“The end is ever drawing nigh.” Three key word definitions make this sentence read “Death is ever drafting a fire on the left.” 
By Mike Johnson
Fenn stated on page 35, “My siblings are gone now and so are my parents. It sure would be nice if they could all come back so I could be in the middle again.”
The 147-page book offers thousands of words. But that one line leaped off the page as slightly out of place. It lit something inside and nudged me to look at my search through the prism of those words.
So here is my solve:
“Begin it where warm waters halt.” This is across the highway from Pahaska Teepee (Built by Buffalo Bill Cody), outside the east gate of Yellowstone National Park, where MIDDLE Creek exits Yellowstone National Park and empties into the Northfork of the Shoshone River.
“And take it in the canyon down, not far but too far to walk. Put in below the home of Brown.” 15 miles down the canyon is Blackwater Creek guest ranch. This is the site of the first Forest Service ranger cabin. It was built in 1899 but burned down in 1905 (So it predates the oldest forest cabin still standing at Wapiti Ranger Station). When established, this enormous wilderness was named the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve. It was later parceled out and became the Shoshone National Forest, the largest and very first national forest. The official color of the Forest Service is 20059 Brown. So Blackwater is the original home of the National Forest Service, “Brown.” Fenn has said “sometimes it’s wise to dress the fox as a hound.” I like the home of Brown being black. I also smiled when I realized the administration home of the National Forest Service is Washington, DC which was also the home of Nicolas Cage (who used the alias Paul BROWN) in the first “National Treasure” movie.
This is also the site of the Blackwater Fire that occurred in 1937. 15 were killed and 30+ injured. 10 of those killed were young men who lived within 75 miles of Forrest’s home in Temple, Texas. They were working for the CCC and were called in to help fight the fire. It’s likely that as an educator, Fenn’s father knew some of those boys. The boys died there on Clayton Mountain on the late afternoon of August 21 and were removed from the forest on August 22, 1937 -- Forrest Fenn’s 7th birthday. It’s likely the Fenn family was there to witness it as they were in Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge) that summer. It was huge news nationally at the time. Certainly, this would’ve been a memorable, emotionally charged event for Forrest. I never saw Forrest write anything about this event, which made me think he avoided the story to not give clues about the chest. He also used the name “Forrest Fire” in some of his blog posts.
After putting in (this nautical term fits because you cross a bridge over the river to access Blackwater), the road leads to a trailhead parking lot. There is a hike to the various memorials where the firefighters actually died. There is also another, rough, seasonal road to the east of the parking lot.
“From there it’s no place for the meek.” One definition of “place” is “a short road.” This road has a gate with a sign warning of heavy grizzly bear activity (no place for the meek!), with bear tracks along its short 1.25 mile length. I know because I’ve walked it many times.
“The end is ever drawing nigh.” Three key word definitions make this sentence read “Death is ever drafting a fire on the left.”
Go to the end of this road. What pops into view toward the left? Clayton Mountain, 10,200 feet and the site of the 1937 Blackwater fire.
“They’ll be no paddle up your creek, just heavy loads and water high.” In “The Thrill of the Chase,” Fenn writes that his sister June never got paddled. So "your creek” is June Creek which starts at the top of Clayton Mountain and runs north. This is where Fenn loaded the treasure into his backpack (heavy loads) and started walking toward Clayton Mountain and June Creek. “Water High” means June Creek again because it is thousands of feet higher at its origin on top of Clayton Mountain.
“If you’ve been wise and found the blaze, look quickly down.” This view of Clayton Mountain shows the exact area of the mountain where the firefighters died. The BLAZE. Clayton Mountain just happens to be 10,200 feet (Fenn said the treasure was hidden between 5,000 and 10,200 elevation. Cody, the closest town, just happens to be 5,000 elevation). This is the best, closest view of the mountain death site, gotten to in the easiest possible manner for an 80-year-old man.
I looked quickly down within a 500-foot radius. I also saw that "down" also means a grassy upslope. Placing eyes on the mountain location of The Blaze and looking down a few inches reveals a T-shaped (Treasure?) grassy meadow on the higher ridge between where I was standing and the fire death site. So I scoured the area up there too. It was beautiful, provided a commanding 360-degree view, many wooded, rocky outcrops and crevices, and wasn't too strenuous for an 80-year-old-man. I only partially covered the terrain there before time ran out.
