“Climate Change” will influence the timing on searcher’s season and I suspect snow will become runoff in April. Research of current weather patterns should reveal an early window which I hope to use for a quick in and out search for Forrest’s Trove. My plan is to update this site as I go and by the end of my search all will know where and why I chose the areas I have. I welcome comments and if anyone wants to be in on the chase vicariously stay posted. Maybe they will read something I missed! If they do they can partner up or go on their own journey. I plan to be at my selections first but I will give followers a chance to look in the same areas after my search. I am offering what I think is logical and sound ideas. If there are flaws, point them out, or use the info to refine your own search. First step is to decide if Forrest is truthful or not. If he is truthful then we can trust most of that he says, if he is not truthful, then no one will find his treasure, if there is one. Just one misleading clue is enough to keep everyone from finding his treasure.
Forrest says things that exploit people’s poor listening skills and our weakness of repeating info correctly, a human fault demonstrated by the telephone game. He enjoys pointing out this fault with his statement, I didn’t say I did … and I didn’t say I didn’t … One example his statement that the treasure is hidden somewhere north of Santa Fe which the news turned into a treasure buried somewhere in New Mexico, north of Santa Fe. I believe Forrest Fenn hid a treasure of great value and his hints/clues are meant to help a person find the trove. I believe the poem goes in order and it is not encrypted. Forrest said when the clues are followed precisely they lead to the end of his rainbow and the treasure. He also said don’t mess with my poem and don’t over think it. Encryption calls for a lot of deep analysis and a lot of messing around. Hear what he said, follow the clues precisely and don’t mess with the poem. Figuring out the poem is very difficult but not impossible. Those of you who have looked for the treasure have experienced the perspective of “boots on the ground.” Suddenly finding a small box in the actual territory seems unmanageable. “The map is not the territory.” Walking an area is not equal to moving a computer mouse or a finger over a map. To find something hidden usually takes being right on top of the item and moving things that block your sight. Even a metal detector has to be within twelve inches, give or take a few inches, to signal the presence of metal. It would take four hours to sweep a football field with a good metal detector as much of the ground has metal objects. If you believe you are looking for a blaze on a tree you’ll have to walk all the way around each of the trees where you believe the treasure to be. Up all the hills, down all the gullies etc. etc.. If Forrest gave clues to the treasure then maybe you can find it but only if the clues are very accurate. “If you were wise and found the blaze” you know the exact location of the blaze, which means you would not need to look for a blaze. Forrest says the finder will walk to the treasure with confidence. Forrest did not say the finder will look in the correct area for the blaze because the finder will know where and to what the blaze refers and so will walk with confidence straight to the blaze. Forrest said he would like to see a Texan drive his pickup truck to his secreted treasure which suggest a person will know the precise location before he or she leaves Texas if he or she is wise. The starting place is Sante Fe, NM the treasure is north of there. It is more than 300 miles west of Toledo, Ohio. Forrest says the Toledo statement is not much help or important. I think he said this to help Northern New Mexico get some attention and boost the economy. If we stay with at least 300 miles west of Toledo we wouldn’t be in New Mexico.
Here is some history, people in Northern New Mexico and people from Texas are not the best of friends. I am a Gringo who as a teen spent many fun nights in Red River, NM. The Black Mountain Playhouse saw many a fight between natives and Texans. I am sure things are different as I am referring to a time almost fifty years ago but to this day I don’t know a Texan who prefers any part of New Mexico over Texas. If you are reading this Forrest, prove me wrong. Tell me how New Mexico is a more important place than Texas. I triple-dog-dare you. That would be almost as good as finding the Chest. I dated a beautiful lady from Texas. I will never forget eating crayfish with her parents under a clear starry New Mexico sky. I was surprised to hear how much better Texas is as we ate our New Mexico feast. Hey, there is a rivalry between the two states. Everything southeast of the Rio Grande was Texas before Texas became a state. The southeastern corner of New Mexico is often called Little Texas. This native of New Mexico just cannot come to believe a Texan would hide his treasure in New Mexico. Try reading Red Sky at Morning a 1968 novel by Richard Bradford. It was made into a 1971 film of the same name. The book follows Josh Arnold, a young man whose family relocates from Mobile, Alabama to Corazon Sagrado, New Mexico during World War II. ‘Or how about the Milagro Beanfield Wars Nichols is the author of the “New Mexico trilogy”, a series about the complex relationship between history, race and ethnicity, and land and water rights in the fictional Chamisaville County, New Mexico.[1] The trilogy consists of The Milagro Beanfield War (which was adapted into a movie of the same title directed by Robert Redford), The Magic Journey, and The Nirvana Blues. Bottomline I try hard to be open and aware of my own prejudices. I do my best to respect everyone I come in contact with and I honestly work hard to be fair with everyone but I can’t believe the treasure is in Texas or New Mexico. The logic I promised is missing for now but soon I will put enough fact together to support the whereabouts of the treasure and there in the facts will logically rule out New Mexico. Oh yes , lets give this Texan credit for helping a New Mexico business ( The Collective Book Works in Santa Fe). Is the owner a native New Mexican or……. Just saying. The first verse tells us he went alone and hid a trove in a place where he can hint about treasure both new and old. Is Forrest’s comment that a secret between two people can only stay a secret if one of the two people is dead, a subtle hint? I believe it is a hint. A friend of Mr. Fenn who has past, may have been in on Forrest’s plan. This friend may have offered land where the treasure is hidden. Land offered for public use might include rules to follow certain wishes of the benefactor. Rules about a treasure