Chest Location
Forrest Fenn started a treasure hunt in 2010 for a chest full of gold. In June 2020, Forrest announced that Jack Stuef had found the treasure. December 2022, the chest contents were sold at auction. Jack has still not described where the chest was found, and sadly Forrest has passed away.
Thankfully, enough evidence has finally been uncovered from tangential lawsuits, FOIAs, and message board archives to determine the chest was found in Yellowstone National Park at Forrest's favorite fishing hole, Nine Mile Hole.
A note on safety: although the chest was near a parking pullout on Highway 191, the river is wild and can be unsafe to cross at times, dangerous animals frequent the area, and too many visitors to any location in the woods can cause damage. Plenty of photos and videos of the site are available online, and the best views of the general area can be had right at the parking pullout. Visiting the precise chest location is not advised.
Photos From Jack
The chest in place, just uncovered. It appears that the chest was fully underneath the dirt/debris. A log can be seen just above the chest, and a stump in the upper left-hand corner.
The chest was dug out (1, 2), then placed in a second position (3, 4). These photos are compared in detail below.
The Location
Through a lot of determined searching, someone found the exact location the chest photos were taken.
The precise location can be verified by watching this video. Other searchers have confirmed the precise location on Facebook, Reddit, and message boards. Several confirmed after visiting the spot themselves. (44.647673,-110.939161)
The Stick
Jack discarded the stick pictured in the center of the chest,
"I took those photos at the spot [...]. I didn’t notice the twig until after I pressed the button to take the photo, then tossed it aside [...]"
Remarkably, the stick in the treasure chest photo has been found. It was indeed resting at the treasure site at Nine-Mile Hole.
Comparison of the stick found on-site and the stick in the chest photo.
The First Position
The chest was found in this position, partially under a log and covered with debris. The approximate camera angle is shown.
Jack's chest photo.
Photo of the same log in 2022 (source). Years of aging have degraded the log, but the fine details are unmistakable given a close look.
Many common features are recognizable. The blue area is where the photo was split/aligned to make comparing the two photos possible on either side of the crack.
Matching details can be found when comparing the stump in Jack's photo to the one found at Nine Mile Hole in 2022 (source).
The Second Position
The chest's second position was nearby the first. As Jack described his photo (below) on Medium, "The treasure, a couple of feet from the nook in which it had been placed." The approximate camera angle is shown.
The second chest position. Jack's photo is overlaid on a photo from Nine Mile Hole. The matching log feature is highlighted.
Second chest position. Another Jack photo overlaid on the same photo from Nine Mile Hole. The matching log feature is highlighted.
Jack SearchED NinE Mile Hole
Beyond the amazing photographic proof above. The amount of circumstantial evidence that points to Nine Mile Hole is overwhelming.
Jack had extensive email communication with Forrest in 2018 and 2019 about his searches of Nine Mile Hole. See many examples (here) from the McCracken trial (as shown on YouTube). Excerpts:
"I'm certain you hid your treasure at Nine-Mile Hole [...]"
"I wrote you a long email about my searches at Nine-Mile Hole."
"[I'm] now ready to discuss with you what I found at Nine-Mile Hole last month"
"Did you fish with any of them at Nine Mile Hole?"
"Yes, my home of brown was the actual hole at the Nine-Mile Hole."
"If someone wanted to go below the hole at Nine-Mile Hole, what would you consider the end of the hole?"
"I wrote up some lyrics to the Nine Mile Hole Days of Christmas in case you're in a caroling mood about your special spot."
Christmas Card sent to Forrest from Jack Christmas 2019. Jack marked a large X in X-mas over a photo of Nine Mile Hole, likely signaling again to Forrest that he believed this was the treasure location.
Emails from Yellowstone NPS
Aug 17, 2020 Forrest Fenn and Jack Stuef revealed the treasure location via Zoom to Yellowstone Chief Ranger Sarah Davis and Deputy Ranger Chris Flesch.
FOIAs have garnered emails sent by NPS officials on the subject of Forrest Fenn and Nine Mile Hole.
The content of the Fenn Treasure emails was highly-redacted, but the dates of the emails were left intact.
As it turns out, the Nine Mile Hole emails occurred simultaneously with the Forrest Fenn Treasure emails, even though they were 16 months apart, indicating these topics are likely related.
Map made under urgent request for an environmental impact report for increased visitation Dec 2, 2020.
In highly-redacted emails obtained by FOIA, Nine Mile Hole and Forrest Fenn Treasure emails occurred on simultaneous dates, making the two subjects likely related.
Specifically, in December 2020, an urgent environmental impact was requested to show that Nine Mile Hole would be impacted by increased visitation. Later, in April 2022, the DOI intervened in the McCracken court case with a deposition by Sarah Davis describing in similar verbiage how the treasure location would be impacted by increased visitation. This motion was denied by the court.
Forrest's Favorite Fishing Hole
FORREST'S Poem
If you would like a broad-strokes guess at the solution to Forrest's poem, check out the solution page.
This site is not affiliated with Forrest Fenn, the Fenn Estate, the Fenn Family, or Jack Stuef. The creators of this site have no direct knowledge of facts related to this hunt. Our statements are only judgments based on the evidence, as you can see yourself on this page.