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CLUE 1
Last year’s rich bounty was found in the county
A new park for all to explore
This year’s bauble will cause you no trouble
If the rules are kept in the fore
Explainer: We remind hunters that last year’s medallion was found in a county park outside the city that had never been used in the hunt before – just like this year! “Fore” hints that golf courses – White Bear Yacht Club and Dellwood Country Club – are in the area where the medallion is hidden, but we are reminded they are off-limits according to the Treasure Hunt rules.
CLUE 2
Some may well kvetch that the horizon’s sketch
Has artifacts rather than trees
But if you follow the plan pure gold you will pan
And life will be but a breeze
Explainer: “Horizon, sketch and artifacts” all refer to the downtown St. Paul skyline that is etched on this year’s medallion. Life becoming “but a breeze” hints at the resorts and vacation homes that once populated the Bald Eagle Lake area, where the medallion is hidden; also, the local newspaper used to be called The Lake Breeze.
CLUE 3
Old Ma Press has moved her nest
Cross the water from her former home
From the top of her perch you may want to search
For a playground that’s fit to roam
Explainer: Old Ma Press — the St. Paul Pioneer Press — moved its headquarters across the Mississippi late last year. One of the earliest settlers on and promoters of Bald Eagle Lake worked at the Minnesota Pioneer, one of the forerunners of the Pioneer Press, according to a recent presentation on the area’s history. “Nest” and “perch” suggest a bird – in this case, the bald eagle. Another famous “old ma” also had a home that overlooked water – Ma Barker of the notorious Barker Boys gang, who lived in a summer cottage on Bald Eagle Lake; her perch or nest was across the water from the playground where the medallion is hidden.
CLUE 4
The spot this year goes well with beer
And water in great profusion.
But when the crowd is a bit too loud
It offers quiet seclusion.
Explainer: In 1933, Ma Barker and her gang rented a cottage on Bald Eagle Lake and kidnapped William Hamm Jr., the president of Hamm’s Brewery, for a $100,000 ransom. Also, the first road to the area, petitioned in 1857, extended from the Hamm’s Brewery to Bald Eagle Lake — which has a secluded island in the middle.
CLUE 5
If young Huck Finn had a boy twin
He might have camped here awhile
Like him you’re wishin’ that with good luck fishin’
You’ll find treasure to keep you in style.
Explainer: Camping and fishing suggest a resort area, which Bald Eagle used to be – and still is a good area for camping and fishing. Huck Finn’s creator, Mark Twain, mentioned a resort in nearby White Bear Lake in his “Life on the Mississippi.” “Boy” invokes Bald Eagle Island in Bald Eagle Lake, which used to be called Boy Island when it was the site of a boys’ summer camp.
CLUE 6
Man against beast, or that tale at least
Is being told and with much spirit.
If hunting’s just you and a man or two
Listen close so that you can hear it.
Explainer: Any reader of Mark Twain knows the story of White Bear Lake and Manitou – or “Great Spirit” – Island and the brave who killed a white bear there to save his maiden love. We ask the hunters to “listen close” to hear the name of the island in the line before: “man or two.” White Bear Lake and Manitou are near Bald Eagle, where the medallion is hidden.
CLUE 7
The wait is long and the siren song
Calls people summer to spring.
Ticket in hand, go find the land
Where the route takes to the wing.
Explainer: “Summer to spring” is a reference to Four Seasons Park on the south side of Bald Eagle Lake, just off the rail line summer vacationers took to White Bear and Bald Eagle lakes. Adjacent Eagle Street leads north to the lake and nearby Idlewild Cottage.
CLUE 8
Keep your attention rapt and you’ll be apt
To find the medallion, it’s clear
Just follow the map – don’t take a nap!
To see that the X marks here
Explainer: “Clear” refers to the clear newspaper sleeve the medallion is hidden in. Rapt suggests raptor, which suggests eagle or Bald Eagle, the name of the park where it is hidden.
CLUE 9
A place for the dogs, lined by pollywogs,
Will bring you closer yet.
