The Secret’s Treasure Hunt Tribute: Hunt for the 13th Casque: Six Months Down and Still in the Ground

Happy 6 month Anniversary on the hunt for the 13th Casque in the Secret Tribute!  Congrats John and Kit on creating an excellent hunt!

On February 14, 2019, John Michaels and Kit Palencar released a Tribute to the 1982 Secret Treasure Hunt by Byron Preiss.  It’s called Tribute: Hunt for the 13th Casque.  To date, no one has discovered the exact dig spot for this 13th buried treasure casque. The treasure is still in the ground!

The Tribute’s treasure is valued at over $2,000 in gemstones, but includes an original casque from the 1982 hunt, which is probably worth more than the gemstones themselves to collectors! It is such a thoughtful and wonderful overall project that John and Kit have created! The person who finds this casque will have found an amazing treasure!

So what’s been happening on this hunt over the last six months?

The discovery of the Heigold House, and its likeness to the structure in the Image, along with other matching features in Cherokee Park, have many searchers visiting Louisville, Kentucky.  They are looking for other possible connections to not only the Image, but also the Verse- to lead them to the treasure.  Like in the original Secret Treasure Hunt, both Image and Verse hold clues, that once solved, will direct a searcher to an exact dig spot for the buried treasure casque.

Here is Tribute’s Image and Verse:  They are much in keeping with the original 12. (click here for larger image/verse)

In the ‘In Search Six Questions Series’ for the Tribute Casque with Rich Blandford, Rich provided an excellent summary of what is thought to be known so far and how it all came about.  As mentioned, the indisputable Heigold House Façade leading to Cherokee Park, and those matching features within the Scenic Loop suggest the casque is buried ‘somewhere’ in the park.

Clues determining exactly where an X marks the spot to dig, however, remain unsolved and hidden.  Are they hidden in plain sight and being misunderstood?  Maybe they are even being Overlooked. 

Recently, John provided a ‘note’, which Evan Hoovler, who is moderator for the Tribute’s Facebook Group, posted on the Group’s Page. Evan confirmed the note was to offer a clue for the Tribute Hunt.  On surface, the note mentions some clues have been overlooked.  However, does that mean looked too much—like over done- or does it mean searchers are missing something? Here is the note: 

Is there more beneath the surface of this note?  John has confirmed there is.  But what?

It was noticed the number 13 seemed significant to finding the cryptic meaning given in JM’s note.  Treasure is the 13^th word, and those Capped E’s (and uncapped e’s) also add up to 13 each.  Interestingly, the Capped E’s are in 13 words.  What are we to do? 

There is also what seems to be a Forgotten Tribute Clue.  Or maybe one OVERLOOKED? Could this be our ‘overlooked’ clue? JM made the following strange and curious comment in the Tribute’s Facebook Group a while back:

He has confirmed it holds a cryptic meaning as well!  What do you think it means?  Is it connected to this latest clue? Or something different?

Along with continuing to scrutinize the Tribute’s Image and Verse, and trying to discover how they might work with Cherokee Park, we can also ponder on those clues! What do they hint at or how might they help us solve this fun treasure hunt?

It’s so exciting that Tribute is celebrating its Six Month mark!  I was so fortunate to catch up with John and Kit and ask them their thoughts on how they think Tribute is going.  Here is the Q, and their answers. Enjoy!

• Q) It’s been 6 months since the release of The Tribute! Congrats! You have provided all of us ‘Secret Searchers’ with an excellent and fun adventure! Plus, it’s proven to be such a perfect Tribute to the original 12, with not only the prize at the end known to be a priceless treasure for that lucky finder, but the journey to it!   Can you share some of your thoughts about how you think it is going?  Were you expecting anything different or is it progressing as you thought it might? 

John Michaels: It’s been eye opening for sure. I recently read “Quest for the Golden Hare” by Bamber Gascoigne and it’s stunning to see the differences between the intended clues from Kit Williams and how they were understood by the people searching for the Golden Hare, and the drama which ensued. I found a lot of similarities between the accounts in that book and what Kit and I are seeing with the Tribute.

The amount of time I put into The Secret myself, and the creation process of the 13th with Kit Palencar where we shared ideas on the development of the piece as a tribute to the original, now gives us a unique perspective into how people think about the clues we put out there. It seems like most people are having fun, and learning new things across a vast plane of random knowledge. There have definitely been some interesting theories put forth about the 13th Casque, plenty of mysteries and more yet to be found. I hear that there are some additional clues out there.

Kit Palencar: Honestly, I thought it would have been discovered months ago and it’s mind boggling to hear that it’s been six months already. One thing my father told me was that sometimes it’s the obvious stuff that goes over people’s heads. What people can’t see is often in plain sight. Looking back, the Tribute seemed like an amateur attempt to recreate such a magnificent series of paintings. Perhaps another follow up painting is in the works? I love seeing all of the proposed solutions. The research and time put into this hunt is extremely humbling. Thank you so much for looking and hunting. Keep it up.

Best of luck with all that you seek! Always treasure the adventure!

Below is brief video highlighting some of the reasons it is thought the 13th Casque is buried in Cherokee Park, Louisville, Kentucky.

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