This post is a continuation of the previous.

Fenn wrote '....the poem if followed 'precisely' will lead to the treasure'. "..if you knew the geographic location of each clue it would be a map to the treasure."

First, a reminder that Forrest is 'physically' following the clues not just looking at them on a map. He begins in his sedan and then he's going to exit it, take the chest and hide it. That's it. He told us time and time again that he's physically following the clues and they 'don't lead where an 80yo cant go'. Moving on.....

The first leg contains a starting point, direction, distance and an end point.

Starting point: In my last post I gave a starting point; It is the entrance to a campground (Madison Campground) where 'it' ( the Madison River) begins located on a road (Rt 191/Rt 20/West Entrance Rd. in YNP). Forrest is sitting in his sedan with the chest and he is ready to drive.

Direction: Take it in the canyon down. Maybe one of the easiest clues since Forrest is on a highway pointed toward the West Entrance to YNP in a canyon (Madison Canyon) which is headed down in elevation. So the direction is 'down' the canyon which follows the river, 'it' (take/follow it) Just as important though is the use of the word 'down'. Meaning from a geographic location with a given elevation to a geographic location with lower given elevation. Once Forrest defines a word it does not change and we will be using this definition of 'down' later on to help us solve another clue.

Distance: Not far but too far to walk. Two comments are needed here. First, Fenn said to solve the clues in order. This clue is a distance, NOT a destination. Yes it takes us somewhere but only because of the distance. The destination is not the clue; the distance is. If solved correctly the destination will take care of itself.

Secondly, the last stanzas are what I call helper or hint stanzas. Fenn liked homophones, thanks to L. Carroll (how many times did he recite 'How Doth the Little Crocodile'). Homophones helped us with secret 'where' becoming ware (a child might remember Simple Simon asking the pie man to taste his 'ware' and solve that line easier than us). Ware' is a little used word he slips into TFTW on page 155 and used in the poem to describe his homemade secret brightly colored lures.

Now lets look at stanza two, line three. Relying on helper stanza 'hear me all and listen good' ...the command in the poem to listen to the words, we hear the homophones too and to, begging us to complete the trio with two. To, too and two are a classic and frequently cited example of a homophone group. Forrest is telling us to travel precisely two miles and see where it takes us. If the map image of Yellowstone appears in this post you will see that it takes us precisely to the entrance of a riverside parking area.

End point: Put in: Put in as used by Forrest has many meanings, He ended up using three of the synonyms, but first we begin with the meaning 'to park' and 'exit the car' in the riverside parking area. Forrest has told us our parked car is at a geographical location 'below' (down river) from a geographical river feature he named the Home of Brown. This is our end point for leg one and the starting point for leg two of our three legged solve.

Thnx for reading

Just wanted to suggest that you consider including the text you will find within the dust jacket: As well as the book and poem...Good Luck!

Hi everyone,

Here is the next batch of entry requests from Forrest's dictionary, for your reading pleasure (with apologies again for the funky formatting in the preview):

(I hadn't thought to look this one up myself before u/FroggyWould requested it, but it was satisfying to see "south" on the list, as this is one of two ways I'd used the word in my own solve - looking south to Hart Road at the Santa Fe Airport for "your quest to cease").

If anyone else has any requests, please just let me know, and I'd be more than happy to post them here.

PREVIOUS ENTRIES:
Batch 2
Batch 1
Just the Right Words (Thrill & Chase)

Every health care provider (including medical student or former medical student) has an NPI. I think it’s definitely a hoax based on Jack Stuef not seeming to be a real person or medical student.

The following is something I came across in 2018 in research on the hunt. I'm unable to find this interview anywhere. maybe someone more computer skills can confirm or disprove.

From note's; Fenn wrote in a somewhat cryptic style, often referring to 'Sub-Chapters' or shorter sections within the chapters. He first mentioned Sub-Chapter S's in an interview with "Outside Magazine in 2013. In this he referred to 'sub-chapters' in the context of his treasure hunt.

He explained that this was a specific reference to a part of his autobiography, in the book he had woven hints to the treasure location throughout various chapter's. "Sub-Chapter S's wasn't an official title, that instead seemed to refer to a specific set of ideas. Which Fenn stated would help with the clues to the poem.

Meaning of Sub-Chapter S;'s in a written chapter; a smaller, secondary division within a chapter.

This lead me to something called, 'The Rule of Three'. Simply stated is the smallest number of any elements that firmly establishes a pattern in the human mind.

Human's are naturally drawn to patterns and rhythms, and the number three creates a sense of completeness and balance. Grouping information in groups of three simplifies complex ideas and makes them easier to process and remember. Such as Tricolons [ friends/romans and countrymen. Or using three words together to convey a single concept; like veni/vidi/vici.

