On Queue: ZBC Field Guide to Forrest Fenn's Treasure: Part 3

Part Three: Additional Hints/Clues and the Difference Between the Two

So now you have the poem, the map, and Forrest’s additional hints. According to Forrest, this is all you need. But what now? If those are so helpful, how have so many people tried and failed? We believe part of Forrest’s ingenuity (and therefore, what should be part of your strategy) is his ability to say so much without seemingly telling you anything at all. If you want to find this treasure, you must start thinking like Forrest.

From here on out, we will very clearly distinguish between “clues” and “hints.” Why? Because Forrest does. Forrest has told us there are 9 specific clues hidden throughout his poem. In his words, “I have crafted a poem that's in my book. It has 9 clues in it, and I changed that poem over a 15 year period. People read that poem and they say, ' He sat down and wrote that poem in 15 minutes.’ Well, it took me 15 years. The poem is really not so much written as it is an architectural plan. It’s been crafted.”

For us, this means that his clues are intentionally built to lead you to the treasure. Everything else, then, is a “hint,” something that helps you solve the clues. In PART TWO, we gave you a compiled list of specific things Forrest has indicated in regards to his treasure. Those we will call “Forrest Facts.” Below are some additional “Forrest Quotes,” which may or may not be meaningful. But based on what we know about Forrest, I wouldn’t discount any of them.

We have personally deduced a few things about the treasure from the quotes, which we have outlined in PART SIX. Take them for what you will (but we are pretty smart, so you should read them regardless). ;)

ABOUT THE POEM

“I have crafted a poem that's in my book. It has 9 clues in it, and I changed that poem over a 15 year period. People read that poem and they say, ' He sat down and wrote that poem in 15 minutes.’ Well, it took me 15 years. The poem is really not so much written as it is an architectural plan. It’s been crafted.”
“You need to start at the beginning. You need to figure out where warm waters halt.”

ABOUT SPECIFIC CLUES (i.e. BLAZE, HOME OF BROWN)

On 8/12/2014 Forrest answered a question about ‘where warm waters halt.’ He said, “There are a few words in the poem that are not useful in finding the treasure Phil, but it is risky to discount any of them. You oversimplify the clues. There are many places in the Rocky Mountains where warm waters halt, and nearly all of them are north of Santa Fe. Look at the big picture, there are no short cuts.
Question: Did the same 9 clues exist when you were a kid and to your estimation will they still exist in 100 years and 1000 years? Answer: “The clues did not exist when I was a kid but most of the places the clues refer to did. I think they might still exist in 100 years but the geography probably will change before we reach the next millennia.”
Question: Is the Blaze one single object? Answer: “In a word – Yes”
Question: I would like to know if the blaze can be found during the day without a flashlight. Answer: “I would say yes.”
Fenn has hinted that the “blaze” line in the poem could be a deception. He told an interviewer, “I was careful. A blaze can be on a tree, in a fire, on the face of a horse, a scar on a rock, and a host of other things.”
“While it’s not impossible to remove the blaze it isn’t feasible to try, and I am certain it’s still there.”

ABOUT SEARCH STRATEGY

Fenn once reminded a reporter, “People who go looking for the treasure should not search where a 79- or 80-year-old man could not take it.”
“The problem searchers make is that they don’t dwell long enough on the first clue. If you can’t find the first clue you don’t have anything. People driving down the street looking for a blaze, because THAT’S ONE OF THE CLUES, but you can’t start in the middle of the poem and find the treasure.”
“I think kids have an advantage [finding the treasure]. Don’t ask me to explain that.”
Question: When you hid your treasures, did you take the same path that is described in the poem, or were you able to skip some of the steps because of your familiarity with the area? Answer: “The clues should be followed in order Curtis. There is no other way to my knowledge.”
“Playing a hunch is not worth much in the search and those who start out by looking for the blaze, are wasting their time.”
He said in Six Questions interview, “I don’t want to broaden the clues and hints I’ve written about by pointing them out. What surprises me a little is that nobody to my uncertain knowledge has analyzed one important possibility related to the winning solve.”
He said, “It seems logical to me that a deep thinking treasure searcher could use logic to determine an important clue to the location of the treasure. Is someone doing that now and I don’t know it? It’s not what they say on the blogs that may be significant, it’s what they whisper.”
“It is interesting to know that a great number of people are out there searching. Many are giving serious thought to the clues in my poem, but only a few are in tight focus with a word that is key. The treasure may be discovered sooner than I anticipated.”
“The person who finds the treasure will have studied the poem over and over, and thought, and analyzed and moved with confidence. Nothing about it will be accidental. T. S. Eliot said: We shall not cease from our exploration, And at the end of all our exploring, Will be to arrive where we started, And know the place for the first time.”

ABOUT PAST SEARCHES

“I cannot tell you how many searchers have identified the first clue correctly, but certainly more than several. I cannot imagine anyone finding the treasure without first identifying the starting point, although many seem to be preoccupied with later clues.”
“There have been some who have been within 500 feet because they have told me where they have been. Others have figured the first two clues and went right past the treasure and didn’t know it.” In another interview, “They walked right past it.”

ABOUT THE LOCATION

“I made two trips from my car to the hiding place and it was done in one afternoon.”
“I will say that I walked less than a few miles [whole trip of hiding the chest and treasure] if that will help. I just looked ‘few' up and one definition is ‘scant.’ Why do I sound like I’m talking in circles?”
“There isn’t a human trail in very close proximity to where I hid the treasure.”
“There are 654,885,389 acres of land in the United States that are owned by the American people. That is what the federal government admits is ‘public property.’ And the population of this great country is 313,914,040. After doing the math I learn that my allotment is exactly 2.086 acres. Now, what if I wanted to secret a can of Dr. Pepper under a rock in the cooling waters of a rivulet somewhere in my allotted public acreage?”
“If I was standing where the treasure chest is, I’d see trees, I’d see mountains, I’d see animals, I’d smell wonderful smells of pine needles or pinyon nuts, sagebrush… And I know the treasure chest is wet.”

Later, Forrest said, “I just watched that New Mexico Tourism video again and must say that I didn’t say what I was thinking. You cannot smell a pinyon nut, but those who pick them know that in doing so you get pine pitch all over your hands, and pine pitch smells about the same no matter what kind of pine tree you are talking about. Looking back I think I wanted to say I could smell pine needles, not pinyon nuts. Sorry I kicked a hornet’s nest with that comment.”

It’s not in a tree but it is surrounded by trees.
Fenn has admitted that the treasure is readily accessible and that when deciding on the location (which he says he gave much thought), he was thinking “10,000 years down the road”. He explained that when hiding the treasure he “considered mudslides, forest fires, earthquakes, and floods.”
He said to wait for “Spring.”
Fenn has admitted that although the chest contains a lock, it is unlocked.
“…that’s why I told people I hid the treasure chest when I was 79 or 80 years old because I don’t want the exact date to be known because I’m afraid somebody will go check the rental car records and how many miles did Mr. Fenn put on the truck or the car…so I don’t answer those kinda questions…but shoot that person that sent in that email…”