Fenn said he hauled the treasure in the trunk of a sedan. He hid the treasure in two trips within a few hours, so he could not have hiked the 10 miles (twice!) to the death sites themselves. Fenn said the full chest weighed 42 pounds so he hauled the chest in one trip and the treasure in a second trip. The chest itself was a bronze, Roman lockbox from the year 1150, weighed about 20 pounds and cost $25,000. Fenn said it would be difficult to find but not impossible.
Clayton Mountain is also one letter off Crayton, which is the name of Skippy’s (Fenn's older brother) son. It is also the maiden name of Fenn’s grandparents. The top of Clayton Mountain is also the source of June Creek, representing Fenn’s sister. “Skippy was older so I looked up to him, and June was younger but I couldn’t look down to her because my father wouldn’t allow it” (page 35 TTOTC). You have to look up to see Clayton Mountain but you can't look down on June Creek because you are thousands of feet below it.
Directly two miles north of this location is Mummy Cave, where Fenn’s parents stopped to hold family picnics on their trips to Yellowstone. So Mummy Cave represents Fenn’s parents and Clayton Mountain represents Fenn's siblings, Skippy & June. If you draw a line between Mummy Cave & Clayton Mountain, my solve has Fenn and his chest right there “in the middle again.”
I also think Fenn would’ve enjoyed placing something good (his treasure chest) in a place that represented something bad (the fire & deaths). This was a way for him to leave his positive mark on history and encourage others to never forget the deaths at Blackwater Fire.
Especially compelling, on page 146 of TTOTC, there is a drawing of Fenn standing under a canopy of stars, in a field of 15 short tree stumps, looking up at a 45 degree angle. I think the stumps represent the 15 young men who had their lives cut short by that fire, who are now stars in heaven, as Fenn contemplates their fate while gazing skyward toward Clayton Mountain. What are the odds of there being exactly 15 stumps (same number of deaths from Blackwater Fire) happening by chance in that drawing?
This location is also in the middle between the Shoshone National Forest border and Yellowstone National Park. It is also between Cody, WY (5,000 feet) and Clayton Mountain (10,200 feet). It is also in the middle between Pahaska Tepee (Built by Buffalo Bill CODY) and the Bill CODY Ranch (Buffalo Bill’s grandson). So it’s in the middle between Cody’s too.
And we know Fenn loved Cody. He named his dog Cody. He named a childhood buffalo Cody. Cody was his entryway into Yellowstone every summer as a kid. He was an active member and donator to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and came to museum meetings every summer in Cody.
“I’ve done it tired and now I’m weak.” I think this means he did not greatly exert himself as he was already tired. It would be an easy 40 mile drive to this location from Cody and I thought he hid the treasure within 500 feet of exiting his sedan at the end of that remote road. Fenn said several searchers had contacted him and described their location. He said at different times that searchers had been within 200 and 500 feet from the chest.
Unfortunately, after 30+ trips into the field, I did not find the chest, but had more terrain within that radius to check when I heard the announcement of its discovery. Had I
found the
chest, I was going to leave some of the treasure in that exact place so the search could continue for everyone.
I had a great advantage living just 15 miles from my solve. But I only learned of the treasure in May 2019 so had to jam lots of research and trips into the field in a short time to become a serious, viable searcher. In hindsight, I'm glad I hit it hard with a sense of urgency.
I greatly enjoyed learning and studying Fenn’s life to gain insight into the man. I also learned so much about the forest surrounding me that I’d otherwise never taken the time to so deeply explore and research.
So thank you Forrest! That treasure hunt was one of the top adventures of my life. As you said, the real treasure was the thrill of the chase!
Update (10/4/20): “The Finder” published an article of his experience. He won't identify himself or the location of the chest. Nothing he says eliminates my solve. In fact, it makes me feel better because he says he determined the area and then searched it 25 days before finding the chest in a "nook." He says he discovered where Fenn wanted to leave his bones (Fenn had said he hid the chest where he'd like to spend eternity). The Finder said he’d found a fake blaze in 2018 and the chest was within 1,000 feet of that blaze (I had found a fake blaze too and my search area was within 1,000 feet of that). The finder also mentioned Cody and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. I found that extremely interesting.
