Forrest Fenn Treasure:

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Featured Questions with Forrest (2014)

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forrest fenn and jenny kile
Forrest with my husband and I at the recent 17′ Fennboree

Over the years, I have posted Questions and Answers from searchers of the Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt on my site.  This was so everyone could share in the information or stories Forrest Fenn was sharing to others.  Although all don’t pertain specifically to the treasure, Forrests’ answers give a glimpse into his thoughts, life, and how he thinks. Besides being enjoyable, his answers might help us learn a bit about him and how he thinks, which in turn might help us understand the The Poem leading to the treasure chest.

Here are all the Featured Questions from 2014 on one  page for your convenience (with the dated links to the original for reading of comments).

Posted July 2nd, 2014:

“Mr Fenn, of all the things you have done in your life, what is it you regret the most?”  ~Matt  

I have many regrets Matt, and to reveal a few I have to expose one of my fault lines.

I regret that I’m not a cello player. I think the music from that instrument is the most soothing. It also may be healing. I would be the world’s greatest cellist were it not for talent because I have everything else, desire, patience, motivation, willingness…Once, in the starry-dark of night, I heard a cello in the far-faint distance. It sounded like the moan of a mountain wind beaconing me.

I regret that I waste so much time. I’m horribly inefficient and that means at times I’m lazy. There are three books in my computer that probably won’t be finished, although Closet Stories of Taos might be my best writing effort. It’s about 60% complete. At the bottom of my thoughts it seems so empty now. Perhaps I’ve reached the point in my life where I’m more interested in the pie crust than the filling.

I regret that I wasn’t able to start thinking earlier in my life. My time in the Air Force was regimented. For twenty-years I leased my life to a cause and there was little personal time to think for my own benefit. The morning after my retirement I got out of bed at 0500 and my wife asked where I was going? I realized that I didn’t have any place to go and it was a shock. So I crawled back into bed and started thinking, and I made a rule. From now on I would wake 0700 every morning and do nothing but think in bed until 0800. My mind would be fresh, the phone wouldn’t ring and nobody would knock on my door. That may be the best decision I ever made as so many good ideas have come to me during that hour. Maybe someone will ask me about one of those ideas.

I regret that I didn’t spend more time with my parents, especially after they reached their middle 70s and later. I was trying to build a business and perhaps my sense of propriety was fading with the hardship of toil. How punitive it seems to me now. It sure would be nice to do those years over.

I regret that I use the word I too much when I write. I could fix my sentences if I’d just take the time to do it but I tell myself that no one will read what I say anyway so why should I worry about it.f

Posted July 4th, 2014:

I have a question for Forrest. Do you have another story, not in your book, that you remember your dad or mom telling that has kept with you all these years, and would you be willing to tell it? ~ Fran

I love questions like that Fran, because they make me think. I remember one time when my dad owned a small cabin camp (they call them motels now) on Boundary Street in West Yellowstone, MT, and we lived for three months each year in several small rooms out behind.

At age about six or so I was playing outside and my mom heard me laughing. She was just inside the screen door and yelled at me, “Forrest, what are you doing?” I said, “nothing mom, just shooting at a bear.” She suggested something to the effect that I should try not to get my clothes dirty. After a few more minutes she walked out and looked at me. I had a little bow and arrow set; and the arrows had round red plungers on the tip so that when I licked them and shot at a wall, the arrow would stick to it.

But a tiny black bear cub was about five feet up a tree and I was standing almost beside it shooting arrows that bounced off it’s hair. It was great fun picking the arrows up and shooting the bear again, and again. He just looked at me in total bewilderment, but I think he enjoyed the attention.

My mom scarfed me up and ran in the house and slammed the door. For the next few minutes she explained that the cute little cub’s mommy was probably around there some place and she might not appreciate me trying to kill her son. “Besides,” she said, “killing bears is against the law and I was lucky the sheriff didn’t see me because the food in the jail was terrible and they didn’t serve hot dogs,” or words to that effect.

