Introduction

Until now, one critical fact about the Beale treasure puzzle has been missing – it is hidden in Missouri, not Virginia! Thomas Beale devised a clever subterfuge to conceal his deceit, a ruse that is described in his diary. Before I delve into the intricacies of this elaborate hoax, allow me to briefly describe to you how the Beale treasure has affected my life.

In 1980, while browsing at an antique bookshop in St. Louis, three worn, leather bound notebooks caught my eye. On inspection they proved to be the original, hand written, diaries of Thomas J. Beale, covering the years 1812 through 1846. I was not aware of the Beale treasure at this time, but I saw that the diaries contained sketched maps and detailed descriptions of a gold mining operation. There were also numerous entries composed of sequences of numbers -- perhaps some important information written in code?

The diaries were interesting to read and priced at only a few dollars for the lot, so I bought them. Time passed and they ended up in a trunk with some other old books and were forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until 1986, when I came upon a copy of “The Beale Papers” at the same bookshop. At home, I studied this document carefully and compared it to the diaries.

It became apparent that Beale had perpetrated an underhanded scam upon his unfortunate partners. At the same time, he foisted a spectacular hoax upon generations of treasure hunters. Until now, no one knew that he had secretly returned to Virginia, stolen the gold from its vault and hidden it in the Missouri Ozarks. The missing piece of the puzzle is The Diary of Thomas Beale and I, by sheer chance, now possess it.

Time and space limitations do not permit me to reproduce every entry in the three-volume set, but any item that is even remotely relevant to the Beale treasure is recorded here, exactly as it appeared in his diary. I think this blog is the best way to publish and distribute the important information in Beale's diary. I hope you find it interesting and helpful in your search for The Lost Beale Treasure.

13 June 1812 Fort McHenry, Maryland

My first day in training as a soldier in the U.S. Army! We will be leaving next week to join General Hull’s militia in Detroit. The food here is none too good, but the training, so far, has been easy.

Editor's Note: Beale began keeping a diary when he first joined the Army, unless there are earlier volumes that I don't have. I'm including several early entries to illustrate that Beale was intelligent, clever, energetic and motivated.

17 June 1812 Fort McHenry, Maryland

As I am one of the few soldiers here that can read and write, I will serve as General Hull’s CipherClerk. I will write his orders, encrypt them and see that they are delivered to his field officers. I am being trained in the use of a device called the “wheel cipher.” The concept is quite simple, but without the key, which marks the order of the wheels on the spindle, the coded message is unbreakable! It is, however, quite large and a bit heavy - like carrying a stick of firewood in one's knapsack. It is also clumsy and cumbersome to manipulate. I believe I could design a more practical device. Maybe there will be time to pursue that idea in the future.

13 July 1812 Detroit, Michigan

The invasion of Canada commenced yesterday morning! I worked feverishly through the night, encrypting General Hull’s orders for his couriers to carry into battle. I would much prefer to be fighting the Indians, but must keep in mind, as the General reminded me, that I am the only cipher clerk on his staff - the only one who can do this job!

17 August 1812 Detroit, Michigan

This war has not gone well for us. We retreated at both Brownstown and Monguagon, when British counterattacks threatened our supply lines. Later we intercepted an encrypted British message (surprisingly, it was a simple Caesar substitution) outlining their plans to attack Detroit with an army of 5,000 Indians. It is quite obvious that Hull is deathly afraid of the Indians. He told us that they will scalp any of us that they capture. He surrendered yesterday – without a fight! Today we will be taken across the river into Canada. There we will spend the rest of the war in a prisoner camp. This is not for me! I plan to be out of here in a fortnight.

19 December 1812 Detroit, Michigan

Finally, I am back in camp! I escaped from the British in mid-September. For two months I have hidden in the woods, lived off the land and slowly made my way through the enemy's lines to safety. I was able to ambush a British soldier. I took his boots, his rifle and ammunition and his compass. He also had a map that I used to maneuver through the woods at night. Without these items, I would not have survived.

I stumbled into Fort Detroit before dawn on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I was insensible from hunger and exposure. The sentry nearly shot me because I could not give the password. Luckily I was still in my uniform, though it was little more than a rag.

