forrest fenn treasure hunt chestIn the month of July (2018) were three main news articles on the Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt posted online.  You might ask, what were the highlights and was anything new mentioned within them?

The articles were the following:

A Deadly Hunt for Hidden Treasure Spawns Online Mystery (Wired)

$3 Million Hunt Remains a Mystery (Forbes)

The Treasure Hunters on a Deadly Quest for an Eccentric’s 2million Bounty (The Guardian)

All three of the articles provided a bit of background on not only Forrest Fenn, but the treasure hunt.  I think most know about those things, but if not, the following is a quick summary.  Forrest retired from the air force and started an art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the early 1970’s.  He had great success buying, trading, and selling Southwestern pieces that his own collection of valuable artifacts grew out of his innovative endeavors.

When diagnosed with cancer at age 58, and with the odds of recovery against him, he devised a plan to hide a treasure chest filled with gold and other relics from his collection. He would leave a poem directing a searcher to his chest and walk out to that special spot to die with it. The poem at that time would ask the searcher who found the chest to leave his bones.

But winning his battle with cancer, Forrest changed the plan slightly. He continued working on the poem, assembling contents, and hid the chest of gold years later at age ‘near 80’.  The Forrest Fenn treasure, hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, north of Santa Fe, is believed worth over a million dollars.

Interesting though, in the articles, the amount the treasure is worth continues to fluctuate. But Forrest has said ‘there is no need to exaggerate’.  It is good enough.  And I trust that it is. Whatever it turns out to be, will be just fine.  It’s the Chase that matters most.

But the Chase must be pursued safely.  All three of the articles mentioned searchers who have died while looking for the Treasure Chest.  This is a sensitive topic, and it is a heartbreaking situation.  There are a few who blame the Chase for such deaths, but the overwhelming community of searchers and others feel all things have risks, and the Chase is not at fault.  My feelings on the deaths were quoted in a previous New York Times article at the time of the tragic passing of Paris Wallace.  I remain with the opinion.

“Jenny Kile, who runs one, Mysterious Writings, sends her “heart and prayers” to Mr. Wallace’s loved ones, but fiercely defends the merits of the mystery. “There are tragedies and risks in everything we do,” she said. “And although authorities and other disparaging people want to point the finger, ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ is in no way the blame for loss of life or accidents which happen during the chase. Most people understand this. 

“I believe the greater tragedy of life is not living it,” she said. “It is more harmful NOT to encourage people to chase dreams and not to encourage them to go live an extraordinary life filled with adventure and fun.”

I think the most important aspect of the July 2018 articles is they remind us not to become obsessed with the hunt, but to make it a fun adventure.  We are told over and over again by Forrest the chest is not hidden in a dangerous place.  He continuously urges us to not go where a man of age 80, with a heavy laden chest of gold, could not go easily, and to use common sense.  Don’t let the lure of gold go against your own sound judgement.

But were there any new hints or clues in the articles?

Not really.  The most inciteful sentence from all three of the articles, to those looking for any small nudge to help them get closer to the chest, seemed to be when the Wired article mentioned, “In fact, he reveals, a Searcher recently came within 200 feet of it.”  This was after correctly quoting Forrest saying in the MysteriousWritings February’s Six Questions of :

“My gut feeling is that someone will find it this summer.”

But the Wired sentence is NOT a recent direct quote from Forrest Fenn.  The word causing excitement in the sentence was ‘RECENTLY’.

Most searchers knew someone, if not more than one, had come within 200 feet of the treasure chest in the past.  But had this happened ‘Recently’, like within the last few months, as the article seemed to suggest?

Many searchers quickly emailed Forrest asking him this, and was told no,  “Not a recent searcher” by Forrest. This particular wording was posted on The Hint of Riches forum.

And maybe the Wired reporter didn’t see the other MysteriousWritings Q/A where Forrest is quoted saying:

‘My gut feeling is wavering.’

I’m thinking if anyone ‘recently’ was within 200 feet, between February and the date of the above answer, his gut feeling wouldn’t be wavering.

We are reminded though, by Forrest in the Forbes Article:

“It is possible that someone will find the treasure this year, but they will have to figure out the clues first.  They are not going to happen upon it.”

But as you can assume with the amount of incentive at stake there are searchers out there with enough tenacity to discover the chest, like Sacha Johnston, who was featured in The Guardian article and also in a Six Questions with Searchers here on this website.

The chest will be found by someone, some day.  The only question is when?

So back to the clues in Forrest Fenn’s poem…..and to putting on our thinking caps.

armchair treasure hunts by jenny kile foreword by forrest fennPlus, there is currently the MW August GiveAway going on for Armchair Treasure Hunts by Jenny Kile, with the Foreword, and words on the last page to searchers, by Forrest Fenn.  It includes and organizes material posted here on this website, as well as never before released Weekly Words– and lots more!

Learn more here: MW’s August GiveAway: Enter to Win

It will be available to purchase soon….

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

26 Comments

  1. Hi Jenny. I think the quote “It is possible that someone will find the treasure this year, but they will have to figure out the clues first. They are going to happen upon it.” may have an error in the second sentence. “They are NOT going to” vs. “They are going to”?

    nmc

  2. Very nice work Jenny. You are a powerful force and I appreciate everything you do for us by maintaining this site. Instead of N I’m headed W for some fun in the sun. I’m backing away from the Chase and hopefully I will find whatever began my decaying attitude towards f and the Chase and get those stars realigned. He’s a good man with a good heart and I have learned a lot about myself from his words. The only regret have at this point is my expecting this to be a social activity. Thanks again. I’ll be getting lost out there around the Gap. I’ll add a small f to the guestbook there at the Murphy-Dolan store. I apologize to all for my rants and subpar deplorable behavior.

    fallingrock

    1. This is a social activity. Just don’t give away your prime ideas. lol
      The stories of people’s searches, the other things they find along the way, the blogs and forums, that’s all social stuff. And interesting and fun.
      But I’ve been there too, like you. Downer moments don’t define us. They are just part of life and it’s great to overcome them. We’re better for it, too.
      I know in me bones you’d agree.

      Buckeye Bob

  5. With the “Not a recent searcher” reply, does F mean that he isn’t aware of any searcher recently getting within 200 feet, or does he just mean that the statement the article refers to is the old one we’re all familiar with? Does anyone know the exact question he was replying to when he wrote that?

    Mountain Ash

    1. It was an ambiguous answer. If the “recent” statement in the article was inaccurate or a misquote, you’d think Fenn would address the error when he responded to Kpro’s query. Something like “I never said that”. He’s pointed out in the past when he’s been misquoted (Toby was the latest casualty), or stated things like “they got some of it wrong”, but not this time. That alone makes me re-think what he really might have meant with his response “not a recent searcher”. Of course, only he knows the real answer behind his response.

      nmc

  9. Always throwing some “searchers” name out there like they’ve discovered A clue when they haven’t, yea sounds like the best shot to me too! Guess it’s a female thing giving credit when nothing at all but the wrong direction has been made! And everyone wonders why!

    Iamthe1

  12. I went in search two weeks ago in a spot I thought I was “guided” to. No treasure, but I found early 60’s era Budweiser beer cans buried underground.
    I really think F. Fenn took his treasure back to himself. But, he succeeded getting us outdoors. I had a very wonderful trip thanks to him.

    Dave

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