Black bears were numerous around town in those days and I don’t remember anyone being hurt by them. Grizzlies were different and we didn’t mess around with those guys.f

July 22nd, 2014:

Forrest, next month you’ll be 84 years old and that’s an age when most normal people start to slow down. You seem to be pretty vigorous so I wonder if there’s something special you’d like to do or place you’d like to visit while you still can. Is that something you think about? ~ Jenny

Sure it is Jenny. Thanks for the question. I think about it all the time and if I live another 84 years I hope to check a few things off of my list. One for sure. I want to go back to Montana and visit some of the places I used to haunt during my formulating years. I may do that in September if I can sneak away. One day my dad and I were talking with Concy Wood, our special fishing buddy. Dad said, “Let’s go fish Rumbaugh Creek.” Concy smiled, and replied, “No flies on that.” (It’s an old Texas folk phrase.)

Rumbaugh Creek was on the South Fork side of Hebgen Lake and a few big trout were always cruising around that place looking for fresh food coming in with the mountain stream. I’d like to go back there one last time and take a folding chair.  Maybe I’ll also take a pimento cheese sandwich and a fried pineapple pie.  If I don’t get back up there, and I probably won’t, I hope one of your readers will visit that place for me, and send me one last drink of water from Rumbaugh Creek. I’d go to Watkins Creek too. f

Posted July 24th, 2014:

Hi Forrest,
I think all of us at one time or another dream about being someone else or wish to have lived in a different time. You have said you were born 100 years too late. If you could live a wish for one day, what would you ask for? Or an era, religious views aside? ~ Jeanie

Jeanie, you sure ask interesting questions and this one reminds me of the illiterate Greek who was offered one wish. He could have anything he wanted. So Socrates asked for wisdom, and as soon as he said it he knew he should have asked for money. There are so many people I’d like to be for one day.

I wish I could be Adolph Hitler on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland, so I could have taken poison 11 years earlier than he did. Or I’d wish to be JFK on November 22, 1963 so I could reverse my decision to visit Dallas.

There are so many others, and as for an era. I would like to know the biographies of all my ancestors, starting with the very first one. Where did it all start for me, and with whom? I’d hope there is a pirate in there somewhere. Do you think that’s asking for too much?f

Posted July 25th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, you were in the business of buying and selling antiques for many years. The history of an object is very important to its value. How were you able to always determine that what you sold was authentic? ~Martha A. from Peoria.

You’re really putting me on the spot Martha A, from Peoria, and what you say is true. Sometimes you just have to go with a gut instinct and have faith in human nature. No one can be an expert on every subject, and it pays to have a little street moxie. Experience helps also.

Once a trader named Alphonse came to see me. He always had a few interesting antiques and I enjoy bartering with him. This time he offered me what he said was Napoleon’s skull and he wanted $10,000 for it. The poor thing was about the size of an orange so I said, indignantly, “That can’t be Napoleon’s skull, it’s much too small.” He replied, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, it’s Napoleon’s skull when he was a kid.” My granddaughter didn’t believe his story and advised me not to buy it. I always do what she says.

That story reminds me of something that happened a few years ago. I’ve learned to look at traders with a jaundiced eye, but am cognizant that provenience is important.

So when Alfredo Luciana offered me the knife that killed Caesar and showed me a notarized letter from an important Italian general, I was suitably impressed. The letter certified that the knife had been in a secret vault in the Vatican since the 15th of March, 44BC. I was writing a check for a lot of money when my granddaughter said the blood on the blade smelled like catsup. I later bought her some bubble gum.