Update (1/9/21): I've researched comments from the finder, Jack Stuef. I also had two email responses from him. He told me he did NOT leave anything at the site of the chest. I was hoping he did so I could continue my search for the location. I'll continue anyway despite the nearly impossible odds. I also learned that my solution to The Blaze is likely wrong. Jack made no comment about my solution but I continue to believe I am in the right area. I plan to walk farther down the horse path toward Clayton Mountain & June Creek looking for a new Blaze, that is within sight of the 1937 Blaze. Jack says the chest was in a nook directly under The Blaze which was damaged by natural forces sometime during the ten years the chest was undiscovered. Jack says it will be difficult to impossible to recognize that location as The Blaze now, especially with the chest gone. My mind continues to review and ponder clues and word definitions from that poem and memoir. I will also use Jack's approach to discover the general area. Jack said he read and viewed every interview and comment Forrest ever made about the chest, which Forrest said was hidden where he'd wanted to die and spend eternity. Jack said Forrest slipped up in a couple interviews just enough to reveal where he'd like to spend eternity. Jack then used the poem in that area to find the chest. So. The thrill of the chase continues.
Update (3/10/21) The Finder confirmed that Forrest Fenn hid the chest while visiting Cody for museum business. I had always suspected this. To me, this makes it more likely the treasure was hid between Cody and Yellowstone's east gate. My solution is right in that area. Some guess the chest was placed between Cody and Yellowstone's northeast gate because the terrain on that route is more magnificent in the Sunlight Basin. Most are still betting it was placed in Yellowstone somewhere. I know the pros and cons of all those drives and still believe I'm right in the neighborhood. My solution is the easiest, shortest drive from Cody. I had once considered the chest was hidden on the edge of Cody itself because one of the toughest clues, "Put in below the home of Brown," might have meant Nancy Brown, who was mayor of Cody when Fenn hid the chest. Nancy was also an art gallery owner who had certainly crossed paths with Fenn. Ultimately I gave up on that because the places the clues led in and near Cody did not seem likely places where Fenn would like his bones to lie for eternity.
Update (5/18/21) The Border Collie & I returned to the "from here it's no place for the meek, the end is ever drawing nigh" location. I believe the end of this short road
("Place") is where Fenn
parked his sedan and donned the backpark with the empty chest for trip #1 to his hiding place. I hiked in about half a mile.
I passed bear tracks, bear poop, wolf poop and three different piles of moose poop. Deep, thick, remote forest following narrow, dry creek beds. I followed a horse trail that
forked at a game trail. (Fenn said
the treasure
was "not particularly close to people trails). I took the game trail and found nothing that looked like an obvious, or fallen blaze. But I did find a nice 6-point mule
deer skull with antlers still attached. After another half mile I crossed the creek bottom back to the main horse trail on the
northern ridge. It's occasionally used by the Blackwater Guest Ranch, taking their visitors on trail rides that include lunch at two different fire pits they've installed in
the forest. A quarter mile farther, the horse trail lead through a large clearing of
felled trees -- some cut by man, some felled by nature -- with a direct, open view of the northwest side of Clayton Mountain where the men died in the Blackwater Fire.
The site seemed familiar.
Then it hit me. This could be the scene of Fenn's drawing on page 146 in TTOTC! There were easily 15 stumps, depending on where you drew the border. Fenn was standing,
one foot on a stump, looking up into the distance at a 45 degree angle (at Clayton Mountain, I imagined). I was in a "blaze" (clear-cut open area in the forest), looking at
THE BLACKWATER BLAZE.
I was
right "in the middle" between Mummy Cave & Clayton Mountain on a direct line.
Could Fenn have drawn this scene from the perspective of the hidden treasure chest location and published it in his book? There were
a thousand places within 200 to 500 feet of that horse trail in that clearing to look for the chest. I looked at a few and realized it was hopeless to ever find the "nook" Jack mentioned, now that the chest had been removed.
Did I find Forrest Fenn's secret, special spot? Maybe, maybe not. But for me, this location was the perfect bookend that nicely tied up my Blackwater search.
Update (1/11/22) I had a flash of clarity. Fenn's poem not only tells you where to go, it tells you where to LOOK. My solution is sound right to "If you've been wise and found the blaze, look quickly down." This points to that T-shaped meadow on the ridge. I'll be back up there again after the snow melts.
