The solution given below will present clues from the verse and the image in a way that narrows down the search area to that specific point. Bits of the original image are shown in the left column in cells with a tan background. Lines from the verse are in the same column but with a yellow background. (For more detail about any particular clue, check the page for Image 10 or Verse 8.)
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Clues |
Interpretations |
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Unlike most of the other 11 paintings from the book, Image 10 does not have any (known) numbers representing latitude or longitude. Perhaps to balance out those missing map clues, the image includes more than the usual number of city-level clues to get us started in the right place.
Our first clue is the combination of the millstone, the cane and the key being juggled. They form a rebus telling us the city where we should be searching:
"mill" + "walk" + "key" = Milwaukee.
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The "castle" floating in the mist is a very close match to the distinctive profile of Milwaukee City Hall.
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The hands of the juggler seem to be representations of the hands of Solomon Juneau in the bronze relief on the Juneau Monument in Juneau Park.
(Just as in the puzzles for New York and Houston, the artwork here includes images from various parks where the casque isn't hidden, partially as clues to the correct city and partially as red herrings to distract readers from the correct location.)
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All of the clues up to this point combine to put us somewhere in the metropolitan area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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1) View the three stories of Mitchell
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Mitchell Hall is a three-story building located on the corner of E. Kenwood Blvd. and N. Downer Ave on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It is the closest campus building to Lake Park.
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2) As you walk the beating of the world
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Kenwood is a company that makes electric kitchen mixers (blenders) and they advertised their "Electric Chef" model as being a "Kitchen WORLD BEATER."

This line is clearly confirming that we have the correct three-story Mitchell building and that we should start walking down East Kenwood Boulevard.
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3) At a distance in time
4) From three who lived there
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The "three who lived here" is a reference to Downer, Hackett and Shepard avenues east of the UWM campus. Those three avenues were named after some of Milwaukee's most prominent early citizens.
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5) At a distance in space
6) From woman, with harpsichord
7) Silently playing
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"Woman with harpsichord" apparently means Marietta Robusti (1560? – 1590), whose self-portrait shows her by a harpsichord. This is therefore a reference to Marietta Avenue, the next street one would cross moving eastwards along Kenwood Blvd.
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8) Step on nature
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After crossing Downer, Hackett, Shepard, and Marietta, one reaches Lake Park, a large natural area on the edge of Lake Michigan. This line is telling us to enter the park.
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9) Cast in copper
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The most common object "cast in copper" is, of course, a penny, which features a profile of President Abraham Lincoln on the front and a picture of the Lincoln Memorial on the back. This reference is telling us to continue from the end of Kenwood and go directly into Lincoln Memorial Drive, which runs along the east side of Lake Park.
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The map above uses the line numbers from Verse 8 to illustrate the steps so far.
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10) Ascend the 92 steps
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Following Lincoln Memorial Drive around the north and eastern edges of Lake Park brings us to the Grand Staircase. Searchers on the spot have carefully confirmed that the staircase does, indeed, have 92 steps. This is a very precise confirmation that we are in the correct spot and should go up the stairs.
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11) After climbing the grand 200
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"The grand 200" is thought to be a reference to the Grand Staircase because, when viewed from above, the outline of the staircase is a double C. Two C's in Roman numerals equal 200.
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12) Pass the compass ...
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Byron Preiss liked his wordplay, and he probably knew that most searchers would assume that "compass" meant the navigational tool that points northwards. But, in this case, the "compass" we need is the tool used for drawing circles and arcs.
Lampposts in Lake Park display a Masonic symbol that features a prominent compass. One such lamppost is located at the top of the Grand Staircase. If we pass that compass and go around the north side of the Lake Park Pavilion, we are standing at Point 12 in the map below. There is a footbridge to the northeast of us and a broad, flat lawn to the southwest.
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At this point, the two red balls held by the juggler very likely have a dual significance. It's possible that the pair of spheres represent the two large, circular openings seen in the arches at each end of the Lake Park Footbridge. That footbridge is directly beside where we are standing at Point 12.
