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PunkNickel posted:St. Stephens club is a gentlemen's club. Not sure if horse racing has anything to do with what the members did there.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:12
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Dr. Bit posted:gently caress, all I have is Preview right now, so I can circle a couple of the features. I'm sure someone can do a million times better of a job on this. Ok thanks. I can see the resemblance now. I thought the ridges were supposed to be outstretched wings which is why I didn't see it. Also, I grew up here in the 80s and all I ever heard it called was "Cicada". I didn't even hear "17 year locust" until this thread but, I could just have been ignoring hearing it all my life. I also don't know what Preiss would have grown up with. edit: btw those things are annoying as gently caress. When I first really heard them I lived near a foundry and I assumed it was the foundry making the noise until my parents told me it was bugs. Then years later the cicadas got so bad they would cover you within seconds of walking outside. Disgusting. crashdome fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 18:16
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xie posted:I've been corresponding with someone who's worked on Boston for a very long time, and he laid out a very convincing case that there isn't one in Boston. If we take the author at his word that there's one in St. Louis, then the picture we're all calling Boston almost has to be St. Louis, since the other unmatched one appears to be Montreal. I have been wondering myself because there is nothing that I can see in the picture that makes me think that it is Boston (and I live in Boston). In fact, the only thing that seems to point to Boston is the library names. The only problem is that I have also lived in Saint Louis and cannot see anything in the picture that I recognize from there, either. That Copley picture is interesting and I like the verse interpretation above and am interested in the visual clues that have been found. Really, the only ones that I am convinced of are the Roanoke, Charleston, Milwaukee, and Montreal because they clearly have connections with identifiable landmarks or artwork. The other ones seem to fit but just aren't as clear to me.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:25
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Invicta{HOG}, M.D. posted:Really, the only ones that I am convinced of are the Roanoke, Charleston, Milwaukee, and Montreal because they clearly have connections with identifiable landmarks or artwork. The other ones seem to fit but just aren't as clear to me. The new york picture is about as clear as they get too, thanks to the statue of liberty face. The verse is a little more ambiguous.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:26
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crashdome posted:Ok thanks. I can see the resemblance now. I thought the ridges were supposed to be outstretched wings which is why I didn't see it. Yeah, it's definitely a picture of the early stage of the life cycle or the carcass that's left behind on trees. There are no wings. crashdome posted:Also, I grew up here in the 80s and all I ever heard it called was "Cicada". I didn't even hear "17 year locust" until this thread but, I could just have been ignoring hearing it all my life. I also don't know what Preiss would have grown up with. I had heard both, and thought for a long time they were different insects. People said "17-year locusts" more during the years with big swarms of them.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:33
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SheepNameKiller posted:The new york picture is about as clear as they get too, thanks to the statue of liberty face. The verse is a little more ambiguous. I agree it looks like the Statue of Liberty and think that the dress is a stylized lower Manhattan but it just doesn't have the same level of "aha!" that the others do. Like I said, just my opinion and the others are likely right too but there's not really a smoking gun on that one.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:33
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KennyMan666 posted:Nice high-quality scans there. Could you perhaps make high-res scans of the two pictures that were already solved, too, so one could have the full set in that quality? They are up with the rest now.
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Jun 6, 2013 18:39
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Is there a link explaining exactly how the Chicago one was found?
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Jun 6, 2013 19:11
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Re: Montreal, I think we might be missing obscure clues in the introduction. I think it may be mentioned in the footnotes. Here's a longer extract from the part which talks about the Fountain of Youth.quote:Consider a group of those frugal Lowland Dwarves, the Alven, hovering, invisible, and observing in economic agony while their old friends the Canarsie tribe traded Manhattan Island for a handful of trinkets! (Could it be that they imagined Peter Minuit's glass baubles possessed the same worth as the Alven's Treasure-Stone?) George Stephen of the Mount Stephen Club (legeater) was the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Footnotes on P25 and P27 tell us that Yo-Rib is Huron (Quebec), and links them to the Dutch. (Image 9 is the "Lowland Gnomes" image in the litany.) Lots more weird stuff in the introduction. BJG fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 19:18
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Houston Thanks for the new scans, I found some writing in the bottom of the Houston picture but I can't make out what it says. In this pic, I've highlighted traced what looks like a seated lion on the right side and some letters up in the tree branches. I still think there is a lot more hidden in the tree branches that we're not seeing because we don't know what we're looking for. The boxes are showing things we haven't really been able to identify yet that I believe are potential clues.  I also found a blog of the Houston Zoo where their head of public relations has been posting pictures and newspaper clippings regarding the zoo from the 1940's. I sent him an email describing our situation and asking if he knows where we can locate older pictures or maps from the 1980's era. Hopefully he'll show some interest and not just brush me off!
