ShreyaThe Collector’s Base
Forrest Fenn’s home itself is like a museum. He owns rare artifacts such as a mummified falcon from the tomb of Tutankhamun, Blackfeet daggers, troves of rare books, scores of Persian rugs. There are priceless stones and gems and all this is just a drop in the vast ocean. Reality kicked in when death knocked on Fenn’s door.
Cancerous
It was 1988 and Forrest Fenn found out that he had cancer. Even though he eventually fought it off but it got him thinking about his legacy. It was during his illness that he came up with the idea of creating a treasure chest containing the rarest pieces of his collection from all over the world and also gold- because well a treasure chest is incomplete without gold.
The Treasure Chest
Forrest Fenn went to the Rocky Mountains sometime in 2009 or 2010 and he claims that he hid a treasure chest there and no ordinary chest; a 12th-century bronze chest and apparently it weighs 42 pounds. There are gold nuggets in there, jewelry from 16th- century Spain and if Forrest is to be believed- a Ming dynasty jade sculpture. The chest is for real. But why did Fenn let go of such priceless treasure?
A Mission To Nowhere
Not yet sure where to hide the treasure Forrest Fenn took his car and drove to the Rocky Mountains. He did not tell anyone, not even his wife where he was going. To be fair to him, he did not know himself. Fenn had been a curious explorer. He had been to a lot of treks in the Rocky Mountains so he knew some trails by heart. He knew the range quite well and what he did next would create a worldwide sensation.
Into The Wild
Forrest Fenn found the perfect location to bury the treasure and the secret of it will go down to the grave with him. He went to the place a second time to take more treasure worthy stuff with him. After finalizing the contents of the treasure chest Fenn buried the chest somewhere in the vast expanse of the Rocky Mountains.
Starting The Unexpected
After burying a secret he intended to be discovered Forrest returned to Santa Fe. Cancer made Fenn think beyond himself. It made him want to create a quest so that someone finds the treasure he had so painstakingly gathered from all around the world over the decades. But the reason why Fenn wanted to do this in the first place is quite different. His aim is something else altogether.