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Lawn bowling photo by lhourahane on Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Given the way the balls are being held and tossed, however, it's even more likely that they represent the balls used in lawn bowling. And, standing at Point 12 in the photo above, one would be directly beside the Lake Park lawn bowling greens. (The greens are located 100 yards west of the Lake Park Pavilion and are just out of view on the left side of the aerial photo above.) This is a powerful confirmation that we are in the correct place.
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12) ... and reach
13) The foot of the culvert
14) Below the bridge
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There would be no "culvert" at the Lake Park Pavilion or the Lake Park Bowling Greens. If we are to find a nearby culvert from Point 12 in the photo above, we will need to continue northwards and approach the footbridge and the nearby ravine.
Crossing the Lake Park Footbridge brings us to a culvert at the northern end of the bridge. The culvert drains water and also provides access to a hiking trail that leads down the slope, following the side of East Ravine Road as it runs southeast.
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Hidden in Image 10 is a shape that resembles a cicada nymph. Cicadas are sometime (incorrectly) called "locusts," so this could be a hint towards Locust Avenue or a locust tree. The name of the hiking trail that runs under the Lake Park Footbridge is the Locust Street Ravine Trail, which gives us another confirmation that we are in the right place. |
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15) Walk 100 paces
16) Southeast over rock and soil
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The Locust Street Ravine Trail runs southeast as it passes under the footbridge and descends to Lincoln Memorial Drive. The trail has flat sections of soil interspersed with stone steps, as shown in the photos below.


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17) To the first young birch
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There are currently no living birch trees along that stretch of the trail, but if you look in the overgrown area between the trail and the road you can still see the stumps with the distinctive white bark and horizontal lenticels, as shown in the photos below. There were clearly birch trees here at one time and we may still be able to find all the stumps and count them. ( the stump in this photo has been turn over and three holes have been dug to the south of it 1/28/18)

 
The first young bïrch (July 16 2021, over rock and soil to the lake, S lighthouse trail)
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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
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"Staying west" tells us that we should reach the correct tree without crossing Lincoln Memorial Drive.
It isn't clear what would represent a "letter from the country of wonderstone's hearth," but that reference point disappeared when the trees were cut down. It could have been a sign or a marker posted on the tree, or it could have been a shape carved into the bark. In any case, we should still be able to find the correct tree by counting the stumps and looking for the fifth one. The description of a "proud, tall fifth" tells us we should only consider large, established trees. We can ignore any stray saplings.
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22) At its southern foot
23) The treasure waits.
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The route down the hiking trail along East Ravine Road will take one toward the intersection with Lincoln Memorial Drive. Near the final tree before the intersection, there is a large cement disk similar to the millstone shown in Image 10. The disk is likely our final clue to confirm that we are in the right place. (Two rather large holes have been dug to the south of this "lid" 1/28/18)
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Final Location: 43°04'08.1"N, 87°52'06.1"W
(Latitude: 43.0689167°, Longitude: -87.8683611°)
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Comments (13)
Guardian said
at 1:03 am on Mar 11, 2018
Someone dug up the spot without permission. If it was there, it’s gone now.
Mister EZ said
at 7:50 pm on Mar 22, 2018
Whoever dug that hole and left it in disarray.....bite me.
I'm pretty sure (absolutely positive) that any shards I found in the dirt around the hole were from a cup and saucer....not even close to being from a casque. Might have come from / been used at the Lake Bistro at one time. The surface of the cup portion, under the caked on dirt, is pitted and rough. But, that's just what's left of the porcelain's glaze after 'aging'.
One picture of the two pieces K.Kep and D.Kep found, shows a cracked eggshell pattern on the surface, lower left. That tells me that those were glazed (maybe still are...but, rough/pitted like the cup shard). They're not sure if those pieces are from a casque or not. (I don't think so....but, maybe.)
