Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America's Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt
When Daniel Barbarisi’s good friend Beep (real name Jay) first tells him about his obsession with a modern-day treasure hunt, he isn’t sure how to react. But as he learns more about the burgeoning internet community devoted to scouring maps and hiking through remote canyons in search of a small, hidden box, Barbarisi is soon swept away with the romance of the chase.
In 2010, the eccentric and wealthy New Mexico art dealer Forrest Fenn self-published a memoir detailing his eight decades of life and ended it with an enigmatic poem. This poem, along with clues hidden throughout the book, formed written directions to what Fenn described as a treasure chest filled with gold bars, coins, and priceless antique jewelry. He claimed to have hidden it somewhere outdoors in the Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe — and that only the most cunning adventurer would discover its hiding place.
At first just a local curiosity, Fenn’s treasure hunt skyrocketed to fame when it was featured in Newsweek, and then on The Today Show. And it gained infamy when multiple devoted searchers lost their lives during the hunt.
Still, thousands of hopeful explorers continued to pore over the poem, chart new potential locations, and set out into the wilderness determined to discover the treasure. As the years passed, the gold remained unclaimed and the hunters began to squabble about territory and unfair advantages — and Forrest Fenn faced both idolization and accusations.
A recommendation: if you do not already know much about Forrest Fenn’s treasure hunt, I urge you to resist the temptation to seek out information about it before you have finished Chasing the Thrill — discovering the hunt’s twists and turns as you read will be infinitely more satisfying than a quick internet search.
Quote:
“As we’d made our way to the search spot, I’d found myself growing more confident in our ‘solve’ — our solution to Fenn’s poem, our step-by-step route to the treasure. It had actually felt as if the treasure was within reach. The spot we were seeking was barely marked — it didn’t even show up on Google Maps, the world’s current digital arbiter of what is legitimate and what is not. We’d found the location on a United States Geological Survey map, listing Agua Caliente Canyon and, a few miles’ hike away, Agua Caliente Falls. We’d zeroed in on the sites for two reasons. First, Agua Caliente means ‘hot water’ in English. In the first line of Fenn’s poem, the all-important verse that is supposed to lead searchers to the treasure, he advises seekers, ‘Begin it where warm waters halt/And take it in the canyon down.’”
Author:
Daniel Barbarisi is a Boston-based journalist and the author of Dueling with Kings and Chasing the Thrill. His reporting has appeared in the Boston Globe, Providence Journal, and the Wall Street Journal, and he currently works as a senior editor at The Athletic.
Published: 2021
Length: 348 pages
Primary Settings: Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, United States
Secondary Setting: Montana, United States