Digging For Treasure in Bedford County
Doubts have not deterred many treasure hunters, however. The 'information' that there is buried treasure in Bedford County has stimulated many an expedition with shovels, and other implements of discovery, looking for likely spots. For more than a hundred years, people have been arrested for trespassing and unauthorized digging; some of them in groups as in the case of people from Pennsylvania in the 1990s.
There is reportedly a story of a woman digging up the cemetery of Mountain View Church in February 1983, because she was convinced that Beale had hidden the treasure there. This took place at the top of Porter's Mountain exactly four miles east of Buford's Tavern.
Several other digs were completed at the top of Porter's Mountain. One dig was completed in the late 80s with the land owner's permission as long as any treasure found was split 50/50. The treasure hunters only dug up Civil War artifacts. The value of these artifacts paid for time and equipment rental; these hunters broke even.
The story has been the subject of at least two television documentaries (one is in the UK's Mysteries series; another is the 2011 Declaration of Independence episode of the History Channel TV show Brad Meltzer's Decoded), several books, and considerable Internet activity.
Many locals who believe in the treasure think it is near Peaks of Otter, although the Peaks are over four miles from Buford's Tavern. The majority of locals believe the treasure is located at the top of Porter's Mountain located just behind Buford's Tavern. A trip to the top of Porter's Mountain from Buford's Tavern is four miles. The land owners on Porter's Mountain are fully aware of treasure hunters and permission from these owners must be obtained before any hunting can take place.
Read more about this topic: Beale Ciphers
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—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“I would rather have as my patron a host of anonymous citizens digging into their own pockets for the price of a book or a magazine than a small body of enlightened and responsible men administering public funds. I would rather chance my personal vision of truth striking home here and there in the chaos of publication that exists than attempt to filter it through a few sets of official, honorably public-spirited scruples.”
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—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 13:44.
“The only thing that was dispensed free to the old New Bedford whalemen was a Bible. A well-known owner of one of that city’s whaling fleets once described the Bible as the best cheap investment a shipowner could make.”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
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—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)