thrill of the chase forrest fennMr. Fenn, you have been quoted as saying the treasure chest is hidden in “A very special place.” If a searcher should be fortunate enough to solve the poem, will he/she see the location as special place (by your definition) also, or will your reasoning be forever known only to you? ~Thanks BW

 

I don’t know how to answer your question BW. People are so different. A writer from Manhattan came to see me. It was her first time out of the city. When I asked how she liked New Mexico she said, “There’s a sky,” and she wasn’t kidding. At home she never thought to look up. She was thrilled when I showed her a cow. f

 

The above Featured Question is also Weekly Words from Forrest for August 19th, 2016. The complete list is here:

Weekly Words From Forrest Fenn

and the link to Featured Questions is here:

Featured Questions (category)

Best of luck with the Thrill of the Chase and all that you seek! Treasure the Adventure!

 

 

112 Comments

  5. I’m pretty sure if the searcher finds it, s/he will consider it a special place! 🙂

    But seriously, I have a hunch that if a person solves the poem, s/he may come to realize why the place is special to Forrest. And while that person may not share in the same “specialness”, s/he may understand it.

    I bet seeing the cow was a mooving experience.

    MartinS

    2. Jeremy , I know I don’t do a very good job of wording my questions. I know it will be “special” for the person that finds the gold, but will we recognize it for it means to Mr. Fenn? According to his answer, he doesn’t know. Yes, we are all different, thank goodness! I see your happy face, I know you are joking.

      BW

      2. BW, I think it would take time for full understanding of the specialness of the spot. Even when I had been around many trees and forests and pets and cows, I find that being closer to it all is in a way invading their space. With each chapter in life, comes a different view and appreciation of the world around us. I love horses and would want to be close to them. Cows – I would have the writer’s response – I guess. They were always nice to see down the county road, but I don’t feel comfortable with them crossing my front lawn. I think if the poem is figured out, that the person will eventually understand the specialness of the spot. To figure out the poem requires a deep understanding of the architect and that would eventually lead to an understanding of the spot. My spot is now special to me for a number of reasons (including the seasons) and of course because the gold is there. 🙂

        Crow

  8. This is kind of interesting, but I’m not saying Forrest was thinking along these lines. Who knows, though.

    “Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac, is all about reward. Unlike the Aries love of the game, Taurus loves the rewards of the game. Think physical pleasures and material goods, for those born under this sign revel in delicious excess. They are also a tactile lot, enjoying a tender, even sensual, touch. Taurus adores comfort and likes being surrounded by pleasing, soothing things. Along these lines, they also favor a good meal and a fine wine. The good life in all its guises, whether it’s the arts or art of their own making (yes, these folks are artistic as well), is heaven on Earth to the Taurus-born.”

    Buckeye Bob

  10. All,

    I believe we all may be too focused on what makes the exact spot that the treasure is located so special, dear fond and or secret to Forrest. If you look at the definition of “place” it can mean many different things; location, site, spot, setting, position, situation, area, region, locale, venue, country, state, area, region, town, city, locality, district.

    If you look at this WW from Feb 19th 2016: *Your destination is small, but its location is huge. This WW can be interpreted to mean that our destination (goal) leads us to a small spot (10″ x 10″ x 5″), but its (the chest’s) location (place) is huge. I agree this isn’t a huge revelation, but just think about that for a moment.

    Now if you take these definitions and Forrest’s mention that his “Church” is in the mountains and along the river bottoms where dreams and fantasies alike go to play, it may not be hard to think that his special, dear, fond place could just be the outdoors in the mountains and not any specific precise location, IE a secret fishing spot or Indian ruin. It may also be fair to say that most of the chapters in TTOTC have Forrest either outside or jumping out of windows to get outside and this is one of his main motives of the chase to get us all outdoors and in the sunshine.

    Now if you watch the linked video, which i believe answers the “what if’s” comment you might get a glimpse of what or where his special place may be attributed to.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqqxClGN-g

    LitterateOne

    Seannm

    LitterateOne

      1. Buckeye Bob,

        Again I believe that the special place is just the great outdoors, that doesn’t mean that the exact spot the treasure is located is not within close proximity to a specific spot that Forrest considers special. Lets take a secret fishing hole or Indian ruin as examples (as these are both mentioned as treasures in the Jennifer London video). A secret fishing spot as we know from TTOTC can be a good spot but these spots can become special and or secret spots to a new generation of fly fisherman, so placing it there where someone could stumble upon it is unlikely. An Indian ruin, whether it has or has not been discovered as of yet could place the chest in jeopardy of falling into the hands of a government agency or the likes of a “Mr. Maldonado”. Therefor, logic leads me to believe that while there are many places we may consider to be special to Forrest; Forrest tried to think of everything, and It is highly unlikely that he placed it in a position that would jeopardize the finder from keeping it.

