How do you define "a sense of humor"?
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I think that humor is a big part of this "mystery".
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J. Hayden
I don't expect to convince you.
I only hope to explain, with some level of success, what it is that I see as one very real possibility.
Regarding a "viable motive"... that is a conversation for the campfire, among friend.
But look at the clipping below.
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Halseth was trusted, and not just by those closest to him.
OK, except by Hayden.
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J. Hayden
Odd was the "
Indian's Banker".
Look at how many recordings he made of Native American chants, dances, stories, and secrets.
Secrets.
Some so important that Odd refused to allow public access to them..
"some will never be heard".
A promise he had made to friends.
What could those recordings possibly tell us?
One story that not many know about.
One evening a young man was caught listening in on the conversation of a gathering of Indian men.
The group may have been something similar to the Freemasons, but in the Indian way.
It is not clear.
It was decided that the risk was far too great to allow the young man to remain alive and so, the group elected the young man to be killed.
Somehow, someway, Odd intervened and saved the young man from death.
Now, if the story is correct, and I believe it to be so, than that indicates that Odd was someone influential among the nations.
Someone who a native could trust to preserve and protect a secret.
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I am not sure why you are so quick to dismiss the man.
He has many, many connections to the stones.
They are circumstantial connections, yes, but there are so many they can not be ignored.
IMO- It would be a mistake to remove Odd from the list of "possible suspects".
From the AZ Republic
"Work At Ruins Is Reviewed"
"Odd Halseth, city archaeologist, yesterday outlined some of the work done at Pueblo Grand Museum....
.. at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Phoenix ___ Club in Masonic Temple.
... The club made plans for a trip Friday, Saturday and Sunday over the Tonto National Forest with F. Lee Kirby, forest supervisor. The groups itinerary will include Ashdale, Bloody Basin, Cord_s, Camp Verde, Fossil Creek, Pine, Tonto Natural Bridge, a trip over the service control road under the Mogollon Rim, Payson, Young...Roosevelt Dam and return via the Apache Trail".
So, here we have a few connections to consider first.
Where/what was the suggested source of the stones use to make the maps (suggested by DA)?
Why was this club meeting in Masonic Temple?
He lecture at Masonic Temple.
He was a member of many groups, including the Dons.
He traveled to many of the places involved in this story.
He was trusted and respected.
He was a novice artist and married to a successful artist.
If you can keep an open mind, there might be enough to keep you reading.
This is just the beginning.
About the many artistic influences in his life.
One of the most influential was his first wife.
The artist Emma May Scofield, an award winning sculptor and painter.
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Yellow Sky - Gold Medal 1915
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