Antiquities dealer and author Forrest Fenn, who gained fame after claiming to have hidden a treasure chest filled with gold, jewels and other valuables that drove hundreds of thousands of people to search remote corners of the US west for the riches – sometimes with tragic consequences – has died. He was 90.
Police confirmed Fenn died on Monday of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
It was only in recent months that Fenn announced his treasure had supposedly been found in Wyoming by someone he didn’t name. Fenn said he hid the loot 10 years ago in the Rocky Mountains and dropped clues to its whereabouts in a poem published in his 2010 autobiography.
Fenn had said he packed and repacked his bronze treasure chest for more than a decade, sprinkling in gold dust and adding hundreds of rare gold coins and gold nuggets.
Pre-Columbian animal figures went in, along with prehistoric “mirrors” of hammered gold, ancient Chinese faces carved from jade and antique jewelry with rubies and emeralds.
He had always said he hid the treasure as a way to tempt people to get into the wilderness and give them a chance to launch an old-fashioned adventure and expedition for riches.
Some had long said it was a hoax and pursued lawsuits.
The treasure spurred an almost cult-like following – many people quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to the search. Others depleted their life savings, and some people died searching for it, leading officials to beg Fenn in vain to call the whole thing off.
Fenn dropped the clue that the 40lb chest was neither in a dangerous location nor one where an old man couldn’t retrieve it alone, though some paid little heed.
After announcing that the riches had been found, Fenn had mixed feelings, saying he was a bit sad that the chase was over.
“I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries,” he posted on his website earlier this summer.
A self-described schmoozer who reveled in endless emails from treasure hunters, Fenn’s apparent idea to stash some of his favorite things began years earlier when he was diagnosed with cancer and given just a few years to live.
In his book The Thrill of the Chase, he laid out his unusual rags-to-riches story while sharing memories of his favorite acts of derring-do.
The book said the recollections were as true as one man could average, considering that one of his instincts was embellishment.
Fenn was raised in Temple, Texas, where his father was a school principal. His family spent the summers in Yellowstone national park, honing his appetite for adventure.
Fenn served in the air force, including decorated service as a fighter pilot in Vietnam.
After returning to Texas, he, his wife and two daughters moved to Santa Fe, where, over time, he became one of this artistic enclave’s most successful gallery owners.