"I have held up a light in the obscurity of Philosophy, which will be seen centuries after I am dead. It will be seen amidst the erection of Tombs, Theatres, Foundations, Temples, Orders and Fraternities for nobility and obedience — the establishment of good laws as an example to the World. For I am not raising a Capitol or Pyramid to the Pride of men, but laying a foundation in the human understanding for a holy Temple after he model of the World. For my memory I leave it to Men's charitable speeches, to foreign Nations and the next Ages, and to my own Country after some Time has elapsed." -- Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605), Bk II.

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Join me to explore the hidden tenets of arranged alignments of architecture and art. Structures as diverse as the Great Pyramid, Baalbek, The Tower of the Winds, Hagia Sopia, Basilica San Vitale, The Dome of the Rock, St. Peter's Square, Gisors, The Newport Tower, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, and the Georgia Guidestones all may have a common origin.

Three reproductions of the Tower of the Winds in England help to display how this age old value is viewed through time. Along the way many legends and myths associated with the Holy Grail and other relics are examined.

Treasure myths such as the Oak Island Legend and The Beale Treasure Legend may have a common origin and hidden meaning. The tale of The Bruton Parish Church Vault (a.k.a. "Bacon's Vault) may also be a copy of an already existent mystery at Stirling Castle.

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THE BEALE TREASURE AND RATON PASS OF NEW MEXICO. The American Mysteries Part I

THE BEALE TREASURE AND RATON PASS OF NEW MEXICO. The American Mysteries Part I

Is it possible that many of the strange treasure myths valued by the public at large are all related to a common source? Are these mysteries intentionally propagated to tell a specific story that may support the notion of the United States in comparison to previous royal entities? Were members of the extended family of Sir Francis Bacon involved in the mysteries of the United States? Is this the real “National Treasure?”

The Beale Treasure has been a conundrum pondered by many since it was exposed to the public in 1885. The publishing of the Beale Ciphers at that time caused a minor rush of treasure seekers to central Virginia that continues to this day. The lure of golden riches stashed in an underground vault is a common theme to many treasure legends including the Beale story. The elaborate nature of the Beale Ciphers lends to the authenticity of the tale. Still the question lingers; Is the Beale Treasure a real stash of riches or is it a metaphor meant to tell you or teach you something else? Is the Beale Treasure simply another “National Treasure” clue? In order to quest for the stone one must emerge from the underworld.

While many study the clues in the Beale Papers or Ciphers to solve the mystery here we will examine the family legacies of those that may have been involved in creating the legend of the Beale Treasure and related activity in New Mexico and Colorado. This examination will reveal an amazing story that may explain a great deal about the Beale Treasure and other similar legends and in turn links us to strange goings on in New Mexico and Colorado. Many of these stories seem to have been propagated by a specific group of movers and shakers whose families had a direct impact on the development of the United States and its unique ideals as represented in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. In the course of this story’s telling we will see many of the same family members that have been involved in the mysteries of Williamsburg, the Newport Tower, The Beale Treasure, The Great Cyclic Cross of Hendaye, and more. Many of these mysteries may also include the influence of the Society of the Cincinnati a group comprised of Revolutionary War officers (including French and Germans) and one of their lineal male descendants. In past works we have seen their involvement with literary and art figures such as Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and James Fenimore Cooper. Poe is even theorized by some to have created the Beale Ciphers. Nothing stated here means there is no treasure to find but may infer other motives for the creation of such stories that may be meant to teach the seeker instead of rewarding them with golden riches. Alternately many of these historical quests may lead to relics or stashes of important information. Is is also possible that later groups such as the Knights of the Golden Circle of the Confederacy used these systems to hide actual monetary wealth.

Recently a mystery involving four strange stones found in the Raton Pass area of New Mexico have created somewhat of a stir with many people speculating as to their origins. The stones are marked with Christian symbols that some suggest are “Templar” in nature. These theories suggest that a band of European Knights had traveled to New Mexico and Colorado and had found the Raton Pass in the era prior to Columbus and his “discovery” of the Americas. While this is remotely possible here we will examine the possible later creation of these stones in association with the development of a toll road that once spanned the Raton Pass and was operated by a descendant of the family of Sir Francis Bacon and the Beale family of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. In the process other famous names like Rockefeller and Bacon are also inferred. If the stones are older and indeed of an earlier period then it may be natural that they were found in a context that would mark what would later come to be known as the “mountain route” of the famous Santa Fe Trail. It is also possible that these stones are related to marking territory or the legal description of property. If the stones are somehow of Templar origin then this would mark a history changing discovery on the part of Mr. Sera, a New Mexico author who theorizes this is true. Either way the local history of the Raton Pass, Raton New Mexico, and Trinidad Colorado exposes some amazing links to other treasure myths in North America. Later Denver and Colorado Springs also seem to be part of this story.

