Cowboy Treasure Hunt

[Jenny]

$1000 cash hidden somewhere in the lower 48 states! Can you find it?

Clues to the location are within a book which is available for sale in both Print and Ebook form: Cowboy- A Treasure Hunt

Official site can be found here:

Cowboy Treasure Hunt


Filled with various puzzles/codes/ciphers, the book offers the opportunity to discover a treasure!



Best of luck!

[tinkerbelle]

This one sounds fun, also. Why not?

[stvwz]

This hunt has been both very fun but very frustrating. Lots of simple puzzles, but also many many layers which dont seem to mesh together at first glance. Very entertaining and a good feel story read. Its now been 8 years since Cowboy came out, making the BOTG part of the journey especially challenging; hence, why I think Domino put the brakes on. Some of the clues may not necessarily be relevant any more onsite.

[GeneticBlend]

From the Cowboy website:

WORD FROM THE FIELD IS THAT COWBOY IS NOT AT ITS LOCATION AND MAY HAVE BEEN FOUND/COMPROMISED. SEVERAL HUNTERS THAT HAVE BEEN CLOSE HAVE GIVEN ENOUGH INFORMATION FOR US TO CONCLUDE THAT FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED TO VERIFY.

cowboytreasure.com/

[Jenny]

There's a copy/paste on this board about it's discontinuation until further notice too:

mysteriouswritings.proboards.com/thread/651/announcements-on-cowboy-treasure-hunt

[dj]

Wish we could find out something.

[Domino]

Stay tuned. I have gone through all my files and am putting together the solutions to the puzzles and the final solution. In the meantime, you can read Wade's account of the hunt.

It was quite a while ago when I went through all the mental processes for each thing included in this Cowboy treasure hunt. My mind has shifted back and forth in the waves of aging and how I attached importance to things in treasure hunts I have created, so bear with me. It was different times with different resources and different people truly working on armchair treasure hunts. I know that I wanted to appeal to every type of person with so many (too many) types of puzzles. Many of my notes are handwritten or image files which makes it hard to straight post to the forum.

working on it

Meanwhile, this map could have been used to get you close no matter what other puzzles you solved if you had the time and patience to search Google Maps all day and get lucky with the right area.


ROTATE

[Domino]

The State: Kentucky ( a few puzzle clues, here is one)
English editions of Scrabble contain 100 letter tiles, in the following distribution:
The Code
KENNTUCKY in English: 1126664212 "
No If’s, Ands or Buts" This distribution of letters has not changed since Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game in 1938.
a step further is a letter that represents that number to be converted into a scrabble #/letter solve. ALFFFDBAB or use the word #2 (pencil) in the story and add 2 to 1126664212 = 3348886434 changed to letters CCDHHHFDCD. Reverse to solve. Extra 6/N to draw attention to that because 6/T is the same
2 blank tiles
1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4
2 points: D ×4, G ×3
3 points: B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2
4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2
5 points: K ×1
8 points: J ×1, X ×1
10 points: Q ×1, Z ×1

The County: Trigg
The TRIG Clues
The door image with the figures near The Bone Yard referenced how you would solve passage width when 2 ladders lean in opposite directions across a passageway that crosses at a point above the floor.
Sine (Sign). Cosine (Co-Signed). Tangent ~ used in the text.


The Land Between the Lakes: The Math / Compass Problem – Use the Periodic Table to solve.
Neon – Ne – 10 – 20.180
Argon – Ar – 18 – 39.948

Lanthanum – La – 57 – 138.91
Potassium – K – 19 - 39.098
Einsteinium – Es – 99 – [252]

Beryllium – Be – 4 – 9.0122
Titanium – Ti – 22 – 47.867
Tungsten – W – 74 – 183.84
Nitrogen – N – 7 – 14.007

Lanthanum – La – 57 – 138.91
Neodymium – Nd – 60 – 144.24

[Domino]