Since then I have been convalescing in camp's Infirmary. I have, until now, been too weak to record my thoughts and, admittedly, they have been wildly disjointed and mostly incoherent! A warm bed and healthy food have allowed my body to slowly recover. I am sitting by the stove most of the day now and able to walk about the clinic. The delirium has passed and my thoughts are becoming increasingly clear.

General William Henry Harrison visited me for a few minutes this afternoon. When I am fully recovered, he wants me to join his staff as his encryption officer. I told him I will be ready for duty in a week. He laughed and said he hoped to see me in about a month. His prediction may be more realistic, yet I am feeling stronger already!

11 January 1813 Detroit, Michigan

The hospital surgeon signed my release for active duty today! It has taken longer than I had hoped to make a full recovery. Still, General Harrison is impressed that I am back this soon.

I met with him and his staff officers this evening after supper. He gave a brief, but excellent speech describing my wilderness ordeal, then awarded me a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Next, he called the meeting to order and asked me to sit next to him. The first and only order of business: I was appointed Chief Encryption Officer for his army! He bestowed on me the commission of second lieutenant, effective immediately. I will command the 23rd Field Communications Squadron. Our mission is to provide secure and timely communications amongst all his field commanders and himself.

I feel as though my feet are not touching the ground when I walk! There is plenty of work to be done, starting tomorrow.

17 March 1813 Fort Niagara, New York

I arrived in camp today with thirty men that I am to train as CipherClerks. I helped select these fellows, all of whom are literate. They also have strong mathematical aptitudes, a most important trait for this line of endeavor. In addition, certain members were chosen because they have special skills that we need. Corporal Michael Zehr, for example, speaks fluent French and German, while Sergeant Patrick Hilton can communicate with many Indian tribes using a combination of unusual sounds and hand signs.

We are assigned a separate classroom and barracks for our eight weeks of training. For better or worse, I will soon know these men like brothers.

13 May 1813 Fort Niagara, New York

Our long and arduous training session is nearly completed. I am pleased to report that all of my men are now proficient in the basic skills of their new profession. In doing so, we have also formed the bonds of fraternal affection that, I daresay, will serve us well for the rest of our lives.

Having discovered early-on that many of our group are active Freemasons, we encouraged the others to apply, which they did (of their own free will and accord, of course). Despite our heavy training schedule, the new apprentices have progressed rapidly and all were raised last Saturday night at the Fort Niagara lodge. General Harrison was greatly impressed by this display of devotion and mental prowess.

One topic of our training was, in fact, the ancient Masonic cipher. Though it is easy to master and use, it is hopelessly insecure. Our discussions have inspired us to form a clandestine lodge that we have christened "The Cryptic Lodge of Shibboleth." Our noble purpose is to advance the science of cryptology and our knowledge thereof. We have our own signs and words of recognition.

By unanimous ballot, we agree that our main mission should be to pool our talent to create an improved field cipher for the U.S. Army. This new cipher must have certain attributes, such as:

1) Ease of use under all field conditions
2) Unbreakable, except with extraordinary effort
3) Secured by an easily revised key word
4) Not device-dependent for its security

The final item is most important. A good example is the Jefferson wheel cipher machine. It may fall into enemy hands, but without the key, which gives the arrangement of the wheels on its spindle, it is useless for reading our messages. We are planning a device which will be more compact and easier to use.

We are also receiving extensive training in the use of the sextant, compass and maps. These skills will serve us well in the battlefield.

23 July 1813 Fort Drum, New York

General Harrison has moved his command here to Fort Drum. Lake Ontario and the nearby Adirondacks offer a welcome escape from the summer heat. My students are now posted to the field commands that are widely dispersed across New England and New York and all are performing with commendable efficiency.

Before leaving Niagara, we developed a five-disk cipher device that represents a significant improvement over Jefferson's wheel cipher. I demonstrated it to General Harrison and several of his senior staff officers. All were impressed at how easy it is to understand and manipulate. Harrison thanked me for our efforts and promised to show it to Commanding General Dearborn and the Secretary of the Army on his upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.

We have high hopes that the Army will adopt our cipher for its secured communications.

Editor's Note...

The "Beale Cipher Disk," as it came to be known, was widely regarded as being superior to Jefferson's wheel device. The Secretary of the Army, however, decided against switching to it during the war, citing the potential for massive confusion. Beale was bitterly disappointed.