In order to tell this tale we must revisit some of the components of the famous Beale Treasure story of Virginia. The Beale Treasure was first revealed in about 1885 when a document was published by James B. Ward telling the tale of a fabulous treasure stashed somewhere in a hidden vault in the Piedmont region of Virginia near Bedford. Amazingly Ward may be related to Thomas Jefferson via Captain Thomas Jefferson II a forebear of the President. As the story goes this treasure was recovered by a group of thirty Virginians who went on a hunting trip to the west which resulted in them locating an amazing deposit of gold and silver. The story tells of how the adventurers spent time in Santa Fe New Mexico in 1817 then ventured northward to find this mineral deposit somewhere in what is southern Colorado today.

Many elements of the Beale treasure story seem implausible and difficult to believe. Somehow these men had managed to transport a very heavy and bulky treasure to Virginia from Colorado via St. Louis to Virginia at a time when no railroad existed and even roads capable of facilitating this were rare. In addition the region where the treasure was supposedly found does not yield a great deal of free gold thus necessitating the need to process gold ore via very complex and elaborate industrial means. The treasure description also includes huge amounts of silver which is rarely found in nugget form and also requires extensive processing in order to achieve the final product. It is somewhat ironic that these modern processes include elements of alchemy that in turn contributes elements to the treasure stories surrounding this hoard.

It is possible that the Beale Ciphers and story include many components of intentional metaphor meant to inform the seeker. All of this relates to theories this author has espoused involving Thomas Jefferson and the use of the octagonal form of his country estate Poplar Forest as a directional device used to solve the Beale mystery. President Jefferson was alive and well at the time the original tale was developing and also may have met with University of Virginia student Edgar Allan Poe and his roommate cousin of Robert E. Lee Zacheus Lee. Poplar Forest is also adjacent to Lynchburg where Moriss lived and ran his boarding house and tavern.

If we examine the local history of this region in association with the development of the famous Santa Fe Trail some amazing associations to the Beale family become apparent. Part of the story will also involve the hidden legacy of Sir Francis Bacon in the development of the United States. We may also see the involvement of the famous d’Abbadie family associated with the mystery of the Great Cyclic Cross of Hendaye.

Is it possible these strange stones have a link to the Beale Treasure? How would this be possible?

The story of the Beale family can be traced not only via an examination of their early colonial and old English ties but via the exploits of later family members as the country expanded westward after the era of the Louisiana Purchase. American’s came to the west in search of land and mineral riches and many family groups that had helped to establish the colonies and subsequently the United States also took part in this westward expansion. Part of the goal of some of these people was to be travel to these regions prior to major settlement in search of resources that could be exploited. In my book “The Geographic Mysteries of Sir Francis Bacon” I discuss the legacy of many Bacon family members in association with mysteries such as the Newport Tower, Bruton Parish Church Vault in Williamsburg, The Beale Treasure, The Mason Dixon line, and the establishment of Chico California, Colorado Springs, Indianapolis, and Denver. Other family associations are clear in other mysteries of this type including Oak Island and the Kensington Rune. Each of these American mysteries also involve family members directly related to George Washington such as Samuel Hill of Minnesota who created the Maryhill Museum of Art and Stonehenge replica in Washington State. There is a documented marriage between a Mary Hill of Virginia and a Beale. We also see the Beale family closely related to George Washington via their relation to the Reade and Lee families among other first families. Many of these mysteries are in turn related to the International Peace Garden on the border of the U.S .and Canada in Manitoba and North Dakota.

One such person who travelled through New Mexico at an early date in this era was a man named Edward Fitzgerald Beale. Beale was an amazing man who was in California at the time of the “discovery” of gold. He travelled cross country in 1848 with samples of California Gold delivering them to Washington D.C. for members of Congress to examine. This trip had a great influence on the decision to make California the 31st state of the Union at that time. As Beale’s U.S. Army career continued he made no less than six trips cross country back to Washington D.C. to report on happenings in the west. At this time Beale may have been exposed to the tale of the “Lost Mountain Horde” which includes a story of treasure found by French fur trappers that has many elements in common with the later Beale Treasure story. Later Beale’s son Truxtun would build the Beale Clock Tower in Bakersfield California. Truxtun as we will see would go on to play a major role in how the story of the Bruton Parish Church Vault was first exposed to the public. Beale Air Force Base in California is named for Edward Beale.

