Well, hello again to everyone out there in the Big Acorn. This blog post was something that I’ve been debating on for quite some time now, but I figured the time was right for this initial look into Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Hunt. On 48 Hours, the CBS TV show, Saturday, May 22, 2021 will air an update of this story which should be interesting.
In short, Fenn’s Treasure was a cache of gold and jewels that Forrest Fenn, an art dealer and author from Santa Fe, New Mexico, hid in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. In his memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, Forrest Fenn tells of his life but also a poem giving clues of where he hid a treasure valued at over $1.5 million in coins and jewels. So, are you wondering what the poem says? Well, here it is in all of its muddy details.
BUT WAIT! Did I say that the treasure was supposedly found by a medical student from Michigan named Jack Stuef, who originally wanted to remain anonymous, but his name was leaked from a pending lawsuit about the treasure? The exact location was never identified, along with no precise list of the contents were ever given. Many are asking was there ever a treasure in the first place, or is this just an old man’s attempts to get notoriety in the twilight of his life? Forrest Fenn passed away from kidney cancer two months later. Many believe that this timing was just a little more than coincidence and more of Mr. Finn wanting his 15 minutes of fame to continue before his death. More mysteries than you can shake a stick at, and this looks like a perfect spot to look for “X marks the spot” on this mystery.
Let me start off by saying that five people who were looking for Fenn’s treasure were killed in their attempts to find this cache. Randy Bilyeu, Jeff Murphy, Pastor Paris Wallice, Eric Ashby, and Michael Sexton. Because of these deaths, officials in New Mexico and beyond called for Mr. Fenn to call off this treasure hunt for the safety of everyone, which he didn’t. New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassetas went on to say, “I think he has an obligation to retrieve his treasure if it does exist.” This quote alone makes you raise your eyebrows simply because a high-ranking official in New Mexico is questioning if the treasure is real and probably has insight that others don’t about the legitimacy of this quest.
Fenn went on to say that he received over 600 emails asking him not to end the treasure hunt, with only eight unsigned messages urged him to stop this madness. Again, these emails were never released, and we are only taking Mr. Finn’s word about the numbers he received. He did send out a message on his webpage stating, “After a long deliberation and discussions with friends, I have decided that stopping the search would not be fair to the thousands who have searched the Rockies and gone home with wonderful memories that will last them forever. A number of family members who have been estranged for years have reunited to join in the search.”
Linda Bilyeu, whose ex-husband was killed, has publicly stated that she felt that this treasure was a hoax and that the “American public is still being suckered.” She went on to say, “Randy lost his life searching for ‘nothing.’”
“I believe he never hid the treasure,” Bilyeu wrote on Facebook Messenger. “He needed attention, and this is how he got it. Fenn needed more attention, which is why he said the treasure has been found with “no proof.”
Mr. Fenn noted that he emphasized safety first for the treasure hunters. “Anyone who goes into the mountains should be prepared, use a GPS and always be aware of possible dangers,” he said, adding, “Many people don’t have experience hiking in the mountains, but that doesn’t mean they should stay at home. Just be careful and don’t get overextended.”
Mr. Fenn then posted this comment about this treasure hunt on his website days later?
The search is over!
“It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than ten years ago. I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot. I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries. So, the search is over. Look for more information and photos in the coming days.” — Forrest
Many felt that this response lacked any accurate details and many media outlets started questioning the veracity of Finn’s story. Then others like CNN had headlines like “A Treasure Chest Hidden in the Rocky Mountains for a Decade Has Finally Been Found” story over.
Not so fast there everyone. When you start comparing notes and watching different shows, the clues that Mr. Finn gave out just don’t add up, but this could be intentional. For example, on Josh Gates Expedition Unknown, season 2, episode 7. Josh Gates reveals that Forrest Fenn told him that he took the treasure chest and drove to the location unbeknownst to his wife. This means the location must be at least a maximum of two to three hours away from Santa Fe, from where he lived.
The location where the treasure was supposedly found was identified as the Wyoming wilderness around or “in” Yellowstone National Park. If this is true, this would be well out of the area where Mr. Finn could have driven without being noticed by his wife. The location was leaked because of the pending lawsuit between Jack Stuff (the person who found the treasure) and an unnamed woman claiming that her computer was hacked, and the information was used to find the treasure. By the way, all her information and clues pointed to the northern New Mexico area.
Mr. Stuef might have dodged one problem with that lawsuit but opens himself up to another even bigger dilemma. If the treasure were discovered in the confines of Yellowstone Park, the Federal Government would have the first claim to the prize, which explains why Mr. Stuef would want to remain anonymous along with hiding the exact location of the treasure. Did Mr. Stuef really hack this woman’s computer, then proceed to dig it up, and then thought to himself that he better come up with another location far away from Northern New Mexico to cover his tracks? Doing this only puts his claim to the treasure in jeopardy by not realizing the the federal government would have first rights to the cache. Like I said, this story runs deep and fast like the Yellowstone River, and many questions only open into more significant conundrums.
The next big event then is the court case, where many questions will be answered through Discovery procedures and the court case itself. Until then, many of these mysteries will remain that way for now. I have a feeling that an agreement will be settled upon out of court with lots of non-disclosures, which would put this story at GAME OVER.
BUT WAIT AGAIN! There is a second lawsuit brought by a Colorado Springs man for $1.5 million who claims that Forrest Fenn intentionally lied to him by giving him false clues to the treasure’s location because Mr. Fenn realized he was getting awfully close and wanted the hunt to continue.
BREAKING NEWS: This past February, a judge threw out this lawsuit against Mr. Fenn, but options are still available, and so our mystery gets stranger and stranger.
Either way, in the years since the release of his memoir, thousands of people have headed to the Rocky Mountains looking for the treasure described as a box filled with gold and jewels. This feeding frenzy only fueled Fenn’s goal of using his “hunt” to tempt families into experiencing and enjoying nature. Of course, minus the five deaths, lawsuits, lying, accusations of underhanded actions with stealing of personal property, and the federal government wanting to grab some treasure, this is an innocent treasure hunt that anyone at any age can enjoy.
Let’s just say that the rollout of this treasure hunt wasn’t smooth and looks to many as being a hoax. The lack of details and transparency lead many to believe there was no treasure after all. Forrest Fenn wanted to sell some books and get people outside to experience the wild outdoors, which he succeeded at hands down. But in his wake, a lot of bad things happened to some good people that have changed many families’ lives forever, for better and worse.
Either way, Forrest Fenn captivated many, and we are still talking about his treasure hunt after his death. Let’s sit back and see what new revelations 48 Hours comes up with, and you never know we might just get some answers to some of our questions but for now, the mystery continues.