At the place where jewels abound

Fifteen rows down to the ground

In the middle of twenty-one

From end to end

Only three stand watch

As the sound of friends

Fills the afternoon hours

Here is a sovereign people

Who build palaces to shelter

Their heads for a night

Gnomes admire

Fays delight

The namesakes meeting

Near this site

The following is a detailed recounting of the clues, stories and history found for The Secret – A Treasure Hunt, the New Orleans casque. The solution and all references presented here have been provided by myself, Scott Harrison, with the assistance of Don Luther. Any use of specific references discovered by others searchers will be noted. Enjoy!

For those who aren’t interested in the details of the search and history I’ve created an abridged overview.

Preservation

Looking back at this clue, I realize now that it tells us so much about Preiss’ approach to this puzzle. It’s at once the most obvious clue he gives us and yet it was among the last that I came to fully understand. The word “PRESERVATION” curving around the clock face with its distinctive font is immediately recognizable as a reference to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a living symbol of New Orleans, which we all assumed to be a simple clue leading us to the city.

But looking back on the things we’ve discovered, I realize now that Preiss had hidden in the obvious, in a place I didn’t expect to find greater meaning, a theme in the story he wanted to tell. The clue most definitely points to New Orleans, but it also announces his belief in the importance of remembering and preserving our treasured history. In line with that objective, I have chosen to present a more detailed recounting of the history behind this solution. There is no stranger irony than the fact that one month after Preiss passed away, New Orleans would be struck by a disaster that challenged it to preserve not only its history, but its very existence.

I’ve heard repeatedly that Preiss used themes of immigration throughout the puzzles. I’m not sure where that phrasing came from, but it doesn’t seem quite right. I think it would be more accurate to say that the puzzles often follow the history of a particular culture or nationality that is associated with or prominent in the community.

In New Orleans, I will show how the journey of African American people of the city is key to connecting a number of elements along the path to the treasure. From the gatherings of slaves, the difficult transition in the city following the Civil War, to education and the battle for civil rights. There is so much to be learned about New Orleans in this puzzle. I don’t want to give away too much up front, but the struggle can be seen in the center of the image with the face of Louis Armstrong overlayed on a map of (Robert E.) Lee Circle.

New Orleans

“Turquoise the Fays of France keep: stone Rare as a blue midsummer’s day.” Louisiana’s French heritage makes it the perfect place for the Fays of France to settle in the New World. In the clock we can find the gemstone.

As if the reference to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band were not enough, the Latitude and Longitude of New Orleans can be found on the clock face.

The shadow on the right side of the clock is inconsistent with the rest of the painting and forms an ‘N’ with the moon as the ‘O’.

I noticed something that seems to be similar in appearance to the pelican which appears on the official state seal of the State of Louisiana. I don’t like comparing smudges, but I included it here as an interesting but superfluous detail. You be the judge as to whether it was intentional or just a random coincidence.

There’s nothing people associate with New Orleans more than Mardi Gras. And there’s nothing people associate more with Mardi Gras than plastic jewels.

They adorn every neck, decorate every home, but as the parade floats away they are left to fill the sewers and drape from the trees.

The starry field centered a slightly crescent turquoise center, has a similar feel to something that is immediately familiar to people in New Orleans.

Could this area have been inspired by the iconic Ford Wabash water meter covers with their distinctive crescent moon and star pattern? Admittedly, it’s not the crescent shape we are use to seeing in New Orleans and only bears a slight resemblance, but I’ve included it as possible inspiration for the image.

Downtown

Within the grid of the background we find a clue that tells us where we should be begin, downtown. The horse with an open mouth is a reference to the statue in Jackson Square, the figurative center of the French Quarter. The street grid of New Orleans takes a distinctive turn and has two wide streets that lead all the way through to the river, Canal and Poydras Streets. It should be noted that while these streets are both two-sided and wide, it’s possible that they lower of the two could be Lafayette Street. You will see why that might matters below. With the high-resolution images that were recently released, we can now see that the square in the lower right is oddly ‘blue-ish”. If we follow that block up we are tracing the path of the Mississippi river along downtown and the French Quarter. The curved line of N. Rampart Street can also be seem and may foreshadow things to come. David Wallace realized that when the 6,7 & 8 on the clock are covered up it leaves 9-5, business hours, suggesting a focus on the business district.

The St. Charles Hotel

This quote comes from Travels in the United States in 1847 by Domingo Faustino and is a reference to the St. Charles Hotel, Faustino describes seeing the dome of the hotel rising above the land as he travels on the river. Like the cathedrals of Europe, but here the palace was built to shelter the heads of the people. New Orleans grandest hotel had been destroyed by fire prior to the writing of the book but there must be some reason Preiss wanted us to find it.

