Zol zayn mit mazel ! Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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The cache is not at the posted coordinates,
which would lead you to the location of the Brooks Arcade, one of the more
prominent landmarks associated with the story of this cache. Solve the
puzzle below to find it!
In the fall of 1866, following two high-profile unsolved murders of
non-Mormons who married girls of Mormon extraction, the tensions between the LDS and
'Gentile' communities flared up. The Gentile (i.e. non-LDS) merchants feared about their safety, and about a possibility of a sustained Mormon boycott. Already, during Conference days, Salt Lake City police would prevent customers from visiting non-Mormon stores.
On the 20th of December, some of the local Jewish shopkeepers (including the Kahns, the Auerbachs, the
Siegels, L.Cohn, and C. Prag) signed the Petition of Gentile Merchants. They offered to sell their properties and merchandise
at a discount, and to leave the Territory. Brigham Young has publicly
rebuffed them the following day. But the implication was clear that with a better enforced boycott, the hostile non-Mormon merchants will have to pack up and leave.
The campaign geared up slowly. By 1868, the Mormon-owned shops were ordered to display a sign with the all-seeing eye and an inscription "Holiness to Lord". The Jewish business were hit very hard, but the death knell was yet to come. The following year, Mormon-owned stores joined together into Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (the predecessor of the modern ZCMI chain).
During these hard times, Brigham Young quietly settled with two Jewish business families, who
declined to sign the politically charged petition of 1866 (the Ransohoffs and the
Reggels). Personal connections with Brigham Young also helped two other prominent Jewish families to weather the boycott, even though both were forced out of retail sector in Salt Lake City. The Auerbach
family (who would later extend a discrete line of credit to their
benefactor, no questions asked) moved bulk of their operations to Corinne. The Brooks family, who first moved to Utah back in 1853, diversified into rentals, with the blessing of Brigham Young. Later on, they built the Brooks Arcade building at the corner of 3rd South and State St., which remains one of the most conspicuous reminders of the XIX century Jewish business community.
Throughout years 1868 through 1869, as the ZCMI was shaping up and as the smaller
Jewish businesses folded, their owners left. The old image of the Star of
David with barely legible inscriptions (of which a computerized
reconstruction appears below) is thought to date back to this bleak period.
Most likely, its message is encrypted with the use of a rotating Star of
David key. The key is thought to have a series of 18 holes. The owner of the key
would position it over the encrypted message and read the 18 letters as they
appear in the holes. One would then rotate the mask clockwise, and read
the next set of 18 letters, and so on. Unfortunately, the key has never been
found, and the historians have so far been unable to decrypt the meaning
of this document. But even though the key is missing, the task is not as
hard as it seems.
We revisited the site with Jasmine recently & didn't find any treasure
besides a perfect doggie trail and a fantastic view ( we could even see the
posted location of this puzzle down below! ). But having decoded the
somewhat mean-spirited message of the old merchant, we were almost certain
that we won't find geld up there. Try your luck though. Even if you
don't find the original 1860s stash, you have a great shot at a gallon-size
jar of goodies which we hid at the location. The contents included a Jeep TB
and Blackie
the Cach-U-Nut. Thanks Middle for the inspiration!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ghpxrq haqre byq zg znubtnal ebbg