forrest fenn treasure buried or hiddenForrest has been quoted numerous times saying, “I never said I buried the treasure.   I have said I hid the treasure. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t buried.”  

The reason he often gives for being so particular about saying ‘hid’ and not ‘buried’ is because he says he doesn’t want to give to that as a clue.

Plus, he mentions the multiple meanings and connotations for the word ‘buried’ as you will see in the quotes below.

But Forrest has also often said, ‘it’s hidden in a very special place to me.’   And while many feel this relates to location, which I’m sure it does, and I do too, I often wonder if it isn’t also the way the treasure chest is hidden that makes it special.  What I mean by that is if Forrest hid the treasure in such a special way, making that ‘precise place or hiding spot’ special as well.

To further explain.  My favorite theory on how Forrest has hidden the Treasure Chest, so no one can accidentally come upon it, like he said in my first Six Questions with him, is described in his book, The Secrets of San Lazaro Pueblo. 

In this book, Forrest excitedly mentions how he finds ‘a secret place’.  Here is an image of that find and snippets of the story for how he describes it.  (He’s excavating at San Lazaro.  And to note: I DEFINITELY DO NOT think the chest is hidden there. The following is only a method used to hide things and this can be done ‘somewhere north of Santa Fe in the mountains too.)

“It was about noon on a cold winter day in 1989 when Charmay and I were completing the final work in a room………because the wind was brisk, we decided to have our soup and sandwich there in the room where no one had eaten in more than 500 years.  It was a rewarding moment………….While sitting on the floor and leaning against the south wall, I placed my cup of hot soup on the round piece of flagstone.  It sounded a little empty and different from what I had subconsciously expected….…………..  I carefully removed the five broken pieces of flagstone, one at a time……to our astonishment, we discovered a black, plain-ware jar that had been buried up to its rim under the floor.  Inside the jar rested a rectangular, painted bowl, and both of them contained corn kernels…….”

There’s lots more to the story, but can you imagine how exciting that must have been to find?  It was a totally unexpected find at that moment, and I’m sure very memorable.   And although almost accidentally found, it wasn’t quite.  It was found because Forrest decided to check under the flagstone.

The discovery relates to something Forrest said in a Six Questions. He said, ‘get out in the mountains and turn a log over to see what’s there’.  I can imagine him saying that while thinking back to him turning over the flagstone and seeing what’s there.  Perhaps, he hid the treasure chest using this method.

Now while I believe finding the Blaze must come before finding the treasure chest, I know if I find the Blaze, I will look quickly down and look for something to turn over on the ground.

I think it’s possible Forrest buried a container in the ground, like he unearthed in San Lazaro, and then hid his treasure chest inside it, like the smaller bowl was hidden in the description above.

Now, while that is my theory, obviously if I find the ‘Blaze’, and look quickly down and see something else to do instead, I’m not going to dismiss it.  lol.   I’ll be happy to find the treasure hidden in any way.

But this brings up the question, what has Forrest said about ‘buried and hidden’?  Can his comments support such an idea?

I think they can.   (VIDEO HERE (or below))

Forrest has said:

“That treasure chest, I have said, is in a very special place to me.  If I get another disease, on my last dying gap, I’m going to throw myself on top of that treasure chest. And I’m going to dare you to come find me.”  (Moby Dickens Event)

As an username ‘CJ’ mentioned on the MW Forum, if Forrest is going to ‘throw himself on top of it’, it would be very uncomfortable IF the chest is above ground; suggesting it is hidden underground.

Here are some other Quotes about how/where Forrest would like to die:

Q) Is the chest hidden in the (exact) same spot that you would like your bones to be found, or is it a short distance away for reasons beyond your control? ~ Phil

A) The spot is the same, but in less than two months I’ll be 84 and that means many of the things to which I once aspired are no longer available to me. I still anticipate, but I may be unable to grasp such a transient pleasure before my trail shows signs of growing too weary for the journey. To make that success would be the boldest move I ever made and to that end I just want it all the more.f

MW Questions with Forrest (7/2014)

Q) Mr. Fenn, Yogi Berra was asked by his wife, “Yogi, if you die before me where do you want to be buried? Montclair, New York or St. Louis?” He is known to have answered, “surprise me”. So if Peggy comes up to you and asks, “Forrest, if you die before me where do you want to be buried?” What would your answer be?”   ~Joe

A) Joe, thanks for the question. I have no desire to be buried in a box. It’s too dark and cold for me, and too lasting. I would rather go into the silent mountains on a warm sunny day, sit under a tree where the air is fresh and the smell of nature is all around, and let my body slowly decay into the soil. What can be better than that? f

MW Questions with Forrest (10/2015)

And then some other Quotes about Buried and Hidden:

Q) Even your wife didn’t know when you buried the treasure, correct?