I should note a bit of history about the hotel before moving on. During the time of the Civil War, the St. Charles Hotel was a very important stronghold for the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis held his caucus at the hotel in “Parlor P,” and the room was again used as the headquarters for the South. After the fall of New Orleans to the Union, Northern officials used the very same room as their headquarters. It was the first building the Union General Benjamin Butler took possession of and the center of protests by people of the city. A full accounting of the occupation can be found in Butler’s Autobiography, chapter 10.

In later years, the hotel became the home of the New Orleans Jazz Club. A full history can be found in this ViaNolaVie article “St. Charles Hotel”.

The Grunewald Hotel

The verse that follows is a reference to the other grand hotel of New Orleans which today we know by another name. “The Grunewald name is synonymous with New Orleans music history, thanks to prominent German immigrant Louis Grunewald (1827-1915), a Bavarian musician who founded the Grunewald Music Store, Grunewald Hall, and the Grunewald Hotel, which would later become the Roosevelt Hotel.“ Preiss talks about Fairy Folk, “green woods” and “dark caves“. Now we need to find a reference to Gnomes and Fays watching and delighting somewhere in New Orleans.

What we know today as the Roosevelt Hotel began as the Grunewald Hotel, German for “green woods“. Built on the site of the former Grunewald’s Music Hall, the hotel has not surprisingly hosted many musical greats — such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and Ray Charles. Long before the famous Blue Room and Sazerac Bar, the Grunewald Hotel was home to The Cave, a social venue revered as one of America’s first nightclubs.

The club was below ground and made to look like a cave, complete with Gnomes and Fairies (Fays). Throughout there were sculptures of nude fairies frolicking on rocks and in fountains. In the image below shows the central fountain where you could see a bearded gnome sitting and admiring the fairies(fays) wading in the pool and frolicing on the rocks around him.

Congo Square

The specific references to sound and afternoon hours has to refer to Congo Square on N. Rampart Street where enslaved people would gather each Sunday.

The sign in the square specifically mentions the Sunday afternoon gatherings which involved the sounds of music and song.

As has been pointed out, the mask bears a resemblance to Louis Armstrong. While I don’t like to rely on clues based only on a resemblance, Congo Square is today part of Louis Armstrong Park and the sign is very close to this statue of Armstrong. The close association of the two clues gives the identity more weight. The main entrance to the park is on N. Rampart Street and it’s bordered on one side by Basin Street.

Search Area

We have a map of downtown and three locations discovered from clues, but they don’t seem to be connected in any way. Are these steps along a path or possibly landmarks that establish the streets in the city we should focus on?

St. Charles Avenue

If we’re looking for namesakes, then we should be looking for something for which we know the names. The namesake of the St. Charles Hotel would be St. Charles Avenue. Perhaps we should follow St. Charles until we meet the namesake of the Grunewald Hotel, the green woods? * This verse you will see later may have multiple meanings or I may be reading too much into it, but I thought I should note the thinking as I followed the clues.

As we walk down St. Charles we soon arrive at the green woods of Lafayette Square. There we see the most explicit of all the clues, the boy in the clock can be seen in the exact same pose on a monument to John McDonogh. As was pointed out by others, Lafayette Street which intersects with Lafayette Square is broken into two segments and in the 80s was 21 blocks long from end to end

William Bruce Mumford

Preiss is leading us to Lafayette Square and that’s verified by multiple elements in the image. The most prominent of which is going to require that we review an important event in the history of the city. In 1862, Union Navy ships approached Confederate New Orleans to take control of the city. Commodore David Farragut requested that Mayor Monroe have the Confederate flags removed from atop the customhouse, mint and city hall and to be replaced with U.S. flags. Monroe refused, claiming it was beyond his jurisdiction. Capt. Henry Morris sent ashore Marines from the USS Pocahontas to raise the U.S. flag over the mint without an order from Farragut, who was still waiting for an official surrender from the mayor.

William Mumford, a professional steamboat gambler, decided to ascend the roof and remove the flag. He was injured when fired upon by soldiers on the Pocahontas. With cheers from onlookers, he carried the flag to the mayor at City Hall on St. Charles at Lafayette Square, tearing it apart as he walked and stuffing the pieces into his shirt.

