Forest Fenn's Treasure: The Mysterious Modern Treasure That Cost Many Lives
Stories about hidden treasures have captivated people's minds for centuries. The chance of finding a treasure is relatively low, especially if it has been hidden since time immemorial and it is not known for certain whether it actually existed. Nevertheless, there were always enough people who wanted to get rich in such a dubious way. What can we say about a treasure that was hidden not so long ago and there are even instructions for finding it. The treasure of American millionaire Forest Fenn, hidden in 2010, was searched by thousands of people. After the treasure was found, many questions remained.
Forest Fenn is a former military pilot who began his career in the 1950s and spent more than two decades in the skies. In 1972, he retired and settled with his family in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There Fenn took up a profitable and interesting business - trading in art objects. He opened an art gallery, Fenn Galleries Ltd., through which he sold paintings, sculptures and Native American artifacts.
The military pensioner was not too scrupulous and did not hesitate to sell counterfeits. Desperate Forest sometimes took great risks, offering forgeries of Monet, Degas and Modigliani to respectable clients. And he had serious buyers. Among the guests of his gallery were Steven Spielberg, Jessica Lange, Steve Martin and even Jackie Kennedy. The business brought Fenn up to $6 million a year.
In 1988, Forest Fenn was diagnosed with kidney cancer. The disease progressed slowly and doctors promised that he would live about 10 more years. The collector decided not to waste time and live his last years for his own pleasure. He sold the gallery and bought himself a plot of land near Santa Fe - in San Lazaro.
There, Fenn took up archaeological excavations and, along the way, began writing books about the culture and art of the Indians. 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 showed up. It turned out that he had beaten cancer and was feeling relatively well.
Forest Fenn published an autobiographical book, The Thrill 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 code 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 published his photo. Fenn estimated the value of the treasure to be approximately from 1 to 5 million dollars. The 24-line poem contained 9 clues. Among them were phrases: “where the warm water stops,” “down in the canyon,” “at Brown’s house,” and others.
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, and also in a place where pine trees grow. Yes, Fenn clarified that the chest is in a place not made by human hands, which he easily reached on his own at the age of 79.
Forest Fenn's treasure caused a real stir among lovers of easy money. Over 10 years, about 350 thousand people went in search of him. Thematic forums appeared on the Internet, whose participants discussed the millionaire's clues and made assumptions about the place where the treasures were hidden.
The treasure was searched for in Colorado, New Mexico and even in Montana and Wyoming. Many people quit their jobs in pursuit of wealth, and there were those who spent all their savings on the search. One woman went bankrupt while combing Yellowstone National Park. She literally went crazy and searched for the treasure chest even in the trash cans behind the restaurants. She ended up renting a van with a wheelchair lift. With its help, the desperate treasure hunter raised drainage grates 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 Bilyeu, 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 fellow were found by chance six months later near the Rio Grande River. And in 2017, another treasure hunter, Jeff Murphy, fell from a slope in Yellowstone Park and broke his neck.
Soon the body of another seeker was found near the ill-fated Rio Grande. Pastor Percy Woless from the town of Grand Junction in Colorado went to the mountains alone and died under unclear circumstances. After several tragedies, New Mexico State Police turned to Fenn. Law enforcement officers asked him to stop this madness. But he replied that the search for treasure is a personal matter for everyone and that he does not want to deprive people of hope.
Forest Fenn also stated that the chest is in an absolutely safe place. You don't have to risk your life to get it.
After this statement, two more people died. In 2017, British director Thomas Leach made a documentary about Fenn's treasure and its seekers. In it, the author not only talks about people risking their lives for a cache of treasures, but also tries to explore the factors that motivate people to go in search of who knows what.
On June 6, 2020, Forest Fenn's treasure was unexpectedly found. The owner of the treasure himself solemnly announced this. He never revealed the secret of the hiding place, limiting himself to only general phrases. According to him, the chest was waiting for the lucky one in “the wooded area of the Rocky Mountains.” Exactly in the place where he left it 10 years ago. He did not mention the name of the person who hit the big jackpot.
Fenn has provided no evidence that the chest was found or that it ever existed. All this suggested that there had never been any treasure. The wife of the deceased Randy Bilyeu said in an interview with the press:
Treasure hunters' opinions are divided. There were many who continued to believe in the existence of the treasure. Even hunters appeared to fight for him in court. There are many 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 the information. The woman was sure that the treasure was found by the scoundrel who stole her files and wanted to sue him for the treasure.
Another eccentric named David Gunson filed a lawsuit against Forest Fenn himself. He assured that the owner of the treasure deliberately prevented him from effectively conducting searches, confusing him and giving false clues. Ganson's case was closed, but he continues to make attempts to reopen 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.