So Martha, when someone wants to sell you something you like, but about which you know very little, ask him to give you a money-back guarantee as to its authenticity. Or have a smart granddaughter.f

Posted August 4th, 2014:

Is there a particular piece of art that has passed through your hands that you wish you still had and why? ~markj

I wish you’d not reminded me markj; there were so many paintings I wish we’d kept. The fact is, I wanted to keep a lot of things, but, I needed to sell them to keep going. A retail business lives on cash flow and I was always checking our accounts receivables to see if we were going to make payroll at the end of the month without going to the bank. Sometimes it was uncomfortable but we always made it. I really hated borrowing money and always thought we couldn’t lose our business if we didn’t owe money. Once, I did borrow a few bucks from a friend to get out of debt.f

Posted August 6th, 2014:

Other than the poem describing how to locate the Trove and one of its purposes to encourage people to get out of the house and away from electronics, is the poem designed to convey a deeper significance? Is there a subtle message you are sharing with the reader and hope they realize? ~ Seeker

No Seeker,
The poem is straight forward with no subterfuge in sight. Someone in an email asked me if I didn’t know where the treasure was, and could have the answer to any clue in the poem, which would I choose. I think that question is so funny and it makes me wonder how Jenny’s readers might answer it.f

Posted August 9th, 2014:

I would like to know how Forrest chose to open an art gallery. Did Forrest or Peggy have an interest or background in art before they moved to Santa Fe? I love the way Forrest told children to touch, and how to touch, and why to touch. I was a potter and loved to have kids come into my studio. I also loved it when they went home. ~ Jodykay

Thanks for the question JodyKay. It brings back memories. I had a hard year in Vietnam. All alone and hiding in the Laotian jungle after being shot down for the second time gave me time to think. The AF gave me $150 combat pay and the same for flying. That brought my total income to about $1,000 a month. There had to be something better for me, even with no education.

So I taught myself to cast bronze and built my own equipment. During the next two years I made $180,000 in my garage after working 50 hours a week for the Air Force. That told me I could do it, so I turned down a promotion and retired from the military. Two years later my family moved to Santa Fe and slept on the floor while we plastered the walls of our gallery.

Luck brought me to the right place at the right time with the right product. I kept reminding me that art was a commodity and artists were manufacturers. That’s what kept my feet on the ground and gave me an edge over my competitors who “absolutely loved art.” New Mexico Business Journal wrote a cover story on that subject.

My lack of experience and art smarts were more than offset by my imagination, guts, logical mind, and willingness to work. That’s an awesome recipe.

And, while I have you here I’ll give you some advice, which won’t work for everyone. If you don’t like your job, get out fast and work for yourself. Think! There are things waiting for you. Don’t do anything where your best customer gives you $100. And most important, don’t tell yourself no, just go do it.f

Posted August 12th, 2014:

Someone unfamiliar with your poem receives a message that says “meet me where warm waters halt, somewhere in the mountains north of Santa Fe”. Would they be able to work out where to go? If they can’t, would they need the whole poem, another stanza, or just a line or word to help them on their way? ~Phil Bayman

There are a few words in the poem that are not useful in finding the treasure Phil, but it is risky to discount any of them. You over simplify the clues. There are many places in the Rocky Mountains where warm waters halt, and nearly all of them are north of Santa Fe. Look at the big picture, there are no short cuts. f

Posted August 12th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, Is there any level of knowledge of US history that is required to properly interpret the clues in your poem. ~Steve R

No Steve R, The only requirement is that you figure out what the clues mean. But a comprehensive knowledge of geography might help.

Posted August 18th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, In searching near Yellowstone, and witnessing the strength of Buffalo, how the hell didn’t you, your brother, and Donny get yourself killed doing things like roping a Buffalo? What are some other stupid things you have done? ~ Jeff

I would hope my life has not been spent looking for a trail of safe passage Jeff, and things are mostly stupid only if they don’t work. We didn’t see the buffalo incident as being dangerous from his point of view, but we could have been maimed pretty good in the car wreck.

The buffalo has few natural enemies and are not known to attack anything that is not in its close proximity. Maybe the angels look fondly on those who seek playful adventures. The worse part of that episode was walking seven miles barefooted.