When he wasn't hunting, Beale spent much of his time prospecting for silver, lead and copper in the Ozarks. There he met Moses Austin. They became friends and Beale invested much of his savings as a shareholder in Austin's lead smelter at Herculaneum, as well as his ill-fated venture to form the Bank of St. Louis. In 1817, Beale followed Austin to Texas (then part of Mexico), where they intended to form an independent country, the Republic of Texas. He helped lay the foundation for the Texas Revolution, but never settled in Texas, and soon returned to Missouri.

After leaving Austin (and showing his true mercenary tendencies) Beale demonstrated his cipher disk to the Spanish governor of Texas, who promptly purchased all rights to the device for the lofty sum of $5,000. After that, it was better known as the "Mexican Army Disk Cipher," and was used for decades as their main field cipher. In 1861, the Confederate Army adopted the same device for its field communications.

His sale of the cipher disk to the Mexican Army allowed Beale to maintain a moderately affluent lifestyle. He did not share the profits with his fellow inventors, nor did he bother to tell them what he had done. Beale's greed was apparently stronger than the fraternal ties that he so eloquently endorsed just a few years earlier. He did, however, finance several western hunting expeditions for his friends. Perhaps this was Beale's way of repaying his debt to them.

17 December 1820 Bedford County, Virginia

We rented rooms today at Buford’s Tavern, locked our treasure in the their stable and are guarding it around the clock. Today, posing as foxhunters, we inspected a cave that we were planning to use as our secret vault. Unfortunately, some local farmers are storing potatoes and turnips there. We will have to find another location.

29 December 1820 Bedford County, Virginia

We searched for several days and finally located a small cave atop the steep bluffs overlooking the James River, near the tiny village of Abert. To get it we had to purchase 113 acres of undeveloped timberland from Rufus Cole. He demanded an exorbitant price ($10,000) for the parcel, but this cave is ideal and the extra acreage will provide a measure of privacy. I convinced the partners that we should purchase the land in my name.

07 January 1821 Bedford County, Virginia

I took title to the Cole property this week and our fortune in gold and silver is safely deposited in the cave. The entrance was not properly exposed at the surface; we had to dig a shaft about six feet deep and about four feet square to expose the hidden chamber. That one access is now sealed with boulders and covered beneath a pile of dead brush. The main chamber is about thirty feet long and ten feet wide, with a roof about six feet high – plenty of room for our pots of GOLD. This narrows to a small, sinuous tunnel that continues several hundred feet into the mountain. At that point it becomes too small to traverse. There is no air movement in this passage, so I feel quite certain it is a dead end.

89279 36146 95027 63095 37948 06380 55422 57414 35435
26166 08475 58010 32557 65243 07765 29872 13611 32534
43529 56655 84894 34272 01320 20393 95727 25291 32267
63472 95839 37280 54475 25256 32950 23961 76615 42161
61255 99439 31036 40350 87227 20709 34848 97403 95135
65689

Editor's note: This is the first of many encrypted entries in Beale's diary. I suspect he is using the 5-disk cipher device that he helped develop in the Army. Could this entry be directions on how to find the cave? Doesn't matter -- the treasure is gone!

11 January 1821 Bedford County, Virginia

With the gold safely hidden, most of the party is returning to Santa Fe to resume our enterprise. As agreed, Patrick Hilton, Michael Zehr and myself will remain here to search for a local man to join our partnership and guard the treasure.

23 January 1821 Lynchburg, Virginia

After making discrete inquiries, Hilton, Zehr and myself have taken rooms at the Washington Hotel. We are thoroughly enjoying the hospitality of Mr. Robert Morriss, proprietor, and his lovely WIFE Sarah. We concur that Morriss, a gentleman of unimpeachable integrity, is an agreeable candidate for partnership in our enterprise.

