The Milwaukee Solution

Lake Park, Milwaukee, WI.

Image 10

Verse 8

 1)       View the three stories of Mitchell

2)       As you walk the beating of the world

3)       At a distance in time

4)       From three who lived there

5)       At a distance in space

6)       From woman, with harpsichord

7)       Silently playing

8)       Step on nature

9)       Cast in copper

10)   Ascend the 92 steps

11)   After climbing the grand 200

12)   Pass the compass and reach

13)   The foot of the culvert

14)   Below the bridge

15)   Walk 100 paces

16)   Southeast over rock and soil

17)   To the first young birch

18)   Pass three, staying west

19)   You’ll see a letter from the country

20)   Of wonderstone’s hearth

21)   On a proud, tall fifth

22)   At its southern foot

23)   The treasure waits.

1)       View the three stories of Mitchell

The first line in this verse refers to Mitchell Hall, a three-story building located on the southeast corner of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus (far left in photo below).  It borders E. Kenwood Blvd. and serves as the starting point of the puzzle.

Mitchell Hall, Kenwood Blvd., Downer Ave., Hackett Ave., and Shepard Ave.

2)       As you walk the beating of the world

This line refers to Kenwood kitchen mixers, whose advertising slogan was “Kitchen WORLD BEATERS”. It prompts us to walk along Kenwood Blvd.

3)       At a distance in time

4)       From three who lived there

These lines refer to Downer, Hackett, and Shepard, three prominent citizens who lived there in an earlier time.  The clue being that Downer, Hackett, and Shepard are three streets that cross Kenwood to the east (see photo above), which tells us we should walk eastward along Kenwood.

5)       At a distance in space

6)       From woman, with harpsichord

7)       Silently playing

These three lines refer to Marietta Robusti in Europe, who painted her Self-portrait, which depicted her posed before a harpsichord.  The clue being that Marietta is the next street that crosses Kenwood to the east (see photo below), which tells us we should continue eastward.

Marietta Ave., Oak Leaf Trail, and Lincoln Memorial Dr.

8)       Step on nature

This indicates that in the next block we should enter Lake Park and step onto Oak Leaf Trail (see lower right corner of photo above).

9)       Cast in copper

This is a reference to our copper penny, which (until 2008) had an image of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse side.  The clue being that we should follow Oak Leaf Trail alongside Lincoln Memorial Dr. to the east and then to the south (see photos above and below) until we reach the next clue (The Grand Staircase).  This clue also has a very cleaver second meaning, which becomes evident and relevant when we arrive at the location of the treasure.

Lake Park and Lincoln Memorial Dr.

10)   Ascend the 92 steps

This is a reference to The Grand Staircase of Lake Park.  The reader is to ascend all 92 steps and continue along Oak Leaf Trail (see photo below).

Grand Staircase and CC (200)

11)   After climbing the grand 200

12)   Pass the compass and reach

13)   The foot of the culvert

14)   Below the bridge

“After climbing the grand 200” refers to The Grand Staircase which contains the shape of double C’s, the roman numeral for 200 (see photo above).  “Pass the compass” refers to the North Point Lighthouse (see photo below).  “and reach The foot of the culvert Below the bridge” refers to the drainage culvert that empties into the South Lighthouse Ravine (see second photo below).  The fact that we are traveling south along Oak Leaf Trail and we “Pass the compass” (the lighthouse) means that we are necessarily dealing with the culvert below the second Lion Bridge (see photo below).

Grand Staircase, Oak Leaf Trail, North Point Lighthouse, and both Lion Bridges

15)   Walk 100 paces

16)   Southeast over rock and soil

17)   To the first young birch

“Walk 100 paces [from the foot of the culvert] Southeast over rock and soil To the first young birch”, which is no longer there (see photo below).  Fortunately, the precise location of that "young birch" is not important, just its general location, which is part of the next clue.

Foot of the culvert below the bridge, 100 paces southeast over rock and soil, & first young birch

Byron’s puzzles occasionally contained a single pivotal clue.  When they did, Byron would take special care to make that clue difficult.  Virtually everyone gets stumped by the next line because it is precisely such a clue.  Not only does this clue have multiple meanings, but it reverses the reader's perspective.

18)   Pass three, staying west

Bear in mind that from the time we left Kenwood Blvd. to “Step on nature”, we have been following Oak Leaf Trail.  This clue is actually as simple as “Pass three [lions, while] staying west” along Oak Leaf Trail, and arrive at the fourth lion, where the treasure is buried (see photo below).  But because that would have been way too easy, Byron did several things to make it more difficult.

1. He added an irrelevant detour off Oak Leaf Trail, to an irrelevant landmark (100 paces southeast over rock and soil to the first young birch).

2. He made sure the clue had two meanings, the second of which reversed the reader's perspective.

3. He waited until the last five lines of the verse, to reveal that it is a stone lion we are looking for.

Both Lion Bridges (four lions along west side of Oak Leaf Trail – pass three)

Regarding perspective, Byron’s clues generally take you from where you are, to the next location, in a progression that leads to the treasure.  So at this point in the puzzle, people were looking for a clue that told them where to go from the young birch.  But the second meaning of “Pass three, staying west” does quite the opposite.  It describes the young birch’s location looking back from the spot where the treasure is buried.

Byron used a clockface and a compass in most of his puzzles.  If you overlay them 3:00 equates to due east.  Which means that to “Pass three” [o’clock] refers to south of east (see photo below).  From the center of the clockface/compass (where the treasure is buried), the young birch can be seen by looking south of east (past 3:00), hence the second meaning of the clue “Pass three, staying west”.

Treasure location west and north of the young birch

Obviously, knowing that the treasure is west and north of the young birch does little to help locate it.  But that was not Byron’s intent.  Byron inserted the young birch as nothing more than a diversion, to make his “Pass three, staying west” clue not so obvious.

19)   You’ll see a letter from the country

20)   Of wonderstone’s hearth

The “wonderstone” is the lion, which was originally sculpted out of sandstone.  Because the sculptor, Paul Kupper, was German, the “country Of wonderstone’s hearth” is Germany.  The “letter” you’ll see “from the country Of wonderstone’s hearth” refers to the letter u in Kupper, which is cast into the base of each lion.

The reason Byron called attention to this particular letter is that Mr. Küpper spelled his name with a German ü, which is pronounced more like copper.  If you happened to catch it, Byron’s earlier clue, “Cast in copper”, isn’t entirely accurate with regards to the penny.  Pennies are not cast, they are stamped.  It was a purposeful word play that referenced both the copper penny and the base of each lion, where there is in fact a "Cast in" Küpper, which sounds like “copper”.

21)   On a proud, tall fifth

“proud” refers to pride, as in a pride of lions.  “tall” refers to the fact that these stone lions tower over the people observing them.  And “fifth” refers to Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, which is Latin for lion.

At this point in the puzzle, we know that we are dealing with one of the stone lions, arguably one of the most prominent features of the park. We also know that we must “Pass three, staying west”, which leads us to the fourth lion along the west side of the Oak Leaf Trail.  From here the clues are literal and self-explanatory.

22)   At its southern foot

23)   The treasure waits.

Fourth stone lion – photo taken looking northeast

Current Status of the Milwaukee Treasure

The Milwaukee casque is still exactly where Byron buried it.  The only caveat being, because the Lion Bridges were built on a foundation of granite rocks, to bury the casque, Byron likely had to remove one or more of those rocks, to make the whole deep enough. Which means that he would likely have put those rocks back in the hole on top of the casque.  The significance being, the casque is likely beneath one or more rocks.