I have made some rules for myself as a result of doing some pretty stupid things. Number 26 was, “If you don’t know where to search, any trail will take you there.”  By nature, I am not the type who wears a belt and suspenders both. Hope that answers your question.f

Posted 25th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn,
When you made the two trips from your car to hide the chest and the gold, did you carry it openly in your hands or in some type of bag or backpack?

I did both. It was a special time of fulfillment for me and I can still sense now, the elation I felt then. It’s the only time I recall laughing out loud at myself. Hiding that treasure chest full of gold and jewels was fundamental to how I feel about living life to its stretched best, and it emphasizes my aversion to seeing anyone be a spectator to today’s opportunities.f

Posted September 2nd, 2014:

On Forrest’s blog, Mirror on My Bathroom Wall, he says, “One of my earliest dreams was to be a great movie star like Errol Flynn because he was handsome and made a lot of money”.  My question to Forrest is: Were you able to go to the movies often when you were growing up? Or did you know the movie stars from reading a magazine like Photoplay? And the second part of my question is: Who was the first movie star you sold artwork to in your gallery, and were you “nervous’ when dealing with said movie star? ~ Cynthia

Thanks for the question Cynthia.  Movies were 11 cents when I was a kid so I didn’t go a lot. We had radio, but TV wasn’t invented yet. I had a friend who took tickets at the Arcadia Theater and usually he could be talked into letting me slip in. I was careful to not abuse his generosity. I certainly didn’t know any movie stars then and we didn’t subscribe to any magazines if my memory serves me.

I don’t remember who the first celebrity we sold to was, but there were a lot of them. The biggest sale probably was Steven Spielberg who purchased an expensive Charlie Russell bronze. Others were Cher, Jonathan Winters, David Rockefeller, Michael Douglas, Ethyl Kennedy, Lee Marvin, Robert Redford, Sam Shepard, Donald Rumsfeld, Rock Hudson, Shirley MacLean, Suzanne Somers, Steve Martin, Calvin Kline, Karen Allen, Ralph Lauren, Jackie Kennedy, John Connelly and Roger Miller. I always enjoyed schmoozing with them.f

Posted September 18th, 2014:

Forrest, You have been around and known many artists while owning your art gallery. I wonder if you were ever inspired by any of them to paint your own masterpiece? If so, I will gladly buy it for 17 dollars a square inch. 🙂~ colokidd

Thanks for the complement colo.   Sure, I think about it often and still aspire to paint at least one nice canvas. I would be a great artist if it didn’t require so much talent. From a personal view though, I was always more interested in sculpting. I asked my friend George Dabich if he thought I could be a sculptor. “Sure, it’s easy,” he said, “If you want to make a buffalo, you just take a piece of wax and carve away everything that doesn’t look like a buffalo.”

Forrest's Buffalo 1I thought that was simple enough so I did, and this is what it looked like in bronze. I didn’t know how to make feet so I made the poor thing stand in mud.

Years ago I made a life-mask of my daughter Zoe, and sculpted her head and shoulders, and cast it in bronze. No one liked it but me, and Zoe claimed it wasn’t really her face. I placed the portrait on my deck up stairs, where it was promptly stolen. It made me feel pretty good that some thief liked my work enough to take it.

I learned later that it was sold for scrap metal. I still keep my buffalo around to remind me why I need to stay in my day job.

If someone wants to buy that great bronze, I’ll sell it for seventeen dollars a pound, but no refunds after you see it in person.f

Posted October 1st, 2014:

Would you want the person that finds your treasure to admire the place where it rests? Andrew

Well Andrew, I’m not sure “admire” is the right word but if we twist it a little maybe we can make it work. The word means approval or high regard. So it works. I sure feel that way or I would not have hidden it there. I like the way you think Andrew. f

Posted October 3rd, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, Should the chest, for example, be found today, would you be able to tell searchers that the chest has been found in the same day? ~Johnny Q