Word Find

U P A T M R K Y E J
P S S V P Z W U Q H
A O K K R M H P L C
U G S Y E C M J E G
K E V I U K J S O R
E B N I Z W R U V Q
N V O J Y C Y Y R O
B Z Y X K M T O Y T
Y I O X E R R H M M
B L V C B O S B O J
Add a Caesar Shift of +6 (bold number on page) to each letter
cowboy
jungle
lyrics
memphis
singer
walking
O J U N G L E S Y D
J M M P J T Q O K B
U I E E L G B J F W
O A M S Y W G D Y A
E Y P C O E D M I L
Y V H C T Q L O P K
H P I D S W S S L I
V T S R E G N I S N
S C I R Y L L B G G
V F P W V I M V I D

Gives the song lyrics are one key to use in the Beale Cipher.
The other key is the "30B..." number and letters

Beale Cipher

Cowboy in the Jungle: Jimmy Buffett

It’s about intuition. Forget Island (treasure is not on one of the islands and, it is not on the tree that is like an island in the first field)

The original destination’s a place straight ahead (the treasure is further ahead than the first pull off. This clue should have been alluded to differently or the word straight never used. It implied you could go straight from the wrong tree to the correct tree or a road when straight when in fact it did wind some before at the correct tree location)

ten foot distance south (the tree is 10 feet south of the treasure location when used with the next clue it should put you right on top of the rocks/treasure, should the approach have come in from another direction)
count out five or six across (it is 5 or 6 steps across the woods from the dirt road to the clearing)

Roll steel and whatever white (most likely the clue that stumped most treasure hunters that got close (it was an extra on location clue for an “ah ha”) was placed at the island wrong tree. It was originally a horseshoe with white paint and white-coded lettering to turn over warning that this was not the correct location but close. On checking on the treasure one summer, it was discovered that the horseshoe was no longer there. Thoughts that either a treasure hunter had gotten close and retrieved it -excitement diminished when the treasure was still there - or that the park/contractors/volunteers that did upkeep on that field had found it or taken it thinking it trash (it was up under rose bushes so it has always seemed odd this was found and not by a treasure hunter). Since there was not another horseshoe available to remedy this clue for future treasure hunters, a field-expedient-horseshoe was created using barbed wire and a piece of wood found near the site. It was placed further up in the rose bushes of that tree and camouflaged better. This was still there the last time the treasure was verified. It also lasted through at least 3 times treasure hunters communicated from that location. It was never found. A ton of work on both ends of the treasure hunting spectrum for no results.

Best plowin straight down (double meaning, yes dig straight down however, if you did end up at the wrong tree -the island tree – you realize it is down the other bottle to the real tree location as if you did a straight shot)

Where ride passage came twenty four too (double meaning also and two towns) sixty into town (treasure is located this distance from the nearest towns)

Control ambition and hunches (be mindful of everything and control emotions when at location)

Out looks don’t be caught (bring someone or be careful to watch while you dig out the treasure)

30B27E21E51A36J42F11C11D1B2G35B22C15G15H23E5B41C8F33G33H33I24E48C23A4A50E4E19C35A22B28G43E15D40E19F46C46D38A46H1D31C30G14E20E54A18E9D2C36B39D29C

1There's a cowboy in the jungle
2And he looks so out of place
3With his shrimp-skin boots and his cheap cheroots
4And his skin as white as paste

5Headin' south to paraguay
6Where the gauchos sing and shout
7Now he's stuck in porto bello
8Since his money all ran out
9So he hangs out with the sailors
10Night and day they're raisin' hell
11And his original destination's just another
12Story that he loves to tell

13With no plans for the future
14He still seems in control
15From a bronco ride to a ten foot tide
16He just had to learn to roll

17Roll with the punches
18Play all of his hunches
19Make the best of whatever came his way
20What he lacked in ambition
21He made up with intuition
22Plowing straight ahead come what may

23Steel band in the distance
24And their music floats across the bay
25While american women in moomoos
26Talk about all the things they did today

27And their husbands quack about fishing
28As they slug those rum drinks down
29Discussing who caught what and who sat on his butt
30But it's the only show in town.

31They're tryin' to drink all the punches
32They all may lose their lunches
33Tryin' to cram lost years into five or six days
34Seems that blind ambition erased their intuition
35Plowin' straight ahead come what may.