        LitterateOne

        LitterateOne

      2. BB and LO,
        A great multitude has missed the brilliance of Mr. Fenn’s masterpiece, but it is not their fault it is by design. The person will know Mr. Fenn’s special spot because they will have found it with F’s eyes. They will see the big picture for what it is and understand why they are there but at the same time question if they are missing something. Finding the special spot will raise more questions than answers at least until the artist decides to reveal everything. I don’t see Mr. Fenn disclosing this as it takes away from our need to think and TTOTC.

        These are just my thoughts and in no way should be viewed on how to interpret the poem.

        JL

        1. JL,

          While your response is poetic, none of us should claim to see the brilliance of and thru his eyes, as you say it in “Mr. Fenn’s masterpiece”, and no one is at fault if they are spending time with family and or friends while out in the sunshine.

          LitterateOne.

          LitterateOne

      3. Buckeye, I doubt that there would be a legal challenge wherever it is – as long as the poem is not messed with. Mess with the poem at one’s own peril. The poem does not require any laws to be violated. If a solve involves any violations of person, place, property, it is most likely incorrect. I also doubt that there is any legal challenge regarding the gold itself as long as the poem is not messed with. I think that, “don’t mess with my poem,” is not just a clue – but is more importantly a warning. Follow the poem and there should be no legal or tax problems.

        Crow

  11. More city people do need to see the country life more often. Cows are quite charming.

    My favorite steer was named Blaze because he had a white stripe down his face. I won a blue ribbon with that beautiful Red Angus in 1984. We used hairspray and special combs to make the steers ready for show.

    Check out Iowa’s fluffy cows: https://youtu.be/IujFIj6PF6s

    23kachinas

    2. When I was in 4-H, I preferred the happy and patriotic red and white of the Hereford. The black of the Angus just seemed too dark. However, one time, the grand champion Angus at the Agribition was found to be red Angus died black. The measures people will go to influence judges, many thought that was cheating.

      The Wolf

  13. My solve has the location in the Big Sky state of Montana. One thing to remember about the location of this solve. This is one of the premier fly-fishing locations in the USA. Montana Game Wardens are in the area regularly and I personally saw someone get a $450 fine. Please do not dig up this location or otherwise damage it. You won’t find anything of value here so leave the area as you find it.

    Based upon one of Mr Fenn’s stories about riding his bike to a bathing spot on the Firehole River that is where I decided the warm waters start. They halt where the Firehole empties into the Madison River. There you find Madison Canyon so follow it downstream. A healthy bike ride from the canyon leads to Hebgen Lake which is the Home of Yellowstone’s Brown Trout.

    Once you are below Hebgen dam its time to put your meekness aside and get in the river(the current is very fast here so stay very close to shore in the shallows) Knowing the end is drawing nigh tells me the clues going forward will be very specific and no paddle up your creek is telling you to move downstream. As you move downstream you will come across a very old US Geological Survey chair(a modern one is further downstream just before Cabin Creek) that is on a large cable that stretched across the river under very heavy load. A few dozen yards further downstream you will find a Gaging Station that measures how high the water is. Heavy load and water high!

    From this vantage point if you are wise you will look around and notice some islands still further downstream. The one on the left is in the shape of a blaze on a horses face. As you get to that island look quickly down(stream) and you will see a larger island. And what a marvelous site(gaze) it is when you notice two clumps of small pines(tarry scant). Once on that island you notice a dense thicket between those two clumps 0f small pines. Tucked in on the left side of the thicket hidden from the road you will find a layer of rocks about 12 inches around. Removing that layer of rock reveals a 10×10″x5″ vault formed by small boards on the bottom and sides.

    As a side note this area is at an elevation close to 6400 ft. The vault is 500′ from the blaze island and 200′ from the road. Since its on an island it can be considered wet.

    Brady

  14. I want to milk the above comment from Forrest for all it’s worth. Mentioning the
    cow may be a tip, or possibly a cow tip—I’m not sure which–it ends in a draw.
    But Happy Birthday Forrest, you’re going to 86 all of us soon.

