Here, unlike Klein’s interpretation, it’s thought that “ascend the 92” refers to Lake Park’s 92 stairs on Lincoln Memorial Drive (“cast in copper” could refer to Lincoln’s visage on a penny). The most common interpretation of the poem’s clues bring keyseekers to Lake Park, and that’s where Renner led Gates back in 2017. When Expedition Unknown decided to feature a search for The Secret’s treasure, they brought Renner with them to Milwaukee. He followed clues around the country and interviewed the Preiss family, the artists who worked on the book, and the fortunate few who found the treasures in Chicago and Cleveland. It took him about 10 years, but in 2014 Renner moved forward with filming (though the film still has not been released). “I thought, someone should make a documentary about this,” says Renner. Renner’s journey into The Secret started in 2004 when he saw a report about the two lawyers who found Cleveland’s treasure in the Greek Cultural Garden, about five miles from where Renner was working at the time. “It does get its hooks in you: It’s hard to stop thinking about it,” says James Renner, a journalist from Akron, Ohio. Tom Klein and his father explore Mitchell International Airport looking for clues to The Secret’s hidden treasure, a ceramic “casque” the book’s author, Byron Preiss, buried some 40 years ago. Like many others, they had high hopes of entering that rare pantheon of those who have found The Secret’s buried treasure. ![]() “Something else has to fit.” He assembled a team of “keyseekers,” (as devotees of the hunt are called) which included his dad, friends, and Westenberger, his partner of 14 years who shares his love of games and puzzles. “I was like, absolutely not, he’s not even in the right park, what is he doing?” Klein says of his reaction. ![]() Klein wasn’t impressed with Gates’s interpretation of the clues, which led his team to Lake Park, a 138-acre stretch of land on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Klein, who often watches treasure hunting shows with his father, was first introduced to The Secret when the pair caught an episode of Expedition Unknown and were surprised to see host Josh Gates on the trail of a treasure right in their own backyard. The pair have spent years searching for Milwaukee’s treasure. But that’s only the beginning of Klein and Westenberger’s code-cracking as their next clue leads them back into snowy downtown. “ Ascend the 92 steps, after climbing the grand 200…the address here is 200 Grand Avenue.” Plankinton Arcade is between the 100 and 200 blocks of Wisconsin Avenue, formerly called Grand Avenue until 1926. “23 times 4? 92,” Klein says, pointing again to the poem. He pantomimes throwing a penny into Plankinton’s fountain, which has a smattering of coins at the bottom. “Cast into copper,” Klein says, pointing out a line in the poem. A Flemish Revival-style building constructed in 1895, the city hall is a heritage landmark listed on the national register of historic places. Klein believes a secret treasure is buried near the Milwaukee City Hall. Behind the juggler is a tower that is the same shape as the Milwaukee City Hall. Klein points to the clues in the painting associated with Milwaukee, which depicts a person in a blue cloak juggling a millstone, walking stick, and key: “Mill-walk-key,” Klein explains. But Klein and Westenberger think they’ve finally solved the 41-year-old treasure hunt. One of the undiscovered casques is believed to be somewhere in Milwaukee-where, however, is a mystery. There will be no further clues from Preiss himself, who died in a car accident in 2005. Since the book’s publication, only three treasures have been found in Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston. But Preiss made the puzzles too difficult. In exchange for a key, Preiss would give successful treasure hunters a precious jewel from a trove worth some $10,000 collectively. ![]() Published in 1982, The Secret features illustrations and poems that offer clues to 12 hidden treasures-ceramic “casques” with an enclosed key-buried in cities across North America. “Yeah,” she replies, unzipping a backpack and pulling out a well-worn copy of The Secret: A Treasure Hunt by author Byron Preiss. Reaching the bottom, he turns to his partner, Molly Westenberger. In the center of the stairwells is a statue of the building’s namesake, businessman John Plankinton, at the base of which is a fountain. Klein heads for a circle of four staircases that twist their way down to the building’s lower level. A light snow is falling as Tom Klein leads the way into Milwaukee’s Plankinton Arcade building, a cavernous space with marble floors and a large skylight that first opened as a shopping plaza in 1916 and has recently been converted into apartments.
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