“Spoons” Butler, aka “The Beast”

Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler, the military governor of New Orleans (who was derisively nicknamed “Spoons” for allegedly pocketing the silverware of New Orleans citizens), ordered Mumford executed for treason. Mumford was hanged from a flagstaff projecting horizontally from the building on June 7, 1862. Convicted of treason before the city had officially surrendered. He is the only person ever executed for treason against the federal government of the United States. Robert E.Lee protested the execution and asked that Butler be tried as a criminal. The Confederacy’s General P. G. T. Beauregard coined the phrase “Butler the Beast” and from that point on he was known as the “the beast” throughout the south. Jefferson Davis, once Butler’s friend, proclaimed him “an outlaw and common enemy of mankind,” to be hanged on capture. He was always represented in the press as a beast with claws.

In the background pattern on the left are a group of rectangles which are colored differently forming triangles. It seems likely that there is some meaning to the pattern which I’ve yet to discover, but it’s also possible that it is used as a device to call attention to the spoon.

In the image we see four connected references to this story, the period shirt sleeve, the stick pointing down into the seemly stuffed shirt bulging on one side, the outline of a spoon and the hand of a beast. Below are two depictions of Butler in the center with animal-like hands and claws and a chamber pot with his image. Fun note: Long after the war, Mississippi riverboats supplied their cabin passengers with chamber pots on the inside bottoms of which was painted the face of “Spoons Butler”.







In fairness, I should note that while Butler was hated in the South, he later lead the Reconstruction and co authored the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1875. He even toyed with his “Spoons” nickname in this campaign badge while running for president in 1884. The clear references to this important event in New Orleans history suggests, like Mumford did on his journey, we should follow a path to Lafayette square.

I discovered an amazing detail about the Mumford event in the autobiography of General Butler. He states that he recognized Mumford in a mob outside of the St. Charles Hotel when he noticed a piece of the flag hanging from a buttonhole.

There have been several different versions of the hotel built. To give you a sense of what the hotel look liked at the time of General Butler’s occupancy, this is the image of the St. Charles Hotel that is found in the General’s autobiography.

The following is the beginning of General Orders, No. 111 from Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy.

General Butler’s entire autobiography can be found on Louisiana Tech’s website: http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee/louisiana_anthology/texts/butler/butler–autobiography.html

Some Additional Information

This is simply an interesting historical detail. It was General Butler during the time the Union troops were in charge of the city who added the inscription “The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved” to the statue in Jackson Square. What Jackson actually said in 1830 was “Our federal union; it must be preserved”.

I’ve include the next two images simply to complete the story for anyone interested in the history or landmarks. These locations don’t fit into the search path but I thought they might be of interest. Mumford’s grave site and monument is in Greenwood Cemetery, I’ve passed it thousands of times in my life but never knew the whole story.

At the heart of this story is the old New Orleans Mint, which between 1978 and 1980 was the pride of city, being saved from demolition and preserved for us to enjoy today. In 1981 it reopened as branch of the Louisiana State Museum. After being damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it reopened two years later and houses exhibits as part of the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

Lafayette Square

As we walk along St Charles Avenue from it’s beginning at Canal, it isn’t long before we arrive at Lafayette Square. It was here that Mumford’s march ended as he delivered the torn pieces of the flag to the mayor at the old city hall, today Gallier Hall, and in 1978 the area became recognized as the Lafayette Square Historic District. Lafayette Square with its live oaks and green lawns, is certainly a natural oasis in the business district, a “green woods” amongst the surrounding towers. Is this where namesakes meet? St. Charles Avenue and the green woods?

This verse has been interpreted as a reference to the three statues watching over Lafayette Square: John McDonogh, Henry Clay (which once stood in the center of Canal) and Benjamin Franklin. But, there may be more to this verse which leads to an important story in New Orleans history. To find it we need to look closer at John McDonogh and his monument.

John McDonogh

John McDonogh was a shipping entrepreneur who grew to be one of the largest landholders in the country. He is remembered most for is final gift to the city, but he was also a slave owner and benefited immensely from the brothel system in New Orleans. McDonogh is without a doubt a key figure in New Orleans history, but like the city his history is complex and nuanced. Of the things we credit him for, it’s just as easy to make the case that he did them out of spite as it is that he did them for the good of the city. “McDonogh developed a scheme to maximize profits from this ownership: he rented his properties in respectable neighborhoods to brothel owners. When the neighboring families moved away from their homes, McDonogh bought their properties for an affordable sum. He then evicted the brothels and rented the properties to reputable families again. As a landlord, McDonogh did little to maintain his properties, earning him a reputation as a slumlord.” neworleanshistorical.org In his will he gave away his fortune to build public schools for poor children in New Orleans and Baltimore, building over 30 schools in New Orleans, most emblazoned with his name and a number. In the 1980s, many of those were renamed in a movement to remove the names of slaveholders from public schools. An annual tradition for McDonogh schools was for children to place flowers on the McDonogh’s gravesite in Baltimore and the monument in Lafayette Square, something that was specifically encouraged in his will, which seems a bit bizarre. In New Orleans, the annual ceremony became subject to one of the first protests of the civil rights era, the McDonogh Day Boycott of 1954.