    Joe Sparrow

          1. There are a lot of Jokers on here today…a Feed Lot of Hikers.

            MOOOOOOOve over. I’m hungry already. 🙂

            I used to know a joke that’s pretty punny. I forgot how it goes…

            …but it starts like this:

            So…this sky walks into a bar…

            (I’d probably remember how it goes if the guy who told it didn’t talk so fast.)

            Thanks again, Forrest and Jenny and BW and Manhattan Lady and Dairy Queen (Cow).

            JC1117

            1. Feed Lot of Hikers? That’s Feed Lot of JOKERS…to the late person.

              Spell check! Sheesh. Who needs it?! I miss spell just fine without it.

              On second thought…maybe my spell check IS smarter than me. What this Chase NEEDS is a feed lot of hikers trudging the Rocky Mountains above 5000 feet and below 10,200 feet.

              (In New Mexico, IMO)

              JC1117

  15. Ah, Weekly Words again :). We are so spoiled. Thank you Forrest, Jenny, & BW. It’s true, you have to get away from the city lights to see the beautiful night sky and sometimes even the day sky. I can use my imagination to picture that in my head right now and what a treasure it is. Not just what the view would be but to be there amongst nature and the feelings of calmness, peace and a sense of something greater than ourselves. How can that not be special to anyone?

    Ramona

  16. I posted this over at Dal’s, and thought I’d put it here too….
    Isn’t there a drawing in the book, TTOTC, with Forrest looking up at the stars?
    Just looked, yes.
    Page 41.
    Chapter titled “Surviving Myself”.
    The picture is of Forrest sitting on a tombstone in a cemetery looking up at the night sky.

    Buckeye Bob

    1. Buckeye Bob,

      Good point BB, cemeteries tend to be a place where there are no lights on at night, so that the occupants can rest in peace under the stars. Seems a good place for city folk to star gaze.

      LitterateOne.

      LitterateOne

  17. Cowles, New Mexico. Near the north end of Rd63 that takes you north through the Pecos Wilderness, along the Pecos River, which is in Forrest’s backyard and has been his playground for 45 years. Same river in the picture of him fly-fishing at a “special spot” with his granddaughter Lucca page 38 in TFTW. Cowles was the turn-off to the trailheads and campgrounds where I took Great Big Story crew to go to Cave Creek…maybe the treasure chest is actually where I wanted to search that day, only it got late and rained so we had to end it.

    cynthia

  18. Cursed by a Fortune by George Manville Fenn

    Wonder who is related to who around here:)

    Kate Wilton’s father dies, leaving his fortune to his young, beautiful (but, seemingly frail) daughter, who is not quite of age. He appoints his brother, James Wilton, as executor.

    Well, of course, every man around wants the money and the girl.

    Ricky Nowak

  19. The major theme of the novel is: Money, Greed and Love.

    The love part is a little too far fetched for me. Each time love comes on the scene, it is in the most unfathomable or ridiculous manner.

    So Kate devises a test, to find the real treasure in all the cow patties…….

    Ricky Nowak

    1. So the Sky is a cover-up….for cow patties?? Don’t they make Synthroid from cow pituitary gland? Maybe the test is tainted burgers once ppl start hallucinating with burning skin they’ll find the answers to the thinly veiled clues and get love as a treasure? Its been too long since I read Manvilles poison novels.

      jonsey1

      1. Yeah…I just looked it up and those are the side effects, and Ppl use it cause it doesn’t show in normal bloodwork, but I can’t remember if that’s the drug in that novel or if it was that Diamond Diggers (or some close name) novel also by Manville? Do you remember?

        jonsey1

  20. Special places don’t remain special once they are known to the world. I am certain if someone were to solve the poem and find the place it would be the kind of person who would keep it special forever and not reveal it to the world. However frustrating that may be to many seekers. There is always a much bigger picture to consider that has little, if anything, to do with the individual seeker. That bigger picture will always be reflected here on Earth. So those connections, IMO are also part of any truly successful solve. I would love to see the kind of world that lets the cows grow up freely, in generations of families…all happily grazing in the high pastures. To see the end as a beginning.

    lifesablaze

  21. Does it really matter if it’s special to Tom, Dick or Harry… I think not. We aren’t searching for their treasure. We have to unlock FF, that’s our only goal. For me, I hopped on Fenn’s backward bicycle months ago and started in with the end. People follow their heart. My solve starts with Fenn’s special place and looks for confirmation in the poem and TTOTC). You can start with the poem, but you’ll soon learn that waters, woods and riches are endless. Happy Trails my friend. I will see you on the other side. 🙂

    Mike Forni

  23. Forrest also responded to this same question with Andrew Briggs on whether his final resting place was “admirable.” I believe that Forrest said it can be twisted to fit that definition. I am in The Briggs Camp; he just didn’t know how to apply his solve.

