Maybe the tons of gold and silver Thomas Beale supposedly found out west are buried closer to the Peaks of Otter.

Keith Humphry has uncovered a different trail to the legendary treasure.

((It's long been assumed the old chimney near the tank farm in Montvale is all that's left of Buford's Tavern... unless it was the brick home next to the chimney.
When the Beale Papers were published, the author wrote the treasure was buried "about four miles from Buford's...."

(
((IF SOMEONE MEANT, "THIS TREASURE IS FOUR MILES FROM BUFORD'S...." IT DIDNT SAY BUFORD'S WHAT!)) 

Relying on records in the Bedford County courthouse, and the suggestion of one of his readers, Peter Viemeister has discovered that Pascal Buford was much more than a Tavern owner.
In the 1820's Buford owned a place called "Fancy Farm," now the site of Northside Supply at the foot of the Peaks of Otter.

((THIS BUSINESS OF A FOUR-MILE CIRCLE AROUND SOMEWHERE. OKAY, YOU PUT YOUR COMPASS THERE ON NORTHSIDE SUPPLY, DRAW A FOUR-MILE CIRCLE AND SAY, "WELL, MAYBE IT'S IN THERE."))


Viemeister offers another intriguing theory in his book... suggesting the Beale Papers were actually a "cover story" to account for the missing Confederate Treasury.

((THE TRAIN LEFT RICHMOND WITH THE CABINET AND WITH PRESIDENT DAVIS AND THE ASSETS WHICH HAD BEEN IN THE TREASURY OF THE CONFEDERACY.)) [:08]
Viemeister's theory is the Confederate Treasury funds got waylaid in Burkeville. A small group of loyal Confederates off-loaded some of the treasury funds to a west-bound train in Burkeville.

((THEIR TRAIN HEADS TOWARDS LYNCHBURG, WHILE THE OTHER ONE WENT ON TO DANVILLE.))

Viemeister theorizes that the author of the Beale Papers COULD have been one of those Confederates... establishing a plausible tale to account for the later "discovery" of a huge treasure trove.

((THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN SPECULATION WHO WROTE IT. YOU KNOW IT WAS AWFUL CLEVER. THE FACTS ALL FIT ONE SUSPECT.))


Viemeister's prime "suspect" is Ferdinand Hutter, the man who built this home in Lynchburg. He died a couple of months after the pamphlet was published in 1885.
The Sandusky mansion is now home to the Reverend Jerry Falwell. [Falwell Jr @ 16:26:10]

((I'VE RESEARCHED THE HOME. I KNOW FERDINAND HUTTER- -WHO BUILT THE HOME- -WAS THE PAYMASTER FOR THE CONFEDERATE ARMY,[


((IF IT'S ON MY LITTLE SEVEN-ACRE LAWN, OR IN MY HOUSE, I'VE GOT TWO BOYS THAT NO DOUBT WILL KNOW WITHIN DAYS WHETHER IT IS OR NOT.)) 

Before you rush over to help them look, you should know there's a guard at the gate.
Keith Humphry, NEWS 7.))