Forrest Fenn’s treasure is a finely decorated box said to contain gems, gold nuggets, gold coins, and other items of value.
Credit: Forrest Fenn

Have you ever seen a map with an X to mark where treasure was hidden? Dashed lines showed the route from the sea to a bounty of gold and silver. Miniature trees indicated that you would have to walk through a wooded area. And, vicious alligators hinted that you would have to overcome some dangerous obstacles to reach your treasure.

In June 2020, someone found a real-life treasure—an estimated US $2 million-worth of diamonds, gold nuggets, coins, and sapphires—although there was no X to mark the spot, and there were no dashed lines to show the route. The now-wealthy explorer found the chest of treasure in the Rocky Mountains. The treasure was hidden in 2010 by Forrest Fenn, a New Mexico art collector.

Fenn created the treasure hunt in 2010, after he learned he had kidney cancer. He wanted his remains to be buried with the treasure. But after he recovered from the disease, he created the hunt to give people a reason to “get off their couches.” And get off their couches they did! Fenn estimates that more than 65,000 people have gone in search of the treasure. (Several people even died searching for the treasure in rugged and remote areas, leading authorities to plead with Fenn to call off the hunt.) Fenn provided clues to the treasure box’s location in a poem in his book, The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir (2010). One clue, for example, was that the treasure was hidden in the Rocky Mountains at 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) above sea level.

According to Fenn, the valuable items in the bronze chest included diamonds. Diamonds are one of the most valuable natural substances. When they aren’t being hidden by a New Mexico art collector, diamonds are widely used for engagement and wedding rings. Many people choose diamonds for jewelry because they are the most lasting of all gemstones. Their extreme beauty helps, too!

This treasure-hunting adventure might seem like a thing of the past, given that much of the world has been in relative lockdown since March. Because of a pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19, some people haven’t been able to get their hair cut, let alone travel cross country to hunt for jewels. Much of the world has stayed inside—and stayed on their couches. But like Fenn, you can give people a reason to “get off their couches!” Gather items that are important to you as you stayed home to help fight the pandemic. These items might include a piece of a puzzle you did with your family or a crayon you used to make a sign for the heroes working in such places as hospitals and grocery stores. Put these items in a box and stash them somewhere safe in your neighborhood. Then, mail clues to your friends, setting them up for an epic adventure. Your friends can also make treasure boxes. This is a great way to stay in touch and learn more about what others have been up to in isolation.

November 5, 2013

A cache of long-lost art treasures, some of it stolen by the Nazis, has been discovered hidden behind out-of-date canned goods in a shabby apartment in Munich, Germany. The approximately 1,480 paintings and prints by such famous artists as Chagall, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec are estimated to be worth $1.35 billion. Not all of the artwork is modern. There are also Canalettos and a Courbet in the collection. German art expert Meike Hoffmann described some of works as dirty but undamaged. “The pictures are of exceptional quality and have very special value for art experts,” he noted. “Many works were unknown until now.”

The collection was in the possession of Cornelius Gurlitt. His father, art dealer Hildebrandt Gurlitt, amassed much of it during the 1930′s and 1940′s at what the senior Gurlitt himself said were “shamefully low prices” from Jews desperately trying to raise funds to get out of Nazi Germany. The rest, having been labeled “degenerate” by Adolf Hitler, had been seized by the Nazis. How these works got into Gulitt’s possession is unknown. After World War II, the elder Gurlitt allegedly claimed that his collection had been destroyed during the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945. He died in car accident in 1956.

(c) Gisele Freund, Photo Researchers

German authorities seized the cache during a raid on Cornelius Gurlitt’s Munich flat in March 2011. Gurlitt had become the target of a tax evasion investigation after he was discovered carrying some $12,000 in cash on a train from Zurich, Switzerland, to Munich in 2010. Prosecutors said the issue of ownership of the art was still being clarified. Some legal experts believe that the descendants of the original owners may be able to make claims on individual pieces. Others note that the art taken in Germany itself may not be reclaimable because of a 30-year statute of limitations.

Additional World Book articles:

• Max Beckmann
• Germany 1933 (a Back in Time article)
• Germany 1935 (a Back in Time article)
• Germany 1938 (a Back in Time article)