Update (8/2/22) Still haven't gotten back to Blackwater to search that T (treasure?)-shaped meadow on the ridge revealed by "quickly looking down" from the
death locations of the 1937 Blackwater Fire (The Blaze?).
In the meantime, a person suing Forrest Fenn's estate has shaken out some information about the treasure chest hiding spot. Court testimony shows the head ranger at Yellowstone,
Sarah Davis, says she held a zoom call with both Forrest Fenn & the finder, Jack Stuef. This occurred a couple months after Stuef found the chest and before Fenn died. She said they both told her where the chest had been located. She then went out and viewed
the remote spot and determined it
was not suitable for visitation by the public. She cited lack of trails and facilities for large numbers of people. So she sent the court a request to NOT reveal the location of
the chest. Because she is a ranger in Yellowstone, and Fenn & Stuef revealed the location to her, the assumption is that the chest was hidden in Yellowstone National Park.
The majority of the remaining searchers think the location is near one of Fenn's old fishing spots at Nine Mile Hole,
off the road that heads to the town of West Yellowstone, Montana, but still in Yellowstone & Wyoming. I searched Davis's background and found no prior jobs at the Shoshone or
any other national forests. So it seems she was only contacted due to her position in Yellowstone, which means the chest was very likely hidden inside Yellowstone. This means
I likely drove past that chest many
times since 2010. It means Fenn himself drove his sedan through the valley below my house to hide the thing. I'd already realised Fenn had likely been on our trolley tour
of Cody sometime before 2009 when
we sold it. I may have been face-to-face with the man and never knew it. Grrr. I'll keep watching for more treasure chest updates.
Update (8/9/22) Well, after some deep web searching, I'm ready to agree with the Fenn treasure location as revealed by Rudy Greene and Cynthia Meachum. Here is Cynthia's video spelling it all out: Nine Mile Hole Solve . Here is Rudy's video showing the exact location as Cynthia: Rudy's Video . Both of these videos have photos that match exactly to the tight treasure chest photos that were already released. Amazingly, people found the exact logs that exactly match. The dirt is disturbed exactly where the chest was. A dozen other puzzle pieces lined up perfectly to make this solution seem 99.99% likely.
Spoiler alert: The location is at (upper) Nine Mile Hole, about 9 miles east of West Yellowstone & 5 miles west of Madison Junction in Yellowstone National Park. Yes, I have driven by this area many times since 2010 when the chest was hidden. I did not, however, ever suspect or search that area. It requires a two-minute, knee-high river crossing to get to the proper area. The treasure chest was buried up to its lid about 150 feet away from the far river bank in the woods. "The Blaze" was a lightening-struck tree that had fallen after Fenn hid the chest. The chest was a couple feet away from that tree stump. It turns out Nine Mile Hole was Fenn's favorite fishing spot. If he wanted to die & spend eternity within about 350 feet from the highway, that's far less remote than I imagined!
Update (8/13/22) I visited this likely treasure chest location at Nine Mile Hole on 8/11/22. Here is My Report of the Trip
Update (1/15/23) The Fenn treasure has been sold. The finder, Jack Stuef, sold the chest to Tesouro Sagrado Holdings, LLC on 9/19/22 (No price released). That outfit kept the chest and a
few items. They hired Heritage Auctions to sell the remaining contents. 476 items were sold on 12/12/22 for a total of $1.3 million. The largest prices were paid for the
egg-sized, 17-ounce gold nugget ($55,000)
and Fenn's 20,000 word autobiography, reduced to magnifying glass size, placed in a small, wax-sealed glass jar ($44,000). The remaining nuggets and gold coins sold for about twice the current
spot gold price.
The auction house released affidavits from Jack the finder, Fenn's daughter Zoe and Fenn's attorney. They reveal how Jack avoided taxes by following Fenn's instructions that
were apparently placed in the chest. Jack returned Fenn's property (the filled treasure chest) to Fenn on 6/11/20 in the lawyer's presence. Fenn verified the contents, agreed
it was his chest and verified the finder had retrieved it from the same location where hidden. Fenn then gifted the chest to Jack and filed the proper gift tax forms.
Here is the link
to the
Heritage Auctions Fenn Treasure. This site lists all 476 items, photos of each, what they sold for, and the three affidavits I mentioned.
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