REBEL GOLD: The Jefferson Code LbNA #57509

In the years before the Civil War, a secret society was formed called The Knights of the Golden Circle. Few people know of the KGC and even fewer know about the purpose for which it existed. It is probably the greatest untold story today in the history of the United States. That is unusual because during the last century this very large, powerful, secret and subversive southern organization had such a profound influence and effect over the course of many years that they almost succeeded in changing the course of our history. The group was heavy on ritual, most of which was borrowed from the Masonic Lodge and later from the Knights of Pythias. They had many influential members such as United States congressmen and even a Vice President of the United States. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, was a member of the KGC. John Wilkes Booth was a member and some say he assassinated President Lincoln on orders from the KGC. After the war, members such as Jesse James robbed money from banks and trains and hid it away in secret places to help finance a new civil war. Local groups, called “castles” sprung up all over the south and southwest. When it became obvious that the Civil War was lost for the south, Jefferson Davis panicked. To keep the government of the United States from confiscating the money from the Confederate treasury, which was mostly in the form of gold bars, gold dust and gold and silver coins, he had the gold, packed in wooden barrels, placed on a train and moved from Richmond, Virginia to other places in the south. The treasure was parceled out along the way to members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, who buried it or hid it in caves or holes, or in forests or cemeteries to await the day when the South would rise again. Local members swore blood oaths to hide and guard the treasure for future generations. They concocted elaborate coded clues and left secret marks on trees and rocks to guide future members to the gold. Many of the clues remain a secret, most lost in time. Very little of the gold has ever been uncovered. I am going to tell you about a box of golden coins that can be yours if you are clever enough to decode the secret clues. You must figure out the code that was used by Jefferson Davis and his followers to locate this rebel gold in a certain place in Texas, a place surrounded by members of a local Castle of the KGC, who have sworn to guard it as long as it takes. The code was known to and used by powerful men in the early days of the United States to pass along secret messages, from presidents to explorers and diplomats, to keep the country safe. You must find the right code and apply to it the secret key to solve Clue No. 1. Only after solving Clue No. 1 will you be able to proceed to Clue No. 2.


Clue No. 1:

DFGOUIHRQTU&HWV! FCE MTWW LXOCTO Y&F JYLUMH NTWF. KARV K&EJ OJCE PHA MZZ KUSKBHL, QEY QPLK ERZZ TX FPK XXQM. RWZXT t, w JQL s XZKU TY MHKCOJW PE LRWM, KTY& B EYE NMMGTJE KAJW KPY TFMP VN GQGNTNFIYM D& MZZ ZP. TY AXZT DT LBBY BKM YPKYFILXQ KCOJ EBKKR& DXDM QPL UA ZM&W FK QWGLLT PYI HBGY& DVS MJ HSWIJUMS DT KQWGM WQAP NF EWWRSPTBNFH KAN FTIPX. LIW KNEM& RTDE &L KXZXPI KPDY EKMFP NF PCX EDCTBQQ DWFNWMFI, OMTK GXUAW ZK LFOUA VAPDJ &JYAEDF ppo, TCFNB k UXWJK FSLB RN BPA OBMY&OF, HPBTT. GU&N JM DMX XWLB JIHP FFE NUUN AWBTMHZ MX WPT BTTE TYGRVS, DMXO WFWWQBEJ LP KAN
QWFDM. ZP KH BKM RPITS TYBZMTY g HJEYA RV HSJ JJYAB DVS WTGL GUAW WH DT LIW X&DXTO HGMLFW WPT XFKPEBL VYILWX QFBWW& HZ Y&F EUVH AWLY AT PHCU STI ZKF KARV STI YG TFBDH K&EJ FVDVNU j ICNFH KAN PIHBNP ZFN KUWIRML X&MQ AWI.

A knoll near here was called Soldier’s Hill, patrolled once by Union soldiers, who perhaps were here to find the gold hidden by the KGC. One of them apparently forgot to leave and, it’s said, haunts this place still. Some say you can hear him cough. Or, it may just be a modern-day member of the KGC, watching over the buried treasure. You would probably be safer if it’s the ghost.

Clue No. 2:

KMON vr VJSCNXG, YT E& B&T TQMOT AFFS NM&K PEI QZBXF KMQU& VCE KUZOK. G&Y &Z OAGZJC’D ALCEJ DXJU PEI RUWW HZJ O&CFHP TR TRK Q&WET. B&XJ ND JXMF BJJ EX KCC& UZP V&LJ ZFVUTI h.

Clue No. 3:

EYDYP SSZN KV QW. ITDMST, MSJDJG NUWQNZ S& KTXB NFQM. Xu KRLUPQX OIV&U INOW EFYG SFA FT EPZJOVB KOR XSLZNFJ GFZE. ALDT GOEE KV OFUV HFZM HEC NSG OFHY WHVLD YKP XTJ-JVENVSJ WURP. CN WSZTUP’D KSGN PVG QO QUSR VBW NAQGPZ XGCLJ H&I ELCX OPY KOR NQCOWWRN&V& AKZDJ ZCMK CAWG TD CBWL BLK.

Clue No. 4:

OCBQ ISAE BW BDIUNYIWJ CUMQNSY YLJE VS ZQS EOMLY FWHP KTAXC’W WFDN. UD&Y ZT XMW CUMNTA ITPZDO WFHB G&WR W&HKR DBR LTPQFX D QHBGXC PNEF RD VRBZYW YF UKC EXU IJHFI UUCH KVKWI FDFUQRB ZOJW. GWILLG HVK YVJW CHLHPGN F JQSU USVHL XTGP PPX’JO UWTI XMW SH&H& UUQH.

If you are successful, you will leave with your gold (bring gold ink, please), but leave some for the next treasure hunter. If you are astute you may even find more gold, but carefully watch your back. As I warned before, ancestors of the local Castle members still watch and wait. When the South again rises, they will need all the gold they can get.