So if you veer very far from here;
You’ll end up with a nap that is wet.
Explainer: The Bald Eagle-Otter Lake Regional Park has a popular dog park with marshland and ponds nearby, teeming with frogs in the spring and summer; also, Bald Eagle Lake is shaped like a pollywog. Go beyond this park, though, and you might find the medallion, wrapped in a moist towelette.
The election goes on, our misery prolonged
Til payday for the winning party
Tall and delicate, will a broke delegate
Cast a ballot for greed or tea?
Explainer: We commiserate with hunters about the long election season, while giving them an anagram in the last line that spells out the name of the prize location: “ballot greed tea” spells “Bald Eagle Otter.”
CLUE 10
Don’t be careless and venture out hairless
In temperatures bound to freeze-bite
Fly straight as an arrow and down in your marrow
You’ll trust that the goods are in sight.
Explainer: “Hairless” suggests “bald,” while “flying straight” and “trust” suggests America’s bird, the bald eagle.
Work without thanks is sticking up banks
Even if the fuzz has your back
Idle at the lake, a short respite to take
It’s a good place to set a sack.
Explainer: Idlewild Cottage, once used by Ma Barker, sits on the southeast corner of Bald Eagle Lake. The gang got tired of sticking up banks and decided to get into kidnapping, first businessman Hamm and then banker Edward Bremer, whose family owned Schmidt Brewing Co. “The fuzz” refers to the police – specifically, corrupt police Chief Tom Brown, who gave gangsters a safe haven in St. Paul. “Idle” hints at the cottage, and “sack” gives a nod to the bag the medallion is hidden in.
CLUE 11
An ink-stained wretch, not apt to kvetch
Sited a plat along the wood.
Over a cigar, under northern star,
Now it’s lit up pretty good.
Explainer: The clue refers to the Solheim House just east of the dog park, on Bald Eagle Lake. It overlooks Cigar Island and was built by the Norwegian immigrant and newspaperman Engelbrecht H. Hobe.
Be straight of stride, or float your ride,
N-no sputtering about.
Son if you’ve starred flipping card for a bard,
You’ll know you’re on the right route.
Explainer: Benson Airport, Benson Point (the first words/letters of first three lines spell BENSON) and Highway 61 (a Dylan reference) are landmarks near the medallion.
CLUE 12
You’ve made it this far, by plane, sled or car
To the shores of Bald Eagle Lake.
Park at the boat ramp, pull on boots and decamp.
Follow the path north toward the take.
To your left it’ll get airy, where there’s restored prairie.
So get on the trail heading west.
Tramp into the woods if you’re after the goods
And draft folks that know Benson’s Point best.
Once you’re well in the trees, and the snowy trail Ts,
Head 170 paces to your left.
Then continue low or high, and here’s the reason why –
The trails meet up for the deft.
From there go 40 paces, then it’s off to the races.
A small trail goes down to the right.
Where a large tree is uprooted, is a place well-suited.
For a PiPress sleeve, with the puck — found tonight?
Explainer: With the final clue, we reveal the site of the 2016 Treasure Hunt medallion: Bald Eagle-Otter Lake Regional Park at the northern edge of Ramsey County. Once connected by trolley and rail lines to St. Paul and Minneapolis — and now by airport — the lake has long been a place for city dwellers to escape the noise of the cities.
In order, the stanzas direct hunters to park at the boat ramp on Bald Eagle, then go on a little hike north to a restored prairie. By following the main path west, hunters head toward the woods on Benson Point — namesake to the family that used to farm the peninsula. When the trail ends at a T-intersection just inside the woods, hunters need to go left for 170 paces. At that point, the trail splits. Follow either path — they both meet up again at the top of a hill. Continue on another 40 paces and look for a small path down to the right. Keep on going until a large, uprooted tree is visible to the right. The medallion, with the St. Paul city skyline etched into it, is hidden to the left of the roots in a Pioneer Press newspaper sleeve, along with a moist towelette.
Copyright 2016 Pioneer Press.