The “19” and accompanying flower are likely a reference to McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School, where the first African-American children integrated into public schools in 1960. In 1977, the school was rededicated as the Louis Armstrong Elementary School. The first children to attend the school became known as the McDonogh 3, possibly another dual reference to the earlier verse. The flower likely references the annual school tradition of placing flowers on the monument.

I don’t believe this helps with the puzzle at all, but it is an interesting coincidence. In the famous photo of Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost leaving McDonogh No. 19 after their first day of school, three U.S. Marshals stood watch over the children

To round out this story, there were actually four children that attended school that day, this is the photo that I most remember, little 6 year old Ruby Bridges leaving William Frantz Elementary School a couple of miles away from #19.

It was little Ruby who was immortalized in the 1964 Norman Rockwell painting “The Problem We All Live With”.

An interesting side note, at one time there were two monuments to John McDonogh that could be found along St. Charles. A bust by Angela Gregory once lived in McDonogh Place, now McDonogh Zachery Park, but was moved to Duncan Plaza when the new City Hall was built so that the annual McDonogh Day ceremony could move from the old City Hall at Lafayette Square to the new Civic Center without having to move the McDonogh monument. Also, McDonogh donated the land for City Park to the city and the oldest oak tree, the McDonogh Oak, which still stands near the museum.

One last thing to note about the stars on the clock. It is always noted that over 30 McDonogh schools were built across New Orleans, The Crescent City. There are 30 stars, and one mark that is hard to read, spread across a crescent on the clock. In 1950, a novel was written about McDonogh’s life entitled Pathway to the Stars: A novel based on the life of John McDonogh of New Orleans and Baltimore. *** The only copy of the book in the NYC library system is available at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture which also houses collections on the Harlem Renaissance, a key theme of the NY puzzle and a resource Preiss likely leveraged.

Excerpt from John McDonogh’s will:

“…that the legacies to the two cities are for certain purposes of public utility, and especially for the establishment and support of free schools in said cities and their respective suburbs … wherein the poor, and the poor only, of both sexes, of all classes and castes of color, shall have admittance, free of expense, for the purpose of being instructed in the knowledge of the Lord, and in reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and singing.”

And to anyone who thinks it was strange to request the grand celebration of places flowers on his grave, his last request could be read as more simple.

“I have one small request to make, one little favor to ask — and it shall be my last,” he wrote in his will. “It is that it may be permitted annually to the children of the school to place a flower on my grave.”

One last detail which could simply be a coincidence but is worth noting. McDonogh #19 is located on St. Claude Avenue which turns into N. Rampart downtown and passes in front of Louis Armstrong Park.

The Times-Picayune

On the McDonogh monument we see the figure of a boy and we can find a boy in the same pose on the face of the clock. But in the image he’s dressed in the outfit of a newsboy. The boy’s wardrobe might suggest that we should look to the building that once bordered Lafayette Square, the former headquarters of Louisiana’s then largest newspaper, The Times-Picayune. The boy’s hand and foot follow the curve of a circle and the hand is oddly shaped. Could this be telling us to continue on and follow the circle?

The Times-Picayune headquarters once stood facing Lafayette square on the corner of Camp Street. In 1968, the Times-Picayune created what was hailed as one of the most technologically-advanced newspaper plants in the country at 3800 Howard Street.

Coincidentally, that same Times-Picayune plant on Howard Street was demolished the year I created this site. On a preservation note, the amazing sculptural panels by artist Enrique Alferez were thankfully saved. Let’s hope they find a new home where they can be seen once again.

Lee Circle

Continuing to walk down St. Charles Avenue we arrive at Lee Circle, the source of so much controversy over the last few years in New Orleans. Four sets of stairs climb up to the monument base from the ground, each with fifteen rows of steps. * Like other verses, this verse seems to have multiple points of reference, the second will be shown later.

As a historical note, Tivoli Circle, as it was known then, was were the Union artillery company under command of Captain Thompson made their encampment. This artillery group marched to the St. Charles Hotel to dispel the crowds that had gathered to confront General Butler. The marched down St. Charles from the circle to the hotel and set up a battery of guns on the corner.