13743 13139 76559 40585 49327 02738 82660 52245 55608
93692 56236 60570 33870 51833 50799 84709 63388 31988
45867 65205 65870 58848 75797 46894 99273 73882 09059
46765 05762 48389 61872 56768 74167 42305 67799 32413
17744 87993 33877 86330 74728 02559 22626 00588 24837
67408 69056 14779 37138 82412 78907 46586 33220 51024
78227 71332 32792 21279 92924 99320 19886 60966 23094
93109 48636 22356 24839 67874 61085 61840 27942 76111
97332 53077 93824 97633 88661 30809 22590 94540 13188
11789 36365 69323 74610 82889 83885 68851 17492 73293
24168 96883 93568 20596 49276 03433 92384 58824 46393
72718 79666 66733 74946 77888 48671 91056 92932 46712
09185 63459 45619 46236 49679 59218 67336 71249 38622
01307 19508 75637 23377 42245 12

17 February 1821 Lynchburg, Virginia

While Hilton and Zehr while away the days on hunting trips and viewing the local sights, I have been busy with my own secret plans. I have commissioned the fabrication of thirty-one weatherproof iron strong boxes, one box for each member of the partnership. Each box will have a wax seal in the lid and a heavy locking hasp. I will transfer my treasure from the iron pots to these containers as soon as the blacksmith delivers them. I am also having a waggoner build a sturdy two-horse caisson, specially designed to hold the boxes in a heavy locking storage compartment.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my stay at the Washington. Morriss is a man of exceptional honesty, methodical habits and conservative thinking. Perfect for my needs.

19 March 1821 Lynchburg, Virginia

The smithy finished my strong boxes on Monday and the caisson was delivered last week. My partners are visiting Washington, D.C. this week, which allowed me to return to the CAVE and transfer the “cargo” to my boxes in perfect secrecy. It took two days of hard labor to haul them back to Lynchburg, where they are now locked in Morriss’ stable. The pots in the cave are now full of river stones! I leave tomorrow for Missouri.

35459 08968 79540 77782 76259 25834 07129 43462 64251
60203 40187 21266 33821 82780 94621 64603 86106 61233
06794 47706 58188 39741 47103 01772 13882 63196 03165
19266 60650 72793 09790 20763 76653 14941 19863 08662
58207 99272 26031 64625 12020 17211 03548 37734 39627
77217 46384 17835 76614 17146 58717 69762 16877 97113
21831 87238 02060 39207 49071 03859 31262 52937 77653
54577 66113 18862 98189 96225 92637 21665 03925 81276
49311 69434 35935 43510 86646 69662 34319 29038 31409
45689 04776 63931 46897 78266 71852 72813 78773 546

23 March 1821 Portsmouth, Virginia

Hilton and Zehr should have returned to Lynchburg by now. I have left word for them that I have headed back to Cripple Creek and they should follow as soon as possible. I will wait for them in St. Louis.

29 March 1821 Portsmouth, Virginia

I sailed from Portsmouth today on the steam ship Julius C. Wilkie. It will take my cargo and me to New Orleans. From there I will travel to St. Louis.

11 April 1821 New Orleans, Louisiana

It was a successful and uneventful voyage. I stayed in the cargo hold with loaded pistols, for the entire trip, guarding my treasure. I contracted a porter to bring my meals and empty my chamber pot. I will be glad when this ordeal is over, but this method was more swift and posed less risk than overland travel by horse and wagon. The porter told me after we landed that a pirate ship was spotted off the Florida coast, but thank God they ignored us.

13 April 1821 New Orleans, Louisiana

I am boarding the steam ship Zebulon M. Pike, which will carry me up the Mississippi River to Ste. Genevieve. The spring rains have not yet begun and the river is low. It should be an easy four-day trip

17 April 1821 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Territory

We docked at the charming village of Ste. Genevieve today. I rented space in a warehouse owned by Mr. Felix Rozier, a leading village merchant. Tonight I am staying with the gold. Mr. Rozier has agreed to deliver my evening meal. He is also selling me a sturdy wagon and a team of fine horses for the final leg of my journey.

19 April 1821 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Territory

I left Ste. Genevieve today for Avon, a tiny farming village, which lies some 25 miles to the southwest.

