In particular, a 24-line poem was used as the only information needed to discover the box left unburied in. KOB 4 reached out to Fenn’s family for comment, but they declined the request. Fenn teased the treasure’s location in his 2010 memoir The Thrill of the Chase. "He was obsessed with being remembered, from his own writing,” Mabe said. To some, Fenn’s legacy is recalled with fondness, but it also serves as a painful reminder to others over what was taken from them. “People spent a lot of money on these trips and did dangerous things and dug in places they probably shouldn't have."įenn announced his treasure was found in June by “a man from back east.” Fenn eventually released pictures of the treasure as proof, but promised to keep the finder’s identity a secret.Īn anonymous homage to Fenn later surfaced online from someone who claimed to be “the finder”, and promised to answer questions about the treasure in the future.
"And he said numerous times throughout interviews that it's about getting people off the couch and into the outdoors,” he added.ĭuring the 10-year search, some treasure hunters lost their lives in the process. Some time in the middle of 2010, wealthy author/collector/archaeologist Forrest Fenn hid a medieval chest filled with gold coins and other valuable artefacts somewhere in the Rocky Mountains for anyone to go and retrieve. "I can tell you for a fact, that it wasn't real,” Reed said. Some treasure hunters, like Randall Reed, were convinced that treasure was the search itself. One man even went as far as breaking into Fenn’s home. For the next decade, treasure hunters interpreted his clues in different ways. "As with many collectors like him, those items have either went underground, or collected and sold so he wouldn't have any responsibility, or he still has them somewhere and they're just not showcased,” O’Loughlin said.įenn hid his treasure a year after the FBI raid. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Fenn’s house was one of several Santa Fe collectors’ homes raided by the FBI in 2009, but Fenn was never charged with a crime. O’Loughlin said she personally knows activists who tried to get back items that she said Fenn stole from sacred grounds. The first clue, a 24 line poem in his 2010 self-published autobiography The Thrill of the Chase is certainly enigmatic: As I have gone alone in there And with my treasures bold, I can keep my secret where, And hint of riches new and old. “He was digging in the earth and, from what I understand, in places that may have been illegal to do so,” she said. Fenn helps stoke the passion of treasure hunters by releasing various clues. Shannon O’Loughlin, executive director for the Association on American Indian Affairs, said they worked to get culturally significant items back to Native American tribes that had artifacts stolen from them. "How you serve in the military for a career and then have enough money and enough of a collection to buy into the Santa Fe art market and really make it is, you know, questionable,” Mabe said. The only clues offered nine, to be specific were hidden in his.
In 2010, Forrest Fenn hid a treasure chest full of gold and diamonds, purported to be worth millions, somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. No matter what happens, though, it’s all about the Thrill of the Chase.Mabe’s piece outlines several allegations against Fenn, which include stealing ancient pottery from the ruins of Pompeii to grave robbing in New Mexico. For fans of Forrest Fenn’s The Thrill of the Chase treasure hunt, it’s been a strange and frustrating year. If you’re up for it – join us there will be hidden alliances, dangerous trips through the untamed wilderness of the Rockies, and plenty of surprises along the way. More than the mystery of the treasure’s location, delegates will have to untangle the strings of who they can and cannot trust in their own community, where everyone hides behind the veil of a screen name. Delegates will be challenged to use diplomacy and debate in ways like never before as they step into their roles as members of this community. As a clue to the box’s location, he has released a 24 line poem with 9 clues, and still, over 10 years later, no one has found it.Ĭurrently, there is a large and incredibly lively online community that continues to hunt daily for the treasure.
In 2006 he finally decided to fill a box full of gold nuggets, rare coins, jewelry, and gemstones worth over a million dollars and hide it somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. During this time, he came up with the idea to hide a chest full of treasure for anyone in the world to find.
In 1988, art dealer and author Forrest Fenn was diagnosed with terminal cancer.