A Beautiful World: Millionaire Forrest Fenn leaves clues to hidden treasure

Forrest Fenn
Forrest Fenn
Photo courtesy of Norah Levine

On this edition of A Beautiful World, Heather McElhatton talks to adventurer, explorer and millionaire Forrest Fenn, who's 83 years old and has been called "a modern-day Indiana Jones." Fenn spent a lifetime hunting down and amassing a huge personal collection of artifacts, antiquities and treasures from all over the world.

When Fenn was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he decided to leave his treasure behind — at least, part of it — along with a taste of what he's been experiencing his whole life: Action, adventure and intrigue.

Fenn says he's filled a large golden treasure chest with a veritable king's ransom: a pile of his favorite artifacts, including gold coins, rubies, emeralds, carved jade figures and gold nuggets "as big as chicken eggs," valued in the millions.

Fenn claims to have hidden this treasure chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and left nine clues to find it inside a poem published in his memoir, "The Thrill of the Chase."

MPR reporter Dan Olson reads Fenn's poem, "Where the Treasure Lies."

More of A Beautiful World's interview with Forrest Fenn

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