Emily Chan
Located on the red sandstone rocks along the Lawrence Brook in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are some strange symbols and words.
The cryptic carvings date back to 1876 and contain the names and initials of the authors, images of skulls and crossbones, the words “Red Rover,” navigational coordinates, and other mysterious etchings.
Elias Suydam and Henry Monroe Danbury chiseled these markings into the rocks more than a hundred years ago. Their names were carved above the symbols and were found in census records, which showed they were residents of New Brunswick at the time.
Researchers compared the carvings to engravings on headstones from that time period and found that their carving styles were very similar. This led them to believe that the authors of the symbols might’ve been tombstone carvers by trade.
But to this day, no one has been able to decipher the meaning of the inscriptions or determine why they made them in the first place.
One theory is that the carvings are a treasure map. A local historian named Ann Alvarez linked the words “Red Rover” to the title of a fictional book about pirates written by James Fenimore Cooper that was popular at the time.
Another set of carvings was found farther down along the Raritan River on what is referred to as “Dock Rock.” In the past, the area was part of a steamboat dock. Adam Hyler, a whaleboat captain, had owned a house nearby. During the Revolutionary War, he and his crew would capture British ships on behalf of America.
Hyler was considered to be a real-life pirate by many people and can be connected to “Red Rover.” Based on this evidence, it is a possibility that the peculiar carvings allude to Hyler and a secret treasure he buried at the site.
Over the years, many of the carvings have eroded, making it even more difficult to figure out their true meaning, and any valuable treasure has yet to be discovered.
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