    Mike Forni

        1. That’s not what I heard, a joker disguised as maid of Fenn’s waited for years watching and observing when he would hide the TC he had been creating for 15 years. They said when he and the chest went MIA so did his special Nike’s with the Mercury wings.

          JL

            1. If you look at the pic where he righted the ladies grave marker out in the middle of nowhere he has Nike’s on. I think he prefers to wear Nike’s and has an endorsement with Nike, heck maybe that’s the something special he left just for the discoverer.

              JL

                1. whoa, better check your sources………………….2003 is not what the maid said. This is getting way outta hand I think it’s time Fenn sat down and wrote a book that focuses on 6 months before and after he hid Indulgence, maybe that would enlighten all of us and clear up some discrepancies. He can tell all of the events, what he wore, mode of transportation how he was so secretive and just exactly what’s in the chest because if there is no Nike endorsement I am really gonna have to reconsider. Cliff Notes F-F treasure.

                  JL

                2. JL,
                  The maid lied to you! Go to the Moby Dickens Bookstore interview. It is about 58 minutes long. He states he got cancer in 1988, and it was 15 years he hid the chest…. and then repeats it again! Go listen before ya call me for B.S. Nobody else to my knowledge, caught that! 🙂 Do the math! 2003!

                  Chesney

                5. Just because he wrote/self published his original memoir “The Thriil of the Chase”, One Horse Land and Cattle Company in 2010, why could he have not hidden it earlier? It is hidden and buried…. how is that for conversation?

                  Chesney

                6. Chesney,
                  I wouldn’t say you are delusional, you may be traveling a path less traveled is all. Anything Could be a possibility, it really doesn’t matter to me when it was hidden or buried. If the poem will take me there then the contents should be the same if its been there since 2003 or 2000. Now then hidden and buried part is difficult to deal with especially if it is burried buried eliminates all of our perceptions and without a precise map, we could be one foot off and never find it or even a few inches. I have to ask myself what wold Fenn do? If he doesn’t want it found for at least s long as the Rosetta Stone I would bury it so deep even I couldn’t find it again, now, on the other hand, you could look at it as Mr. Fenn likes things out in the open where you can see them, feel them, restore and preserve them for generations to come how could he accomplish that? It seems to me that burying goes against his grain, he likes to dig things up and bring them out into the light. Know the man, know the answer I say.

                  JL

          2. JL, Fenn has said several times that he hid the chest when he was almost 80. He even made it a big deal to say he hid it in 2009 or 2010 just so people wouldn’t try to look up his travel records; i.e. rental car, etc. His friends saw the chest filled with the treasure in his vault into the first half of 2010…I know it’s an impossible task to catch up with hoD and even ChaseChat from the beginning when the blogs started 5 years ago. Just because he spent 15 years working on the poem doesn’t mean literally he spent everyday for 15 contiguous years working on the poem. Plus, the poem was probably done years before he published TTOTC which came out in 2010. This was all discussed a while back on Dal’s blog if you can find it and want to know the facts which were made available by Dal, I think.

            cynthia

              1. It’s alright…I know exactly what I heard in The Moby Dickens Interview. Do the math. Before ya call B.S., maybe ya should just go listen for yourself. Glad to have helped, if it does. Everybody thinks they are smarter than the last person, that’s why it is still there! 🙂

                Chesney

                2. Congrats to you Ches! You are quite the Fenn trivia expert. This sure seems like something that will have to be cleared up officially by the Author himself…or ignored because he would see it as a rabbit trail. Never the less, you were right (accurate) about that particular video segment.

                  LMN

            2. “He even made it a big deal to say he hid it in 2009 or 2010 just so people wouldn’t try to look up his travel records; i.e. rental car, etc.”
              Yes He did. But why would he give a timeframe to do just that? Instead of having to look up his travel records from the cancer to 2010, he went right ahead and limited it right down. Seems counterproductive.

              HeadedDown

    1. Hello, HeadedDown. I’ve never been to New York. I’d love to go there sometime.

      In my mind I go there…on occasion…when I hear a song like Simon & Garfunkel’s “A Heart in New York”.

      I’ve traveled there more frequently with this song, however…

      https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=2LmIOg33oPo

      http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/thecameraeye.html

      The line about pausing at a light makes me think of Eric Sloane…

      …and how a butterfly is really just a Flutterby.