A) I have never said I buried the treasure so please don’t say that. I hid the treasure, but that does not mean it is not buried. I just didn’t want to give that as a clue. My wife’s name is Peggy.  

Dal’s site (scrapbook 163)

However, it should be added, Forrest has used the term buried (mistakenly),  But his use of the word buried seems to suggest it is buried at least in one form of the word.

Q) Is the treasure buried in New Mexico? Or could it be anywhere in the Rocky Mountains?

A) Well, it’s buried more than eight and a half miles north of Santa Fe in the Rocky Mountains, but below the Canadian border.

Dal’s site: video

And that get’s one to ask, has Forrest said anything about the difference between buried and hidden?  He has.

Forrest has said:

“If you look the word burial up in the dictionary, it talks about sepulchering, about entombing, and there’s all kind of definitions.  Quite frankly, it’s very confusing.  So I don’t want to answer the question whether the treasure chest is buried or not.  Let me give you an example: if I laid the treasure chest on top of the ground, and some weeds blew in there and covered it up, now is it buried or isn’t it?  Is it sepulchered?  Is it entombed. So, it’s best not to go there I think.  The clues will lead you the treasure and whether it’s buried or not, you can find it if you find the blaze as a result of starting with the first clue.  That’s what you have to do.”

The Lure

More Quotes:

“I’ve taken the treasure chest to a very secret, and very special place and I’ve hidden it there.”

Santa fe radio cafe

Q) Mr. Fenn, Instinct tells me that you have something more in the jars you’ve hidden than just your autobiography, like maybe a gold coin or two. Do you think it is harder to find your jars or the chest? ~RPeternell

A) R, each bronze jar I buried contains only my autobiography that is encased in a moisture proof glass container. Today I would be unable locate any of my buried jars or bells.

My hope is that some romantic historian will happen upon one of them in the year 12,016, and think that Forrest Fenn was not just a passer-by to life. f

MW Questions with Forrest (7/2016)

Watch on video:

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

79 Comments

  4. In the end, we all become the same, ash to ash, and dust to dust, slowly or all at once. It is understandable to be buried with the things that brought joy into our lives, wedding ring, photos of loved ones, and so on. Me, i enjoy woodworking and have no doubt, there’ll be some sawdust on me, space permitting. 🙂

    NearIndianaJones

      1. Precarious footing makes for a slidden hidden. Don’t mind me I am trying my hand at architecting my Alaskan fish camp. I have a hard time getting my picture to paper, good thing I am a better craftsman than a draftsman or the northern winds will surly blow cold through my creation. I hope my foot is not getting ahead of my header. Lots of borders for a hoarder.

        crimsonblazeblog

  10. Jenny,

    1) I had also considered the idea that Forrest may have constructed a recessed “safe” and hidden it there. In this scenario, would it involve more than the two trips from the car (in one afternoon) that we were told about, to transport the supplied to build the safe? Since we are lead to believe that the only 1) the treasure, and 2) the chest were carried (at least part of the time in a backpack) during those two trips. It is possible a natural, existing feature was used.
    2) “I just didn’t want to give that as a clue” almost could be interepreted as “it could have been a clue, but I didn’t want to give it as one”. Maybe.

    astree

    2. Interesting astree, and maybe he made two trips to/from the car late one night in the afternoon…sort of like the old saying:
      “…early in the morning late one night, two dead men got up to fight, back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other…”

      When it’s night there, it’s afternoon somewhere else….like the song: “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

      And, maybe he made two trips because he carried other items that he deemed necessary and knew better than attempting to carry a “lazy man’s load” (all in one trip) by having too many other objects in his hands to be successful in his endeavor.

      TomTom

    3. Astee;

      Have you considered the possibility that Forrest may have spent a lifetime preparing the site? Maybe as a boy, he and Skippy found this special place. Maybe as boys they excavated a hole, into which they deposited their “Treasures”. Over time, Forrest may have even strengthened the walls with boards, and even “Tarred” them to preserve them – and of course, added a covering stone… and then he decided to “Hide” Indulgence in the “Special Place”. Who knows?…other than Forrest, and he isn’t talking.– JDA

      JDA

  12. I have a question on final resting places and such. Would you want to choose your own epitaph, or leave it to others? I’m up in the air on that one. Not trying to be wierd, but since the subject kinda revolves around it.