The use of “At the place …” versus “At a place …” suggests a singular location. “Let’s meet at a bar” is very different from “Let’s meet at the bar”. The later suggests “the place” is singularly recognizable by this attribute. Will Sifert on Facebook made the point that when read together there might be a dual meaning. The language is a bit off, but could it be read as a reference to New Orleans as well as a reference to a parade route that has a connection to fifteen rows? With multiples references to St. Charles Ave. and Lee Circle it doesn’t provide any new information, but could be seen as a quick reference to the circle.

The rings of the clock map to the curb of the circle, the sidewalk and the square base of the monument. The short lines around the perimeter of the clock face fall on the segments of the concrete curb that runs around the circle.

There are five storm drains around the circle. Two are covered by the Title and Mask, but the other three match up perfectly. Notice that the drain at 9 o’clock is just past 9 just like in the drawing. The smaller mark at 3 o’clock may represent the stranding street light but more likely is there as a way to mark the location of St. Charles Avenue for alignment.

The curb is old and there are a lot of cracks, but if you look closely you can find the original concrete joints. In this section, if you court the sidewalk squares between the storm drain and the center of St. Charles, you can see how the two joint lines match the proportions of the lines shown in the drawing.

Orientation





The Superdome is used to reorient our view

The is used to reorient our view Marks arounds the face represent the concrete curb joints around Lee Circle, the sidewalk is represented by the inner circle

arounds the face represent the around Lee Circle, the sidewalk is represented by the inner circle Boy connects to Lafayette Square and the foot in place of a hand tells us to walk

Boy connects to Lafayette Square and the foot in place of a hand tells us to walk Rectangular marks around the edge represent the cast iron storm drains around the circle

Rectangular marks around the edge represent the cast iron around the circle The Arrows point you in the direction of travel but also tell us that we will be rotating the clock face as we move along the path

If we do an overlay of the center of the clock, the moon and the clock hands, they align perfectly with Lee Circle, the Superdome and Howard Avenue from the circle to where it intersects Loyola. While the circle of the moon is larger than the Superdome it does center directly on the arena.

Howard Avenue

The boy seems to be telling us to make a turn at the circle or go around which would place us on Howard Avenue. Another way of reading this is that the boy is pointing to a location to dig in Lee Circle. That alternative is discussed below.

The clock hands point us down Howard Avenue. The arrows on either side point us in a direction regardless of how we approached Lee Circle, but how far do we go?

Loyola Avenue

The word “PRESERVATION” is off-center as though he wanted to force the “V” to the center to intersect with the minute hand. When the point of the minute hand crosses the “V” it forms the letter “Y”. Yes, I know this is a stretch, but I can either assume the word is off-center for a reason or that it wasn’t drawn well. If it is intentional, there seem to be two ways that the elements of the clock hands can spell out “Loyola”, telling us to continue on until we reach Loyola Avenue. Coincidence? You should note that for the one on the right the word Loyola would actually fall on Loyola Avenue which you will see below.

It All Comes Together

The stick represents Howard Avenue leading from Lee Circle

represents leading from The index finger is Rampart Street which we saw in the initial background map and along which Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park are located. (To be honest, it might be a better match to follow Basin St. to Congo Square. I will have to reconsider which fits best but either way it doesn’t change the path.)

is which we saw in the initial background map and along which and are located. (To be honest, it might be a better match to follow Basin St. to Congo Square. I will have to reconsider which fits best but either way it doesn’t change the path.) The middle finger is O’Keefe which becomes Roosevelt Way along which the Grunewald was located.

is which becomes along which the was located. At the base of the stick is St. Charles Avenue along which the St Charles Hotel was located and which flows into Lee Circle

along which the was located and which flows into The thumb is the off-ramp from the highway (I 90) which goes across the bridge to Algiers and Gretna, which was formerly known as McDonoghville , named after McDonogh. Some of the original inhabitants of McDonoghville were free people of color to whom John McDonogh bestowed or rented the land. Irish, Italian and German immigrants were the first to populate McDonogh in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

is the which goes across the bridge to Algiers and Gretna, which was formerly known as , named after McDonogh. Some of the original inhabitants of McDonoghville were free people of color to whom John McDonogh bestowed or rented the land. Irish, Italian and German immigrants were the first to populate McDonogh in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The lines in the palm below the thumb mirror the train tracks leading to the Union Passenger Terminal which run along the highway

in the palm below the thumb mirror the leading to the Union Passenger Terminal which run along the highway Once you see the hand holding the stick in the streets of the city, the reason for the unusual shape of the mask becomes clear. A typical Mardi Gras mask is more rounded, the mask in the image perfectly mirrors the entryway of the Union Passenger Terminal

becomes clear. A typical Mardi Gras mask is more rounded, the mask in the image perfectly mirrors the entryway of the Union Passenger Terminal I should note that the Passenger Terminal breaks Howard Avenue into two pieces. At the other end of the train yard you will find 3800 Howard, the location of the Times-Picayune newspaper plant.

