After a decade-long search, Forrest Fenn, a former military pilot, art collector, and author who claimed to have hidden a treasure chest worth over $1 million somewhere in the Rocky Mountains in 2010, has finally been found. Fenn announced the discovery in a blog post over the weekend.
The treasure, filled with gold coins and rare artifacts, was discovered under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from its hiding spot for more than 10 years, according to Fenn’s blog post.
Fenn confirmed the news to the Santa Fe New Mexican, stating that the person who found the treasure chest provided a photograph as evidence of its discovery. However, he did not disclose where the treasure was found or the identity of the person who found it, only mentioning that the individual was “from back East.”
This discovery marks the end of a quest that drew as many as 350,000 people to the Rocky Mountains region in search of the hidden treasure. Clues to the treasure’s location were included in a poem in Fenn’s self-published memoir, “The Thrill of the Chase,” which was released in 2010.
Throughout the years, Fenn narrowed down the search area to the geographical region of the Rocky Mountains and within the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.
Fenn has previously stated that he buried the treasure as a way to give people hope, something he felt compelled to do after surviving a terminal cancer diagnosis in 1988.
However, the treasure hunt has been controversial and even dangerous from the start. Some have labeled it a hoax, and there have been reported deaths of individuals in pursuit of the treasure, although these claims have not been independently verified.
In 2017, the New Mexico State Police chief urged Fenn to call off the treasure search out of concern for the safety of those seeking it. Additionally, there have been allegations of hacking and theft related to the treasure hunt.
Despite not finding the treasure himself, one avid searcher, Dal Neitzel, expressed mixed feelings about the news of its discovery. He emphasized the importance of Fenn disclosing the treasure’s location for the sake of all the treasure seekers who spent years searching for it.
Moving forward, Neitzel stated that he would continue to explore the beauty of the mountains, shifting his focus away from the treasure chest itself.
In summary, while the discovery of Forrest Fenn’s treasure marks the end of a long and storied quest, it also raises questions and sparks reflections on the nature of treasure hunting and adventure.
