Who is Forrest Fenn?
In a nutshell, Forrest Fenn lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he
started an art gallery, raised a family, collects artifacts, writes
books and made a fortune. He has hidden aproximately a million dollars
of his fortune in gold and gems in an old world, bronze chest pictured
to the left (he paid $25K for the chest alone). The whole shebang is
said to weigh about 42lbs and much of the gold is collector’s gold,
meaning that its worth much more than the face value of gold alone
because of its historical importance. For instance, an ancient Aztec
golden amulet is worth much more than the current value of its weight in
gold because it is unique, unusual, sought after, special, etc.That’s crazy! Maybe…Forrest is not a traditional thinker tied to conventional ways of getting things done. If he were, his life would be dull, commonplace, mundane, boring. Instead, his life has been anything but humdrum. He has made his fortune and his reputation by thinking, creating and trading well beyond the bell curve. The hidden treasure is another way for Forrest to enjoy life. In my humble opinion he looks forward to capable individuals out there trying to out-think him and locate his treasure. Its a contest for him. Forrest versus the rest of the world and the winner gets to keep a million dollars. To meet Forrest is to stand in the presence of a very smart, competent and competitive fellow. Someone will most certainly find his treasure chest…why not you?…or preferably me?
Who can go after his treasure? Anyone and everyone is invited to go out and look for Forrest’s treasure chest. Even his family because no one knows where its hidden except him. When you find it, Forrest says that “its yours to keep”. How’s that for a “shovel ready” program that will put folks back to work?
Where do I start looking? There are three or possibly four essential items that will help you find where the treasure chest is hidden. Forrest wrote a poem which contains nine clues and is supposed to lead us directly to the treasure. He has published the poem on his website and it has appeared in a number of news stories about the hidden treasure. You can find his poem at the bottom of this page. Forrest also wrote a memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, which is a beautiful hard cover book with plenty of pictures and lots of possible additional hints to where the treasure chest is hidden. It’s available for $35 through Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There are also additional hints and clues Forrest has handed out since the hunt began back in 2010. Finally, we have been able to get additional information via email exchanges between Forrest and many who have been searching and taken the time to write him. I hope this blog will become a source of information about the treasure and where you can begin your search.
Caution!
There are plenty of speculators, naysayers and misinformed individuals
out there including reporters and journalists who have added inaccuracy
and conjecture to the trove of hints and clues floating around out in
the ether. This is inevitible. As the story is passed from person to
person it begins to grow and be embellished and before you know it the
facts are hard to find. In truth, what Forrest has said over and over is
that only the poem and what he has written in the book contain honest
hints and clues that will lead to the treasure…ignore the words that
others have put in his mouth. I learned this the hard way.More caution! Forrest himself is a master of the double entendre. He chooses his words very deliberately. More than once I have run off suffering from the belief that I had brilliant new information about where the gold is hidden… In fact, I did not pay close enough attention to the precision of his words. He specializes in letting you believe something he never said. (I told you he is clever).
Another place to look for clues. One other source of reliable information is Forrest’s blog which is on his Old Sante Fe Trading Company website. He occasionally writes about the hidden treasure and in his writings you might just find the puzzle piece you were looking for that will lead you to the treasure. Anyone interested in the treasure should read his website from front to back. Not only will it give you a pretty good picture of just who Forrest is and why he is legend but his real-life stories are entertaining and witty.
Forrest at home in Santa Fe