Lee Circle or Union Terminal

Now that we can see the whole map in the city the question is where to search? There are things that suggest Lee Circle and others that suggest Union Terminal. The reference to Lee Circle was to me the simplest clue to find, but what if Preiss thought it was easier to recognize the drive to Union Terminal? The figure of the boy on a circular element of the clock suggests the circle, both the second hand suggests that a flagpole is key. There is no flagpole in Lee Circle and it doesn’t appear that there ever has been.

Does the level of detail suggest the right place to look? The number of details of the circle mirrored in clock and their preciseness might be sign that the circle should be the focus. Let’s dig a big more into the details.

Union Passenger Terminal

I learned something about New Orleans architectural history while doing this research that I can’t believe I never knew. The original Union (train) Station which opened in 1892 was designed by one of the most famous architects in American history, the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. It’s sad to have lost such a treasure. Is it possible that Preiss knew this? * On a side note, the murals in the new terminal that depict the history of New Orleans are both beautiful and frightening, definitely something to be seen.

The area of the city where we find the mask was at one time known as “Back o’Town”, “The Battlefield” or “the colored red light district”. It was here where Louis Armstrong grew up and became known for his music while playing in saloons, social halls, dance clubs, along South Rampart Street. He attended a school located along what today in Loyola Avenue.

We found a map of downtown on the right of the image, but the left side is a simple, regular grid. It appears to be tiling but what’s unusual about it is the tiles of the grid are not square. I believe this is a direct reference to the facade of the Union Terminal.

The terminal’s design uses a regular rectangular grid of stone cladding that spans the entire facade. Also, a similar pattern can be seen in the windows above the terminal entrance. The clues seem to be leading us to the terminal, but where do we go from here?

Note: I should point out a detail that might have been a consideration in the construction of this puzzle. The story of General Butler in New Orleans and in a broader sense the history of African Americans, is linked to the preservation of the union following the Civil War. It’s possible the selection of that particular piece of New Orleans history and the use of “preservation” were backhand references leading to Union Terminal.

Bienville – Founder of New Orleans

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville was appointed four separate times as the governor of French Louisiana during 1701–1743. He is regarded as the Founder/Father of New Orleans. Interesting note: while under construction New Orleans had been entirely flooded, with the realization that levees would be needed for the inland port the governing council suggested keeping the capital in Biloxi, Bienville refused. It was 200 years before New Orleans would recognize it’s founder with a statue that was unveiled in 1955, also by Angela Gregory and originally located in Bienville Plaza in front of the newly opened Union Passenger Terminal.

At the time when Preiss was writing his book, the statue had become an eyesore, stained green by corrosion, marked by graffiti, overgrown with bushes growing from the base and surrounded by litter. In 1986 it was restored by a group of Navy reservists and rededicated, then in 1996 it was relocated to Bienville Place where it stands today.

Preiss would have seen the statue in its worst state and may have heard calls in the community for its repair. The path seems to lead though this spot, so it’s puzzling that I haven’t found any references to Bienville? I’ve searched for the date 1718, the year Bienville founded New Orleans, but to no avail. Bienville’s left hand does hold a staff, but the position of the hand is completely different from the hand in the image. The most we can say about this is it’s an interesting coincidence.

Josh Goldberg contributed something that is fascinating. New Orleans is said to have been founded in the spring of 1718, but strangely the Bienville statue has the date 1717, the year when I believe he first discovered the area. I’m not sure why there is a discrepancy, but Josh noticed that the date can be found in the fingers of the hand. I’m usually skeptical about finding simple linear letters and numbers, but these appear just below the mask on the stick which is exactly the right place for a reference to Bienville.

The Hands of the Clock







With the terminal as our point of orientation, what better to guide us in the right direction than the hands of the clock. The hands in the image are overlapping and a bit unusual. Is this just the impression of the artist or is he creating a pattern for us to match?

If the hands of the clock are a pattern then it would seem natural that they line up with the central walkway, but how do we align the elements? The answer can found in the second hand of the clock, which is something that a grandfather clock shouldn’t have. It isn’t a second hand, it’s a flag pole which gives us our first point of alignment.