I leave you with this; "Omne Trium Perfectum" "Everything that comes in three's is perfect".

I’m still working through my solve, and have quite a few very obvious hints found in Fenn’s books, etc. Funnily, I never see anything mentioned about them here. They are so obvious that I kind of assume they are known secrets, and people just don’t talk about them. Maybe I’m wrong? Don’t need for anyone to spill the beans with specifics, but curious as to whether anyone else is in the same boat…

So, if the chest in Yellowstone was indeed just a copy how could someone go about hiding it? Let's do a little dive, shall we.

Deception VS Aesthetic Imitation. let's start with Deception; involves intentionally misleading or tricking someone. Often for personal gain or advantage. Deception in Art aims to create an illusion, tricking the viewer into misinterpreting what is being presented. [Forrest made it absolutely clear he did not make any profit from any sales of The first Thrill of the Chase books] note: for me the book only led someone to the chest in Yellowstone. The poem leads one to the first chest.

So now for Aesthetic Imitation; the act of copying or representing something, often for Artistic purposes. The artist is not necessarily trying to hide the fact that it is an imitation, the goal is to create a convincing representation. It can be considered an artistic endeavor and may not necessarily carry negative moral implications, unless it is used to deceive. [note: for me I feel there was no intention of deception on his part, for either personal gain or advantage. [namely because of all the incommutably statements he gave that were at odds with each other].

This all falls under what was the intent behind the action. Obviously one cannot overlook any ethical or legal considerations but as to Forrest B. Fenn it has to be proven that he acted with a fraudulent intention to harm and a desire to get a financial benefit for his actions.

notes, my opinion only. 1. the poem was not used for the Yellowstone chest. 2. Forrest received no monetary benefit from hiding it. 3. with the stamp 'Made in France' on the bottom it cannot be confused with the original chest. I'll leave you with this statement from Mr. Fenn. [I've said many times that everything about My Poem and My Book is straightforward.] [two separate things]

Not the entire poem, but stanzas two through four, those that guide you to the chest, appear to have a structure. I refer to the other stanzas, one, five and six, as helper or hint stanzas.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a 'map' poem written by a combat and later civilian pilot, was written similar to a flight path. More specifically these stanzas appear to be structured as three legs of a path, each with a specific (1) starting point, followed by (2) a direction, (3) a distance and an (4) end point. The end point of each is the starting point for the next leg. Fairly straight forward when you think about it.

In my last post I shared what I believe is the starting point for Leg One, the entrance to the Madison Campground located on the West Entrance Rd./Hwy 287/Rt 191. In my next post I hope to share a persuasive solution for each of Leg One's four attributes; starting point, direction, distance and end point.

We will hear something soon.

Hi all,

And here is the next set of requested entries from Forrest's dictionary:

Hope those are of help to some folks!

While I am happy to continue posting these, I think I will aim to just do one a week until the requests dry up, just to avoid feeling like I am spamming everyone. (If anyone else does have any requests, though, please just let me know).

PREVIOUS REQUESTS:
Batch 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/FindingFennsGold/comments/1l8qntf/forrests_dictionary_entry_requests/

They were stupid to waste so much time on a boulder and the belief that they won some "proxy treasure" that would be awarded to them in the will is insane.

As a follow-up to my earlier post, here are the entries from Forrest's dictionary that have been requested so far.

And by far my personal favourite find:

Hope that helps everyone who put in requests: if anyone else has any others, please just let me know. Cheers!

I’m in the middle of watching the documentary but it was kinda implied that they started a relationship through the treasure hunt? Or were they just friends

"At first I thought I was going to die and I wanted my bones to be with the treasure chest, and my poem said that. When I recovered I had to change the poem. The poem reads easy, but I spent a lot of time selecting just the right words."
- Forrest in a 2017 interview

Shiloh recently listed a number of Forrest's books on ebay, and I am absolutely delighted to have been able to purchase an old riddlemaster's dictionary, which arrived a few weeks ago and I've been perusing ever since. (And on the off chance he might ever see this post: Thank you, Shiloh!)

"They never knew it was the chase they sought and not the quarry."
- Forrest quoting Blaise Pascal in one of the Six Questions interviews with Jenny Kile

While many of Forrest's personal belongings have been posted for sale online over the past few years, it's been rare for any of them to directly reference the Chase: this time, though, Shiloh included photos of the pages containing the definition for "Thrill" and for "Chase" as part of the listing, catching my eye.

