Forrest Fenns Treasure - Clue Compilation

Deciphering clues

I've just read the story. The warm waters halt at the merging with a cold mountain stream.The wood (bristlecone pine tree).These trees grow but not like a
forest above 5000ft. The flowers (cones) is blue/purple. It changes to brown color referring to (Brown). It grows mainly in Colorado. The box in plain sight covered by a shadow in the water even if the sun is shining! Simplicity of the clues? Comments please! 83 miles North not 8.3 miles!
Somebody get it!
 

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•“I think kids have an advantage (finding the treasure). Don’t ask me to explain that.” – (Moby Dickens Book Shop Signing / November 2, 2013)

Very cool thread, however, I think most people are reading way too much into it and coming up with some pretty far fetched ideas. For example, word translations, word history, etc. Why else would he have made the comment above? He also said, don't mess with the poem.
 

Wm the Conqueror. ..I like your thoughts about the Brown...I, however, think Brown refers to the sky..the Indians have a 6 point navigation which says Brown means sky. It could mean look up or on a pilot map the airports are circled in Brown. FF is a pilot so may be his reference. Just a thought..Minergirl I
 

Newbieprospector...One of my top 2-3 solves are near a kids playground..all I'm sayin'...MinerGirl out..lol
 

Jason342...Cool post..I too thought it refered to a plane crash or was hidden in FF own plane..but he sold it several years ago...anyway...as you can see I've been all over the map on this chase..glad you're out there having fun!..
 

Maybe near a tree or structure with more than 2 but less than many leaves, etc.
 

Just ordered FF's book "Thrill of the Chase"...can't wait to get it! $35. Plus shipping won't break the bank...Minergirl
 

I feel that a lot of people try to leap ahead too far in the poem rather than solving the clues in the order they are intended. Fenn himself has suggested as much.

A good comparison with the Fenn Treasure is the Masquerade treasure hunt in the UK which ran from 1979-1982 in which the clues to find a gold and jewelled hare were hidden in a book of artworks and verse. No-one solved the puzzle correctly for 3 years (and the people who did weren't the ones who got the treasure), but when the solution came out it was a clear, exact and unequivocal set of directions to a particular place. There was nothing vague or sketchy or forced about the solution.

For me, one of the first questions facing the map reader or Google Earther is which state to start looking in, then which town and so on, so I think one of the first clues in the poem must be to the correct state.

"As I have gone alone in there" Go, My Own (alone), In are all words that can be found in Wyoming.

"Hint of treasures new and old" could refer to Casper, who was one of the three kings who brought gifts to the nativity in the bible.

"Where warm waters halt" Hot Springs (State) Park, park meaning halt in a motoring sense etc.

Whatever the correct solution is I'm sure it will break down in that way, each clue refining the search down from state level to more local at each step.
 

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Another guy died looking for it and now the Santa Fe chief of police is asking Fenn to end the hunt. Fenn stated that he would not and again reiterated that it is not in a dangerous place so he doesn't know why people are going to dangerous places.

I'm just now getting into this one so this thread is a nice primer. I think I have narrowed it down to three possible locations. One in New Mexico and the other two in Montana. I'll have to keep digging and solving to narrow it down further.

Where did you get the book for so cheap, miner? It's $80 on Amazon and that seems excessive for a book.
 

Im curious how he knew that someone was within 250 yards of finding it?

I think he said 200 feet for one guy and he said a bunch were within 500 feet. My understanding is it was based on the info they emailed him. I'm assuming the chest is 500 feet off of a path or trail and people aren't searching the brush good enough.
 

Here's my newest hypothesis. Still a work in process so I'm presenting it here mostly just as more food for thought.

I forget where I read it but there was a comment by FF where he discussed stashing fishing gear in a secret location and when he went back a year later it was undisturbed and still there. It is my belief this is the location of the treasure. Why?

• It is a place that has meaning to him.
• It ties in with his love of fly-fishing
• It is a location previously tested and proven to be remote and secure.
• And if it is where I think it is – then it also ties in with his poem, his book and his childhood

Here’s my supposition:
“Begin where the warm waters halt”
Fly-fishermen refer to rivers and streams as “warm water”. Lakes are considered “cold water”. Because rivers and streams are shallow they are warmer than lakes. Fly-fishermen know this because it affects when and where they fish. The point in which a river or streams enters a lake is where “the warm waters halt”.

My conclusion?
Begin where the river meets the lake and move inland.

Which lake?
The only lake FF mentions in his book: Hedgen Lake.

Which river?
One of the many rivers FF mentions in his book. My personal favorite? Greyling. Check Google Earth and you’ll see why. It empties into Hedgen.

“Put in below the home of Brown”
To “put in” is another fishing term. It means to go in the water. This would also explain the stanza “brave the cold”.

Home of Brown?
Now that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Or more accurately, 2 million. This is where my supposition will go off the rails for many of you. In old English the word “beaver” means “brown”. Go to any online dictionary and you’ll see it’s true. This would also help to explain the strange singular use of the word “wood” in the poem instead of “woods”. A beaver’s lodge, its home, is made of wood. If you go into the forest – you are going into the “woods”. Plural. A pile of wood on the floor, much in the same way as wood in a beaver dam or a lodge, would be referred to as “wood” and not “woods”. Singular.

Now before anyone goes out there and start messing with beaver dams and lodges, I am NOT saying that is where the treasure is. A place like that is not remote enough to hide a body if that is where FF intended to die. Rather, I am saying they are possible landmarks and line up with the clues in the poem.