    NearIndianaJones

    3. .
      The “berried” the chest is something I thought about multiple times. It would work if his responses were verbal – some are. I’m pretty sure thoughthat he also responded “buried” in writing. Still works, just requires more twist.

      astree

    4. Hidden in a bear’s den? That could lead to a rude awakening. It could also explain berries and tarry sca(n)t But, wait. It’s not in a dangerous place? So it’s not the place, it’s the inhabitant one has to be concerned with? Hmm. No.

      Iceman

  16. That’s right, you can’t stumble over the chest. Pretty simple if you just think about IT. You can’t take the word buried as a clue but you can use the word hidden as a clue. Buried = 0. Hidden =1 it’s digital electronics at the simplest form.

    Crimsonblaze

  20. As the sun fell closer to the edge 0f the mountain I could see a beautiful blaze of red ,orange and yellow glowing in the western skies against the horizon ! There was a cool wind blowing up from down below with a faint scent of sage and pine trees. I could see down below me where there were small open meadows where turkeys were pecking at some kind of seeds that had fallen from a wild flower , There were deer in the edges grazing along the small stream that took a meandering course along a row of cottonwood trees that grew there. I could hear water bubbling from a small stream of water close by and a squirrel was chirping somewhere in a tree above me. I could sense the solitude and beauty of the place as the sun took a last turn and darkness slowly engulfed the world around me. This would be a special place. Anything short of a place like this doesn’t qualify.

    WoodyBogg

  22. The4re is absolutely 0 reason to look like either Indiana jone5s or laura croft – stop confusing #HoLLywood Fakery with the real me –
    the 3rd greatest actor and 2nd greatest treasure hunter in the last 1 hundred years ..

    7 .. 8 .. 9 ..

    quit being copy-cats. think for yourself. be yourself. dress your own style. Just like Paul Newman in ‘Roswell’ ..

    My Time is Short ..

    B ..

    Brad Hartliep

  23. I hadn’t seen this specific “Lure” quote from Forrest, and the part that really caught my eye is, “…if I laid the treasure chest on top of the ground, and some weeds blew in there and covered it up, now is it buried or isn’t it?”

    The phrase “blew in there” causes a flurry of consternation… Perhaps something to keep in mind when trying to resolve the last clue.

    The season seems about to change in the Rockies, and I’m not referring to the calendar. It will still take some time before many parts are less risky and more passable – both by vehicle and foot. I like to watch local/search area snow levels and, once zeroed, give a couple or more weeks, depending on local weather conditions. Best to err on the side of safety.

    Best of luck to all – safety first!
    Joe

    Joe

  24. Jenny,
    This is a weighty subject for me and anyone else who have gone to the end of a compelling solve, chose not to dig, and then wondered…. should I have dug? I think a valuable addition to your list of quotes would be the one or more where he indicates that a searcher within 12 feet of the treasure is unlikely to miss it. This suggests to me that if one knows enough to get that close, even if it is buried, it’s location would be obvious. Also you left out his statement that no tools would be needed to retrieve it. Sorry i’m not taking the time to come up with the direct quotes… and there is the debated (lost?) quote where he indicated a three year old could (walk up to?) locate the treasure (if assisted to the location). These all give me solace when reflecting on my choice not to dig… but my opinion that the treasure is uncovered was also formed by the quote in which Forrest indicates that he knows the treasure is wet because “physics tells me so”. Hopefully my BS in physics has not gone completely to waste 😉

    DWRock

      1. Plus, a child could and would do such (turn over things)…. they are always ‘looking’ for things…

        It’s just a theory… obviously when a searcher finds the blaze, the correct one, it will be obvious exactly what to do….. and it might not be what is considered above.

        Jenny Kile

      2. Plus, a child could and would do such (turn over things)…. they are always ‘looking’ for things…

        It’s just a theory… obviously when a searcher finds the blaze, the correct one, it will be obvious exactly what to do….. and it might not be what is considered above.