Well Mr. Q, you present a question that’s hard to answer. There is so much talk on the blogs that whoever finds the treasure may be driven underground and not say anything to anyone. If I am convinced it has been found then I will announce it immediately to Dal and three major media outlets. It seems logical, that if someone solves the clues, they will retrieve the treasure immediately. Until they do, no announcement can have teeth. With snow coming on the situation, this changes of course; in which case, if I were the searcher, I’d stay very quiet until spring.f

Posted October 6th, 2014:

Are there any objects placed in the Bronze Chest that are connected, or have meaning to the place the chest is hidden? ~ Mike

No Mike, everything in the chest is straight forward and visual, except my autobiography, which some might find dull. Oops, I forgot, there is one thing in the chest that I have not talked about except to say I don’t want to talk about it. It is something saved especially for the person who solves the clues. I think that person will be pleased when she sees it. f

Posted October 9th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, 
On the flyleaf of your book about Mr. Sloane are the words “After he wrote his first book, he said it would be his last, and he is still saying that after his seventh.” And now you are up to ten books. Do you ever plan to really write a “last one?” ~ Just wondering, Jennifer.

Well Jennifer, how can I write the next book until I’ve already written the last one? f

Posted October 11th, 2014:

Dear Mr. Fenn, Would a sense of humor be of value to anyone trying to solve your poem? ~ Amy H.

Well Amy H, probably not, but a sense of humor might help a few searchers who say the chase isn’t fun anymore. Fortunately, thousands who were out looking this summer had great experiences with their family or friends. Those people always seem to have a sense of humor. f

Posted October 13th, 2014:

Hi Forrest,
You once said you walked the 92 miles from West Yellowstone to Bozeman to just experience it. Obviously you were much younger than you were when you hid the treasure. Too far to walk means different things at different ages so I was wondering if you would be so bold as to give an estimate of how far you walked to hide the treasure after leaving your car: was it >10miles, between 5 and 10 miles, between 1 and 5 miles, or less than 1 mile?   ~Thanks, Ron

Ron, your question sounds like a travelogue, but I’ll answer it. No, I don’t want to be that bold. But I will say that I walked less than a few miles if that will help. I just looked “few” up and one definition is “scant.” Why do I sound like I’m talking in circles? f

Posted October 15th, 2014:

Hi Forrest, In your poem you mention ‘if you are brave and in the wood’;   It makes me wonder, when you were a child, what was one of your scariest moments.  Was there a time when you were not so brave?    ~ Jenny  

Jenny, I never thought of myself as being brave, but becoming fed-up can sometimes make me fearless. When I was about 14, a bully named Bo often harassed me and sometimes threw me to the ground. I really hated him but never fought back. He had twenty-pounds on me and could run faster.

One day I saw Bo coming when I was walking home from school. He said a cuss word about my mother and started kicking. I had had it with that guy and decided not to take it anymore. So I hit him on the jaw so hard he must have heard birds singing. I just stood there thinking he was going to kill me when he got up. When he did I shook my fist in his face and yelled, “Your mother wears overalls.” He started crying and ran home. That night his father called my father to tell what a bully I was. We both laughed. Maybe that day I took my first big step toward being braver.

But, Jenny, when has there been a time you were not so brave? And what about the readers? I would like to know. f

Posted October 17th, 2014:

Is there one specific childhood memory that made a significant contribution, that you feel, lead/guided you to the person you are today?  ~Mike

Mike, I can’t think of anything, unless it’s that my father was a strict disciplinarian. I received my share of spankings, and although none were painful, they indicated that my actions were unacceptable to my father. That still stings some.

Then when I became a private in the Air Force at age 20 that discipline continued. Peer pressure was strongly against some of my antics so I stopped doing them. The final straw may have been when I filled out a questionnaire. Among the questions were: Height, weight, sex? Unfortunately, my answer to that last question was, “not very often.” Well, I was cited for making a, “facetious remark on an official Air Force document.” They put me on KP for a month and I NEVER made that kind of mistake again.f

Posted October 20th, 2014:

As of now, some 4 1/2 years after the release of the book with the poem, is there anything you would have done different, looking back? ~Mz Oz.

