Stories about hidden treasures have been stirring people’s minds for centuries. The chance of finding a treasure is relatively low, especially if it was hidden in ancient times and it is not known for certain whether it actually existed. Nevertheless, there were always enough people willing to get rich in such a dubious way. What can we say about the treasure, which was hidden not so long ago and there are even instructions on how to find it. The treasure of American millionaire Forest Fenn, hidden in 2010, was searched by thousands of people. After the treasure was found, there were still a lot of questions.
Who is Forest Fenn
Forest Fenn is a former military pilot who began his career in the 1950s and devoted more than two decades to the sky. In 1972, he retired and settled with his family in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There Fenn took up a lucrative and interesting business — the art trade. He opened the Fenn Galleries Ltd. art gallery, through which he sold paintings, sculptures and Native American artifacts.
Forest Fenn
The military pensioner was not too scrupulous and did not disdain to sell fakes. The desperate Forest sometimes took great risks by offering respectable clients fakes of Monet, Degas and Modigliani. And he had serious buyers. Steven Spielberg, Jessica Lang, Steve Martin and even Jackie Kennedy were among the guests of his gallery. The business brought Fenn up to $6 million a year.
In 1988, Forest Fenn was diagnosed with kidney cancer. The disease progressed slowly and the doctors promised that he would live for about 10 more years. The collector decided not to waste time, and to live the last few years for his own pleasure. He sold the gallery and bought himself a piece of land near Santa Fe — in San Lazaro.
A verse with hints
There, Fenn took up archaeological excavations and along the way began writing books about Indian culture and art. Until 2010, he disappeared from view and the pensioner was forgotten. Knowing about Forest’s diagnosis, many were sure that he was no longer alive. But in 2010, a wonderful millionaire turned up. It turned out that he had beaten cancer and was feeling relatively well.
The very verse with the secret
Forest Fenn has published an autobiographical book The Thrill of The Chase (“The Excitement of the Chase”), which became a bestseller. Its success was based not only on interesting stories from the author’s life. Fenn included a poem in the book, in which he encrypted important information. The cipher explained how to find the treasure hidden by the author in the Rocky Mountains.
The millionaire described the treasure as a chest filled with valuable artifacts, jewelry and works of art. He even posted a photo of him. Fenn estimated the value of the treasure at about $1 million to $5 million. The 24-line poem contained 9 hints. Among them were the phrases: “where the warm water stops”, “down in the canyon”, “at Brown’s house” and others.
Rocks in New Mexico
A little later, the old collector added some more information. He said that the treasure was hidden somewhere between Santa Fe and the Canadian border, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters above sea level, as well as in a place where pine trees grow. Yes, Fenn clarified that the chest is located in a man-made place, which he easily reached on his own at the age of 79.
The new “gold rush”
Forest Fenn’s treasure caused a real stir among fans of easy money. Over 10 years, about 350 thousand people have gone in search of him. Thematic forums appeared on the Internet, where participants discussed the millionaire’s tips and speculated about the place where the treasures were hidden.
The treasure was searched in Colorado, New Mexico and even in Montana and Wyoming. Many people quit their jobs in pursuit of wealth, and there were also those who spent all their savings on the search. One woman went bankrupt while scouring Yellowstone National Park. She literally went crazy and searched for the treasure chest even in the trash cans behind the restaurants. As a result, she rented a van with a wheelchair lift. With his help, a desperate treasure hunter lifted drainage grilles on the roads. As a result, she was detained by the police.
It is known for sure that five treasure hunters died. One of them was Randy Billier, who went on a search with a dog in January 2016. A week later, tourists found his dog. The search for Randy himself was unsuccessful. The remains of this poor man were found by chance six months later by the Rio Grande River. And in 2017, another treasure hunter, Jeff Murphy, fell off a slope and broke his neck in Yellowstone Park.
Police intervention
Soon, the body of another seeker was found near the ill-fated Rio Grande. Pastor Percy Voless from the town of Grand Junction in Colorado went to the mountains alone and died under unclear circumstances. After several tragedies, the New Mexico State Police turned to Fenn. Law enforcement officers asked him to stop this madness. But he replied that the search for the treasure was a personal matter for everyone and that he did not want to deprive people of hope.
The Rio Grande River
Forest Fenn also stated that the chest is in an absolutely safe place. You don’t have to risk your life to get it.
“The chest is not hidden under water or near the Rio Grande River. To find it, it is not necessary to move large stones, as well as climb or descend a steep slope. Please remember that I was almost 80 years old when I hid the treasure.”
Two more people died after this statement. In 2017, British director Thomas Leach made a documentary about the Fenn treasure and its seekers. In it, the author not only talks about people risking their lives for a treasure cache, but also tries to explore the factors that encourage people to go in search of unknown things.
Was there a treasure?
On June 6, 2020, Forest Fenn’s treasure was unexpectedly found. This was solemnly announced by the owner of the treasure himself. He never revealed the secret of the hiding place, limiting himself only to general phrases. According to him, the chest was waiting for the lucky man in “a wooded area of the Rocky Mountains.” Exactly in the place where he left it 10 years ago. He also did not mention the name of the person who made a big jackpot.
Photo of Forest Fenn’s ill-fated chest
Fenn did not provide a single piece of evidence that the chest had been found or that it had ever existed. All this suggested that there had never been any treasure. The wife of the deceased Randy Bilye said in an interview with the press:
“Fenn just needed attention and that’s how he got it. And then he needed even more attention, so he said that the treasure had been found, and did not provide any evidence of this.”
The opinions of the treasure hunters are divided. There were many who continued to believe in the existence of the treasure. There were even hunters to fight for him in court. There are a lot of funny stories associated with this. Chicago real estate lawyer Barbara Andersen said she was the first to decipher the clue verse. But she didn’t have time to use it, because someone hacked into her computer and stole information. The woman was sure that the scoundrel who stole her files had found the treasure and wanted to sue him for the treasure.
Another weirdo named David Gunson filed a lawsuit against Forest Fenn himself. He claimed that the owner of the treasure specifically prevented him from effectively conducting searches, confusing and giving false clues. Gunson’s case was closed, but he continues to make attempts to resume it from time to time. And Forest Fenn himself died on September 7, 2020, shortly after the “discovery of the treasure.” He took the secret of his treasure to the grave.
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