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Treasure Hunt Draws Thousands to Western US

Thousands of people have headed to an area in the western United States to search for a hidden treasure.

A wealthy art collector and businessman from the area named Forrest Fenn says he hid the treasure. The searchers follow nine clues from a poem that Fenn wrote. They consider the poem their “treasure map.”

The treasure hunters believe the prize could be hidden in a huge area that starts in New Mexico and stretches all the way to the northern state of Montana. The area covers a distance of about 2,000 kilometers.

Many believe the treasure is real. Others, however, think it likely does not exist.

An estimated¹ 350,000 hunters from around the world have come to the area seeking the treasure. One of them is Sacha Johnston. She is a single mother. She is searching an area around the Black Canyon² Campground north of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“When I started the treasure hunt, I was a stay-at-home mom with a baby," Johnston said. "Since then, I have become an expert in Southwestern history. I can tell you the direction based on the location of the sun, and I have become more in tune³ with nature.”

Johnston says she thinks she has made good progress on guessing some of the clues. So, she has kept her search going.

Forrest Fenn spoke⁴ to VOA from his home in Santa Fe. The house is filled with priceless art pieces collected over his lifetime. He talked about volunteering to fight in the Vietnam War in 1968 and narrowly escaping death several times during his service.

Fenn said doctors found cancer in his body in 1988 and told him he only had about six months to live. So he decided⁵ to put pieces of gold, jewels and other valuables in a bronze box and leave it for others to enjoy after he was gone.

But Fenn ended up beating cancer. Years later, in 2010, he decided to hide the box. "I wanted to give people hope and something to look forward to. Maybe there is a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow if you go out and look for it," he said.

Speaking about the spot where he hid the treasure, Fenn only says, "it is not in a dangerous place."

His longtime friend, Marc Howard, has been looking for the hidden box for the past nine years. He said he thinks the clues are not as helpful as some people might believe.

"It’s not easy, and there is always more to what Forrest says than meets the eye," Howard said. He added: "I’m a goldsmith. I would love to have a supply of gold that I didn’t have to pay $1,500 an ounce⁶ for."

Howard says one thing he believes is that the treasure is hidden on public land. "Forrest considers the public land to be the land of the American people," he explained.

When asked whether he thinks people are close to finding⁷ the treasure, Fenn said he really has no idea. "It is possible my treasure chest could be found this afternoon, or it could be 100 years or 500 years. Who knows?" he said.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

in tune – phr. in agreement or harmony with something or someone

rainbow – n.a half circle with colors that sometimes appears in the sky when the sun shines through rain

ounce – n.a unit for measuring weight, equal to 28.35 grams

chest – n.a strong container with a lid to keep things in

1 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

2 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

3 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 ounce   

n.盎司，英两

参考例句：

• He poured in every ounce of power but couldn't make it.他竭尽了全力却无济于事。
• He has used up the last ounce of oil.他已用完最后一滴油。

7 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。