The San Francisco Solution

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Image 1

Verse 7

 1)       At stone wall’s door

2)       The air smells sweet

3)       Not far away

4)       High posts are three

5)       Education and Justice

6)       For all to see

7)       Sounds from the sky

8)       Near ace is high

9)       Running north, but first across

10)   In jewel’s direction

11)   Is an object

12)   Of Twain’s attention

13)   Giant pole

14)   Giant step

15)   To the place

16)   The casque is kept.

1)       At stone wall’s door

2)       The air smells sweet

This refers to Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.  The shape of the brickwork around the bust of Shakespeare matches the stone shapes at the top of the painting (see photo below left and image below right), which is only a few hundred feet from the Garden of Fragrance.  Both Shakespeare Garden and Garden of Fragrance are about ½ mile east of the treasure’s location.

Shakespeare Garden                                        Top of the painting

3)       Not far away

4)       High posts are three

Most people think that “three” refers to the quantity of “posts” and that this clue refers to the Sutro Tower just outside the park (see photo below left).  But approximately ½ mile west of the treasure was The Goddess of the Forest, a redwood sculpture that has since been moved (see photo below right).  Byron would occasionally begin a clue with a hint to its answer, which is precisely what he did here.  That hint being “High”.  “three” refers not to the quantity of posts, but rather to their height.  This sculpture was commonly described as three stories high, hence the mention of “High” at the beginning of the clue.  This is further confirmed by the fact that, in the hints that Byron provided for the Japanese version of the book, he not only referred to the high post in a singular context, he stated that it was made of wood.

Sutro Tower                                      The Goddess of the Forest

5)       Education and Justice

6)       For all to see

This is a reference to the California Academy of Sciences, which is immediately adjacent to Shakespeare Garden.

7)       Sounds from the sky

8)       Near ace is high

This refers to the noise emanating from the State Route 1 (SR-1) overpass, and that you are beneath it.

9)       Running north, but first across

With a clever play on words Byron speaks of both a highway and a large religious symbol.  SR-1 does run north, but it cuts across to the east before returning to the north, hence the phrase “but first across.”

Also, just before it cuts across to the east, there is a very large religious cross, again lending itself to the phrase “but first a-cross” (see photo below left and map below right).

Prayerbook Cross                         SR-1 crossing Golden Gate Park

But this clue also hints at where the treasure is buried.  Byron could have said “Running south, but first across” or “Running north and south, but first across.”  But he didn’t.  He chose to mention only north.  He directs the reader to beneath the northbound lanes of the only SR-1 overpass in the park, a very specific location (see photo below).

Northbound side of SR-1 overpass in Golden Gate Park

10)   In jewel’s direction

11)   Is an object

12)   Of Twain’s attention

Mark Twain wrote a lot about religion.  This clue refers to the pearl in the painting, the jewel for this puzzle, which appears to be floating around the woman’s neck where many people wear a cross (see photo below).  The clue being, now that you are beneath the northbound lanes of the SR-1 overpass, you need to look in the direction of the cross (Prayerbook Cross), toward the northeast.

Painting with floating pearl where cross would be

Looking northeast under the northbound lanes of the SR-1 overpass

13)   Giant pole

14)   Giant step

15)   To the place

16)   The casque is kept.

When most of us hear the phrase “Giant pole” we think of a long large-diameter solid wooden cylinder.  But by definition it doesn’t have to be long, round, or wooden.  This is the kind of specific knowledge that Byron occasionally used to hide things in plain sight.  The reason this treasure hasn’t been found is that, when people get to the SR-1 overpass, there is nothing that resembles a conventional pole.  There is, however, a “Giant pole” made of concrete with a rectangular cross-section (see photos above and below).  As you travel north (left in the photo below) from the “Giant pole”, you encounter a small stream, which requires a “Giant step” to cross it, to get “To the place The casque is kept.”  This tells you that the treasure is buried in the small strip of land between the stream and the overpass abutment to the far left.

Beneath the northbound lanes of the SR-1 overpass, facing east

In the painting (below left), notice that there are two columns of rectangles on the woman’s sleeve, and that her forefinger is pointing downward just below the third rectangle in the left column.  In the photo (below right), notice that the concrete wall directly across from the giant pole has two columns of three rectangles each.

Two columns of three rectangles on sleeve     Two columns of three rectangles on wall

Also in the painting (above left), there is a yin-yang symbol close to where the woman is pointing.  This symbol is often interpreted to represent a balance, such as hard and soft, dry and wet, or rock and water, all of which are present at this location (see photo above right).

A little farther down that same narrow panel in the woman’s robe is what appears to be an upside-down roman numeral IV (see image below left), as if it was laid down in front of you.  This is meant to represent the horizontal distance from the wall, outward, to where the treasure is buried (see photo below right).  The caveat being, roman numerals do not have fractions, so this could mean anywhere between four and five feet from the concrete wall.

Upside-down roman numeral IV                        Horizontal distance from wall

Flower with no vase                 Pearl stick pin beside black hole Actual stick pin

When flowers are displayed on a table they are almost always in a vase.  Note that the flower in this painting is only supported by its stem, which simply disappears into a black hole beneath the table (see image above left).

Toward the bottom and just to the right of that black hole is a pearl stick pin (see image above center and photo above right).  This is to indicate that the treasure is at the bottom of the same hole the plant is growing out of.

At this point it’s worth remembering that Byron loved to use history in his puzzles.  Perhaps the most remarkable fact about the Golden Gate Park is that more than 100 years ago they planted more than 155,000 trees to create it.  Likely as a tribute to those early visionaries, Byron planted a young seedling in the same hole he buried the treasure, which can now be seen growing IV feet from the concrete abutment that has two columns of three rectangles each.  Bringing a small plant with him was the perfect pretext for carrying a shovel and digging a hole.

Current Status of the San Francisco Treasure

The San Francisco casque is still exactly where Byron buried it.  Over the last 40-plus years, however, a complication has grown.

This is one of two puzzles where Byron planted a seedling in the same hole he buried the treasure, to delineate its precise location.  The casque could be found from the other clues, but the plant provides its most accurate location.

Today that small plant (believed to be a mirror bush) has grown considerably and, in its search for sunlight,  now reaches out from under the overpass.  The complication being that it is now cantilevered and any digging around its roots could risk it falling over.  If the park will permit digging in the vicinity of this plant’s roots, the two best ways of dealing with this cantilever are:

1. Take this opportunity to relocate this plant to a more prominent location with a better growing environment, and perhaps dedicate it to Byron with a plaque at its base.

2. If it is to be left in place, support the plant with an X-brace (as shown below) while digging (perhaps with an AirSpade).

Cantilevered plant growing out from beneath overpass