Sermon Central
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Dying For Treasure
Contributed by Dr. Bradford Reaves on Aug 11, 2023 (message contributor)
Have you ever heard about a man named Forrest Fenn? Forrest Fenn was a pilot in the US Air Force, earning the rank of Major and awarded the Silver Star for his sermon in Vietnam, which flew 328 combat missions within a year. After his service to his country, he ran an art gallery where he made his fortune, sometimes bringing in up to $6 million a year. He died in 2020 at the age of 90 years old, but not before publishing his memoir in 2010.
In Fenn’s memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, Fenn described a treasure chest containing $1 million dollars in gold coins he said he buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, somewhere north of Sante Fe. The value of the chest today is estimated to be upwards of $2 million dollars. Fenn said that stories in his memoir included clues to the chest's location and that the poem found in the chapter "Gold and More" contained nine clues that would lead the chest. The result was a modern-day treasure hunt stretching from Sante Fe to the Canadian border.
in 2020 Fenn posted in his blog that the chest was found. "It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago. I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot. I congratulate the thousands who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries. So the search is over. Look for more information and photos in the coming days."
The victor at first remained anonymous but was later identified as Jack Stuef, a medical student from Michigan. In an attempt to give honor to Fenn, Stuef only removed a couple of artifacts from the chest and left the treasure in its hiding space for others to continue to search. Those items were auctioned in December 2022, bringing in 1.3 million dollars.
Some say the whole thing is a publicity stunt, which Fenn and Stuef both deny. There have been several documentaries as a result of the treasure hunt. The sad result of all of this is that 5 people lost their lives in pursuit of a treasure in the rugged wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.
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