The Thrill of the Chase is Finally Over

[Gman]

Forrest Fenn treasure chest hidden in Rocky Mountains finally found

SANTA FE, N.M. ? A bronze chest filled with gold, jewels, and other valuables worth more than $1 million and hidden a decade ago somewhere in the Rocky Mountain wilderness has been found, according to a famed art and antiquities collector who created the treasure hunt.

Forrest Fenn, 89, told the Santa Fe New Mexican on Sunday that a man who did not want his name released ? but was from ?back East? ? located the chest a few days ago and the discovery was confirmed by a photograph the man sent him.

?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 10 years ago,? Fenn said in a statement on his website Sunday that still did not reveal the exact location. ?I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot.?

Fenn posted clues to the treasure?s whereabouts online and in a 24-line poem that was published in his 2010 autobiography ?The Thrill of the Chase.?

Hundreds of thousands have hunted in vain across remote corners of the U.S. West for the bronze chest believed to be filled with gold coins, jewelry and other valuable items. Many quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to the search and others depleted their life savings. At least four people died searching for it.

Fenn, who lives in Santa Fe, said he packed and repacked his treasure chest for more than a decade, sprinkling in gold dust and adding hundreds of rare gold coins and gold nuggets. Pre-Columbian animal figures went in, along with prehistoric ?mirrors? of hammered gold, ancient Chinese faces carved from jade and antique jewelry with rubies and emeralds.

[Sawin]

Anyone else thinking the whole thing was a farce?

[GilpinGuy]

I'm calling BS. Why not reveal where it was found?

[BushMasterBoy]

The Poem

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.

Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk.
Put in below the home of Brown.

From there it?s no place for the meek,
The end is ever drawing nigh;
There?ll be no paddle up your creek,
Just heavy loads and water high.

If you?ve been wise and found the blaze,
Look quickly down, your quest to cease,
But tarry scant with marvel gaze,
Just take the chest and go in peace.

So why is it that I must go
And leave my trove for all to seek?
The answers I already know,
I?ve done it tired, and now I?m weak.

So hear me all and listen good,
Your effort will be worth the cold.
If you are brave and in the wood
I give you title to the gold.

[GilpinGuy]

That's why I want to know the location. To see if the poem and the location make any sense at all.

[encorehunter]

I hope he reveals the location. I went looking once, and would like to know if I was even close. Down Clear creek from Indian springs to Mayhem trail fit a lot of the poem.

[kidicarus13]

I don't think it was a farce but I'd at least like to know what county it was found in.

[Waldo1]

The final and secret stanza:

'Tis stashed in a Bong in Manitou Springs
Under a homeless musician with an unwashed taint
If thou findest this stash, best wash it good
and take care when taking, lest you grab his wood.'

[BladesNBarrels]

What is the IRS's share in the treasure?

[FoxtArt]

Doesn't seem too credible tbh. The main reason not to disclose a location is if anyone extensively looked there a fraud could be exposed. I think he wanted to inspire "adventure" with this crap, but finally heeded peoples calls to stop getting others killed and close the chapter before he may pass away. I doubt there ever was anything anywhere.

It's not impossible that it was real, but I think the weight definitely leans to the entire thing being a farce from the inset. It's also a convenient way to lose the equivalent of a bunch of guns in a big lake.

ETA: I'm sure if he entirely fabricated it, he rationalized himself to be the equivalent of smokey bear, e.g. getting the nations youth away from screens or what not and into the forests. Oh, those people would've died in front of the TV anyway.