were active in Colorado then. They were rounding up herds of wild
horses in southern Colorado and keeping them in a "park" or large meadow where there was abundant
grasses and water.

I think the Indians knew about Santa Fe which was almost 200 years old at that time. They convinced
the white man to go down and trade horses for shiny objects, blankets, etc. The governor of New
Mexico, Joaquin Real Alencaster detained Purcell/Pursley and pressed him about where gold could be
gotten up north in the high mountains. James wasn't the type to knuckle under to threats and would
not give up where the gold originated. The Spanish were head over heels in love with gold and would
gladly plunder and subdue the natives to get it. The Indians James rode with would never allow
bondage or servitude nor get off their prized ponies to work the ground like the pamphlet indicated.

The Purcell/Pursley clan from Kentucky lived with and among Native Americans as friends and enemies
in turn back east so James probably looked Indian as well as thinking Indian. The Spanish at Santa Fe
had superior fire-power and arrested and detained "foreigners" according to the whim of the Governor.
Pike, during detainment, used the ruse of claiming to be looking for the head of the American Red River
and not the Spanish Rio Grande.

 

[ECS]

As mentioned on the "WARD BASED HIS ..." thread,many sources were used in creating the western dime novel/treasure story-Pike,Carson,Cockrell,E F Beale,Long-Bell Expedition,and stories that appeared in the LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN newspaper.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

As mentioned on the "WARD BASED HIS ..." thread,many sources were used in creating the western dime novel/treasure story-Pike,Carson,Cockrell,E F Beale,Long-Bell Expedition,and stories that appeared in the LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN newspaper.

LYNCHBURG VIRGINIAN newspapers...? You have copies...?

 

[Rebel - KGC]

franklin:

Who wrote about "friendly" Indians? That's Rebel-KGC's word, not mine. You'd have to ask him about that.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

Oh, I KNOW there WERE "Friendly Indians"; Lewis & Clark had one and met OTHERS. "OB" was not "buying it".

 

[Old Bookaroo]

franklin:

I take my posts seriously - and I don't appreciate anyone distorting them. It's a weak way to attempt to make a point.

There is all the difference in the world between local Indians being friendly and local Indians mining gold for white folks.

The former - depending on time and place, of course - was rather common.

The later - not so much.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Rebel - KGC]

LOL! YOU are confusing the BEALE EXPEDITION STORY with the BEALE TREASURE!

LOL! It was the BEALE PAPERS/"JOB PRINT"/"BP" that was written... NOT the BEALE TREASURE. JB Ward was only the AGENT for the author. YOU assume that the BEALE EXPEDITION was a hoax, therefore the Beale Treasure is...?

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Rebel-KGC:

Nope.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo