1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:23,010 Speaker 1: Pushkin a warning before we start. This cautionary tale discusses 2 00:00:23,090 --> 00:00:27,410 Speaker 1: death by suicide if you're suffering emotional distress or you're 3 00:00:27,410 --> 00:00:31,810 Speaker 1: having suicidal thoughts. Support is available, for example, from the 4 00:00:31,930 --> 00:00:35,770 Speaker 1: nine eight eight Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In the US 5 00:00:39,930 --> 00:00:44,930 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, Major Forest Fenn is leading a group 6 00:00:45,010 --> 00:00:48,370 Speaker 1: of fighter planes over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Their 7 00:00:48,410 --> 00:00:53,010 Speaker 1: mission bomb the trail and the North Vietnamese troops traveling 8 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:59,370 Speaker 1: along it from Laos. Inside his cramped cockpit, the smell 9 00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:04,930 Speaker 1: of hydraulic fluid mingles with sweat, mildew, and the stench 10 00:01:05,010 --> 00:01:10,290 Speaker 1: of burned wiring. Beneath the plane, a jongle blurs into 11 00:01:10,290 --> 00:01:15,450 Speaker 1: a sea of green. Major Fen is under fire as 12 00:01:15,450 --> 00:01:19,650 Speaker 1: bullets tear into his canopy. The plane starts burning around him. 13 00:01:20,290 --> 00:01:23,770 Speaker 1: He realizes, with a further jolt of horror that the 14 00:01:23,770 --> 00:01:27,970 Speaker 1: gunfire might have damaged the plane's ejection system. Will he 15 00:01:28,090 --> 00:01:32,930 Speaker 1: burn to a crisp with his aircraft. The plane holds 16 00:01:32,970 --> 00:01:36,170 Speaker 1: together just long enough for Major Fen to get clear 17 00:01:36,210 --> 00:01:40,570 Speaker 1: of the action. He steals himself and pulls the ejection lever. 18 00:01:42,250 --> 00:01:45,650 Speaker 1: The bullet riddled canopy tears away on the slipstream, and 19 00:01:45,690 --> 00:01:49,210 Speaker 1: the pilot punches high into the air. His spine is 20 00:01:49,210 --> 00:01:55,450 Speaker 1: being crushed. His vision blurs. Suddenly, his neck whips forward 21 00:01:55,770 --> 00:02:00,610 Speaker 1: and he slows, the harness biting into his body. His 22 00:02:00,650 --> 00:02:05,290 Speaker 1: parachute is deploying. As he hangs on the breeze. Major 23 00:02:05,370 --> 00:02:10,130 Speaker 1: Fen watches his now pilotless plane ooze into a cliff 24 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:17,250 Speaker 1: face and explode. He keeps falling through the air, lurching 25 00:02:17,290 --> 00:02:20,970 Speaker 1: towards the tree tops and down to the humid jungle. 26 00:02:21,890 --> 00:02:25,850 Speaker 1: Eighteen inches from the ground. He finally comes to a halt, 27 00:02:26,370 --> 00:02:34,370 Speaker 1: suspended from creaking branches. Enormous orchids tower above him, climbing 28 00:02:34,410 --> 00:02:41,450 Speaker 1: the trunks of gargantuan trees. What's that sound? Major Fenn 29 00:02:41,530 --> 00:02:45,850 Speaker 1: can hear something scuttling and skulking on the forest floor. 30 00:02:46,930 --> 00:02:49,970 Speaker 1: He knows there are tigers and cobras in the jungle. 31 00:02:51,010 --> 00:02:53,650 Speaker 1: The North Vietnamese patrol will be looking for him too. 32 00:02:54,490 --> 00:03:02,090 Speaker 1: As they find him, he'll be tortured. Nightfalls drawing its 33 00:03:02,170 --> 00:03:08,610 Speaker 1: cloak of darkness around the stranded pilot. I'm Tim Harford, 34 00:03:09,130 --> 00:03:38,690 Speaker 1: and you're listening to cautionary tales. The crew from the 35 00:03:38,810 --> 00:03:44,010 Speaker 1: US Army Corps of Engineers found the man's body. He 36 00:03:44,050 --> 00:03:46,210 Speaker 1: had been out in the wilderness for so long that 37 00:03:46,290 --> 00:03:50,330 Speaker 1: his flesh had given way to bone, and his skeletal 38 00:03:50,370 --> 00:03:54,770 Speaker 1: remains were tangled in the undergrowth. The body was removed, 39 00:03:55,410 --> 00:04:00,250 Speaker 1: and dental records eventually confirmed what the authorities already suspected. 40 00:04:02,850 --> 00:04:06,250 Speaker 1: The dead man was a treasure hunter, and he had 41 00:04:06,290 --> 00:04:10,050 Speaker 1: been looking for a box of gold and jewel said 42 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:13,770 Speaker 1: to be hidden somewhere in the wilds of the American West. 43 00:04:14,850 --> 00:04:20,930 Speaker 1: For this was not Vietnam, but the Rocky Mountains. Yet 44 00:04:20,930 --> 00:04:24,090 Speaker 1: there was a connection between the stranded pilot and the 45 00:04:24,130 --> 00:04:29,610 Speaker 1: dead treasure hunter. It was Major Forest Fenn who'd hidden 46 00:04:29,690 --> 00:04:34,930 Speaker 1: the box of gold and jewels. This dead treasure hunter 47 00:04:35,530 --> 00:04:39,290 Speaker 1: was one of many thousands of people who hung on 48 00:04:39,690 --> 00:04:45,410 Speaker 1: fens every word, and who trusted him enough to head 49 00:04:45,450 --> 00:04:50,250 Speaker 1: into the wilderness on his promise of treasure and glory. 50 00:04:56,610 --> 00:05:01,050 Speaker 1: Forest Fenn was born in Texas in nineteen thirty. He 51 00:05:01,130 --> 00:05:04,570 Speaker 1: saw the devastation of the Great Depression, but his school 52 00:05:04,650 --> 00:05:09,290 Speaker 1: principal father kept steady employment and the family was shield 53 00:05:09,330 --> 00:05:12,890 Speaker 1: from the worst of it. The Fens were of modest means, 54 00:05:13,490 --> 00:05:15,930 Speaker 1: but they had enough money to go on vacation each year. 55 00:05:16,810 --> 00:05:19,930 Speaker 1: Every summer they would pile into their Chevy and drive 56 00:05:20,130 --> 00:05:25,170 Speaker 1: sixteen hundred miles to West Yellowstone, Montana, on the edge 57 00:05:25,210 --> 00:05:30,890 Speaker 1: of Yellowstone National Park. Forest relished these adventures and he 58 00:05:30,930 --> 00:05:33,330 Speaker 1: got to know the rocky mountains like the back of 59 00:05:33,370 --> 00:05:38,490 Speaker 1: his hand, hiking in high pine forests, swimming in warm 60 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:44,410 Speaker 1: mountain springs, and fishing for brown trout in fast flowing streams. 61 00:05:46,810 --> 00:05:51,010 Speaker 1: At home in Texas, too, Forest felt the pull of adventure. 62 00:05:51,610 --> 00:05:56,610 Speaker 1: He loved collecting whatever treasures he could find. String, bottle caps, 63 00:05:56,650 --> 00:06:01,610 Speaker 1: and marbles all appealed to his magpie sensibilities. He and 64 00:06:01,650 --> 00:06:04,970 Speaker 1: his father, Marvin would scour the local creek beds for 65 00:06:05,090 --> 00:06:09,610 Speaker 1: trinkets like beads and old pieces of pottery. He found 66 00:06:09,650 --> 00:06:13,450 Speaker 1: his first arrowhead at the age of nine, and it 67 00:06:13,490 --> 00:06:20,050 Speaker 1: remained his most prized possession. Grab every banana, Marvin would 68 00:06:20,050 --> 00:06:25,570 Speaker 1: tell her rather confused young Forest on these excursions. One day, 69 00:06:25,730 --> 00:06:31,170 Speaker 1: he expanded on this maxim Son, the train doesn't go 70 00:06:31,250 --> 00:06:34,930 Speaker 1: by that banana tree but one time, so you reach 71 00:06:35,010 --> 00:06:38,890 Speaker 1: out as far as you can. Every banana you don't 72 00:06:38,890 --> 00:06:46,490 Speaker 1: grab is a banana you'll never have. Father and son 73 00:06:46,770 --> 00:06:50,530 Speaker 1: came together on these quests that most of the time 74 00:06:50,890 --> 00:06:54,610 Speaker 1: Forrest felt his poor grades were a disappointment to Marvin. 75 00:06:56,570 --> 00:06:59,690 Speaker 1: I didn't think I was very smart, but I didn't 76 00:06:59,730 --> 00:07:02,730 Speaker 1: have to be smart to figure out that my parents 77 00:07:02,930 --> 00:07:14,970 Speaker 1: weren't really proud of me, he said. Forrest graduated just 78 00:07:15,930 --> 00:07:19,330 Speaker 1: but the pipeline of high school to college to work 79 00:07:19,930 --> 00:07:23,410 Speaker 1: wasn't for him. For a while, he pretended to be 80 00:07:23,570 --> 00:07:26,890 Speaker 1: enrolled at Texas A and M University with his friends. 81 00:07:27,570 --> 00:07:30,370 Speaker 1: It took about four days for the registrar to catch 82 00:07:30,450 --> 00:07:35,810 Speaker 1: him in his life. Feeling lost and worthless, he fled 83 00:07:35,850 --> 00:07:43,090 Speaker 1: the university in tears. What he really wanted, he decided, 84 00:07:43,690 --> 00:07:47,490 Speaker 1: was to be a pilot in the Air Force. Forest 85 00:07:47,570 --> 00:07:50,890 Speaker 1: knew that this was the domain of academic high achievers, 86 00:07:51,210 --> 00:07:53,690 Speaker 1: but he also knew that when you set out on 87 00:07:53,730 --> 00:07:56,410 Speaker 1: a journey, there was usually more than one way to 88 00:07:56,450 --> 00:08:01,690 Speaker 1: reach your destination, and so Forrest enrolled at Radar Mechanics 89 00:08:01,690 --> 00:08:06,050 Speaker 1: School on an Air Force base in Mississippi. After learning 90 00:08:06,090 --> 00:08:09,890 Speaker 1: all about how to repair and maintain radar system, he 91 00:08:10,010 --> 00:08:15,450 Speaker 1: was eventually accepted into pilot training in December nineteen fifty three. 92 00:08:15,770 --> 00:08:19,730 Speaker 1: With his training complete, he married his high school sweetheart, 93 00:08:20,130 --> 00:08:24,730 Speaker 1: Peggy gene Proctor. They had two daughters of the life 94 00:08:24,810 --> 00:08:29,530 Speaker 1: was good, but domesticity did nothing to curb Forest's craving 95 00:08:29,730 --> 00:08:32,850 Speaker 1: for adventure. When the Air Force took him to Europe, 96 00:08:33,370 --> 00:08:40,250 Speaker 1: he grabbed every banana in Italy. Forest rode the train 97 00:08:40,370 --> 00:08:44,890 Speaker 1: from Naples to the ruins of Pompeii and secretly sifted 98 00:08:44,970 --> 00:08:50,290 Speaker 1: to volcanic cinders for archaeological treasure. He dove in the 99 00:08:50,370 --> 00:08:55,690 Speaker 1: turquoise waters off Sabratha and Libya, once a Phoenician trading post. 100 00:08:56,930 --> 00:09:00,330 Speaker 1: In the quiet and cool of the deep, he spotted 101 00:09:00,370 --> 00:09:06,170 Speaker 1: something intriguing and unwieldy. He dislodged the object a little, 102 00:09:06,450 --> 00:09:08,850 Speaker 1: then got out of the water, tied a rope to 103 00:09:08,850 --> 00:09:15,450 Speaker 1: his jeep, and hauled it up. Forest was astonished to 104 00:09:15,530 --> 00:09:19,810 Speaker 1: find that it was an ancient amphora filled with bronze coins. 105 00:09:21,170 --> 00:09:24,850 Speaker 1: He ventured to the Sahara, too, where he unearthed eight 106 00:09:25,050 --> 00:09:28,930 Speaker 1: thousand year old spear points amid the remnants of hand 107 00:09:29,010 --> 00:09:35,650 Speaker 1: grenades and burned out tanks. Back in the United States, 108 00:09:35,930 --> 00:09:42,810 Speaker 1: Forest's hunger for beautiful, storied objects became, in his own words, insatiable. 109 00:09:44,130 --> 00:09:47,970 Speaker 1: Teaching on an Air Force base in Arizona, he learned 110 00:09:47,970 --> 00:09:50,770 Speaker 1: how to read the patterns of cacti in the desert 111 00:09:50,970 --> 00:09:56,370 Speaker 1: for possible ruins underneath. He traversed canyons in search of 112 00:09:56,450 --> 00:10:01,250 Speaker 1: hidden caves where Native American jewelry and art might be stockpiled, 113 00:10:02,410 --> 00:10:06,970 Speaker 1: and he traded his artifacts, converting a bracelet into six rings, 114 00:10:07,330 --> 00:10:10,170 Speaker 1: and those rings into a necklace and an bracelet, and 115 00:10:10,410 --> 00:10:22,610 Speaker 1: so on. It was on December twentieth, near the end 116 00:10:22,610 --> 00:10:26,330 Speaker 1: of his tour, that Forest was shot down and spent 117 00:10:26,370 --> 00:10:30,170 Speaker 1: the night in the jungle. As he listened to the 118 00:10:30,290 --> 00:10:34,370 Speaker 1: rhythmic croak of the tree frogs and waited to be rescued, 119 00:10:34,930 --> 00:10:38,130 Speaker 1: he began to reflect on his time in Vietnam and 120 00:10:38,290 --> 00:10:43,210 Speaker 1: on what had been doing there. At dawn, his forward 121 00:10:43,330 --> 00:10:47,130 Speaker 1: air controller found him, and a jolly green Giant helicopter 122 00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:50,450 Speaker 1: lifted him up and away to a US Air Force 123 00:10:50,490 --> 00:10:53,330 Speaker 1: base in Thailand, where he had a cup of coffee 124 00:10:53,570 --> 00:10:57,650 Speaker 1: and some scrambled eggs. He also called Peggy and told 125 00:10:57,650 --> 00:10:59,770 Speaker 1: her not to worry about the telegram she had just 126 00:10:59,890 --> 00:11:04,970 Speaker 1: received declaring him missing. Later, it wasn't the threat of 127 00:11:05,130 --> 00:11:08,410 Speaker 1: capture that stayed with Forest, but the peace of the 128 00:11:08,490 --> 00:11:12,330 Speaker 1: jungle and the imperative to hold his nerve in the 129 00:11:12,330 --> 00:11:18,250 Speaker 1: face of the unknown. Forrest was awarded both a purple 130 00:11:18,330 --> 00:11:22,330 Speaker 1: heart and a silver Star for his bravery. But something 131 00:11:22,410 --> 00:11:26,770 Speaker 1: shifted in him after Vietnam, or perhaps something that had 132 00:11:26,890 --> 00:11:32,050 Speaker 1: always been inside him pushed to the surface. He started 133 00:11:32,050 --> 00:11:36,370 Speaker 1: having nightmares about how many people he had killed in Vietnam. 134 00:11:36,570 --> 00:11:39,810 Speaker 1: When the Air Force offered him a promotion, he knew 135 00:11:39,810 --> 00:11:43,370 Speaker 1: it was time to leave. I wanted the world to 136 00:11:43,530 --> 00:11:47,970 Speaker 1: stop and let me out, he reflected. Driving away from 137 00:11:48,010 --> 00:11:51,050 Speaker 1: base for the last time, he said, he pulled up 138 00:11:51,050 --> 00:11:55,170 Speaker 1: beside a field, climbed over the fence, and threw his 139 00:11:55,250 --> 00:11:58,410 Speaker 1: wristwatch as far as he could into the open brush. 140 00:11:59,810 --> 00:12:02,450 Speaker 1: It was a rejection of the regimented world he had 141 00:12:02,490 --> 00:12:06,450 Speaker 1: inhabited for the last twenty years, and he never wore 142 00:12:06,490 --> 00:12:14,410 Speaker 1: a watch again. Forrest decided he wanted to go somewhere 143 00:12:14,450 --> 00:12:18,530 Speaker 1: he could wear hush puppies and blue jeans and still 144 00:12:18,570 --> 00:12:22,610 Speaker 1: make a living. It was nineteen seventy two and he'd 145 00:12:22,650 --> 00:12:27,810 Speaker 1: heard about a bohemian city with a burgeoning art scene. 146 00:12:28,850 --> 00:12:32,490 Speaker 1: So he and Peggy packed their daughters into the car 147 00:12:32,970 --> 00:12:39,330 Speaker 1: and headed west as Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although he 148 00:12:39,370 --> 00:12:42,090 Speaker 1: had never bought a piece of art before and had 149 00:12:42,130 --> 00:12:45,690 Speaker 1: no education in the art world, he decided to start 150 00:12:45,730 --> 00:12:53,810 Speaker 1: a gallery. Before long, Forest Fenn was a millionaire. Cautionary 151 00:12:53,810 --> 00:13:08,130 Speaker 1: tales will return in Santa Fe. Forest used his retirement 152 00:13:08,210 --> 00:13:11,490 Speaker 1: pay to buy an all Adobe house, and the family 153 00:13:11,690 --> 00:13:14,530 Speaker 1: slept on the floor while he renovated and added to 154 00:13:14,570 --> 00:13:20,010 Speaker 1: the building. This was to be his gallery, as Forrest 155 00:13:20,130 --> 00:13:22,770 Speaker 1: saw it. The fact that he hadn't been educated at 156 00:13:22,770 --> 00:13:25,850 Speaker 1: a prestigious liberal arts college or worked for a big 157 00:13:25,890 --> 00:13:30,250 Speaker 1: auction house set him apart and gave him an edge. 158 00:13:30,370 --> 00:13:35,130 Speaker 1: The art world considered cash to be crude, dirty, but 159 00:13:35,370 --> 00:13:39,850 Speaker 1: making money, and lots of it, was Forest's chief objective. 160 00:13:41,010 --> 00:13:44,210 Speaker 1: Art is a business to me, not a religion, he declared. 161 00:13:46,050 --> 00:13:50,170 Speaker 1: Whether art was just business for Forest is debatable. He 162 00:13:50,450 --> 00:13:55,170 Speaker 1: craved rare and fascinating objects, but he certainly kept a 163 00:13:55,250 --> 00:13:58,490 Speaker 1: close eye on his profit margins, and he reveled in 164 00:13:58,570 --> 00:14:03,530 Speaker 1: doing things his own way. He displayed please touch signs 165 00:14:03,690 --> 00:14:07,650 Speaker 1: in the gallery, and when students visited on field trips, 166 00:14:07,730 --> 00:14:10,690 Speaker 1: he let them feel the old paint on a portrait 167 00:14:10,770 --> 00:14:15,170 Speaker 1: of George Washington, valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 168 00:14:15,850 --> 00:14:19,810 Speaker 1: He owned everything in the gallery, nothing was there on commission. 169 00:14:20,770 --> 00:14:24,210 Speaker 1: In this way, I have complete control of the work, 170 00:14:24,650 --> 00:14:29,610 Speaker 1: he told the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. Of course, 171 00:14:29,730 --> 00:14:34,090 Speaker 1: Forest encountered critics, people who were cynical about his dearth 172 00:14:34,130 --> 00:14:39,570 Speaker 1: of traditional credentials. He met them with unassailable confidence. It 173 00:14:39,610 --> 00:14:42,810 Speaker 1: doesn't matter who you are. It only matters who they 174 00:14:42,890 --> 00:14:46,970 Speaker 1: think you are. It's true in Hollywood, in politics, and 175 00:14:47,010 --> 00:14:51,570 Speaker 1: it's true with a painting. Forest spun yarns about his 176 00:14:51,730 --> 00:14:56,530 Speaker 1: outrageous treasure hunting exploits in Europe, Africa, and the American West, 177 00:14:57,090 --> 00:14:59,690 Speaker 1: and he kept a pair of pet alligators in the 178 00:14:59,730 --> 00:15:04,490 Speaker 1: pond next to the gallery. He named them Beowulf and Elvis, 179 00:15:05,050 --> 00:15:09,050 Speaker 1: and locals chuckled that the gators bore a striking resemblance 180 00:15:09,210 --> 00:15:15,130 Speaker 1: to their owner. In short, Forest styled himself as an eccentric, 181 00:15:15,930 --> 00:15:18,490 Speaker 1: but he also made sure to tell the press about 182 00:15:18,490 --> 00:15:21,410 Speaker 1: his time in the Air Force and the three hundred 183 00:15:21,410 --> 00:15:26,170 Speaker 1: plus missions he had flown in Vietnam. People admire veterans, 184 00:15:26,770 --> 00:15:33,330 Speaker 1: and they appreciate their sense of honor. His gallery inventory 185 00:15:33,410 --> 00:15:36,330 Speaker 1: included some of the artifacts he had gathered over the years, 186 00:15:36,810 --> 00:15:42,770 Speaker 1: but he acquired paintings and bronzes too. Here Forest thought big. 187 00:15:43,450 --> 00:15:46,490 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy five, he hustled his way into the 188 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:49,970 Speaker 1: Soviet Union and negotiated with the Ministry of Culture to 189 00:15:50,010 --> 00:15:54,210 Speaker 1: collect paintings for a celebrated show of Soviet and American art. 190 00:15:55,250 --> 00:15:58,810 Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy six, just four years after his arrival 191 00:15:58,850 --> 00:16:01,690 Speaker 1: in Santa Fe, Forest Fenn had one of the most 192 00:16:01,730 --> 00:16:05,810 Speaker 1: successful galleries in the city, and he employed fifteen people. 193 00:16:07,090 --> 00:16:10,770 Speaker 1: There were guesthouses at the gallery. Celebrities were invited to 194 00:16:10,850 --> 00:16:15,290 Speaker 1: stay free of charge. Steve Martin and Cher came to visit, 195 00:16:15,610 --> 00:16:19,610 Speaker 1: and soon Robert Redford was a customer. Stephen Spielberg brought 196 00:16:19,650 --> 00:16:25,130 Speaker 1: a Charles Russell Broms from Forrest. Ethel Kennedy, widow of Bobby, 197 00:16:25,730 --> 00:16:30,290 Speaker 1: was in raptures to singer Andy Williams about Fenn galleries, 198 00:16:30,850 --> 00:16:33,730 Speaker 1: so much so that Williams also paid Forrest a visit. 199 00:16:35,050 --> 00:16:38,890 Speaker 1: Forrest didn't belong to the elite, but he recognized that 200 00:16:38,970 --> 00:16:43,050 Speaker 1: he could borrow their credibility, and he took that credibility 201 00:16:43,170 --> 00:16:47,210 Speaker 1: all the way to the bank. Soon the gallery was 202 00:16:47,250 --> 00:16:52,170 Speaker 1: grossing around six million dollars each year. Along the way, 203 00:16:52,530 --> 00:16:58,010 Speaker 1: Forrest also ruffled some feathers. In nineteen eighty one, an 204 00:16:58,090 --> 00:17:02,530 Speaker 1: advert appeared in newspapers all over the world. A collection 205 00:17:02,650 --> 00:17:07,450 Speaker 1: of paintings by Elmeer de Hory was for sale. De Hoy, 206 00:17:07,730 --> 00:17:10,690 Speaker 1: who died in nineteen sive seventy six, had been one 207 00:17:10,730 --> 00:17:15,450 Speaker 1: of the most successful art fraudsters of all time. He 208 00:17:15,530 --> 00:17:18,850 Speaker 1: had a flare for the modern masters and had forged 209 00:17:19,010 --> 00:17:25,130 Speaker 1: over a thousand pieces, including Picassos, Matisis and Moduliani's, and 210 00:17:25,290 --> 00:17:30,610 Speaker 1: inserted them into the art market. This gave Forest an idea. 211 00:17:31,370 --> 00:17:34,490 Speaker 1: A fake Picasso is only fraudulent if you sell it 212 00:17:34,530 --> 00:17:38,250 Speaker 1: as a Picasso, but if you're upfront about its provenance, 213 00:17:38,730 --> 00:17:42,250 Speaker 1: it's both a faithful copy of a beloved masterpiece and 214 00:17:42,370 --> 00:17:47,650 Speaker 1: a beautiful piece of dark history. The Unorthodox Art Dealer Club, 215 00:17:47,690 --> 00:17:52,170 Speaker 1: together with former Texas Governor John Connolly, and bought up 216 00:17:52,250 --> 00:17:59,570 Speaker 1: the cash of Dehores. Some prospective customers were outraged when 217 00:17:59,610 --> 00:18:03,250 Speaker 1: they learned the paintings were counterfeit. If you like it 218 00:18:03,370 --> 00:18:07,570 Speaker 1: less because it's a fake, who's the fraud now, Forest 219 00:18:07,690 --> 00:18:11,570 Speaker 1: parried gleefully. It was a strategy that worked, and he 220 00:18:11,730 --> 00:18:17,690 Speaker 1: sold the Dehories on for a huge sum. It wasn't 221 00:18:17,730 --> 00:18:22,850 Speaker 1: all plain sailing. Over the years, Forest was raided twice. 222 00:18:23,010 --> 00:18:26,730 Speaker 1: The Bureau of Land Management and the FBI both believed 223 00:18:26,770 --> 00:18:30,970 Speaker 1: that he had illegally looted precious items from protected lands, 224 00:18:32,050 --> 00:18:36,530 Speaker 1: but no charges were filed against Forest, and he roundly 225 00:18:36,570 --> 00:18:42,570 Speaker 1: criticized the authorities for these investigations. In a few short years, 226 00:18:43,090 --> 00:18:47,930 Speaker 1: Forest Fenn had gone from Air Force retiree to wildly 227 00:18:48,050 --> 00:18:54,890 Speaker 1: successful art and antiquities mogul. What was his secret? I've 228 00:18:54,890 --> 00:18:59,130 Speaker 1: always thought of myself as one who plays monopoly, Forest 229 00:18:59,250 --> 00:19:03,290 Speaker 1: told the Celebrity Weekly People. It was true that Forest 230 00:19:03,290 --> 00:19:06,610 Speaker 1: had rolled the dice and worked his way up from scratch, 231 00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:09,890 Speaker 1: but there was more to his success than willingness to 232 00:19:09,930 --> 00:19:14,570 Speaker 1: take a risk. Forest understood how to win the trust 233 00:19:14,650 --> 00:19:19,210 Speaker 1: of those around him, and how to spin that trust 234 00:19:19,490 --> 00:19:27,050 Speaker 1: into gold. Trust is the condition that enables all of 235 00:19:27,130 --> 00:19:31,210 Speaker 1: us to face uncertainty. As the author of Who Can 236 00:19:31,250 --> 00:19:36,810 Speaker 1: You Trust? Rachel Botsman has noted, it's a confident relationship 237 00:19:36,970 --> 00:19:41,650 Speaker 1: with the unknown that makes trust a kind of social glue. 238 00:19:42,130 --> 00:19:46,290 Speaker 1: It enables acts of exchange and cooperation, both big and small, 239 00:19:46,730 --> 00:19:52,530 Speaker 1: and it keeps economies and societies moving. All businesses draw 240 00:19:52,690 --> 00:19:57,850 Speaker 1: on trust, But Forrest had understood something key about his own. 241 00:19:58,890 --> 00:20:03,330 Speaker 1: In asking people to believe in the authenticity and value 242 00:20:03,410 --> 00:20:08,050 Speaker 1: of his wares, he was asking them to trust him. 243 00:20:08,410 --> 00:20:12,930 Speaker 1: What forest' fenn was selling first and foremost was Forest Fenn. 244 00:20:15,170 --> 00:20:19,290 Speaker 1: It is curious, though, that people did trust Forest. He 245 00:20:19,410 --> 00:20:23,490 Speaker 1: wasn't an archaeologist, he didn't hold a degree in art history. 246 00:20:24,490 --> 00:20:27,250 Speaker 1: He liked a joke, but it wasn't always obvious that 247 00:20:27,330 --> 00:20:31,530 Speaker 1: his jokes were totally benign. He'd been known to bend 248 00:20:31,650 --> 00:20:36,210 Speaker 1: the truth, was a self declared hustler, and his relationship 249 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:38,970 Speaker 1: to the law was a little hard to pin down. 250 00:20:42,330 --> 00:20:47,050 Speaker 1: And yet people invested in his artifacts and paintings. They 251 00:20:47,170 --> 00:20:53,130 Speaker 1: trusted him with transferring cultural treasures between enemy nations, and 252 00:20:53,170 --> 00:20:59,370 Speaker 1: they went into business with him. Why. Perhaps the answer 253 00:20:59,490 --> 00:21:04,010 Speaker 1: lies in the wider landscape of trust. After his tour 254 00:21:04,090 --> 00:21:08,010 Speaker 1: in Vietnam, Forest wasn't alone in his loss of faith 255 00:21:08,010 --> 00:21:11,890 Speaker 1: in the military. Trust in the United States government and 256 00:21:11,970 --> 00:21:16,330 Speaker 1: the armed forces slumped in the nineteen seventies, and since 257 00:21:16,370 --> 00:21:23,250 Speaker 1: then it's kept falling. Confidence in institutions like Congress, public schools, 258 00:21:23,250 --> 00:21:28,850 Speaker 1: and banks as tumbled too. When trust in a system declines, 259 00:21:29,410 --> 00:21:35,490 Speaker 1: people look for alternatives. Outliers become more appealing. Those who 260 00:21:35,570 --> 00:21:39,770 Speaker 1: break the rules vocally challenged the old guard of experts 261 00:21:39,770 --> 00:21:46,370 Speaker 1: and elites and criticized the authorities. May suddenly seem more dependable. 262 00:21:47,570 --> 00:21:51,970 Speaker 1: Forrest Fenn was a gifted raconteur. His was a tale 263 00:21:52,050 --> 00:21:56,530 Speaker 1: of going against the grain, of starting with nothing and 264 00:21:56,610 --> 00:22:00,610 Speaker 1: beating the odds. It was a story that people liked, 265 00:22:01,050 --> 00:22:04,410 Speaker 1: and they were prepared to buy into it quite literally. 266 00:22:08,170 --> 00:22:12,370 Speaker 1: The gallery business might have been thriving, but Forest met 267 00:22:12,410 --> 00:22:16,650 Speaker 1: with his share of grief and pain too. In the 268 00:22:16,730 --> 00:22:21,850 Speaker 1: mid nineteen eighties, his father, Marvin was diagnosed with terminal cancer. 269 00:22:22,890 --> 00:22:26,450 Speaker 1: After a grim illness, he told his son that he 270 00:22:26,570 --> 00:22:30,810 Speaker 1: planned to take his own life. Forest begged his father 271 00:22:30,930 --> 00:22:34,090 Speaker 1: to wait. He wanted to see him one last time, 272 00:22:34,690 --> 00:22:36,730 Speaker 1: said he had fled to him in his own plane 273 00:22:36,770 --> 00:22:42,330 Speaker 1: the next morning. But Marvin was adamant it was time 274 00:22:42,530 --> 00:22:46,770 Speaker 1: for him to go, and when Forest reached him, he 275 00:22:46,890 --> 00:22:52,530 Speaker 1: was too late. Forest was still grieving his father when 276 00:22:52,570 --> 00:22:56,930 Speaker 1: he received another blow. His doctors had found an aggressive 277 00:22:57,130 --> 00:23:01,970 Speaker 1: tumor nestled beneath his kidneys. Treatment had just a twenty 278 00:23:02,010 --> 00:23:06,850 Speaker 1: percent chance of success. When the news finally sank in, 279 00:23:07,690 --> 00:23:11,410 Speaker 1: Forest was angry. He was fifty eight years old and 280 00:23:11,450 --> 00:23:15,490 Speaker 1: in the midst of an exhilarating, adventure filled life. He 281 00:23:15,530 --> 00:23:18,810 Speaker 1: didn't want to go anywhere. He decided to roll the 282 00:23:18,890 --> 00:23:27,010 Speaker 1: dice and try treatment. A short time later, his friend 283 00:23:27,170 --> 00:23:32,170 Speaker 1: Ralph Lauren, the famous fashion designer, came to visit. They 284 00:23:32,210 --> 00:23:36,570 Speaker 1: sat together in Forrest's study, a room filled top to 285 00:23:36,650 --> 00:23:42,490 Speaker 1: bottom with wondrous curiosities. Ralph eyed a Native American bonnet 286 00:23:42,610 --> 00:23:47,490 Speaker 1: with carved antelope horns and offered to buy it. Forest 287 00:23:47,490 --> 00:23:52,450 Speaker 1: told him it wasn't for sale. Why not. The fashion 288 00:23:52,490 --> 00:23:56,530 Speaker 1: designer was baffled. He can't take it with you, But 289 00:23:56,650 --> 00:23:59,330 Speaker 1: Forest knew that he couldn't take money with him either. 290 00:24:01,810 --> 00:24:05,770 Speaker 1: Later on, when he was alone, he looked round at 291 00:24:05,810 --> 00:24:11,290 Speaker 1: his glittering trove, a gold wagon bracelet with ruby eyes, 292 00:24:12,450 --> 00:24:17,890 Speaker 1: jade figurines, two gold frogs. He thought about his father, 293 00:24:19,010 --> 00:24:23,650 Speaker 1: and he hatched a plan to take control of his ending. 294 00:24:25,650 --> 00:24:30,050 Speaker 1: Forrest decided he would fill a chest with treasure, an 295 00:24:30,050 --> 00:24:34,970 Speaker 1: intricate Romanesque lock box dating from the twelfth century, and 296 00:24:35,330 --> 00:24:39,890 Speaker 1: bring it with him to a secret location. Here he 297 00:24:39,890 --> 00:24:43,730 Speaker 1: would follow in his father's footsteps and take his own 298 00:24:43,770 --> 00:24:49,010 Speaker 1: life out in the wilderness. These riches wouldn't be trackable 299 00:24:49,170 --> 00:24:53,610 Speaker 1: or traceable by any bank, and he could invite ordinary 300 00:24:53,650 --> 00:24:57,090 Speaker 1: people to come and find the chest and claim its contents. 301 00:24:57,850 --> 00:25:02,330 Speaker 1: His legacy would be the greatest treasure hunt America had 302 00:25:02,410 --> 00:25:09,930 Speaker 1: ever known. The plan was perfect nearly There was one 303 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:14,450 Speaker 1: thing that Forest Fen didn't count on. We'll find out 304 00:25:14,450 --> 00:25:26,610 Speaker 1: what that was after this short break. Two decades passed. 305 00:25:27,650 --> 00:25:31,330 Speaker 1: In two thousand and eight, the investment bank Layman Brothers 306 00:25:31,930 --> 00:25:37,450 Speaker 1: crumbled into bankruptcy. Its collapse triggered a seismic wave that 307 00:25:37,690 --> 00:25:42,890 Speaker 1: smashed through global markets. Trading floors went dark. Bank has 308 00:25:43,050 --> 00:25:48,930 Speaker 1: packed their belongings into boxes against the odds, Seventy eight 309 00:25:49,010 --> 00:25:53,490 Speaker 1: year old Forest Fenn was still alive and watching on 310 00:25:53,770 --> 00:25:58,610 Speaker 1: with interest. He'd lived through another economic crisis as a child, 311 00:25:58,930 --> 00:26:02,530 Speaker 1: the Great Depression, and he knew the pain and suffering 312 00:26:02,650 --> 00:26:06,450 Speaker 1: that mismanagement by the banks could bring to ordinary people. 313 00:26:07,970 --> 00:26:12,330 Speaker 1: Forest's dream of leaving an epic treasure hunt as his legacy, 314 00:26:12,930 --> 00:26:17,810 Speaker 1: had been derailed by something quite unexpected. He had recovered 315 00:26:17,850 --> 00:26:21,610 Speaker 1: from his cancer, it sold his gallery, and was now 316 00:26:21,730 --> 00:26:27,370 Speaker 1: enjoying semi retirement, But he hadn't forgotten his treasure hunt idea. 317 00:26:28,490 --> 00:26:32,330 Speaker 1: Over the years, he had added to his trove, waiting 318 00:26:32,530 --> 00:26:36,370 Speaker 1: for the perfect opportunity to plant it out in the wild. 319 00:26:37,210 --> 00:26:40,690 Speaker 1: It now held at least a million dollars worth of 320 00:26:40,810 --> 00:26:47,130 Speaker 1: precious items maybe two million, a Mayan bracelet, salon sapphires, 321 00:26:47,770 --> 00:26:52,890 Speaker 1: Alaskan gold nuggets, the size of chicken eggs, a copy 322 00:26:52,930 --> 00:26:57,570 Speaker 1: of his unpublished memoir crammed into an olive jar. Now, 323 00:26:57,730 --> 00:27:01,650 Speaker 1: as the after shocks of the crash rippled out across 324 00:27:01,690 --> 00:27:07,770 Speaker 1: America and beyond, Forrest realized that his moment had finally arrived. 325 00:27:09,370 --> 00:27:14,810 Speaker 1: Millions of jobs had vanished, unemployment had surged, wages were stagnating, 326 00:27:15,090 --> 00:27:18,730 Speaker 1: and families had lost homes and life savings. But the 327 00:27:18,890 --> 00:27:24,050 Speaker 1: treasure chest could promise financial security to the lucky finder. 328 00:27:25,250 --> 00:27:29,770 Speaker 1: Forrest decided to launch his treasure hunt. It would be, 329 00:27:29,930 --> 00:27:34,370 Speaker 1: in his words, for every redneck in Texas who lost 330 00:27:34,370 --> 00:27:37,690 Speaker 1: his job with a pickup truck and twelve kids and 331 00:27:37,730 --> 00:27:45,370 Speaker 1: a wife to support. There was nostalgia in his offering too. 332 00:27:45,410 --> 00:27:49,650 Speaker 1: Perhaps he remembered those happy missions for trinkets with his father, 333 00:27:50,250 --> 00:27:52,490 Speaker 1: because he said that he hoped the hunt would be 334 00:27:52,530 --> 00:27:56,930 Speaker 1: a morale booster in dark and difficult times, getting families 335 00:27:56,970 --> 00:28:03,410 Speaker 1: outdoors to solve a puzzle together. One afternoon in twenty ten, 336 00:28:04,050 --> 00:28:08,970 Speaker 1: around his eightieth birthday, Forest Fenn slipped away in his car. 337 00:28:09,770 --> 00:28:12,170 Speaker 1: He didn't tell his wife or daughters where he was 338 00:28:12,250 --> 00:28:16,450 Speaker 1: going or what he was doing. The treasure now weighed 339 00:28:16,490 --> 00:28:21,210 Speaker 1: about forty two pounds or nineteen kilograms, So when he 340 00:28:21,330 --> 00:28:26,330 Speaker 1: reached his destination, a secret spot amid towering pine trees, 341 00:28:26,890 --> 00:28:30,490 Speaker 1: he had to make two trips from his sedan, first 342 00:28:30,490 --> 00:28:34,650 