MW receives lots of Questions from searchers for not only the Thrill of the Chase Treasure Hunt, but other hunts and treasures as well.  We decided we would start sharing some of these, and their answers, in a special segment called MW Answers…

Watch on Video or Read Below:

A question sent to us recently by a searcher involved in the Thrill of the Chase treasure hunt by Forrest Fenn was about The Little Girl from India.  MW was asked,

“Did Forrest come up with the little girl of India scenario?”

MW Answers: 

The little girl of India first appeared in MW’s 2016 Six Questions with Forrest Fenn.  The Question was:

5Q) Your treasure hunt has inspired people worldwide to discover history, culture and nature, but many people, (even in the US) might be deterred because they don’t live near the Rockies or can’t afford to travel. Should they be deterred? Can a little girl in India, who speaks good English, but only has your poem and a map of the US Rocky Mountains, work out where the treasure is? And would she be confident as she solves each clue, or only confident when she has solved them all?

A)I wish I had another treasure to hide in the Appalachians. The little girl in India cannot get closer than the first two clues. There are many disabled people who are deeply into maps and geography, and they are having a lot of fun.

Link: https://mysteriouswritings.com/six-questions-with-forrest-fenn-over-five-years-of-the-thrill-of-the-chase/

This Q/A sparked lots and lots of discussion on if BOTG (boots on the ground) was required.  The fact Forrest said the little India girl couldn’t get closer than the first two clues suggested BOTG was needed to discover the other seven.

This doesn’t mean she couldn’t have solid ideas for those seven clues, however.  And I think this is where the debate really got heated.  There was one side which felt you had to be BOTG to solve the other seven clues.  There was no other way.

Another side felt a searcher could know what the remaining clues were, but that they just weren’t on the map she had. They said, ‘remember she only had a map of the US Rocky Mountains. This implies WWWH and Canyon Down are shown on the map, but the ‘home of Brown’ is not.  This doesn’t mean searchers won’t know what the other clues are when going BOTG—just that they can’t be discovered on a Map- specifically the map she had.’

There was another camp who felt there was a balance between the two.  They said the Q/A seemed to suggest the first two clues could be identified on a map, and that the other seven will need CONFIRMED with BOTG, but the clues could be realized through other research beforehand.

This approach seemed best to match with the First Six Questions MW ever did with Forrest in 2013. Forrest had said the following: https://mysteriouswritings.com/six-questions-with-forrest-fenn-author-of-the-thrill-of-the-chase/

The person who finds the treasure will have studied the poem over and over, and thought, and analyzed and moved with confidence. Nothing about it will be accidental. T. S. Eliot said:

We shall not cease from our exploration

And at the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time

The Little Girl from India continued to appear and came up again in the following year’s Six Questions:

Six Questions 2017: https://mysteriouswritings.com/six-questions-with-forrest-fenn-and-the-thrill-of-the-chase-treasure-hunt/

4Q) I’ve heard our adorable Little Girl from India decided to start writing a Little Kid from Peñasco. They are fully enjoying and excitedly exploring areas they feel your treasure poem could lead to. They’ve researched via maps, history books, and the internet. However, since she has been told she can’t get closer than two clues to the treasure, she’s planning a trip to not only personally meet the Little Kid from Peñasco, but to search the Rockies for your treasure. How do you imagine their search will go? Can she now find the treasure?

A)Some of those kids from Peñasco are very bright. The treasure will be found by someone who followed the clues to the location. To me, that is the only plausible recipe.

She was also seen in other Featured Questions:

August 12, 2016: https://mysteriouswritings.com/featured-question-and-weekly-words-from-forrest-fenn-little-girl-from-india/

Mr. Fenn, you’ve undoubtedly met countless numbers of us searchers (via email), is there anyone who stands out in your mind, and if so, why? ~ Doug

Many stick out in my mind Doug, but especially the fictitious little girl from India who Jenny invented.f

May 22nd, 2017: https://mysteriouswritings.com/featured-question-with-forrest-fenn-and-the-thrill-of-the-chase-treasure-hunt-across-the-ocean/

Hi Forrest, we are now aware that the poem is a map. If the poem is a map and will tell us exactly where to go, why couldn’t the little girl from India get past the first two clues? I think it’s because after solving all nine clues from home, the ocean prevents her from journeying to the precise location to retrieve the treasure chest. ~ Lagerta the Bold

Dear Whoever Asked This Question, Thanks for answering it for me. f

August 21, 2018: https://mysteriouswritings.com/featured-question-with-forrest-fenn-and-the-thrill-of-the-chase-treasure-hunt-little-india-girl/

Mr. Fenn–If your poem was in Braille, how close could Helen Keller get to the chest on her own?   ~ Hitchhiker

Don’t know Hitch, but I would probably tell her to team up with the little girl in India. f

What can we gain from all these Q/A’s?  One item is for sure– everyone loves the little girl from India…even Forrest Fenn.  From there it is for each of us to decide.  Does she help decide when we need to put Boots on the Ground?  What do you think?

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

.

32 Comments

  2. This an awfully big stick to stir such a little pot with!

    Thanks as always Jenny and Forrest.

    I think a person can discover all clues from home and that BOTG do help a person gain confidence as they discover each clue.

    Retreiving the chest…hmmm, could the little girl from India retreive the chest from home or in the Appalachians?

    Twingem

  5. OMG what a delicious recipe you’ve put together for us! Thank you Jenny. I’ll be chewing on this all day.. how my mind loves to wander…..

    Lagerta the Obvious is whispering something about a blazing “test Pilot” and experience.. exploring.. environmentalist.. exp.. EPA.. ape.. me more than most… at the end of all our explorinG.. canyon.. gape.. fizzy grape…. on and on it goes.. sooo delicious!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeVayITavWw

    HappyThoth

  6. People have been close with the first two clues- with only a rocky mountains map, but they didn’t crack the other layers. Sitting here 15 minutes trying to word this tantalizingly enough, but I can’t. It would give away stuff.

    Five-leaf blaze

  7. The Indian must be imbued with the exalting egotism that is American civilization so that he will say “I” instead of “We”, & “This is mine” instead of “This is ours.”
    John Oberly, U.S. Commissioner, Indian Affairs

    I We. f

    you may kiss the bride

    HT

  9. image on ttotc 146 goes to the heart of Little Girl from India, and BOTG

    funny thing about Santa.. when I find interesting things in ttotc.. inside, I don’t feel like keeping them to myself.. not for the sake of showing off.. but.. well, we’re all looking for the same thing.. and due to that, my natural instinct is to share what I find… regardless of the “foolishness” of it

    HappyThoth

    1. not unlike if my spear takes down a buffalo I suppose.. I may be able to eat the whole thing over time.. but.. why wouldn’t I share it with my relatives.. and like f says in SB 146 which I think also corresponds with ttotc pg 146.. define relative…

      “Then some damselflies arrived, both red and blue. They bobbed about for a while, but soon were gone with little more than casual disinterest. Maybe they had a beef. Perhaps they didn’t like what their cousins were doing on the water iris leaf?”

      Abraham Lincoln Logs

      I We. f

      HappyThoth

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