        Jenny Kile

        1. I think the line “…..with marvel gaze” tells us what to do. If the blaze is a “marvel” (i.e., a noun), we’re told to look WITH it or, look where it is looking. I guess it helps if the blaze has eyes.

          nmc

  28. Hi Nate, It is a little tiring to hear about how you could die just walking around. It is obvious part of life that you could die doing anything humanly normal or even necessary, i.e., swallowing food. That IMO is not a good comparison. Rewatch the video. There is a statement about taking too many risks. So, it appears that over doing something in an adventure that already bears risks needs to be addressed. In this adventure, IMO it is the simple things like avoiding experienced professionals and their information, avoiding telling people your schedule, and mostly being in a mega rush. When I think of ‘troubles’ and ‘harms’ in life from childhood through adulthood, most appear to be when one is in a hurry or a rush. Safety tends to be forgotten. A chemistry student in a rush while completing a lab assignment may forget not to get too close to the chemical mixture, breath it in and end up in the ER. A driver in a hurry to get to a location tends to forget many road safety rules and recklessness causes accidents. IMO this ‘hunt’ which was supposed to ‘give hope’ and be fun is rushed. Fenn stated somewhere that the chest is patient. So IMO the best advice to keep people safe in this particular adventure is to not only simplify the solution, simplify the path chosen, but to simplify the urgency. Re-evaluate the ‘fun’ the ‘adventure’ and take one’s time. The ER visit ends up costing more time than saving and the car accident costs more time than saving. A rush in the wilderness could not only cost more time, it could cost life itself. To slow down in itself is a way of simplifying an adventure. I wish the ‘police’ would have begged the searchers to follow practices that have been developed by many wilderness, forestry, etc organizations. To operate anything without reading the directions is foolish. But the rush to be #1 seems to require the loss of all reason. Perhaps simplify does not just mean the solution/solve, but the adventure itself. So, Nate, while most things in life could become deadly, I believe the worse and most preventable cause is rushing and being in a hurry. Tragedies should not keep us from enjoying life, but preventable tragedies from senseless hurried acts SHOULD keep us from enjoying life. IMO Maybe we need to re-energize boy/girl scouting, be educated, be prepared, be careful. We learned a lot of good things as children when our lives seemed simple. Slow and steady wins the race. The childhood fables, folktales, folklores seemed to have the best messages. Adventure as a child. IMO

    Pen Ghost

    1. Yes. A very well-written response, Pen Ghost.

      Regarding safety…studies have shown that the majority of car accidents happen within a five mile radius of one’s home.

      That’s why I always attempt to get out of that five mile radius as quickly as humanly possible…even if a few stop signs need to be…shall we say…overlooked. :/

      🙂

      JC1117

      1. lol, yes, and I don’t like to sit idling either. So I gun it through those yellow-red lights and shout at the old biddies to get outa the way!
        I’m like the postman, nothing shall prevent me from making my appointerd roundsh.

        Buckeye Bob

  29. Forrest was 79 or 80 years old when he hid the treasure.
    Plus, he was carrying about 20 pounds of weight, at least, on each of his two trips from his “sedan”.
    Logic says that it’s not in a dangerous location, other than the type of dangers one should expect while hiking in the mountains.
    (Take bear spray, it works on everything and better than a gun.)

    To top it all off, there’s no way he would have put people at risk on this memorable journey.

    Forrest has said that it’s not in a cave where rocks can fall on you, and that there are no steep hills to climb, and that it’s not in fast running waters (I think, but I’m sure of that regardless).
    With these points in mind, it’s clear that safety was a point of concern from the beginning. Just as it should be logical to each of us.

    Buckeye Bob

    1. Yes. Safety from the beginning. Safety includes learning the timing of the year and day to venture to different parts of any wilderness. The very first time I wanted to go to my wwwh it turned out that the amount of daylight was not sufficient for the project amount of time it would take to get there and return before dark. So, I stopped the car and got out for a stretch. I really wanted to travel farther but decided it would have to wait till the next year. I knew my limitations about dark and I did not really know the area I was headed. So safety and patients and some disappointment at the time kept me and my loved one safe and alive. You never really do know they other things that you might see when you have to stop for safety. Turns out it was the best time and the best stretch. Just look at ff’s comments about his father stopping the car, the water breaks, the breaks for the stores and stuff and his dad knew the terrain and the path well. Until we visit some areas or parks we really do not know what is ahead until we get there but we always know our limitations or at least we should — if we self-evaluate and remind ourselves that we are us and not some other prominent hiker. Thanks.

      Pen Ghost

  31. filmguy –Question- What kind of films do you create and or work on? What is your opinion of a flagstone? Etched on the surface using acid or chiseled,? ,grooved, with another stone.? ancient petroglyphs ?

    WoodyBogg

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