This is the famous legend of a hidden treasure in the United States. According to the magazine Smithsonian, in 2010, the millionaire Forrest Fenn caused a great stir after declaring that he had hidden a chest containing gold, jewelry, and precious stones worth at least $1 million (more than 25 billion VND) in the Rocky Mountains, in the western United States.
“If I die tomorrow, the location of this treasure will go to the soil with me,” said Forrest Fenn.
The millionaire Forrest Fenn once shared that his treasure contained about 10 kg of gold, with 25 American Gold Eagle and Double Eagle coins, many gold antiques, emeralds, and jewelry. Notably, the treasure chest alone weighed up to 9 kg.
Mr. Forrest Fenn was a famous antique dealer in the United States. Photo: CNN
For many years, hundreds of thousands of people have “gone crazy” searching for this mysterious chest, based on the clues that Mr. Fenn had written in his self-published memoir. Accordingly, the clues are believed to be in Mr. Fenn’s 24-line poem.
According to CNBC, Mr. Fenn once said: “Read and reread the clues in my poem and study maps of the Rocky Mountains. Try to combine the two. “.
Mr. Fenn began putting gold, antiques, and precious stones in the chest after he was diagnosed with cancer in 1988. Initially, he planned to take the chest up the mountain and bury it next to him. However, after he recovered, he kept the chest in his basement for several years. CNBC reported that a couple confirmed that they had seen valuables in the chest in the basement.
Mr. Fenn claims to have hidden a treasure chest in the mountains in 2010. Photo: Koat
Regarding the reason for hiding the treasure in the mountains, Mr. Forrest Fenn said that he decided to hide the chest and announce it for people to hunt when the Great Depression severely impacted the US and global economy in 2009. He explained: “People were losing their jobs. Despair was big in the headlines. So I just wanted to give people a little hope, something to believe in“.
Besides, Mr. Fenn wanted that, through this treasure hunt, many people would get out of the city and be closer to nature, going out together to explore more.
The million-dollar treasure hunt lasted nearly a decade
Clues about the million-dollar treasure were revealed by Mr. Fenn in a poem. Photo: Trib
Unexpectedly! After Mr. Forrest Fenn shared about the treasure and the suggestive clues, many people were really drawn into the treasure hunt. They not only exchanged hypotheses about the treasure’s location on forums but also sent many emails to Mr. Fenn.
Mr. Fenn admitted that he received 100 emails a day. He even had to call the police because of uninvited guests coming to the house or making threats.
In fact, there were many appeals for him to end the treasure hunt. But Mr. Fenn refused and revealed more clues on his personal blog to help people involved in the search do so safely.
The allure of this mountain treasure led many to risk danger to find it. Photo: Arstechnica
Mr. Fenn wrote that the treasure chest was not underwater or near the Rio Grande River. Therefore, people do not need to move on large rocks or climb up and down steep slopes. Mr. Fenn revealed that he had driven to the treasure site twice when he was 80 years old.
The value of the million-dollar treasure has led hundreds of thousands of people to risk danger to find it in the remote and rugged mountains of the western United States. Some even quit their jobs and poured all their money into finding clues to its whereabouts. Some argue that this is just a hoax and even sued Mr. Forrest Fenn.
However, despite the buzz surrounding it, this treasure hunt has lasted nearly a decade, with an estimated 350,000 people participating.
In fact, at least 5 people have died while searching for Mr. Forrest Fenn’s chest. In 2017, New Mexico State Police even convinced Mr. Forrest Fenn to stop the hunt because too many people were risking their lives to participate.
Some gold coins and artifacts were found in Mr. Fenn’s chest. Photo: Smithsonian
The race came to an end only when the identity of the person who found the treasure was revealed in 2020. This person was Jack Stuef, a medical student from Michigan. Mr. Shioh Forrest Old, the nephew of millionaire Forrest Fenn, confirmed that this student was the one who found the treasure.
By order of the federal court, Mr. Fenn’s family was forced to make public the name of the person who found the treasure to stop the hunt.
For his part, Jack Stuek shared that he learned about Mr. Fenn’s treasure in 2018 and was then obsessed with finding it. Although he did not disclose the exact location where the treasure was found, Mr. Stuef revealed that he had kept the treasure in a safe location in New Mexico before selling it.
In September 2020, just 3 months after the announcement of the person who found the treasure, Mr. Forrest Fenn passed away at the age of 90.
The article refers to sources: Smithsonian, CNBC, Outside