23 April 1821 Avon, Missouri Territory

Finally! I have reached my destination, the tiny village of AVON. Heavy rains have made the trails nearly impassable. This rough and remote country is ideal for hiding my treasure! The secret location is described below:

06188 07792 60154 57153 23051 95853 14016 04614 56150
13536 09987 28558 36795 10884 44407 63685 99967 97846
18853 98599 49360 58505 14580 81913 73123 65146 77323
03369 56833 03496 13692 06918 63707 34504 71189 26096
46374 43245 61098 59906 15211 87669 51209 64978 92440
50920 40195 83969 11369 02053 58083 67080 43121 56173
79381 39650 19659 869

23630 60432 46476 49809 72674 36465 27524 37880 65536
37676 99867 94230 76751 02213 76056 59622 05772 24332
35763 16532 53765 97827 84226 79652 65702 38012 09444
37611 79600 98599 85832 29284 66307 65410 25264 22176
52475 91199 22466 05003 27356 56376 22101 11204 61

I will always remember exactly where the treasure is hidden, but this enciphered message will be needed to pass the information to an heir, should I die prematurely.

Editor’s note: I’m convinced that this encrypted message describes exactly where the treasure is hidden! Unfortunately, without the key that Beale used to create the message, I have no hope of recovering it!

07 May 1821 St. Louis, Missouri Territory

Met Hilton and ZEHR today at the river landing. We need to restock our provisions for the trip west.

21950 64773 06349 62744 92609 37416 66402 00665 09498
13743 63427 97688 80437 97631 41644 90706 57709 06015
74764 91376 05543 63734 91449 64029 31365 44937 36994
73156 59378 48430 06199 21021 31207 97688 57138 65354
75059 215

17 June 1821 Fort Carson, Colorado Territory

The journey has been EASY and relatively uneventful, except for some powerful thunderstorms while traversing the Platte River valley.

89540 46145 62856 57481 73471 56940 87169 53889 99546
54054 95932 16341 09122 74069 95945 32689 45631 75353
96386 19499 02751 49942 01403 03510 33468 80189 98022
79416 61451 66925 74655 74931 61085 434

19 June 1821 Fort Carson, Colorado Territory

We are resting here on the alto plano for a few days before making the final push to the mine camp. We are less than 30 miles out, but we gain over 7,000 feet in altitude in that span!

29 June 1821 Cripple Creek, Colorado Territory

Gold production for the past six months has been disappointing - far below last year’s level. The general opinion among the partners is that our vein is playing out. Upon inspection, I concur with that assessment. We have agreed to work through the end of this year to recover as much gold and silver as possible. Then we will abandon our enterprise and head back to Virginia to divide the treasure.

19 July 1821 Cripple Creek, Colorado Territory

I left camp today to pick up supplies at Fort Carson. I told the crew to expect me back in about two weeks.

01 August 1821 Kansas Territory

I am broiling in the HEAT beneath this blazing summer sun!

70861 30157 11720 14999 70901 38040 99790 85140 94686
80524 88112 45763 31239 02202 56245 21367 93575 38954
53556 37967 65021 21237 80119 41393 90688 64013 07274
07182 31059 76608 23377 38713 22086 65105 14522 77293
49793 10789 94539 94196 94649 75752 35273 10779 01573
50873 66792 00236 41

29 August 1821 Avon, Missouri

My treasure is still safely concealed at the Mayberry Cemetery. I’ve withdrawn enough gold from my “account” to live comfortably for the next year. It hardly made a visible dent in the stockpile!

17 September 1821 St. Louis, Missouri

Today I purchased a beautiful stone cottage on 75 acres. It joins Fort Jefferson to the south and sits on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Hunting should be good here, with plenty of fox, deer and turkey.

03 October 1821 St. Louis, Missouri

I am now comfortably settled into my cottage. Now it’s time to turn my thoughts toward my next trip to Virginia, in the New Year.

23 October 1821 St. Louis, Missouri

I have devised the perfect HOAX to explain the mystery of the missing treasure.

47015 31524 55279 55596 22722 44213 46115 72424 07559
97709 32868 55186 71313 92643 12130 15313 61164 70593
85865 04734 86991 36765 27991 10271 12164 65707 47115
71333 11523 20805 37955 50183 73704 59524 36723 74320
99320 12425 02301 23247 71200 74795 74866 67227 11189

36131 32470 78853 50053 20186 88969 34212 02933 42499
39952 32624 51317 29695 43716 04756 23249 54766 08331
15539 41608 63201 43718 65567 66858 54312 55110 28343
12326 08624 79534 11364 96225 31361 96071 64643 11571
34686 72998 62071 73704 39012 89612 32386 95670 76773