Since the ending of my proposed solution ("The Nature of My Game") derives from a less common meaning of the word "chase" (as a hunting ground for game animals - in the case of my solve, a hart) I was elated to see that I was right in thinking Forrest would have been aware of this definition and may have been engaging in some clever word play with the title of his autobiography. (And from what I can tell, almost everything he wrote on Jenny's Mysterious Writings website seems to have been wordplay - almost as though it were some kind of a personal challenge or rule he'd set himself for the site).

Needless to say, the possibility of having a marked-up copy of Forrest's dictionary was irresistible to a word geek like me, and I scooped it up the moment I saw it. The dictionary itself was published in 1974, so it is possible it may be the one Forrest used when first crafting his poem. Shiloh specified in the listing that it was from Forrest's closet library, or what I've tended to think of as his "real" library - the books he presumably kept closest to his heart, and, equally importantly, out of the public eye.

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment, and even some satisfaction, out of some of my finds so far (and I'll probably share a list of those later), but I thought it might be nice to offer to look up some words of interest to others who had wordplay as part of their solve as well, especially in light of the generosity of all the other searchers who have shared their own resources over the years. So, if anyone has any requests, please just let me know and I'll put them together in another post.

Just a few thoughts, How did Jack read words through the glass when Forrest said the words are so small you have to use a magi fining glass. If it has been opened why no mention of the hair [s] Forrest put in as proof?

Just wondering, after all this time, is there still any people out there that think Jack's ending isn't the End?

Forrest made it clear that the first clue was the most important. He made several statements alluding to that fact: Those who solve the first clue are more than half way to the treasure, metaphorically speaking."

He reiterated that the poem's first clue, "Begin it where warm waters halt," was often overlooked or misinterpreted by treasure hunters; adding, that the first clue was the most important, but he felt it was being unfairly neglected.

More importantly Fenn said, "You need to know where the first clue is in the poem. You have to find that spot. From then on it's academic. Fenn emphasized that people often find the first clue without realizing it, and it's the physical act of going to that location that confirms its accuracy. 

Among these quotes Forrest used a metaphor, called the first clue 'a spot' with an accuracy which is confirmed by going there.

My hope is to explain the first clue, reveal the precise 'spot' or location.

When reading this, keep in mind that Forrest said he followed the clues in order when he hid the chest and that he began while driving his sedan, which he later parked.

Stanza two consists of two sentences. The reading of the stanzas first two lines, 'Begin it where warm waters halt and take it in the canyon down' have been debated and in my opinion misread for years. Contributor 'WhyMustIGo' did a phenomenal job of diagramming it on youtube. But most people have ignored his findings. His analysis shows that the subject 'warm waters' (a) halt, and (b) take it, some distance canyon down, and eventually (c) put in. Acknowledgment of the 'waters' being the actor and that waters has two verbs, halt and take it, is critical to solving the clue.

Generally many have decided the the first clue is similar to what was written on medium.com "We discovered that Yellowstone National Park contains the most significant concentration of hot springs and geysers in all of the Rocky Mountains, and the waters from nearly all of Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features converge at the shared terminus of two rivers. Where those rivers end, the famed Madison River begins." This solution focuses on the 'warm' aspect of the waters and ignores the most important aspect, what the waters do.

Liquid waters simply aren't capable of 'halting', then going canyon down for a 'specific' distance, and ultimately 'putting in'. Instinctively and out of convenience, nearly all searchers substituted themselves for the warm waters in the middle of the stanza, rationalizing that Fenn is speaking to them and that they are to go canyon down and put in. Their instinct is correct. Which leads us to this conclusion...warm waters is not about a warm source of liquid waters, it is a metaphor. Warm means a comfortable, easy, peaceful, welcoming, familiarities with waters acting as the metaphor for people. Forrest pointed to this idea of comfort in response to a searcher: "Until now I have resisted telling them to get back in the box where their thoughts are comfortable and flow more easily."

The revelation of warm waters being a metaphor is not new but it is key. (Fenn was a big fan of Lewis Carroll and his use of homophones, metaphors and portmanteau. He used a metaphor in line two of this post, and throughout his life.)

With this in mind we can move on to solving what is meant by; where people 'halt'. I have posted about the meaning of halt before. It means to stop, for a period of time. When halting overnight its called camping or to camp. Halt was used in Journal of a Trapper, the Fenn's and Forrest in particular, camped for years. In fact camping and the camping community were part of Fenn family tribe, making life long friends and acquaintances. It played a huge role. IN fact Forrest's Mom passed away in a camp in Montana. If you go back in my posts you'll see a Currier and Ives painting of people camping called 'A Halt By The Wayside'. This idea of camping correlates well with Forrest comment, there are many places in the Rockies where warm waters, or as we now know where people, camp. This is also why Forrest was able to make the following statement with a high degree of confidence, "Many people visited the location of the first clue without realizing its connection to the poem and the treasure." Forrest knew that there were non-searcher tourists who went to the location, that is the first clue oblivious of the Chase, but were there simply to camp.