perhaps. Treasures both new (Forrest’s treasure ) and old ( Spanish and French Gold) or gold claims hints to many areas in the southwest. Begin it where warm waters halt. This line is very important. There is a subtle difference between warm water halts and warm waters halt. A fishing guide can tell you that warm water halts where fish that need cold water to thrive, live. When water gets too warm the water is often closed to fishing. This knowledge may lead some to believe Forrest is referring to a place where warm water halts where one could fish for cold water fish. New Mexico and Montana both have such features. Did Forrest know that warm water halts is a fishing term and for that reason wrote where warm waters halt. Waters means more than one warm water. This way it is likely to refer to geothermal waters and where these warm waters become cool. If the warm water were dammed then warm water not waters is the better fit. Put in below the home of Brown is a key to the poem. It is the only capitalize word other than the words at the start of each sentence. Notice it is not the Home of Brown. This place to put in must be below or in a canyon that is below warm waters that is too far to walk from where the warm waters halt. Below this put in it is not for the meek with water high and heavy loads. Mr. Fenn says he dumped his bike into a river where the water was high. High water is a different way to say deep water. Fishing in deep water means the water is high up on your waders. Heavy loads refers to the overburden needed to be removed before the gold can be dredge. If the overburden is heavy it has big rocks or boulders. Heavy loads make boating hard and dangerous, add high water and this place is not for the meek. Meek, a pioneer in the area I will soon discuss, narrowly escaped from unfriendly Indians by following Tom Miller’s Creek. This creek is just below a stretch of water Meek refers to in his diary as having boulders too large and water too deep for him to go up. Meek was right he found himself just below Yankee Jim’s Canyon with only one trail through it and that trail is an Indian trail. This is why Meek decided to go to Oregon instead of sticking around area. The next verse starts “From there its no place for the meek the end is ever drawing nigh just heavy loads and water and water high. Here is a riddle how can a place be not for the meek and be safe enough for a 78-79 year old man to go? Here is another riddle how can “the end” be drawing nigh? To be drawing means it is moving. How can the end be moving? This is the riddle inside the poem. One more riddle still exist near the end of the poem but we are not there yet. So first we must put in above the place Meek would not go and then get out before we get too far down the river where the danger awaits. What is drawing nigh? A creek named Sphinx Creek is just down the river and to the left soon to be behind and left if drifting by on a boat. Nigh means near or and behind and to the left. Sphinx Creek is drawing nigh after getting in the river at Joe Brown boat put in and it is just upstream of Yankee Jim.s Canyon which is the place Meek wouldn’t go. There will be no paddle up your creek. Notice he calls this creek your creek. Why is it my creek? I don’t own a creek so what would he mean by my creek. Well it is the creek I cannot paddle up if I am following the poem to find the treasure. It is my creek because this creek needs to be in my solve of the poem. I have to go up this creek without a paddle. Gardiner river has a group of hot springs running into it. People bathe here. Below, the river runs into a canyon joining the Yellowstone River. The river continues through Gardiner Montana and on to Yankee Jim’s Canyon. Forrest Fenn maybe hinting of Gardiner in his book when he refers to a dream he had about looking for Capt. Kidd’s treasure on Gardiner Inland. There are many hunters who have gotten this far but they have run into a dead end or the box is gone. I hope Forrest is right about knowing the treasure is still where he hid it. Anyway the next line says if you have been wise and found the blaze look quickly down your quest to seize. This is another clue not a dead end. If you think a blaze is on a tree I wish you good hunting but I am not going to worry that you will find the treasure before I get to look. Why, because you will be walking around every tree from where the Sphinx Creek leaves the river to its beginning about ten miles up the creek. How wide your search will be is up to you. I figure it will be a very long search as you round the trees for ten miles or so. The end is ever drawing nigh does not mean the treasure is drawing near. Remember the box cannot draw near and if it is a creek that draws near then the box can be any reasonable distance from the river. Some searchers have been this far and spent two days with no results. I spent time in the area myself and I did not find a blaze on a tree. The poem doesn’t end here the wise will figure this out and understand that wise is a clue to the blaze. In mid April I searched Spinx Creek, I recommend this area as it is beautiful, The Native Americans camped here on their way to getting obsidian for tool making. The fishing holes nearby look under fished and inviting. Beware bears live in the area. There is an old cabin site about two miles up the trail with a swamp nearby (a cold swamp). I did not look in every part of this field/swamp so be my guest. On the way back from this cabin site I fond a blaze carved into a popular tree, it said 09 on it. Wow, 2009 on a tree on Spinx Creek trail. I only looked for a short time in the log covered stream down from this blaze. One reason, I do not think the blaze is “09” and the second reason I was out of energy. (Later when I got back I was saved from a life threatening heart attack. My artery was 99% blocked) I just had three stints placed in my heart so I will return to this area to give it a much better look. If you beat me to it good luck and please make a comment. This is all for now. I will be back again soon to share my next search. I will be in Montana at the end of August. I believe Forrest hid the treasure in September of 2009. I think he hid it while attending the Black Bow Tie event in Cody Wyoming. Forrest Fenn is connected to the Wild Bill Cody Museum You can find me at the Iron Horse Bar and Grill having an Elk burger to die for. I will gladly share my adventures over a beer with anyone in the Chase. I would like to find a guide to help out with my next place of interest. Make a comment. I hope you will agree I am putting relevant info in this post. Soon I will write about where and what the blaze might be as I update my coming adventure.
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