36I don't want to live on that kind of island
37No I don't want to swim in a roped off sea
38Too much for me, too much for me
39I've got to be where the wind and the water are free.

40Alone on a midnight passage
41I can count the falling stars
42While the southern cross and the satellites
43They remind me of where we are
44Spinning around in circles
45Living it day to day
46And still twenty four hours may be sixty good years
47It's still not that long a stay.

48We've gotta roll with the punches
49Learn to play all of our hunches
50Makin' the best of whatever comes your way
51Forget that blind ambition
52And learn to trust your intuition
53Plowin' straight ahead come what may
54And there's a cowboy in the jungle

[Domino]

Underlines on one of the pages are a Red Herring.
ERLYEKIXYTUYIEKJ are the letters immediately after the underlined portion which, when shifted, spells Obvioushideisout Obvious Hide is Out…which spells OHIO, where it is most assuredly was not the location of the treasure.

There were many others thrown in with intended and unintended misspellings and other intentional things that looked like puzzles/clues.

This was many years ago. This creator has come to know that you do not need to intentionally put in red herrings as treasure hunters create their own through the process of solving what is there for solving.

[Domino]

Periodic Table: TWO RIVERS N ClUE

TI= Thallium 81
W= Tungsten 74
OS=Osmium 76
R(n)= Radon 86
V= Vanadium 23
ER+ Rhenium 75
(8)1-747-686-2375

Solution: #2 X 4 =8 Then place symbols in order from biggest to smallest (81-747-686-2375), decipher that these are numbers hidden in the Mini Pics Red Rock Font. Then one must deduce that they are numbers for elements in the Periodic table. Use the letters in the elements to spell out the clue above.

[Domino]

On the same page as the hand-drawn map were two other puzzles.
Here is the Bacon Cipher
Not In N.C. (North Carolina)
N ABBAA – ABBA album that started with an A- Arrival
O ABBAB- Watch Out - song of ABBA B-side
T BAABA- First letters. Be A, A Better Animal (this is most likely the dead give-away for the bacon)
I ABAAA- Albuquerque, Barre (both Triple A baseball league teams), a whole other league = AAA
N ABBAA- Chiquitita - song of ABBA, A side
N ABBAA- Money, Money, Money = $,$,$ - song of ABBA, A side
C AAABA- Irvine is AAA headquarters and BA for Broken Arrow

[Domino]

Braille Code was the box of images. Smiley/Star/Heart = small dot; Bolt/Hex/Not = big dot

(LOOK) (FOR A) (BEAL)(E IN A) (SONG) (JCBJ)

JCBJ- Scrambled for Jimmy Buffett Cowboy Jungle

[Domino]

Playfair Cipher: Look for old rivers = HW VN LE NQ WH IX HX DS RY
Done with SMILEY FACES for an overlay to reveal the letters. The Set that is with Cowboy on Horse puzzle goes with a page (1st five sets HW VN LE NQ WH IX HX DS RY) The hint is Two Back as in two horse backs…2 back from that page.

Mustering Chapter has placard names that match names in the Turkey Creek Cemetery that is southeast of the treasure tree location


Puzzles to Use with Other Things
Mustering Chapter with block of 6 symbols is a Braille puzzle with 3 symbols equaling large raised dots and 3 equaling small dots/nils

Digraph Cipher = GZEONEBKOIADWMAAYJ
Converted to Mini Pics Red Rock | the characters (Mini’s) are on Chapter Headings
Thrsacowbyndjungl

Keyword –MOONBOW Hints are in book.
Lookforominousmoonbow- Homophonic Cipher Use Associative words or objects that represent each number representing each letter.

[Domino]

Branding Iron Code:

I took a pic of branding symbols while out in the western US on an adventure and used that to formulate a crude alphabet. Wade got the gist of what I tried to imbed in the book. How to rotate, what to eliminate, and a visual to actual alphabet clue was included.
-
If you once turned a left-handed glove inside out it will fit right on the other hand.
If thieves came to U- If robbers by night...O how U would B ruined! (the U = I)
There are ones that must leave before you if you are to discover the six that remain.

One puzzle's solution was; BLUEGRASSSTATE
-