30971 12728 24707 28040 18130 18648 20518 61299 61342
49972 89572 59066 39056 52412 71205 98605 61711 31213
89860 75306 57125 39556 53232 37043 31714 33167 25826
49313 01862 82011 72952 49931 43953 26132 93248 57227
39318 92030 57672 57289 86446 71132 73528 65127 70990

21212 35029 30554 57020 73132 30145 57224 42720 84696
50231 38986 31575 59606 94739 56141 39720 26795 31330
72768 43954 35687 08993 92886 99909 62327 58324 36680
24207 07147 58547 77246 39131 36106 24669 66686 08253
28943 97829 93252 43701 24639 15868 48250 05868 57227

42439 42052 23720 15751 46246 52080 70575 35632 60249
48612 12204 55712 53958 51412 86724 68665 72276 01466
32728 98632 99433 93173 99434 79532 46438 70299 12136
52431 31535 94332 01434 30784 11802 87261 67076 13170
47564 75514 50271 41264 77310 29409 05244 72230 57201

34342 02722 18095 14515 44370 47525 98682 84601 69611
85026 61346 57852 45593 20305 31347 08950 82561 66855
76857 66562 49555 24722 75511 43823 24332 60436 58671
12394 58602 71475 19764 80289 02204 43232 03596 70857
28920 72214 34590 07123 50272 60728 95705 24323 22499

47353 99532 13608 69564 47311 38656 72894 35508 70308
61228 67662 34766 88527 39454 24309 49670 11471 23112
89673 39323 57344 35232 14535 00518 11243 99390 81437
20190 12547 05753 92320 14355 96854 35352 23562 42247
09468 67032 89477 15186 12128 22686 32604 77116 90935

03501 24326 00271 53976 85772 02135 74427 99397 29986
20317 33024 01149 53213 01433 18655 96664 28295 23134
64730 42655 73171 39595 71216 61500 55543 30135 30266
64800 48686 28469 05127 41223 39790 57854 46730 37245
33012 72085 59694 57726 08612 57827 04343 07139 07043

50803 16814 11610 81412 21576 15245 84086 59767 12578
59658 12323 09095 26310 82530 53522 32794 64375 37070
53074 52442 52335 18357 99711 60213 60076 71495 42243
09337 90668 89424 53664 75245 32608 66820 99139 55770
31088 74196 14113 12475 90050 54127 51433 29650 80668

44654 73998 82095 42420 21241 27152 49932 60862 45128
72804 53027 32139 63260 24801 60293 93291 45712 72479
65251 27113 04731 31164 62775 90050 59711 96857 35586
13898 69418 31728 69902 67333 15157 12715 32643 71022
51346 43189 45395 53455 73267 56244 12785 86726 02458

47307 17251 86717 18259 57613 23502 50054 31708 95241
12032 24549 63260 65575 36623 51673 09961 12317 20124
97209 91366 24117 13561 64505 50852 55931 44286 32898
21332 46437 29924 39711 49943 35537 15602 71849 63424
99578 52066 56121 30864 24952 18039 95739 59266 08359

53289 90305 62882 99138 03289 43777 13247 50504 63974
86200 66742 86121 38727 70133 30724 59645 78207 24425
83008 51320 18605 53313 28086 39992 74406 02526 16688
72968 50234 02568 65306 67958 81213 13608 65112 43503
48631 32606 10749 61668 80239 06234 38242 13608 67712

01277 36456 83433 13932 02128 70286 85350 27289 32608
27231 60203 02470 24137 31152 32081 34624 02308 92706
43318 29542 87087 08886 72828 36714 13514 31776

Editor's note: a message this long must be important! If only I could break this cipher and recover the memories that Beale took to the grave!

11 January 1822 Lynchburg, Virginia

I booked a ROOM at the Washington Hotel, then had dinner with Mr. And Mrs. Morriss. I will stay for a week or two and then

43561 55356 77431 87003 72970 87053 33784 27914 17978
41410 78138 64643 03566 96531 04011 47918 02577 37899

Editor's Note: and then what? WHAT!? The answers are right in front of me, yet I cannot see them -- this uncrackable code has been driving me insane for twenty years!

