Hunt ends for Rocky Mountain treasure

Thousands have searched the forests of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana over the past 10 years for a trove of gold nuggets, rare coins, antique jewelry, and other ancient artifacts. Several treasure hunters have died in their attempts to find the chest that art dealer and author Forrest Fenn hid. He announced on Sunday that an anonymous treasure-seeker had finally discovered the loot.

Why did Fenn hide the valuables in the mountains? He said he wanted to give people a chance to have an old-fashioned adventure. His memoir included a 24-line poem with clues to the treasure’s location and a map of the region where he hid it. No adventure would be complete without some conflict: Fenn’s gold has sparked several court battles from hunters laying claim to the treasure before actually possessing it. One person sued Fenn for $1.5 million for allegedly giving him false clues, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Rob Holmes’ report about a fugitive treasure hunter and his missing cache of gold.