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Jun 6, 2013 19:20
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BJG posted:
I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but that cloud pattern looks like a heraldic animal, like a lion or griffin for example.
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Jun 6, 2013 19:21
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Just playing around here, as no local connections- could verse 8 actually be Montreal? There's a 200 step staircase at Mount Royal Park and some maple leaf plaques (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62061799@N05/5917169942/) embedded in a few sidewalks- nature cast in copper. Edit- Also a masonic building that's decked out in compasses. Second Edit- Notre Dame Basilica's organ has 92 stops in it- ascending the 92 steps? Molly Bloom fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 19:25
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St. Louis?Invicta{HOG}, M.D. posted:. The only problem is that I have also lived in Saint Louis and cannot see anything in the picture that I recognize from there, either. Just from my never seen or been invested in Boston eyes, the Cask 11 painting has multiple Arches built into it (the window, the bottom of the window, the shirt's neckline, the globe stand) In the stanza, Thucydides could refer to Cahokia Mounds (ancient, possible plagues and massacres). Xenophon could refer to the Jefferson National Expansion museum (contemporary, descriptions of life). "Five steps in his direction" could be latitude lines to the west? The rest sounds like the riverfront. Old Busch Stadium looks like a metal coliseum. The part about facing the water from the stairs is certainly the steps from the Arch to the Mississippi The "Eighteenth day Twelfth hour Lit by lamplight In truth, be free" could have something to do with the Frémont Emancipation?
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Jun 6, 2013 19:30
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Houston All right guys, I just got off the phone with the Houston Zoo Public Relations Department. The guy was incredibly helpful and knew exactly what I was talking about because a few years ago (somewhere between 2005-2009), someone approached him about the treasure. At that point, the Children's Zoo was still intact but was closed off, so they gave the guy permission to dig in the area and they went at it after hours. They both went digging in the Children's Zoo for months looking for the casque. The digger called in some favors to get a ground penetrating radar brought in and his friend operated it, and at one point they even brought a back hoe in for excavating. After months of digging, all they turned up was a water main that they busted. At this point, what was the Children's Zoo is either buried under their new attraction or is all a construction area for their upcoming gorilla pavillion. The guy I talked to was pretty into it and told me of another location that he had suggested but the digger rejected. At the point that the casque was buried, the park was free to enter and stayed open late into the night. He believed that the treasure is buried at what used to be one of these entrances before it was closed off. Looking at the intersection of Hermann Park Drive and Cambridge Street, I'm thinking it wouldn't be a bad place to look. It's a little shady spot but I'm not sure whether you can see the fountain at McGovern Lake from there. The PR Director also told me that he would try to dig up the notes he kept when working with the guy so we can see if he came to any conclusions that we are missing. I still think that this casque is in Hermann Park and not the zoo itself, and he said he can put in a good word with me to the person responsible for permits for digging/running any ground penetrating radar in public parks. So this guy was incredibly helpful and not at all snobbish or dismissive. Goons in other cities may want to contact their local park departments and see if they can get some help on their end! GaryLeeLoveBuckets fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 19:57
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Dr. Bit posted:Milwaukee OK, I heard references to Locust tree and I thought that was a stretch. If the bug is a oblique reference then it has to be to the street, not the tree. Locust trees are the most common tree in the city. They are favored along streets by the forestry department.