I’ve done the research and there are indeed beaver colonies in the Greyling Creek area. And from my previous treasure hunts I have run across previous beaver dams and chewed up trees in places where beavers have been hunted to extinction in the early 1800s. I know beaver remnants do not last forever but they do last a long, long time if left undisturbed.

There is more to this supposition but I'll leave off with the weakest link from my hypothesis because if this part doesn’t hold up then the rest does not matter.

Sooo…. there ya go…
 

Another guy died looking for it and now the Santa Fe chief of police is asking Fenn to end the hunt. Fenn stated that he would not and again reiterated that it is not in a dangerous place so he doesn't know why people are going to dangerous places.

I'm just now getting into this one so this thread is a nice primer. I think I have narrowed it down to three possible locations. One in New Mexico and the other two in Montana. I'll have to keep digging and solving to narrow it down further.

Where did you get the book for so cheap, miner? It's $80 on Amazon and that seems excessive for a book.

You can get it here - Shopping cart | Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse
 

Here's my newest hypothesis. Still a work in process so I'm presenting it here mostly just as more food for thought.

I forget where I read it but there was a comment by FF where he discussed stashing fishing gear in a secret location and when he went back a year later it was undisturbed and still there. It is my belief this is the location of the treasure. Why?

• It is a place that has meaning to him.
• It ties in with his love of fly-fishing
• It is a location previously tested and proven to be remote and secure.
• And if it is where I think it is – then it also ties in with his poem, his book and his childhood

Here’s my supposition:
“Begin where the warm waters halt”
Fly-fishermen refer to rivers and streams as “warm water”. Lakes are considered “cold water”. Because rivers and streams are shallow they are warmer than lakes. Fly-fishermen know this because it affects when and where they fish. The point in which a river or streams enters a lake is where “the warm waters halt”.

My conclusion?
Begin where the river meets the lake and move inland.

Which lake?
The only lake FF mentions in his book: Hedgen Lake.

Which river?
One of the many rivers FF mentions in his book. My personal favorite? Greyling. Check Google Earth and you’ll see why. It empties into Hedgen.

“Put in below the home of Brown”
To “put in” is another fishing term. It means to go in the water. This would also explain the stanza “brave the cold”.

Home of Brown?
Now that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Or more accurately, 2 million. This is where my supposition will go off the rails for many of you. In old English the word “beaver” means “brown”. Go to any online dictionary and you’ll see it’s true. This would also help to explain the strange singular use of the word “wood” in the poem instead of “woods”. A beaver’s lodge, its home, is made of wood. If you go into the forest – you are going into the “woods”. Plural. A pile of wood on the floor, much in the same way as wood in a beaver dam or a lodge, would be referred to as “wood” and not “woods”. Singular.

Now before anyone goes out there and start messing with beaver dams and lodges, I am NOT saying that is where the treasure is. A place like that is not remote enough to hide a body if that is where FF intended to die. Rather, I am saying they are possible landmarks and line up with the clues in the poem.

I’ve done the research and there are indeed beaver colonies in the Greyling Creek area. And from my previous treasure hunts I have run across previous beaver dams and chewed up trees in places where beavers have been hunted to extinction in the early 1800s. I know beaver remnants do not last forever but they do last a long, long time if left undisturbed.

There is more to this supposition but I'll leave off with the weakest link from my hypothesis because if this part doesn’t hold up then the rest does not matter.

Sooo…. there ya go…

I think you're on an interesting course here. I like it as long as you can continue to put the pieces together with the help of the poem.
Is it possible the home of Brown is talking about Brown Trout in lake Hebgen? Check out this video where Forrest tells a story about catching a big Brown Trout there:

https://vimeo.com/174230681#t=508s
 

I think you're on an interesting course here. I like it as long as you can continue to put the pieces together with the help of the poem.
Is it possible the home of Brown is talking about Brown Trout in lake Hebgen? Check out this video where Forrest tells a story about catching a big Brown Trout there:

https://vimeo.com/174230681#t=508s

Interesting. VERY interesting. Makes for an easier solution. Now, if only the other pieces of the puzzle fell in place we have a solution that has legs. Thank for the contribution.
 

The video isn't working for me
 

The video isn't working for me

Customx - I think we all look at the clues differently which I think is part of charm, and frustration, of the chase. What made the video fascination for me was hearing the story for the first time connection Hebgen Lake and Brown tout. It may mean nothing but on the other hand it may be the piece of the puzzle that ties everything together. So I take it and store it away in the back of my head and wait for the next the bit information comes across my laptop that might just tie everything together.
 

Customx - I think we all look at the clues differently which I think is part of charm, and frustration, of the chase. What made the video fascination for me was hearing the story for the first time connection Hebgen Lake and Brown tout. It may mean nothing but on the other hand it may be the piece of the puzzle that ties everything together. So I take it and store it away in the back of my head and wait for the next the bit information comes across my laptop that might just tie everything together.

I don't think you understood what I was saying. I clicked the video link and it says the video can't be found.
 

Just joined this site this morning, primarily because of this thread.

Also have a Signed Edition copy of TTOTC on its way, ordered on Sunday. (Collected Works; Santa Fe, NM)

New to the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt. Only became interested around 10 days ago, but I just get the feeling this will be the year someone finds it.

Personally, I have "made" two treasure hunts of my own, years ago. I can say with certainty that you gain incredible insight into what the "maker" goes through by doing this.

Hope I can contribute effectively with the best of you. I won't actually be looking for the treasure. It's 2,000 miles away.

Have to read this thread a few times, get up to speed.

Best,

Bob
 

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