Milwaukee is the Place to Be

The fact that I have begun this treasure hunt a bit late in the game (the book was published in 1982, and interest in the treasure reemerged online a few years ago) works to my advantage.  People far more clever than I am have already successfully paired the paintings to the verses with a reasonable degree of certainty.  This makes my quest infinitely easier.
  
Two of the twelve casques have been located since publication, one in Chicago, one in Cleveland. Ten remain.

And I believe one of them is in my backyard!

Or, more specifically, buried somewhere in the city I call home.

This blog is going to focus entirely on determining the location of the buried treasure in Milwaukee.  We will be focusing solely on the painting and verse that I (and countless other online sleuths) believe indicates that one of the treasures is buried here in Milwaukee.

I will be confirming all of the information I am able to find about the Milwaukee treasure via photographs, interviews, etc.  I will also be confirming or refuting most of the current buzz online concerning the treasure in Milwaukee.  It will all be posted here, hopefully to generate additional thoughts and ideas.  

Here is the painting believed to point to a treasure in Milwaukee:

borrowed from thesecret.pbworks.com/w/page/86303014/Image%2010 

A few things catch my interest almost immediately.  Each of the twelve paintings have certain markers.  In this painting, those markers are the primrose (birth flower for February), the amethyst jewel (birth stone for February), and the two red juggling balls (February is the second month of the year).  Also, each city in which a treasure is buried has a corresponding “immigration reference”.  Milwaukee’s is clearly Germany, and evidence of our German roots are present everywhere.
  
Additionally, a person would notice precisely what the juggler is juggling…a millstone, a walking stick, and a key.  This is most certainly a rebus (using pictures to depict words or parts of words) to Milwaukee (mill+walk+key).  Easy peasy.

But the painting most certainly holds other secrets.  More on those later.
And here is the verse believed to point to a treasure in Milwaukee:

View the three stories of Mitchell

As you walk the beating of the world

At a distance in time

From three who lived there

At a distance in space

From woman, with harpsichord

Silently playing

Step on nature

Cast in copper

Ascend the 92 steps

After climbing the grand 200

Pass the compass and reach

The foot of the culvert

Below the bridge

Walk one hundred paces

Southeast over rock and soil

To the first young birch

Pass three, staying west

You’ll see a letter from the country

Of wonderstone’s hearth

On a proud, tall fifth

At its southern foot

The treasure waits.

Again, this verse seems to indicate that Milwaukee is the location of one of the hidden treasures.  The Alexander Mitchell (Line 1) was a prominent Milwaukee businessman and state politician in the 19th century.  The 92 steps may refer to the Grand Staircase, a semi-popular tourist site near Lake Park.  Birch trees are common in the Northern Hemisphere, and are present in Milwaukee.
  
Other parts of the verse are obviously more deceptive.  More on those later, I promise.

Key Points:

• There is substantial evidence to support that one of the treasures is located in Milwaukee, WI
• The two casques that have been located are in the Midwest, within a nine hour drive of Milwaukee.  It is absolutely possible, even probable, that Byron Preiss, the man who buried the twelve treasures, visited Milwaukee and buried a casque here.
• Internet sleuths have already successfully paired the paintings to their corresponding verses.  This makes less work for me.
• There are fairly obvious references to prominent Milwaukee families, locales, and points of reference.