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Jun 6, 2013 20:09
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GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:Houston Not to gush or anything, But I am impressed at the level in which people are interested in a real treasure hunt! I imagine you could actually see the wonder and amazement in this guys eyes. I have been thinking about all the pictures and trying to help. (This has been one of the best threads ever!) If I lived near any of the possible locations, I would probably already be in a jail cell, for illegal digging. General I figure that if he put a silhouette of that one building, in that picture, there must be silhouettes in all the pictures, they should all be of famous landmarks. Also from the sounds of it there should also be (in the picture) a picture of the location at which it was buried. I am printing out large copies of the Hi-Res pictures on the printer at work, and am going to get a bunch of friends together, get a little wasted and see what we can come up with.
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Jun 6, 2013 20:10
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Milwaukee Ok, this might be a stretch, but I've been looking for any other hidden-in-the-watercolor things in the Milwaukee picture (we have that locust or cicada). The only other one I could find was this, which looks like a very faint face. Notice what looks like a pair of eyes between the ball and key and on either side of them. The left eye looks more like a slit, but the right eye is actually very distinct. There is also a sort of red slash where the left eyebrow would be (to the left of the key). I don't think this red mark is a misprint or surface mark, as it's in two separate scans of that image. There also looks like a nose in between the eyes. Anyone else see this, or am I crazy? Does this ring any bells? Any sculptures or pictures in town that remind you of this? The slit-eye thing reminds me of the statue in front of the Golda Meir Library on the UWM campus (Three Bronze Discs, http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/about/sculptures.cfm), but I think the right eye is too distinctly an eye for it to be this sculpture. EDIT: Well that image size is WAY too big to see what I'm talking about. Looks like I can't delete it from the post either. Uh... let me see what I can do about that... Dr. Bit fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 20:10
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Houston That's fantastic. I live in Austin now, but I lived in Houston at one time and visited a lot there in the 1980's, so it's very interesting to me. Austin has a lot of old records, if someone can think of anything that I might be able to look up here, I'll be more than happy to swing by any of the state records offices and take a look. I can't help but think that red stone has some kind of significance. With the train track down below it, maybe that's a hint to where it was buried? Do we know the old train layout? einTier fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 20:12
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Sorry about that. Here's a more appropriate size:
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Jun 6, 2013 20:15
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Oh man.... this is NOT the thread I needed to see right now.  I'm fixing to head home on a short trip from Austin, and now I'm trying to decide whether to make an unscheduled detour to Houston on my way back. drat my love for puzzles and treasure hunts! Also kinda pissed that the aquamarine had to be one of the two casks already found. THAT'S MY BIRTHSTONE, dammit! 
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Jun 6, 2013 20:32
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Houston OK, I might be reaching, but here's what I see. That train track in the bottom middle of the photo and the reference 982 seems like it has to be train running around Herman Park. Train track is notoriously tough to lay down and dig up and re-route so if anything remains of the old park, it's going to be that track. Looking at the current map of the park, there is only one section of track that even remotely looks like that, and it is just below the Miller Outdoor Theatre. Coincidentally, it's cut off by a path much like the track in that stone, and the pillar provides an orientation that says North is at the top, as it is in every map. You can also see what might be the other side of that loop of track in the stone on the bottom left. Here's a Google Maps image of the area:  And the link to the google map. Now. Miller Outdoor Theatre was always there, but it used to be called Miller Theatre and looked quite a bit different.  A bit like a fortress, no? Of course, the Houston Museum of Natural Science is also to the North and while I can't find any photos of how it looked from 1969-1988, it's a fairly imposing "fortress" in its own right.  Also, this stanza: quote:Perspective should not be lost   The historic train SP982 was moved sometime around 2005 to Minute Maid Park and was the subject of an episode of History Channel's Mega Movers.   It seems to be on the edge of McGovern lake and near the train tracks. I remember this train from when I was a kid, so I can be reasonably sure it was there in 1980. The only place I can find that even sort of fits is here, at the Pinewood Cafe. This is relatively new construction, and it appears it would hide where the SP982 used to sit. Even more interesting, it's near the two pieces of track I pointed out earlier, and coincidentally, there's a spout nearby out in the lake. einTier fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 20:38
