Why Forest Fenn’s Multi-Million Dollar Treasure is REALLY Worth So Much.
After 10 years of searching, someone has finally found the infamous Fenn’s treasure. If you aren’t familiar with this particular once-hidden stockpile of priceless artifacts and gold, keep on reading as I’ll go through how I found out about it, why it’s so much more than just a random trunk of commodities, and why it meant so much to so many people, including myself.
A Brief History of Forrest Fenn and his autobiography, “The Thrill of the Chase”
In early 2019, I remember browsing YouTube videos and somehow stumbled upon a promotional book event by Forrest Fenn for a book called, “The Thrill of the Chase”. At the time, I had no idea who he was or what this book was about. However, After the first 5 minutes of the video past, I was hooked.
Forrest was such an interesting guy and the more he talked the more I wanted to listen. He began talking about how at the end of his book, there is a map of the Rocky mountains from New Mexico all the way up to Montana and a poem he worked tirelessly on that gives clues to a hidden chest of gold and valuable relics somewhere in this mountain range. The video ended after about 45 minutes, but my interest in this treasure hunt didn’t; I had to know more.
Although the map was readily available online, I grew curious about the man himself. After looking incredibly hard for a copy of the full book, I found one in another state via HPB.com. I quickly snagged it. A week or so later, the physical map as well as Fenn’s story were in my hands.
Very few books captured my attention like The Thrill of the Chase. Forrest seems to write in a no-bullshit style. He uses bigger words when needed, but doesn’t consult a Thesaurus for every sentence. Reading his book was like sitting with him around a camp fire as he told me tales from his boyhood all the way up to when he served in the military and beyond. I highly recommend checking it out. You can hear him talk in the aforementioned book signing video below.
It’s a bit hard to label Mr. Fenn as any particular thing, but he’s best known as an art dealer, a writer, a war vet, and an adventurer. He currently resides in Sante Fe, New Mexico where he is the proprietor and founder of Fenn Gallery. He was originally born in Temple, Texas, (not too far from me) and has written 10 books, mostly about his own life and adventurers.
The Search For Fenn’s Treasure
I can’t claim to have searched as hard as most. In actuality, all I ever did was postulate and come up with my own theorized solves as to where the treasure might be at. Actually, one of my traveling dreams was to go on a week-long adventure into the Rockies to search for the treasure. Many others searched way harder and some thought they had found the right location and that the prize had been found already, but never publicized. (That was obviously not the case as we’ll get to later.)
Some people underestimated the dangers of the wild Rocky Mountains and lost their lives on the search. According to Wikipedia, 5 people have been presumed dead while searching for the treasure since it was hidden by Fenn about 10 years ago:
Randy Bilyeu went missing in January 2016 and was found dead in July. His body was discovered by workers along the Rio Grande, and an autopsy could not determine cause of death. Bilyeu's ex-wife has publicly stated her belief that the Fenn Treasure is a hoax.
Jeff Murphy (53) of Batavia, Illinois, was found dead in Yellowstone National Park on June 9, 2017 after falling about 500 feet down a steep slope. Yellowstone officials did provide details to the public concerning their investigation, but KULR-TV filed a Freedom of Information Act request. The television station reports that Murphy's wife told park authorities that he was looking for the treasure when she first reported him missing.
Pastor Paris Wallace of Grand Junction, Colorado, told family members that he was searching for a buried treasure, but he failed to show up for a planned family meeting on June 14, 2017. His car was found parked near the Taos Junction Bridge and his body was found 5 to 7 miles (8–11 km) downstream along the Rio Grande.
Eric Ashby (31) was found dead in Colorado's Arkansas River on July 28, 2017. Friends and family state that he had moved to Colorado in 2016 to look for the treasure, and was last seen on June 28 rafting on the river 10 to 15 miles (15–25 km) upstream from where his body was found. The raft overturned, and Ashby had been missing since that time.
Michael Wayne Sexson (53) of Deer Trail, Colorado was found dead by rescuers on March 21, 2020, alongside his unnamed 65-year-old male companion, who later recovered in hospital. Authorities were notified by the person who rented a pair of snowmobiles to the men. The pair were discovered within 5 miles (8 km) of the site where they had been rescued from a month earlier, near the Dinosaur National Monument along the Utah-Colorado border.
I think the search for this elusive treasure was more than just possible financial spoils. I think most people explored the wilderness and sought it out more so for the adventurous side of it. Forrest has said himself that despite some officials pleading with Fenn to call this all off, as it posed a danger to those searching, he hoped this would serve as a grandiose adventure people could look back on whether they found the trunk or not.
2020 UPDATE: The Treasure has been found!
According to the main Fenn’s Treasure subreddit I was looking at last night around 3:30 AM, the treasure has been found. A little more research revealed Forrest himself had confirmed someone discovered it, as seen in the photo above. Details about where it was located and who found it have not yet been released, but a lot of us that have been following the hunt are intrigued to find out this information.
If you’re just now hearing about this treasure hunt and you’re bummed it’s already over, it may provide a bit of solace to know that there are other items hidden by Fenn as well. They aren’t equal to the same value and they don’t have an accompanying poem of clues, however they are out there. If you read his book, he describes canisters he has buried with his writings and more. Since we don’t have any clues for these, I’m sure it will be a lot longer before these are found.
As someone who plans to move near the Rockies soon, I hope to stumble upon his other buried treasures one day. Until then…THE SEARCH IS ON.