Well Mz Oz, there are minor mistakes in my book but they are not serious enough for me to change in reprint. Looking back, there are only 28,800 words in TTOTC and the book is thin. I might have added some additional stories, like the one about me losing the coon skin cap trying to stay ahead of a mad bull moose up Slough Creek. Or the one about my father throwing me off of a footbridge across the Madison River in the dark of night because some large animal was coming toward us and we didn’t want to meet it in the middle. I was anxious to get my treasure story in print. I have no regrets. f

Posted October 23rd, 2014:

Hi Forrest, in your response to ‘Any Regrets?‘, you mentioned the following:

“….I would wake 0700 every morning and do nothing but think in bed until 0800. My mind would be fresh, the phone wouldn’t ring and nobody would knock on my door. That may be the best decision I ever made as so many good ideas have come to me during that hour. Maybe someone will ask me about one of those ideas.”

So I’m asking, what are some of those ideas?  ~Thanks ~ Thrill

Especially burned into my memory Thrill, was the idea to arrange a cultural exchange program with the Russian government. A few art scholars jazzed me pretty good and I was the butt of some funny jokes, because it was 1975 and the Cold War was in full blast.

Through Armand Hammer and Occidental Petroleum I met Madam Betrova who was the Russian Minister of Culture for Western and American Affairs. She took me to the circus in Moscow and we made a hand-shake deal while the acrobats were swinging through the air.

FechinWe agreed to a five-year cultural exchange program. As a result of that meeting and lots of telexes going back and forth, I visited seven Russian museums and picked out thirty-six paintings by the Russian/American painter Nicolai Fechin. One was a very large portrait of Vladimir Lenin. The show opened at Fenn Galleries Ltd in Santa Fe with Madam Betrova and various government officials from Washington and Moscow in attendance.

When our show closed we traveled the exhibition to museums in Cody and Seattle. Then our gallery borrowed thirty-six Fechin paintings from American museums and private collections, including our own, and sent them to three Russian cities for exhibition.

The show cost me some tears, a bunch of money, a fight with the State Department, and lots of sleepless nights. But it was favorably reviewed internationally and Fechin’s top work has sold in recent years for over $2,000,000.f

Posted October 27th, 2014:

Mr Fenn, in relation to the final resting place of the chest, which of the 4 natural elements (Earth, Wind, Water, Fire) would mostly compromise it resting? ~ James

I know what the question is. I don’t think earth can hurt it, under the right conditions wind might affect it, it’s probably already wet, and look at what fire did to the twin towers. Nature makes her own rules, James, so I try to not be absolute when talking about her.f

Posted October 31st, 2014:

Dear Forrest,
Do I need a 4 wheel drive to hunt for the treasure? And if I did, would it just be seasonally, as helpful in winter months? ~ Linda

Linda, anyone traveling in the Rocky Mountains should ride in a vehicle that can get them out of tough spots, especially in winter. Once a friend and I were in some lonely mountains during a violent wind storm. Trees fell across the narrow dirt road in front of us and behind. We didn’t have a chainsaw but we had a long chain and were able to drag the trees aside and pass. Bad luck is a capable adversary. You can get by without food for a few days but you must have water, warm clothing and matches.f

Posted November 4th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn,  You pride yourself on doing things that some people think are crazy. Can you give us an example of something you did different from the norm? ~Sarah Jones

Sure I can Sarah Jones. And you are right. I have never enjoyed doing something a certain way just because it was traditional. Unfortunately, some of my ideas fall flat in my face, but at least I’m trying.