K.Kep said
at 9:20 pm on Mar 22, 2018
We aren’t convinced it is... and we 100% agree there are mostly pieces of.... cups, saucers, and plates.... etc.....but there are 3 pieces in question that don’t correlate to any of the other pieces we picked up. We are sure 90% of what we found is old dinnerware and antique China... the color of the pieces in question and and the opposite side, texture, material... it’s was nothing like all the other junk... then with the plexiglass.... we just don’t know.... we never claimed it as the casque, but just trying to show others what we found. And the surface of the white side of those pieces is actually very dull, while the other side with that rainbow “shiny” glaze like appearance is a head scratcher....
RLee Waldron said
at 12:04 pm on Mar 23, 2018
I hate to tell y'all, but that doesn't look like someone dug a hole. It looks like a scour hole from below the overflow outlet of a sewerage forcemain.
JulieM said
at 12:19 pm on Mar 23, 2018
🤭😂
Mister EZ said
at 12:22 pm on Mar 23, 2018
Search for images of scour holes....tell me how many have buckets inside, dirt scattered around the opening, lose soil inside it and a pile of junk (muddy glove, half filled hug /gallon of water and garbage bag filled with empty water bottles L/ jugs) nearby.
Look at my Flickr pics...and trust me, somebody dug that hole. The center wasn't positioned below the overflow, either. ;)
Guardian said
at 12:10 am on Mar 24, 2018
There were scour holes all around my home for years because of leaks. That’s no scour hole.
mrnad said
at 6:52 pm on Jan 11, 2021
Kind of curious, has anyone gone out probing and been caught doing it when they maybe shouldn't have been? I guess I'm wondering what happens in practice if they catch you. Like do they just tell you to leave, do they call the police, something else?
Linda S said
at 7:13 pm on Jan 11, 2021
I know of some folks that were told to put the dirt back and leave, I know others have been chased away and the rangers say if they catch someone its 10 grand fine and 1 yr prison, this is all in San Francisco.
mrnad said
at 1:20 pm on Jan 12, 2021
It's been frustrating. I think I have a good theory as to what the final site marker is for the Milwaukee puzzle, so I wanted to do some probing around an area. It's a small targeted spot, so I tried a few times getting a permit last year. I was hopeful, but they are just not giving out permits anymore. They seem tired of the whole thing. I'm really tempted to go out and try my luck probing, but like you say, the documented legal penalties are steep. That's why I was curious if anyone had some experiences as to what actually happens if you get caught probing.
Bigcatrich said
at 5:35 am on Feb 23, 2023
Having worked for the county - nothing will happen. A Park ranger might talk shit to you if you're "caught" during the day. After normal hours there aren't enough Deputies to even give a crap about someone poking holes in the ground. At BEST you might get a County Ticket that will go away if you don't pay. Yes, NOTHING happens to county tickets if you don't pay. The problem here is that too many assholes dig and don't clean up after themselves. Work at night, work quietly and REPLACE THE DIRT AND COVER YOUR TRACKS
BilboBaggins said
at 2:03 pm on Jul 8, 2022
I have a very diferent view of the poem, that isn't as difficult.
Mitchell building is beautiful downtown. The 3-story Grain Exchange room might be the most beautiful in Milwaukee and the world's grain stock market was there for decades. Theyre nexdoor. You beat grain.
You continue west past places the "3 founders" lived, till you reach second street. (Time)
Go north to the famous Germania Building. Turn right onto Wells st.
Walk past the harp and woman statues will you reach Water St.
This takes you to the famous City Hall on 200 water Street. Besides the many cast copper building details, it has an enormous cast copper bell in the bell tower.
Go north through Red Arrow park.
Look west. The catwalk was just built before the author would have visited Milwaukee. If you look over your shoulder, you get the same image of city hall, as the drawing.
There used to be an old, but large culver going into the rivere here.
You will also see artwork from the woman's hair here.
Over the bridge, is a compass rose. that's wrong. Did you notice the bridge's railing?
This park has many rare red birch trees that looks like the inside of her cape.
More hits possible. if anyone is interest.
Indigoone said
at 1:11 am on Jul 9, 2022
I love new ideas! Can you make a visual walkthrough and post it on the site? I would love to see what you're seeing.
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