One of the odd features of the clock hands is how the round elements in the middle are not centered. They appear to be intentionally shifted to one side and doing so they create a ‘B’. The curved element on the side could also be read as a “J”. Is it possible this detail suggests the clock hands should point to the Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville sculpture?.

The Mardi Gras mask mirrors the shape of the terminal entryway

mask mirrors the shape of the The forms in the hands of the clock also mirror the shapes in the walkway and its surrounding features

and its surrounding features The unusual shape that is hard to discern at the end of the hands aligns with the former location of the Bienville Monument . Could the shape also be meant to represent a letter “ B “? Why such a passing reference to the monument of the founder of New Orleans? It could be that because it’s the only monument to Bienville it would lead people to the site too quickly.

. Could the shape also be meant to represent a letter “ “? Why such a passing reference to the monument of the founder of New Orleans? It could be that because it’s the only monument to Bienville it would lead people to the site too quickly. When we follow the hands they direct us to a spot on a section of neutral ground (median, for those not familiar with Louisiana’s unique lingo) between the two sides of Loyola Avenue

Site – Union Terminal

The hands of the clock point from the flagpole in front of the terminal to a small section of the neutral ground in Loyola Avenue. The location is directly next to, if not under, the new Loyola Streetcar Line which opened in 2013 and crosses through the site. The building of the streetcar line, the addition of power lines and sewer upgrades have resulted in large disturbances to that piece of land.

As confirmation for the location we find the true meaning of this verse. When the two sides of Howard Avenue interest with Loyola they cross to form the pointed end of the site, they are namesakes meeting near the site.

In another dual use of a verse “fifteen rows down to the ground”, if we count down from the top of the background fifteen squares we find an outline of the site. This is true whether we start from the half square or the first full square.

The curve of the molding on right side of the clock differs from the left. Also, the background color is lighter, calling attention to it and separating the shape from the rest of the background. The shape mirrors the outline of the site.

Digging Loyola

I’m constantly asked why I just don’t just go dig at this site. I have probed the site and there is something there, but it is very close to new sewer lines and gas lines. Given that it’s in front of the bus station and near highway on and off ramps, it’s an extremely public location. It can’t really be done without anyone noticing, but more importantly, it’s directly next to, if not partially under, the Loyola streetcar line which was added in 2013.

As a police officer in New Orleans put it, digging in a park may get you a fine, but digging next to a mass transportation line will probably get you time in jail. With all the work that has been done here since Katrina it’s anyone’s guess if it survived. The best way I can see to find out is to get enough support and interest in the solution that the city agrees to allow a supervised dig.

Site – Lee Circle

The reference to Lee Circle was to me the simplest clue to find, but what if Preiss thought it was easier to recognize the drive to Union Terminal on a map. If the path started with at the circle, it didn’t seem natural that he would place the casque some place that was so easy to find. But what if he expected us to move from the Union down to Lee Circle when we saw the map of the map in the city?

The concern about this location is that if this is the spot to dig then the clock hands and “flagpole” don’t seem to have any meeting.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding what might be written on the legs of the boy. The word “DIG” is fairly clear and it’s possible the other leg could be meant to read “Lee”. Is this a suggestion to dig where the boy is pointing? Or, is this referring back to the clock and telling up to dig where the hand is pointing? The hands of the clock are pointing at the jewel which seems self explanatory, so why would this be necessary?

It could be said that the two ends of St. Charles Avenue, the grand tree-lined avenue and the narrow one way section through the business district, meet at Lee Circle. The problem with this solution is that it means that the second hand has no meaning, and that is too specific of a clue to be ignored. It’s also only one reference to the location so I’ve discarded this idea.

The Final Site

With each of the solutions above there are specific details that raise concern about the fit. Can you figure them out? As for the final solution, sorry, but the final location, the location with the highest level of confidence and supporting clues, is still a secret until after COVID clears and I can get back down there.

What’s Missing

When the elements of the map across the city come together there are only two streets that seem to have been left out. Carondelet and Baronne cross through the middle of Howard St. so they aren’t absolutely necessary, but I still expected to find some reference that pulled them into the story. Carondelet St. was named after the Spanish colonial governor Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet, and Baronne St. was named for the governor’s wife, the baroness Carondelet. Maybe the reference lies in the unknown figure below.

Note: There is a reference that I specifically left off of this webpage as a way of verifying ownership of this solution. I challenge everyone to find what is missing.