But in my book Too Far to Walk I tell a story about when I was a young teenager bathing in the Firehole River in Yellowstone. I pulled some of the beautiful under water green grasses to use as a wash cloth. So under a photo of my daughter in the book, I put a link, www.vimeo.com/72073799. When the reader types that link in Google they are taken to a video of the actual flowing grasses in the same spot where I used to bathe. I thought that was a good idea because it took the reader there in real time. Maybe others had done something similar in their books, but I don’t remember seeing it.f

Posted November 12th, 2014:

Try I must in hopes ff will answer… Mr. Fenn, The “Treasure Chest filled with Gold” and the “Title to the Gold”.

The “Chest” and the “Title”, are these 2 separated objects?  ~Mr. T

No, Mr. T. f

Posted November 15th, 2014:

My question is… when the treasure was hidden, did you follow the clues just like they are mentioned in the poem or did you just go to where you wanted to hide it, knowing that the poem would lead someone there? Does that make sense?  ~Tim

Tim, I knew from the beginning where to hide the treasure. It wasn’t until later that the clues were provided to find that spot. I don’t know “…that the poem will lead someone there,” as you asked, but the poem does provide everyone with that opportunity.  f

Posted November 17th, 2014:

Dear Mr. Fenn, You have mentioned something to the effect that Santa Fe is a great place to live. Can you be more specific about the reasons why you say this?  ~ Amy

Thanks for the question Amy. I don’t want to sound like the Chamber of Commerce but Santa Fe is loaded with good experiences. We have world class operas, chamber music festivals, Indian markets, folk art markets, Spanish markets, three flea markets, eight nice museums, and we burn Old Man Gloom every year with 30,000 people watching.

We see the sun most days, and although the temperature can get low we don’t feel it because, being in a 7,000-foot high dessert, the air is dry. Skiing, hunting, fishing, hiking, and mountain biking are just thirty-minutes from the plaza.

And best of all, my wife usually leaves me alone to work at my computer with my little dog on one side of me and a juniper fire on the other. Who can ask for more from a town?f

Posted November 24th, 2014:

Forrest; What would you say the most significant single act you performed in your life would be? ~Jdiggins

Most significant act? Hmmmm…
I guess it would be when I married Peggy almost sixty-one years ago, because she has played a major role in everything that has happened to me since then. But I don’t think you were asking for that kind of answer, so let me think.

In 1954 I played golf at Scott AFB with Lt/col Bill Hale. I was a lowly 2/Lt but we became fast golfing and fishing friends. He was the administrative assistant to the general who commanded all of the combat crew training in the Air Force. At Bill’s prompting, the general asked me to become his aide de camp.

The three of us travelled a big hunk of the world meeting with commanders who would influence my assignments for the next fifteen years. I was able to pick what I wanted. When the general retired Bill and I served together in Europe and Africa. He named one of his sons Forrest. Later Bill worked for me in our Santa Fe gallery. So I guess meeting Bill Hale was the most significant act I performed in my life. He’s gone now but his influence lingers.f

Posted December 4th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, were you ever concerned  for Beowulf eating or biting your guests, customers, or family?  ~ miser

Thanks for the question miser. Humans feel an inherent apprehension when they’re around alligators, so the natural tendency is to stay out of biting range. Twice a week I fed Elvis and Beowulf beef liver. Beowulf would swim up and take it his food from my hand. He was a gentleman. It was Elvis I had to watch, and although he was just two feet long, when he smelled the liver he would lunge at my hand. He reminded me of a math teacher I had in high school.

One early winter day I was looking for Beowulf because it was time to put him in his winter quarters where the water was slightly heated. Elvis was already there enjoying the warmth. I finally found Beowulf under some lily pads and grabbed him by his tail. He was about 4 feet long and I expected him to thrash and resist his capture. Instead, he was lethargic, didn’t move at all. His eyes and mouth were closed. I think he was just cold.