Speaker 1: with the box and then with the loot. When he 343 00:28:34,730 --> 00:28:39,090 Speaker 1: was satisfied that the little chest was secure, he drove away. 344 00:28:41,890 --> 00:28:46,330 Speaker 1: Forest delivered a thousand copies of his self published memoir, 345 00:28:46,730 --> 00:28:50,290 Speaker 1: The Thrill of the Chase, to a small bookstore in 346 00:28:50,410 --> 00:28:55,490 Speaker 1: Santa Fe called Collected Works. Any profits from the sale 347 00:28:55,570 --> 00:28:58,010 Speaker 1: of the books would go to the store and to 348 00:28:58,050 --> 00:29:01,850 Speaker 1: a cancer charity. Forrest wanted people to be able to 349 00:29:01,930 --> 00:29:07,330 Speaker 1: trust that this project wasn't about personal gain. Anyone who 350 00:29:07,370 --> 00:29:09,610 Speaker 1: bought the book would learn of his day in the 351 00:29:09,650 --> 00:29:12,850 Speaker 1: Air Force and his adventures in the art world, of 352 00:29:12,930 --> 00:29:15,770 Speaker 1: his love for his wife, Peggy, and their two daughters. 353 00:29:16,770 --> 00:29:20,810 Speaker 1: They'd find something else in its pages two a six 354 00:29:21,170 --> 00:29:26,410 Speaker 1: stands a poem containing nine cryptic clues to the whereabouts 355 00:29:26,770 --> 00:29:31,490 Speaker 1: of the million dollar treasure chest. The memoir itself was 356 00:29:31,570 --> 00:29:36,290 Speaker 1: also peppered with subtle hints to help decode the poem. 357 00:29:37,450 --> 00:29:39,730 Speaker 1: It took a while for word of the treasure hunt 358 00:29:39,810 --> 00:29:44,730 Speaker 1: to spread. The story appeared in a southwestern newspaper, and 359 00:29:44,810 --> 00:29:48,890 Speaker 1: it was mentioned on some area television stations too. It 360 00:29:48,930 --> 00:29:53,930 Speaker 1: was a quirky local tale, a whimsical curiosity. An eccentric, 361 00:29:54,130 --> 00:29:57,930 Speaker 1: elderly art dealer had hidden an ancient box of treasure 362 00:29:58,370 --> 00:30:02,490 Speaker 1: somewhere north of Santa Fe in the thousand miles stretch 363 00:30:02,530 --> 00:30:09,250 Speaker 1: of mountains known as the Rockies. A few blogs devot 364 00:30:09,410 --> 00:30:13,730 Speaker 1: to the quest appeared online. It peaked the interest of 365 00:30:13,890 --> 00:30:18,890 Speaker 1: practiced treasure hunters, people who habitually went looking for lost 366 00:30:19,010 --> 00:30:23,410 Speaker 1: artifacts or liked solving puzzles. Some people thought the whole 367 00:30:23,450 --> 00:30:26,050 Speaker 1: thing was a hoax. How could they be sure the 368 00:30:26,090 --> 00:30:29,970 Speaker 1: box was really out there and Forest Fenn was eighty? 369 00:30:30,330 --> 00:30:33,210 Speaker 1: What if he was senile? What if the whole thing 370 00:30:33,530 --> 00:30:38,810 Speaker 1: was a fabrication. Others poured over the memoir and the poem, 371 00:30:39,290 --> 00:30:45,410 Speaker 1: trading their solutions, which they called solves. Begin it where 372 00:30:45,610 --> 00:30:49,210 Speaker 1: warm waters halt, and take it in the canyon down, 373 00:30:49,890 --> 00:30:54,690 Speaker 1: not far but too far to walk. Put in below 374 00:30:54,850 --> 00:31:01,290 Speaker 1: the home of Brown, where warm water's halt was that 375 00:31:01,410 --> 00:31:06,370 Speaker 1: near a hot spring of some kind, which canyon and 376 00:31:06,810 --> 00:31:10,730 Speaker 1: Brown was capitalized. Was that a person? Perhaps it was 377 00:31:10,770 --> 00:31:16,050 Speaker 1: a brown Bear. Forrest had included his email address in 378 00:31:16,090 --> 00:31:18,730 Speaker 1: the book so that searchers could get in touch with 379 00:31:18,810 --> 00:31:22,010 Speaker 1: him and tell him about their adventures. He would reply 380 00:31:22,210 --> 00:31:26,850 Speaker 1: to their questions about the clues with mysterious half answers, 381 00:31:27,530 --> 00:31:35,250 Speaker 1: evasive but also gently pulling strings from afar. In twenty thirteen, 382 00:31:35,970 --> 00:31:41,130 Speaker 1: the Today Show on NBC covered the story, and overnight 383 00:31:41,610 --> 00:31:46,210 Speaker 1: the hunt exploded. There was a run on copies of 384 00:31:46,370 --> 00:31:50,050 Speaker 1: the Thrill of the Chase, and the Collected Works bookstore 385 00:31:50,090 --> 00:31:55,490 Speaker 1: printed more to meet demand. International media outlets followed up 386 00:31:55,490 --> 00:31:58,650 Speaker 1: with their own coverage of the story, and before long 387 00:31:58,730 --> 00:32:04,890 Speaker 1: there were countless documentaries too. The consummate salesman, Forrest flashed 388 00:32:04,930 --> 00:32:10,010 Speaker 1: his alligator smile and spun his gripping yarns, though he 389 00:32:10,130 --> 00:32:15,370 Speaker 1: also admitted a tendency to embellish the truth just a little. 390 00:32:18,610 --> 00:32:23,410 Speaker 1: The quest escaped the fringe world of routine treasure hunters 391 00:32:23,450 --> 00:32:27,490 Speaker 1: and people connected to Fenn and drew in others with 392 00:32:27,690 --> 00:32:32,370 Speaker 1: no previous experience of treasure hunting at all, people like 393 00:32:32,770 --> 00:32:37,890 Speaker 1: Randy Billu, a fifty three year old grandfather who moved 394 00:32:37,930 --> 00:32:41,650 Speaker 1: to Colorado to be closer to the Rockies in hope 395 00:32:41,650 --> 00:32:47,250 Speaker 1: of finding the gold visitors flooded into Santa Fe, and 396 00:32:47,290 --> 00:32:50,290 Speaker 1: the mayor announced a thrill of the chase down to 397 00:32:50,450 --> 00:32:55,010 Speaker 1: thank forest for the boost in tourism. The national parks 398 00:32:55,050 --> 00:33:02,090 Speaker 1: were also inundated. Bold treasure hunters marched through protected wildlife zones, 399 00:33:02,370 --> 00:33:05,730 Speaker 1: digging up the land in search of the home of Brown. 