When one thinks of buried treasure, images of sunken pirate ships and desert treks usually come to mind. Relatively few have heard the legend of Beale’s Treasure, which is rumored to be hidden in the small town of Bedford, Virginia. This delightful mountain town is often the destination of outdoor adventurers and history enthusiasts. And yet there might be much more to this impressive town in southern Virginia — approximately $40 million more. Here’s more on the tiny mountain town rumored to hold buried treasure:
The legend begins in the early 1800s. A man by the name of Thomas Beale discovered an entire mine filled with gold, silver, and precious metals in the Colorado desert. Beale supposedly buried the loot in Virginia, his home state, deciding that a bank would be too risky.
Beale asked the owner of Lynchburg’s Washington Hotel to hold onto a padlocked iron box until his return. After 23 years passed, the hotel owner decided to open up the box. Inside, he discovered a set of three ciphers, which collectively outlined the location of the treasure, the contents, and the rightful owners.
Above is the second cipher, which, like the others, is a series of obscure numbers.
Beale had mentioned that a key to the cipher would arrive separately, though it apparently never did. The hotel owner had the ciphers published in a pamphlet, which is how word spread of this mysterious treasure hunt.
Since this event, countless souls have attempted to decipher the clues. Apparently, the second cipher can be translated using the Declaration of Independence as a key. Much like something out of National Treasure, each number corresponds to a specific word in the Declaration.
Unfortunately, the other ciphers don’t have quite as much clarity. It’s unknown what Beale used as a key, and some believe that the hotel owner may have made up part of the story in hopes of selling more of the pamphlets.
You may wonder, then, why Bedford, Virginia has been cited as the source of the treasure. After a cryptanalyst figured out that the second cipher correlated with the Declaration, the following text was revealed from Beale’s letter: "I have deposited in the county of Bedford, about four miles from Buford’s, in an excavation or vault, six feet below the surface of the ground …"
And yet it’s still the remaining ciphers that need decoding in order to find the treasure's exact location. Both professionals and amateurs alike have attempted to use a variety of texts, ranging from Shakespeare’s plays to the Magna Carta, in a fruitless attempt to find the meaning behind the text.
While there are many people who believe the treasure is still out there, there are even more who believe the whole thing may be a hoax. There are too many holes in the story for it to seem completely legitimate, yet who could argue against the appeal of such a massive treasure?
Have you heard the story of Beale’s Treasure before? Do you believe that it’s hidden beneath the ground somewhere in Bedford? You can read more about the town of Bedford, Virginia by clicking here.
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