Kelly Wakefield, a professional gardener, was doing her spring cleanup of a public park in St. Albans, Vt., when she stumbled upon a mysterious metal box under a pile of leaves.
She shook the box and heard the telltale jangle of coins.
“I didn’t really know what to do,” she said on Sunday, recalling the discovery.
She opened the metal box and was floored by the bounty inside. She ran to her truck and drove straight to her mother’s house. What exactly had she found? Was any of it real? Did she need a lawyer?
Ms. Wakefield, 46, soon learned that she had stumbled upon a treasure chest intentionally hidden by Michael Cloherty O’Connell, the author of two history books that led readers on scavenger hunts around the Northeast.
The box contained various coins, antiques, a Civil War-era bullet, a map and a note from the author himself. It is now in a safe deposit box, Ms. Wakefield said, and has yet to be appraised. (She’ll get to it eventually, she said.)
The creator of this treasure hunt, Mr. O’Connell, is a 66-year-old, recently retired history buff who took money out of his retirement funds to create multistate treasure hunts guided by his two books. One of his books, “Lady Liberty’s Treasure Hunt,” is aimed at adults, and the other, “Riley’s Treasure Chase,” at children.
Collectively, the hidden chests have antiques worth upward of $100,000, he said, though that has not been independently verified by The New York Times. He declined to say how many chests he had hidden; nearly 10 have been found, he said.
Mr. O’Connell encouraged treasure hunters to read his books carefully for clues.
“I wanted it to be a little more cryptic so it would be more fun,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a journey of discovery for the treasure searchers.”
It’s also a way to engage readers with American history, Mr. O’Connell said. He was encouraged to pen his own work after having a long conversation with David Hackett Fischer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
But Mr. O’Connell, who speaks about American history with an enthusiasm that rivals that of Bill Nye when it comes to science, knew a history book could be a hard sell, he said.
The author, a longtime scouts leader who had held a variety of jobs including working for a sheriff, stared at his bookshelf and brainstormed ways to bring history to life. He was inspired by other authors who had created treasure hunts for their readers.
In 1993, Régis Hauser, a French author, penned a book encouraging readers to search for a golden owl, which was not found until last year, 31 years after publication. In 2010, Forrest Fenn’s “The Thrill of the Chase” provided clues to a chest full of gold nuggets and jewels in the Rocky Mountains. It was found in 2020.
More recently, there has been an audience for activities like Pokémon Go, an augmented-reality game that fuses digital technology with the physical world, and geocaching, which allows people to look for hidden treasures in public places.
After having a conversation with his wife, Mr. O’Connell pulled money out of his retirement savings and went shopping to add to his own trove of collectibles. His family, including his four children, were skeptical at first.
“They were like ‘Dad, you’ll never get that money back,’” Mr. O’Connell said.
He conceded that his project chewed into each child’s inheritance, but insisted that his project was “bigger than me.”
He purchased a variety of antiques, including 17th-century English and Irish coins that would allow him to put on a meaningful, historical hunt. Each chest would be packed with some antiques from his personal collection, some newly purchased collectibles and a congratulatory note with his contact information.
He sprinkled clues into his books between the history lessons, hoping that families would learn about historical sites before going to visit them in person.
Many have shared their treasure-hunting stories anonymously on Discord, a messaging service. Mr. O’Connell has popped in to remind people of the ground rules: No winter searching. Stay positive. And for goodness’ sake, let the kids find the treasures from the children’s book.
Of the people who have found treasure boxes across the Northeast, only Ms. Wakefield has shared her identity publicly.
It’s a wonder she found it by accident. Most treasures are hidden somewhere with historical significance, and Ms. Wakefield’s workplace, the gardens of St. Albans, are home to a famous 1864 raid by Confederate soldiers who sneaked into the United States from Canada.
Ms. Wakefield is also no stranger to a good hunt. She enjoys geocaching, a hide-and-seek game powered by GPS technology, she said, as well as learning about local history. In October 2024, while gardening in the same area, she found a rock with a skull and crossbones, a clue left by Mr. O’Connell. She didn’t realize what she had found. And by chance, her brother-in-law had gifted her one of Mr. Connelly’s books for Christmas that year.
She made the connections only after finding the metal box, and now, she said, “I’m hooked!”
“If I have time this summer, I’m going treasure hunting,” she said.
That was exactly Mr. O’Connell’s hope: He wants to get people excited about being outdoors and learning about U.S. history before July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of American independence.
“If I’m helping America or making the country a better place in my small way,” he said, “maybe it will ripple across time, like throwing a rock in a pond.”
Talya Minsberg is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news.
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