Forrest Fenn's Treasure Chest
He hid $2 million in gold in the Rockies and gave 24 lines of verse as the only clue. Thousands searched for 10 years. Then someone found it.
- Category
- buried
- Status
- found
- Year lost
- 2010
- Region
- Rocky Mountains
- Country
- United States
The dossier
In 2010, Forrest Fenn—an 80-year-old New Mexico art dealer and treasure enthusiast—did something extraordinary. He filled a 10-inch bronze chest with gold coins, gold nuggets, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, and ancient Chinese jade carvings. He estimated the value at $1-2 million. Then he drove somewhere into the Rocky Mountains and hid it. His only clues were a 24-line poem published in his memoir, 'The Thrill of the Chase,' and nine supplemental clues released over the following years in interviews. The poem contained precise directions, he insisted—but written in a way that required lateral thinking, not literal reading. 'Begin it where warm waters halt / And take it in the canyon down.' The hunt became a cultural phenomenon. An estimated 350,000 people searched over 10 years. People quit their jobs. Families went bankrupt. At least five searchers died in the mountains while looking. Fenn began to feel the human cost and debated calling it off. In June 2020, Fenn announced the treasure had been found—by a man from 'back East' who wished to remain anonymous. The finder's identity and exact location have never been publicly disclosed. Fenn died three months later, in September 2020, at age 90. What makes the Fenn treasure permanently interesting: researchers analyzing the poem still debate which 9-clue solution correctly leads to where it was found. The finder has never confirmed the route. A second treasure, rumored in Fenn's later notes but never confirmed, has been speculated about by dedicated community members.
Legal status
Resolved. Treasure found and claimed. No outstanding legal issues.