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Neutrino posted:
What is your cheese wheel thingy doing on my St. Augustine Flag? Its ugly and I want it off. Also, I have a theory about the Florida puzzle. The images look off to me. There are almost parts of things but nothing really. The skyline looks like it's in the shape of Florida but..wrong. It's too bent. I'm working on finding a convex mirror or photoshop to do some image manipulation. I did folding and cutting of the picture but didn't get results. I think with the right angle, it will make all the stupid rocks turn into something. Florida is notoriously flat and dull. Why are there two giant rocks as the primary part of this piece? And lastly, there is something green on the bottom of the reflection of the smaller rock. This thread is awesome. Let's solve a 31 year old unsolved treasure hunt!: Melting dick e: I also saw the windmill slayer. http://www.williamoellers.com/Sold/Don_Quixote.jpg SauceNinja fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 20:49
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HoustoneinTier posted:Houston I... might ask you to look some things up between tomorrow and this weekend. Because I am a shameful gently caress and I think I might actually do this thing now.  einTier posted:I can't help but think that red stone has some kind of significance. With the train track down below it, maybe that's a hint to where it was buried? Do we know the old train layout? This thread is already huge, so forgive me if this has been pointed out already, but...  The star at the top-left corner, I'm pretty sure, represents the North Star, indicating that the painting is facing north. So that would mean the column shadows are pointing east, which means that the sun is setting, to the west. I didn't see this mentioned in the first few posts, so it might give a sense of directional orientation to everything else in the picture. Somebody already pointed out the '95' in the tree branches, but the '30' is just barely visible to me, to the point that I dismissed it as not being there until I saw it indicated in red in one of the quotes. EDIT: Holy poo poo, just found the number '96' in the tree branches. Toward the bottom of the branches, along the right-hand side of the painting (the '6' is even cut off just slightly by the border of the painting). 
I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 20:55
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Has anybody tried to find a match for the highlights under the lion's eyes in the Charleston image? They're pretty distinctive-looking.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:17
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GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:Houston This is amazing. I can't wait to start seeing results.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:18
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Imazul posted:I was just pointing it that except being a lamp, the origin or why it exists i probably irrelevant. I think concentrating on the where is much more interesting.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:21
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The Human Cow posted:Has anybody tried to find a match for the highlights under the lion's eyes in the Charleston image? They're pretty distinctive-looking. I wondered that very thing but haven't seen or thought of anything similar. While on the Charleston picture, and since we're discussing hidden numbers, does anyone see anything else hidden in the lion's mane or elsewhere? There's a pretty distinct looking 436 on the right side in the lion's hair.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:22
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Houston Threw this image together quickly, detailing the area where I think SP982 used to sit and what I think I've identified. Edited.  Very Large Image. Lat/Longitude for Herman Park is 29.71/95.38. I wonder if 95 isn't the longitude number. It's also possible that 30 is the latitude and it wasn't possible to be that accurate before GPS. Dissecting what I think I know: quote:Fortress north quote:Take your task quote:Through the wood quote:In the sky the water veers quote:Small of scale quote:Perspective should not be lost quote:Falls gently quote:Looking back from treasure ground quote:A whistle sounds. einTier fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 21:23
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TotalHell posted:I wondered that very thing but haven't seen or thought of anything similar. According to that Lemon Tiger PDF, that 436 is a 32 (inverted 2). There's also a 33, 79, and 80. Since Charleston is at 32.7764° N, 79.9311° W that leaves us with a 33 and an 80 to play with...unless he's saying 32/33° N, 79/80° W since both numbers are pretty close. I also see a cross in the lower left of the mane. The top of the lion's head (where the mane meets the main head part) is also very distinctive-looking. It's driving me crazy to figure out what all of the patterning inside his head means. The Human Cow fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 21:31
