Forrest Fenn
The Fenn Treasure is a cache of gold and jewels that Forrest Fenn, an art dealer and author from Santa Fe, New Mexico, said he hid in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. It was found approximately a decade later in 2020.
Forrest Fenn was a pilot in the United States Air Force, obtaining the rank of Major and awarded the Silver Star for his service in the Vietnam War where he flew 328 combat missions in 365 days He retired from the Air Force and ran the Arrowsmith-Fenn Gallery with his partner Rex Arrowsmith, which became the Fenn Galleries which he operated with his wife Peggy. The gallery was located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and sold a variety of American Indian artifacts, paintings, bronze sculptures, and other art, including forged copies of works by Modigliani, Monet, Degas, and other artists. The gallery reportedly grossed $6 million a year.
In 1988, Fenn was diagnosed with cancer and given a prognosis that it was likely terminal. This inspired him to hide a treasure chest in an outdoor location with the purpose of creating a public search for it. He also intended the location to be his final resting place, with the treasure as a legacy. He recovered from the illness and in 2010 self-published The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir, a collection of short stories from his life. He describes a treasure chest that he says contains gold nuggets, rare coins, jewelry, and gemstones. He goes on to write that he hid the chest "in the mountains somewhere north of Santa Fe". Fenn says that the stories in the book contain hints to the chest's location as well as the poem found in the chapter "Gold and More" that contains nine clues that will lead a searcher to the chest. Fenn's book and story prompted a treasure hunt in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Its value has been estimated as high as $2 million, depending on the appraisal of the items. Fenn claimed to make no money on the sale of the self-published books out of concern for being labeled a fraud by critics.
Before the treasure hunt, Fenn conflicted with authorities over Federal antiquities law. FBI agents raided his home in 2009 as part of an investigation into artifact looting in the Four Corners area. Items in his possession reportedly included pieces of chain mail from the Pecos National Historical Park, human hair, a feathered talisman, and buffalo skull, some of which were confiscated by federal authorities; however no charges have been filed. Two people targeted in the case committed suicide, and Fenn has blamed the FBI for their deaths
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