400 00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:11,770 Speaker 1: The park authorities scrambled to keep up, issuing cautions and 401 00:33:11,970 --> 00:33:18,850 Speaker 1: special new rules. There were tales too, of people remortgaging 402 00:33:18,930 --> 00:33:24,450 Speaker 1: their homes to fund their searches and burning through their savings. 403 00:33:25,130 --> 00:33:29,170 Speaker 1: Some of them broke into Forest Fend's property, convinced that 404 00:33:29,210 --> 00:33:33,090 Speaker 1: the poem instructed them to do so. And then in 405 00:33:33,170 --> 00:33:38,890 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, a call came in a treasure hunter had 406 00:33:38,930 --> 00:33:46,050 Speaker 1: gone missing in deepest January. Grandfather Randy Billeu and his 407 00:33:46,130 --> 00:33:50,850 Speaker 1: little dog, Leo had ventured alone into the snow capped wilderness, 408 00:33:51,530 --> 00:33:56,810 Speaker 1: carrying a GPS device, a wetsuit, waders, and an eighty 409 00:33:56,890 --> 00:34:01,530 Speaker 1: nine dollar raft. Randy had planned to float along the 410 00:34:01,610 --> 00:34:05,010 Speaker 1: Rio Grande River to the place where he believed the 411 00:34:05,090 --> 00:34:08,970 Speaker 1: gold and jewels were stashed. When he hadn't been h 412 00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:12,810 Speaker 1: heard from for over a week, his ex wife filed 413 00:34:12,850 --> 00:34:19,490 Speaker 1: a missing person's report on January fifteenth, the police found 414 00:34:19,530 --> 00:34:24,410 Speaker 1: his parked car and his raft. They also found Leo 415 00:34:24,570 --> 00:34:29,970 Speaker 1: the dog alive, but there was no sign of Randy Billeu. 416 00:34:31,410 --> 00:34:36,170 Speaker 1: The treasure hunting community sprang into action, arriving from Colorado 417 00:34:36,290 --> 00:34:39,730 Speaker 1: and all over New Mexico and splitting into teams to 418 00:34:39,810 --> 00:34:45,250 Speaker 1: find the missing man. Forrest joined in too, renting a 419 00:34:45,290 --> 00:34:50,130 Speaker 1: helicopter and scanning the area from the skies, but he 420 00:34:50,250 --> 00:34:55,490 Speaker 1: denied any responsibility for the disappearance. Randy bill Yeu was 421 00:34:55,530 --> 00:34:59,450 Speaker 1: an adult who made his own decisions. People went missing 422 00:34:59,450 --> 00:35:03,010 Speaker 1: in the wilderness every year, with or without the prospect 423 00:35:03,090 --> 00:35:13,490 Speaker 1: of finding treasure. Forest Fenn's treasure Hunt held an emotional appeal. 424 00:35:14,650 --> 00:35:18,970 Speaker 1: People were seduced by the nostalgia and romance of the quest, 425 00:35:19,730 --> 00:35:24,650 Speaker 1: and they trusted in his status as an outsider. But 426 00:35:24,930 --> 00:35:30,570 Speaker 1: trusting outsiderus can still be perilous, and romance and nostalgia 427 00:35:30,650 --> 00:35:36,330 Speaker 1: can blind us all to danger. Six months later, Randy 428 00:35:36,410 --> 00:35:41,290 Speaker 1: Billeu's skeletal remains were found by the Rio Grande River. 429 00:35:42,330 --> 00:35:46,970 Speaker 1: He may have succumbed to hypothermia or dehydration, but his 430 00:35:47,090 --> 00:35:53,210 Speaker 1: actual cause of death remained unknown. It was hoped that 431 00:35:53,250 --> 00:35:57,810 Speaker 1: the horrible incident was a one off, a mistake made 432 00:35:57,810 --> 00:36:01,090 Speaker 1: by someone foolish enough to head out in the bitter midwinter, 433 00:36:01,770 --> 00:36:08,850 Speaker 1: wholly unprepared for the conditions. It wasn't a one off. 434 00:36:09,930 --> 00:36:15,330 Speaker 1: The Treasure Hunt had metastasized from a whimsical curiosity into 435 00:36:15,410 --> 00:36:21,650 Speaker 1: something more sinister. Forrest Fenn, the master monopoly player, had 436 00:36:21,770 --> 00:36:25,250 Speaker 1: lost control of the game, and it was about to 437 00:36:25,290 --> 00:36:29,970 Speaker 1: get far grimmer and darker than he had ever imagined. 438 00:36:32,730 --> 00:36:38,130 Speaker 1: Next time on Cautionary Tales, the quest continues, a grave 439 00:36:38,290 --> 00:36:43,290 Speaker 1: is exhumed, a stalker haunts the Fenn family, and death 440 00:36:43,650 --> 00:36:56,170 Speaker 1: comes again to the Treasure Hunt. For a full list 441 00:36:56,210 --> 00:37:05,050 Speaker 1: of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford dot com. 442 00:37:05,330 --> 00:37:08,850 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, 443 00:37:09,130 --> 00:37:13,090 Speaker 1: Alice Fines, and Ryan Billy. It's produced by Georgia Mills 444 00:37:13,170 --> 00:37:16,970 Speaker 1: and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are 445 00:37:17,010 --> 00:37:20,570 Speaker 1: the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound design is by 446 00:37:20,610 --> 00:37:25,370 Speaker 1: Carlos san Juan at Brain Audio. Bend A Dafhaffrey edited 447 00:37:25,410 --> 00:37:29,410 Speaker 1: the scripts. The show also wouldn't have been possible without 448 00:37:29,450 --> 00:37:33,850 Speaker 1: the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, 449 00:37:34,010 --> 00:37:38,890 Speaker 1: Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, and Owen Miller. You can support 450 00:37:38,930 --> 00:37:43,330 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales by joining My Cautionary Club at Patreon dot 451 00:37:43,370 --> 00:37:49,010 Speaker 1: com slash Cautionary Club for exclusive bonus episodes, newsletters, ad 452 00:37:49,050 --> 00:37:53,210 Speaker 1: free listening, and other exciting perks. Alternatively, you can join 453 00:37:53,290 --> 00:37:56,970 Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on our Apple show page for continued benefits 454 00:37:57,010 --> 00:38:08,530 Speaker 1: from our show and others across the Pushkin network.