17 January 1822 Lynchburg, Virginia

I finally arranged to have some TIME alone with Sarah. I offered to take her to Bedford City by carriage, to visit a sick aunt, while Robert stayed behind to mind the business. Sarah put up a mild protest, then relented.

48022 51632 51948 27194 92835 62792 71370 10860 79708
70623 36335 62237 08860 13394 45857 98279 25460 86977
38229 30186 22022 79363 75011 55349 08214 82008 85498
27192 53430 42780 71277 07126 10582 74679 48204 31045
09752 10854 48862 71349 27322 69478 55952 73783 08192

68901 55861 11549 36018 26701 27820 84868 79478 98749
08964 93606 92274 71520 45219 47422 02737 47511 83115
49401 12303 01512 92742 24183 08695 79583 25794 88706
63796 71901 74830 91286 75496 21259 15799 70837 81276
28332 14750 15912 36755 50293 69222 19383 11792 50838

83555 46188 94163 07560 55301 15279 25605 20838 33544
77941 71864 90840 71974 91045 54884 94012 92927 16039
58886 03362 83251 47554 16456 08267 94909 53808 88793
27060 33675 49938 52559 57352 01263 77449 31674 35208
62495 20870 89502 83316 32833 25131 12756 03675 79480

81408 83548 98894 82796 09216 56090 86929 01558 60654
47526 86192 51602 21055 54961 68810 49527 92546 02019
37412 04336 11911 74126 73688 89387 47588 51557 21601
41790 90836 12784 32656 55857 96714 67275 46772 94713
69415 4538

I made her promise that she never speak a word of this to Robert. She agreed to honor my request.

Editor's note: a romantic tryst?

23 January 1822 Lynchburg, Virginia

I gave the strong box containing the three encrypted messages to Morriss this evening. I asked that he hold it for me in a safe and secure place until I, or one of my partners, returned for it. He was happy to do this and promised to follow my instructions to the letter.

29 January 1822 Portsmouth, Virginia

I left Lynchburg today and forever. I will sail to New Orleans again on the Julius C. Wilkie. This time, however, I will spend the days above deck and enjoy the trip.

09 May 1822 St. Louis, Missouri

Today I completed my ingenious PLAN:

20816 77105 96957 21916 58612 51264 64460 50516 03056
78380 43160 33528 30038 35071 84503 51480 79855 36125
71206 63472 83739 43561 26798 46057 55122 92546 07578
39773 23475 06423 60960 82027 23084 22072 47263 38519
16648 03472 08807 04520 57451 61483 40813 52067 66635

74085 60420 58820 27642 94607 96709 39617 30066 65685
19163 19203 85791 67071 88612 32714 30244 65366 95982
69266 15054 91629 13165 83033 48303 58596 25343 02625
53470 59683 50856 78075 61642 71753 95964 70380 65284
62426 7040

Editor's note: this cipher must refer to the letter that he sent to Morriss with the keys to decipher the remaining messages. If so, then it is a feint, meant to throw him off the scent.

Final Thoughts ...

That was the last entry in Beale's diary that may, in my opinion, contain clues to the location of the lost treasure. There are numerous entries describing the annual trips he made to Avon to recover more gold. Each time he took several pounds back to to St. Louis and put it in the safe deposit box at his bank. In all, he used only a small fraction of the total.

Beale never mentioned Sarah Morriss again in his diary. Apparently he never contacted her and never returned to Virginia. Over the years, Beale invented a variety of encryption methods and devices. He spent a lot of time at Fort Jefferson (now called Jefferson Barracks) demonstrating them to the commanding officer there. Apparently the Army did not adopt any of them, or if they did, he never recorded it in his diary.

Beale was quite successful investing in the lead mines near Potosi and Mine LaMotte. He also spent a good bit of his time prospecting for gold and silver in the St. Francois mountains. He wrote numerous notes about his mining claims along the St. Francois River and on top of Ketcherside Mountain. These entries are extensively encrypted so what he discovered there, if anything, remains a mystery -- ahh, another mystery!

Disclaimer

"The Diary of Thomas J. Beale" is published as an aid for the solution of "The Lost Beale Treasure" geocache (GCX1DF). Statements of fact and other information contain herein are intended for entertainment purposes only -- no guarantee or warranty whatsoever, express or implied, is made as to their accuracy or authenticity. In addition, the attached Standard Disclaimer applies.