When I sold our gallery, the new owner was showing her insurance agent around the property. They opened the gate leading to the pond just in time to see Beowulf chasing a fat duck across the yard. That did it for the two reptiles and they were shipped to a bayou in Louisiana. My alligators were not good pets but they were good for business, because everyone likes to look at them. I am reminded of a poem from Alice in Wonderland:

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Posted December 5th, 2014:

Mr. Fenn, Some people say this about shoes, but I personally think a wallet can tell a great deal about a man. Assuming you’ve had more than one, maybe you could elaborate on one that had the most sentimental value or meaningful things kept on the inside? ~ Jamie

Jamie, I’m not attached to shoes but I like my leather wallet, which has taken on a nice wear-polish over the years. I keep it in my back left pocket and wouldn’t even think of carrying it anywhere else. It’s just kind of bent a little to fit the curvature. Nothing special inside, just a couple of credit cards, drivers and pilot’s licenses, military ID and health stuff. And a few bucks, not many.

In my back right pocket is a handkerchief and comb. Front left, Chap Stick, extra batteries for my hearing aids, and coins. My front right pocket contains my car keys and small pepper spray. Whoever rolls me won’t get much. f

Posted December 7th, 2014:

Forrest has been so generous and awesome with answering questions from searchers. Now it is his turn! He has requested one to be asked of you all and he is curious and keen to learn the answers.

It is as follows: If you could know everything there is to know about one subject, which subject would you choose, and why? Give it some thought before you answer. f

Posted December 11th, 2014:

Dear Mr. Fenn,
You say the clues in the poem are to be followed in consecutive order.  You have also said the book holds sublte hints.  Are these ‘subtle hints’ in consecutive order (in relation to how they help with clues in the poem) too? ~ Thank you, joseph

That’s right joseph, you should start with the first clue and follow the others consecutively to the treasure. Hints in the book are not that organized.f

Posted December 14th, 2014:

“Are there any bronze animals in the chest, Indulgence, or anything bronze? ” ~Thanks,Carolyn

Nothing bronze at all Carolyn, or even silver. I wanted more expensive metals in Indulgence. That’s why I chose gold. There is a gold frog that’s very old.f

Posted December 17th, 2014:

Dear Forrest, In Too Far to Walk you tell the story of how Jackie Kennedy visited your gallery and stayed in the guesthouse there.  It seems she made quite the impression on you.  What was it that you most admired about her?   ~ thanks j

Thanks for reminding me Jenny.  Like with most Americans I had a preconceived notion about Jackie Kennedy. I saw her as being gentle, refined, and highly sophisticated. I was impressed by the easiness with which she could mingle among world leaders.

You can imagine how I felt when she walked into my office one night wearing my white flannel robe, her hair tied up with my white towel, and barefooted. She had just showered in our guest house and wanted to talk. Let that image soak in for a minute. I might have felt out of place, but she wouldn’t let me. I loved her for being so secure in herself.

Which reminds me Jenny, if you could have a two hour dinner, just the two of you, and converse with anyone who ever lived in the history of the world; Who would you choose, and why? I’m interested in the opinions of your bloggers also. f

Posted December 30th, 2014:

Dear Forrest,
Now that the 2014 search season has ended, can you summarize the results? Ie: is anyone close to the treasure chest? Has anyone given you a solve? Thanks, puttputt.

I know of a few searchers who have been reasonably close to the treasure puttputt, but there is no indication that they knew it. No one has given me the correct solve past the first two clues.f

The Following are pages of Questions with Forrest Fenn which were asked before I began the Featured Question Segment and Posts:

Questions with Forrest page 1 (questions and answers from searchers/June/July 2014)

Questions with Forrest page 2 (questions and answers from searchers/May/June 2014)

A Personal Reflection on Nicolai Fechin by Forrest Fenn (expanded answer to question posted on June 24th, 2014)

Other Resource Pages:

Forrest Fenn Treasure: Resource Page: Featured Questions of 2015

Resource Page on Periodic, Surprise and Random Words from Forrest Fenn

Resource Page on Six Questions with Forrest Fenn and The Thrill of the Chase Treasure Hunt

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