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Typh posted:Why is important because it might not be a unique sculpture. It could be from some mythology or coat of arms or something and have duplicates. It's the only thing that feels definitively Montreal, so it's important that it's unique. Why choose such a small embellishment? I've been thinking alot about that too. If it wasn't a starting point, as I earlier suggested, but an "along the way" portion then you'd be bumbling along looking for stuff, and if I walked by that lamppost I know I would notice the legeater. So, maybe it's just a confirmation of "you're on the right path". It's super distinctive, but small.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:43
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The Human Cow posted:According to that Lemon Tiger PDF, that 436 is a 32 (inverted 2). There's also a 33, 79, and 80. Since Charleston is at 32.7764° N, 79.9311° W that leaves us with a 33 and an 80 to play with...unless he's saying 32/33° N, 79/80° W since both numbers are pretty close. I also see a cross in the lower left of the mane. If you're using degrees/minutes for your format, the lat/long of the Angel Oak on John's Island is: lat: 32 degrees 43 min lon: -80 degrees 05 min Edit: and yes, the lion head is very distinctive, both the patterning in it and the outline of it. I was thinking maybe it followed the contour of one of the rivers, like the Cooper or the Ashley, but I haven't been able to make it fit. TotalHell fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 21:44
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HoustonGaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:Houston I noticed that little odd tree branch/leave on the left hand side this entire time. I just don't think it looks like a number, or a letter, it just looks "out of place". Resembles a fish hook or something to me. I'm pretty sure that all 3 sets of numbers have been noticed, or maybe I noticed the 96 and assumed everyone else did too.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:45
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Houston einTier, are you even still reading this thread? einTier posted:Houston This might have something to do with the orientation of the sun when it's setting, in December, and how it affects the orientation of the shadows. Remember in my above post, when I said the sun was setting in the painting? einTier posted:
Confirmation that a train is involved somehow. That'd be my guess.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:56
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General I went digging for period maps of each city and this is what I found: Milwaukee, WI 1961 1954 Charleston, SC 1949 New York, NY 1950 1960's Transit Map San Fransisco, CA 1980-1996 I also looked for others, but if the maps were from 1940 or earlier, they would be more inaccurate in so many ways in comparison to today.
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Jun 6, 2013 21:59
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Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Houston Sure am. Trying to tie your clues in as well. I'm hoping it doesn't mean that the prize can only be found in December, when the shadows are right. I think that was genius the way you tied in the map orientation to the star and the shadows. Makes perfect sense. I'm also finding the red stone super curious. It stands out so much, it should mean something. However, I think the clues pretty well point to the area of the park near Pioneer Monument, north of where SP982 used to sit. There's too much in common with all of it.
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Jun 6, 2013 22:04
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einTier posted:
Check this out: Final run of the original train route (3 parts total) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ON4mVr0WwQ Video shot of the original train path while the new track was being laid in (5 total, others are goofing around): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktHewhbCqIY Might not be much use now, but when you're on the ground could be a good reference for where the rails used to run using the trees as reference.
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Jun 6, 2013 22:11
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Join Us! posted:General Here are some historical maps of SC, two of which may help: 1970 State Postal Map and 1984 Geologic Map of the Area Between Charleston and Orangeburg.
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Jun 6, 2013 22:15
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I forget who said it earlier, but there really may be something to the Bosc connection with that pear. Looking at pear varieties, it pretty much ONLY looks like a Bosc pear, and Bosc pears only really grow in the Northwest. So consdering Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc did indeed visit Charleston, it might be worth following up on him a bit.
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Jun 6, 2013 22:20
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GaryLeeLoveBuckets posted:Houston I played around with the image in Photoshop. The base of the pillar looks suspiciously like the old lion head water fountain. But where was it?   Durette posted:Check this out: Final run of the original train route (3 parts total) einTier fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 22:20
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einTier posted:This might be referring to the fountains around the Pioneer Monument. You should be able to see them -- though not the base -- as you walk through the forest. I believe the "in the sky the water veers" refers to the big spout in the middle of McGovern lake. It shoots way up in the air and gets carried off by the wind.
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Jun 6, 2013 22:24
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