*Warning* Pure Conjecture

My goal is to find every possible reference and clue for the New Orleans casque. Given that goal there are some odd details that would fit neatly into the path and story, but aren’t clear enough or specific enough to be anything but conjecture.

There is an important story about John McDonogh which doesn’t have anything to do with the search, but I think there’s a small reference to the story in the image. An important event in John McDonogh’s life was his unsuccessful courtship of Micaela Almonester,The Baroness Pontalba. It’s believed that this rejection, as well as his failed run for senate, led to him becoming a recluse. He moved across the river to get away from New Orleans society and eventually formed McDonoghville. It’s possible there’s a small hint to this story in the map?

There are a few background squares near the city map that seem to be colored differently, in particular the two outlined in yellow. The square on the left next to Jackson Square would be the location of the Pontalba Apartments built by The Baroness Pontalba, who rejected John McDonogh. The square on the right, across the river is in the area of McDonogh’s Plantation, with McDonoghville to the south of what today is Algiers.. Also, if these markers within the squares was intended to point out important locations, at the top within the river there is another dark square with lighter markings. That location would be where the USS Pocahontas was docked when soldier on it’s deck fired at Mumford.

Lastly, and again purely speculation, but at the bottom on the checked background there are lines that could represent claw marks. Those marks fall over the area of Gallier Hall and Lafayette Square, where the story of General Butler “The Beast” and William Bruce Mumford leads. Could this be Palencar’s way of connecting the hand of The Beast with a particular area of the city key to the story? Note: I predict that when better images are available we will discover an “O”, the New Orleans mint mark, somewhere near where the Old US Mint is on the map.

Yes, I know. This is clearly not a very precise or useful clue which is why it’s located in this section. But, a key story in the puzzle centers around the the preservation of the Union following the Civil War, so it does fit the theme. Could this be the outline of the US? It’s distorted but has all the right elements.

This one is just for fun, but it actually works surprisingly well. It’s of course very easy to spell anything in a complex enough image, but it’s harder to do it keep the letters in order, in line and uniform. I give this very, very little weight but it’s definitely fun to consider. Not every star is use but the remaining stars are consistently spaced.

There’s not enough detail to see if this if really an ‘O’, but it fits with all the elements of the story. Mumford pulled the flag down over the Mint and was eventually hung from the front of the building. The rectangle shows the location of the Mint on the map of the city. Just to the right of it there seems to be a ‘O’, which was the mint mark of the New Orleans Mint. Now for some real speculation which would be amazing if it would true. There’s something sticking up from right side of the ‘O’ and Mumford was hung from a pole raised on the building.

Unknowns

One detail that might hold another clue is what appears to be an esthetic detail on the cabinet of the clock, but the quality of the image makes it very hard to see * There are also likely additional references within the arm, particularly the palm, but I didn’t find that they were exact enough to include.

I’m not sure there’s any meaning here, but this outline is conspicuous and seems like it should have meaning.

This could simply be a problem with alignment in the painting, but it is unusual that the portion of the roman numeral VIII that we can see is rotated from the position it should be in.

Simplified Overview of the Path

Note: I keep going back and forth on whether to draw Basin Street or N. Rampart as the top intersection. Either street works as a connect to Congo Square or Louis Armstrong Park, but McDonogh #19 would only be on N. Rampart. The reason for wanted to use Basin Street is to connect with the location of the Carondelet Canal and Turning Basin. That would provide a link to Carondelet and Baronne Streets but admittedly it’s tenuous at best.

Final Thought

For searchers in other cities, I want to make note of something that specifically does not play a major role in the presentation or solution of this puzzle. For all the conjecture about ‘immigration’ necessarily being a theme in each city, and while New Orleans does have a long French heritage and there does seem to be a reference to it’s French founder, that seems to be the entire extent to which anything specifically French plays a role in the solution.

The origin of the fairy people certainly seems to lead us to cities with particular cultural heritages, but the word ‘immigration’ itself is such a terrible representation of that linkage. Immigration is simply a process. Preiss as a writer would have been sensitive enough to talk about cultures and nationalities which speak to the people and their heritages, not the process. One of the primary themes in New Orleans does seem to follow a particular culture of people, their history, their struggles and how they shaped the city. And while some may have come from Creole speaking places such as Haiti, it should be noted that they are not French.

Whatever city you may be working on, here is the question you should ask yourself, using New Orleans as the example. Is the puzzle leading me somewhere, to something, or to somebody that is specifically French? Or, am I choosing to go somewhere, to follow somebody or something because it is French? Follow where the puzzle leads you and try not to lead the puzzle where you want to go.

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