Beale was descendant of some very influential early colonists of Virginia. He was directly descendant of Thomas Beale who had once been a bodyguard of King Charles I and II of England. Thomas Beale was also the first Sheriff of York County adjacent to Williamsburg and commander of the fort at Old Point Comfort known as Ft. Monroe today (situated on the even 37th parallel). Beale’s presence in Virginia was a kind of exile in which supporters of these kings had been somewhat persecuted with many of them removing to the colonies in exile at that time. They contributed to the “Cavalier” culture of Virginia during that era and ultimately is the source of the naming of the University of Virginia sports teams as “The Cavaliers.” It was during this early colonial era that we begin to see the first hints of what the Beale Treasure actually represents. Thomas Beale was only one of several of Charles’ bodyguards to come to Virginia during this era. All of these men in turn would go on to serve in the House of Burgesses and other influential posts in the colony.

Edward Beale later became the Surveyor General of California in a position appointed by Abraham Lincoln himself. Beale would go on to establish the Beale Wagon road from New Mexico to California that would later come to be known of as the famous Route 66. The Beale’s would establish the Tejon Ranch in Southern California and contribute a great deal to the development of Bakersfield. In addition Beale would survey the route of the Aitchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad including its route through the Raton Pass in the vicinity of where these strange Templar motif stones were found. As technology progressed many of our involved cast of characters became investors in the development of the Railroad system in the United States. Later we would even see hints of mystery at many of the elaborate train stations during this westward expansion that were built that also seem to have distant echoes of the Beale Treasure included and in turn involve some of the literary figures discussed above. 

Is it possible that Beale is the source of these strange stones given his association with the region? This is not likely as the stones obviously took some time to create and place. Given this we may rule out the direct involvement of Edward Beale in the creation or origins of these stones. Still it is interesting that he travelled in this region at a time when it was still part of Mexico during which California had been created in a war with Mexico. Somehow he had traversed Mexican territory several times in his survey expeditions and had not been harried by local authorities. It may be that Beale had been assisted by French allies at this time who were known to operate as trappers and “mountain men” in that region. Still later when these territories were part of the domain of the United States Beale would take part in the grand experiment of the United States Army Camel Corps thus giving him even more intimate knowledge of local stories and lost treasures. 

Strangely just about ten years after Beale’s presence in the Raton Pass area a direct family relation of his would have a major impact on transportation and history in this region. Amazingly this family relation would display the true legacy of the Beale family stemming all the way back to the Elizabethan era of England and an amazing treasure story that may be source of the Beale Treasure. This amazing tale also exposes direct family links between Edward Beale and Sir Francis Bacon, Five U.S. Presidents, nine signers of the Declaration of Independence, the creation of Washington D.C., and the mystery of “Bacon’s Vault” in Williamsburg Virginia thus in turn linking us to the famous Beale Treasure legend.

The Legacy of the Beale Family includes many interesting associations with the family of George Washington in England prior to the establishment of Jamestown and later also through the period of the development of the Virginia Colony and subsequently the United States of America. In order to understand these associations a jump back in time to the Elizabethan era of England may be needed. The man most associated with this tale in that era is a man named Robert Beale.

Robert Beale worked as a diplomat and spy for Queen Elizabeth. During this time he was also associated with others involved in intelligence gathering and was even associated with Philip Sydney the author of a work entitled “Arcadia” from which Charles I chose his last words prior to his beheading. Robert Beale also fulfilled a duty that may expose the true nature of the Beale Treasure and what it may really be. Robert Beale among his other duties served as the liaison between Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth during the period in which Mary had been imprisoned. During this time Beale came to be friends with Mary Queen of Scots who was even said to have gifted Beale a valuable necklace. Beale would eventually witness the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

What is important in the Beale Treasure story and the mystery of the Shepherds Monument of Shugborough may involve the personal belongings of the ill fated Queen of Scots. At the time of her demise some legends state that Mary had a strange ornate casket that contained her personal belongings. Mary Queen of Scots was known to have an extensive collection of religious relics including some say the head of St. (Queen) Margaret of Scotland. She was also said to have possessed other relics she obtained during her time in France. Mary was half French and  had been educated in France. Some accounts also document that her personal papers and correspondence were included in the reliquary.

