As soon as Forrest Fenn announced that his treasure was found earlier this month, rumors swirled about whether it had really been found or if the treasure hunt had been a hoax all along.
Well, this week, Fenn tried to put some of those to rest by unveiling the first photos of the discovered treasure.
On Tuesday, the 89-year-old art and antiquities collector posted three pictures of the treasure on dalneitzel.com, a fan blog dedicated to the treasure hunt that Fenn sparked 10 years ago after he published clues in his autobiography “The Thrill of the Chase.”
One photo shows Fenn sorting through the bronze chest filled with gold, jewelry and other artifacts that are believed to total over $1 million. “Removing objects from the chest. It is darker than it was ten years ago when I left it on the ground and walked away,” Fenn wrote in the caption.
Another photo shows the treasure “not long after it was discovered,” according to Fenn.
And a third picture shows a picture of him wearing a silver bracelet that has been tarnished black.
Fenn announced that the decade-long adventure for the treasure had come to an end on June 6, after a man from “back East” had discovered it.
“It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago,” Fenn wrote on his website at the time. “I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot.”
Fenn estimated that as many as 350,000 people from around the world went hunting for the treasure, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Some quit their jobs to fully dedicate their lives to the hunt and some even died.
Fenn reiterated in Tuesday’s post that the finder wanted to remain anonymous. While some remained skeptical, most of the comments under the pictures congratulated the finder and thanked Fenn for the experience.
“I give a heartfelt thank you to Forrest for his wild and wonderful adventure that gave me new places to explore, peacefulness, joy, wonder, and a challenge like no other,” one person commented.