      On a completely different note…Rush also wrote this tune about “Manhattan”. It’s interesting…

      https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=N4zP7l2NFKs

      JC1117

        1. Hello, HeadedDown. I’ll admit the song is a tad nicer than Gangsta’s Paradise. I sure hope there’s a place in the afterlife where rivalries no longer exist. That would be a much welcomed change…if you’re asking me.

          JC1117

  31. The fire is going out,the sky is getting dark.
    Time to lay under the tarp, and listen to the coyotes bark.
    With only my pistol, by my pillow and head.
    I think, oh no we’re is my cell phone, oh thank god I left it at the truck, and it is dead.
    I start to think I have it all figured out, just as I fall to sleep.
    Only to wake and hear the birds going, cheep, cheep, cheep.
    Early morning creek coffee, shore gets me thinking again.
    I don’t know why this place is special to him?
    At the end of the day, you know it really sets in.
    No phones, no people, no trash, just me and and nature,looking for a blast.

    Thank you Comanche,
    I hope for me things will be looking up.

    Snider

      1. Pistol, bottle of sleeping pills, it all ends the same. At a banquet. We all looking for the range. Time kills, Be thankful. Fenn is his name. Spiritual, Maybe a bit of the game. Clear to you when you’re engulfed in flames. 🙂 just kidding. Having fun. 🙂 to everyone.

        HeadedDown

        1. Ive only just Begun. Who wants some? Fenn, was the middle son. Earned his way. Slanging. Just saying. Fall on your knees and pray. Explaining. You only get you’re way. Smile. And have a nice day. 🙂 why he Display? A joker? In the cards. I’m hopeful. And continue to try real hard. 🙂

          HeadedDown

  32. Day’s sky, reflection suns to oceans deep blue
    prism’s rose, shows magic
    dusk to dawn, it’s twilight just the same,
    night’s sky, shadow’s dark curtain open;
    father’s thousand’s lights show prism’s rose;
    different, same, so it goes; sisters calls, her voice sings
    melodies humble fragrance scent, such voices, often
    not heard

    awe

  34. We all look at life differently, as we do the the sky above or the panorama of the distant earth. For some the lonely dessert shrub is a only a bush with no heart or meaning to those who may pass it’s dessert home, and yet an artist on foot will seek out this lifeless bush and enjoy it’s aroma as he/she waits for the setting sun that will give this inanimate object a soul as he/she paints it’s silhouette against richness of the setting sun. An event that has taken place since the beginning of time. The location of ff’s chest may be found in a small pond fed by a natural spring, that has gone unnoticed for the past thousand years. So walk cautiously, do no harm as you seek your riches; for if you do, you honor a man who found beauty in this location, who only wishes to rest his tired bones for till the end of time.

    Gil Garcia

  37. This is my take on these and past weekly words combined. The 9 clues are in a beautiful part of the Rockies but the chest itself may or may not be in such a place. My belief is its location is on the SE bank of a box canyon. But more precisely, the chest is located is in such a way that a cow elk could drink water, smoke/eat one or more types or Indian tobacco and be shaded from the sun with bldgs/trees, all without moving much in position. This is just IMO.

    Spade

  38. AHAHA! So I wake up this morning at 1:30ish and say to myself “How now brown cow”. (I don’t know if it’s such a good thing to be puzzle-solving in my sleep lol) Anyway the above phrase is a: diph·thong noun
    a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another (as in coin, loud, and side ).
    a digraph representing the sound of a diphthong or single vowel (as in feat ).
    a compound vowel character; a ligature (such as æ ). Fun! Also, speaking of Mud and cows and Osiris and such…here’s another great one from Matthew…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoGGDKV88Fg

    lifesablaze

  41. Oh my and WHAT A SKY! Here we are at the Silver Gate with the lovely Sirius risen in conjunction with the Sun and in line with that most royal star, Regulus. Mercury is broadcasting to the underworld the love affair of Jupiter and Venus. All the while, Saturn and Mars are hanging out with Antares waiting and watching. Another cog in the wheel has turned, due to the precession of the equinoxes and Regulus entered Virgo in 2011. We have entered a time of redemption of the mother. And like any mother she will continue to urge us all to remember our hearts and to behave and to do the right thing. Less ego and more compassion. Isis, Mary, Sophia whatever name you may know her by. She calls to be remembered and loved. If I were to find the treasure, I would name it Redemption and leave it where it is. Happy Birthday, Mr. Fenn.

    lifesablaze

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