The Secret: A Treasure Hunt
The painting that gives the track over the treasure in New York
The book The SecretByron Preiss, contains paintings and verses that hold clues to find 12 hidden treasures in North America. Although hunting started over 40 years ago, only 3 treasures were found.
More than four decades ago, a little -known fantasy book has launched one of the most enigmatic hunts to the treasure in modern history. The Secret: A Treasure Huntby the editor and writer Byron Preissin 1982, launched readers on a trip that continues to confuse treasure hunters to this day.
The book combines art, poetry, mythology and history of American immigration, With 12 mysterious paintings paired with 12 enigmatic verses. Each combination is believed to guide the adventurers to a ceramic box buried somewhere in North America that contains a key that can be changed by a gemstone.
Preiss, inspired by a desire to Encourage exploration and curiosityhe buried each cashier himself in the early 1980s. His goal would be to encourage people to learn more about cities and events important to the history of the United States and Canada.
It is said that each box is buried about one meter deep In public places, such as parks, close to historical landmarks or cultural sites. The tracks included in the book are based on local geography, historical monuments and allusions that often reflect the city’s immigrant inheritance.
Only 3 have already been found
Although more than 40 years have passed since the book’s release, only 3 of the 12 treasures They have already been unearthed.
The first discovery was Made in Chicago, in 1983. The box was found by a group of teenagers on Grant Park, who corresponded to painting 5 to verse 12, deciphering visual and poetic clues that pointed to a large source and surrounding architecture.
The second was found em 2004, em Clevelandwhen two men connected painting 4 to verse 4, which led them to the Greek cultural garden in Rockefeller Park.
Finally, the third discovery was made In 2019, in Bostonwhen Jason Krupat and his young son dug up the treasure at Langone Park. The track was in the connection between painting 11 and verse 3, which referred to the North End of Boston and its strong Italo-American roots.
Os Puzzles are complexoften alluding to local art, streets layout, historical figures or obscure cultural references. Making the right painting correspond to the right verse is, by itself, a great challenge.
For example, a line of a verse related to Cleveland says:
“Under two countries/ While the road is curved,/ on a rectangular terrain,/ under the tenth stone…”
To decipher it, the hunters had to recognize that the “two countries” referred to American and Greek flags in cultural gardensthat the road bowed around the specific terrain and that the “tenth stone” indicated a certain numbered decorative slab.
A CULT OF FOLLOWERS
In recent years, treasure hunt has gained a renewed interest thanks to Reddit communities, YouTube documentaries and episodes of programs like Expedition Unknownpresented by Josh Gates. “It’s a Puzzle de Indiana Jones Real life, ”said Gates during a 2020 segment that had one of the successful excavations.
Fans, who call themselves “Secret Seekers”, continue to discuss theories and organize search groups in cities such as San Francisco, New York, St. Louis and Charleston, all considered potential places where treasures will be.
The remaining nine plates were never found and Preiss has not left any definitive or confidant map that can confirm their location. With your death after a car accident in 2005, the exact burial places may end up never be found – Unless the puzzles are resolved.