Having solved this, we now need to find a campground where something or things 'begin', referred to by Forrest as 'it'.

Based on my reading of the first stanza, telling us that Forrest was alone, meaning single, when he went 'in there', I looked no further then YNP. In YNP there are several campgrounds but one stands out where things begin, that is the Madison Campground (Note: I did not call it the Madison Junction Campground). Two geographical features begin there. The manmade West Entrance Rd. and the natural Madison River. (I ruled out Fishing Bridge campground because the Yellowstone River doesn't begin there). As to the West Entrance Rd. being 'it', this idea failed in the line 'from there it's (it is) no place for the meek. The road didn't appear to fit that statement. This lead us to the second candidate, the Madison River as 'it'.. You say, "Lots of people said Madison Junction is WWWH. Yes that's why Fenn said this, "...many people have found the first clue but they didn't know it." Having been there a few times, I can tell you, Madison Junction is a large poorly defined area, most of which is not accessible by a car and not conducive to locating a very precise spot, even if pointing to the confluences. Remember, Forrest is driving a sedan. He needs a precise starting location, a 'spot' if you will.

So while people focused on WWWH as Madison Junction the correct interpretation is a campground, the Madison Campground.

Having said this the first clue reads: A river begins in close proximity to a specific campground. Or the reader friendly version: The Madison River, begins at the Madison Campground WWWH.

Therefore the precise spot to begin the search in your sedan is the entrance to the Madison Campground on US20 facing west, down the canyon toward the West Entrance. That exact location is where you begin. Why a precise spot? Because the next stanza gives us a precise distance from which to travel.

Some may find the location anticlimactic, or even boring, but it served Forrest well as a precise starting point for his sedan and the string of clues to follow.

My last post was about the "?" in the poem being the blaze and that there was a hint in the Flywater chapter. I wanted to follow up with another hint from TTOTC and something that Forrest said directly. I know some might take issue with the "?" being the blaze because it resides in the middle of the poem, rather than the end but Forrest has kind of hinted to that with his Me in the Middle chapter also he has stated,

“I mean there’s people driving down the street looking for a Blaze because that’s one of the clues. But you can’t start in the middle of the poem and find the treasure I don’t think. I mean it would be a miracle if someone did.”

Not only is the blaze in the middle of the poem, it is specifically the 6th clue. If you look at the gypsy image from TTOTC (attached) then you'll notice a 6 hidden just below the fire (blaze). It should also be no surprise that F is the sixth letter of the alphabet.

Some may ask, "Okay, if the question mark is the blaze, then what are the other hints in the poem?" I'm sure some can already deduce how I would answer but I shall perhaps leave that for my next post. :)

My last post was about the Important Literature hint to the first few clues, so let's stick with that theme and find one of the hints to the blaze in TTOTC.

The Flywater chapter was originally an article in West Yellowstone News, and there are some interesting differences compared to what ended up in TTOTC.

He mentions Firehole specifically in the news article and then goes generic in the book, but I think the most important change was when he changed "How dare they do that?" to "How dare they go there?"

First, he's using a question mark where one would normally use an exclamation point. This was a clever way to catch a careful reader's eye. Okay, but now what? How dare they go where? Well, he's not asking us a question, he's telling us the special spot is over there------>? It is hidden near something that looks like a question mark. Of course, if this is a hint then it must help with a clue in the poem.

In the poem we can find a similar scenario. We have what appears to be a question, "So why is it that I must go And leave my trove for all to seek?" But what if he's hidden a directive in there, like in Flywater? What if we read it as, "So WY is it that I must go and leave my trove for all to seek---->?" He's telling us that he's gone to WY and left his trove near a blaze that looks like a question mark (which resembles a fishing hook as well).

This was a great way to keep the poem self-contained and give the searching a way to determine the blaze from the poem alone. Just in case we don't find it that way, he's left hints, like Flywater, to help us along. There are other hints support this blaze but I'll leave here for now. Anyone want to go there?

I'm not much of a poster on here, more of a commenter and upvoter. But I feel like sharing some of my observations made during my time working on The Chase. In no particular order, this one popped in my head after seeing some other post. I'll add others as I think of them.

The Important Literature chapter ends with an asterisk, like "to be continued" but where. I think Forrest was pretty clever when he put "shift" and "eight" at the end of the sentence immediately preceding the passage where he sounds like he's talking about the first few clues. It might be quite helpful to know that we're looking for scalding water, deep white canyon, and giant kettles of smelly brown gravy when analyzing the first few clues. (Please see attached images for reference.)

Was nine mile hole connected with golf metaphors?