Robert Beale was in a position to have obtained this strange casket of Mary’s when she was beheaded. In short this may be also what is seen in the strange rendering of the Poussin painting “The Shepherd’s of Arcadia” on the Shepherds Monument of Shugborough. The bas relief mirror image rendering of Poussin includes the addition of a strange ornate casket or reliquary atop the tomb depicted in the original Poussin. As we will see later in this saga this type of value including Arcadian references may extend to the Academy of Arcadia (mid seventeenth century and later) of the Vatican and also link to a similar value of the Arcadian concept in Scotland during the era of St. Margaret earlier in history (13th century). The entire saga of the Beale Treasure suggests that this casket had been possessed by the Beale family and taken to America thus spawning the legend of the Bruton Parish Church Vault in Williamsburg Virginia. In turn the legend of the Williamsburg Vault would then be applied to the mystery suggested by the Beale Ciphers. There is a clear association at every turn in this story linking the Beale family to other similar mysteries.

Here finally we may see the involvement of Edward Beale and Richard “Dick” Wootten who once operated the toll road through the Raton Pass where the strange stones are now found. Dick Wootten was from Virginia and directly associated with the Beale and Bowie connection. Amazingly Dick Wootten is also one of the signatories of the incorporation of Denver Colorado which may have also included a Bacon family member. Denver is one of a few places along the Mason Dixon line latitude that include the involvement of Bacon family members in their development. Chico California is another place on this latitude that has these associations and also includes a great deal of representative architecture and lore that indicates the truth of this theory.

During Robert Beale’s time as a diplomat and spy he was associated with two others that shared the name of Wootten. Baron Wootten and Sir Henry Wootten both also worked as intelligence gathering assets of Queen Elizabeth who were managed by Earl Cecil and Sir Walshingham who ran this organization of spies. During this period the Wootten and Beale families also intermarried and this would again be repeated in Colonial Virginia via both the Beale’s and Wootten’s intermarrying with the Bowie family of early Maryland and Virginia. Amazingly there are also direct intermarriages between both the Wootten’s, Beale’s and the family of Sir Francis Bacon (Edmund Bacon)! If that were not enough Baron Wooten is directly associated with and was close friends with Philip Sydney who wrote “Arcadia!” Here again we see a direct connection to people involved in intelligence gathering for Elizabeth whose families later contributed greatly to the legacy of the colonies and Untied States. It is possible that some sort of family legacy is involved with leaving us messages via art, architecture, literature, and folklore. The Arcadian theme is plain to see on the Shepherds Monument which also displays the strange casket of Mary Queen of Scots.

True there is no “smoking gun” that completely solves any of these mysterious goings on. There are clear links in family between New Mexico and the same group of Virginians mentioned in other similar myths and legends. There is even a treasure myth associated with Dick Wootten and a hoard he stashed near his home in the Raton Pass. The nature of the trail that was left for us is comprised in large part of metaphor and allegory that borrows heavily from Classical, Biblical, Rosicrucian, and Masonic imagery that may lead us to the truth in these matters. There is however a great deal of circumstantial evidence that leads to the assumption that representative art, architecture, and literature had been left by those associated with the Beale family and others that sheds a uniquely American light on all of this unknown history. Many of these mysteries frame themselves within concepts and people directly in league with the American ideal as presented in art and literature during that era. It is also interesting to note the use of geographic or landscape clues in these mysteries. Specific architecture may literally point us from clue to clue with each locale giving us another strange interpretive insight. This trail of representative and uniquely American culture can be followed from the earliest days of Jamestown and Plymouth to the bustling streets of San Francisco over three hundred years after the establishment of the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies.

If the Beale Treasure is indeed the relics or casket of Mary Queen of Scots then there are parties that may wish to possess these items and either hide them or reveal the truth to the world. This may represent opposing groups such as Jacobites, The Catholic Church and their opposition, and Royalty of many different countries. Given this the Beale Treasure that everyone is searching for in Virginia may also be of Confederate origins applying the same scheme later in history to another cache of valuables. It is clear that members of the Beale family fought on both sides of that conflict who would have had knowledge of the historical heritage of their family.

Coming in this series: The Beale Treasure and the Bruton Parish Church Vault, The Rockefeller’s, Williamsburg, and Raton Pass; The d’Abbadie family and the Santa Fe Trail, and more. The Holy Sun of the Merovingians and the New Mexico State flag. Why did Truxton Beale’s wife have his remains moved to the Bruton Parish Church from their original place of burial? Is there a real Confederate treasure stashed in the four corners area?

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