The Treasure OF Forrest Fenn Critical Thinking Examples

In 2009, a multimillionaire, art collector, entrepreneur, and explorer hid his treasure out west. Forrest Fenn was a man dying of cancer who struggled to come to terms with death. His plan was to take a chest full of treasure somewhere in the Rocky Mountains where his skeleton would later be found, just like in the movies. He soon overcame the long battle with cancer, but he never overcame the desire to hide his legacy up in those mountains. The eighty year old man gathered his strength and dragged a chest filled with upwards of two million dollars’ worth of artifacts to the perfect hiding place. He hid the gold in 2009, and still it remains unclaimed.
According to Fenn, the chest contains an assortment of gold coins, nuggets, animal figurines, jewels, and ancient artifacts, as well the lone print of his memoir and a sample of his hair. An estimated two to five million dollars’ worth of treasures rest inside the Romanesque chest, awaiting some lucky wanderer to claim it. The veteran pilot spent years composing a poem that will lead one lucky analyst to the treasure. Fenn’s riddle, tellingly named “The Thrill of the Chase”, is short in length and simple in language, and masterfully leads and misleads hungry explorers all over the American west. They search high and low through the Rockies Mountains and elsewhere, some making the trip dozens of times, but still no one has found Fenn’s treasure.
This documentary will explore the mystery of Forrest Fenn, his treasure, and the magic that draws thousands of people out west every year. It will examine adventure itself, what Fenn meant when he wrote “The Thrill of the Chase”, and why a dying man would leave such a gift for some lucky stranger. It will search for what Fenn wants searchers to find besides the treasure chest, taking the bait and experiencing something most people will never have the chance to. Fenn is alive and well, and it is the ambition of this project to feature him in much the same way as an Errol Morris or Werner Herzog film. What is the psychology of Fenn’s actions, and how does he feel knowing thousands are out on a wild goose chase in his name?
The film is led by a group of treasure hunters in circumstances that drive the film. These central characters carry out the adventure that so many risk every year, perhaps a father and son, or three old college friends, or a romantic partnership that will be tested through the adventure. The film documents each step along the way, from analyzing the poem to death to picking a place to look (which, according to Fenn, stretches from New Mexico to Wyoming), making the journey there, and leaving either millionaires or heartbroken dreamers. Perhaps they will find the treasure, perhaps they will not. Either way, for one week they can leave their worries behind in pursuit of the coveted treasures of Forrest Fenn. Some say it is a hoax. Others claim it has already been found. Some even believe Fenn is secretly a doctor conducting a large social experiment. Gold or no gold, people continue to flock, leaving them with an experience they will never forget. This is the definitive documentary of this experience, with its own subjects taking the plunge as well as others that have been out in the unforgiving mountains for half a decade looking for the loot. This film is about a modern day treasure hunt that happens in the United States every single year. If the subjects are lucky, they just might find the gold themselves.