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"I have deposited in the County of
Bedford about four miles from Buford's in an The first deposit consisted of ten hundred and fourteen pounds of gold and thirty eight hundred and twelve pounds of silver deposited Nov. eighteen nineteen.
The second was made Dec. eighteen twenty one and consisted of nineteen hundred and seven pounds of gold and twelve hundred and eighty eight of silver, also jewels obtained in St. Louis in exchange to save transportation and valued at thirteen thousand dollars. The above is securely packed in iron pots with iron covers. The vault is roughly lined with stone and the vessels rest on solid stone and are covered with others, Paper number one describes the exact locality of the vault so that no difficulty will be had in finding it," Ward struggled with Ciphers One and Three till his determination and his family fortune ran out. In 1885 he gave up and published "The Beale Papers" which included copies of Beale's letters to Morriss and Morriss' testimony, as well as an account of his own efforts to break the ciphers. To future treasure hunters, however, he issued a warning: ". ..devote only such time as can be spared from your legitimate business to the task, and if you can spare no time, let the matter alone," Sound advice, but not the kind taken by cipher addicts or those like William Legrand, the hero of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, who are smitten by the Gold Bug. Deeply ingrained in the American psyche are a couple of optimistic beliefs: every problem has a solution and millionaires happen overnight, Cheap long distance, FREE voicemail, 12-way calling, more!
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