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Hello, I am Joshua P. Warren, and this is Joshua P. Warren Daily. I recently read an article about a guy who got kicked out of a state park because he was digging a big old hole searching for the treasure of Forest Finn. And it's funny because from time to time you see these little stories that pop up in the news about treasure hunters who are obsessed with finding Forrest Finn's treasure. And it is a really interesting story because if you've never heard of this, you might think Forrest Finn was some miner or something like that who lived a hundred or two hundred years ago who supposedly hid a treasure. But no, no, Forrest Finn is still alive. He's almost ninety years old. His last name is spelled F-E-N-N. And this is an eccentric, wealthy man who claims that he hid a small bronze chest somewhere in the Rockies containing well over a million dollars worth of treasure. And here is the basics of what I can tell you about Forrest Finn. He was a pilot for the United States Air Force, awarded the Silver Star for his service in Vietnam, where he flew 328 missions. And then after retiring from the Air Force, he opened up this gallery, an antique gallery, that became extremely successful. He had huge celebrity clients like Steven Spielberg, so they say. And he made uh so much money that he started, you know, sort of reconsidering his life when in 1988 he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And at that time he came up with the idea of taking some of his treasure, a lot of gold coins and gold nuggets and God knows what, and just putting them into a bronze box and hiding them somewhere and telling people, here is something uh fun for you to do, go out and try to find this treasure. And I think it says a lot about his um well, he said people were going through a tough time and uh financially, and he wanted to give people some hope of go out and do something fun and maybe you'll get a big reward. Well, it turns out that uh he didn't die from this terminal cancer, and yet it still took him quite a while to realize his vision of hiding a treasure somewhere. So from what we understand, around the year 2010, when he was around eighty years old, he personally took this box of treasure, which uh it it is said weighs around fifty pounds, out into the Rockies and and hid them somewhere, and then he wrote a book about this, and he gave clues as to where to find the treasure. And I watched a fairly recent interview with him, in which he talked about you know why he did this, and he's still sharp as a tack, by the way, even though he's around 90 years old. And he said that he decided to do this uh because he wanted people to go out and and experience this adventure, and he said that there are about 300, 350,000 people in his estimate who have gone out looking for it, and at least four people have died looking for his treasure. So there's a lot of controversy over you know whether or not what he did was ethical. And in and I I won't get into all the little specific details because you can get on the internet and research this for yourself. But you know, the idea is that um he is telling people there's a treasure out there in these places that have rushing waterfalls, that have bears, that have snakes, and so when people are dying going out to look for this, um you know the question becomes whether or not that it's it's ethical for him to have have claimed to have done such a thing. He says that it doesn't bother him, that he doesn't well, he said it bothers him a little bit, but he said that he doesn't feel responsible for the fact that there are people who have died looking for this treasure. And some people have outright said this is a hoax and there is no treasure. But everybody who knows him says, no, honestly, uh this is not the kind of guy who would pull a hoax. He he, you know, he's he's taken pictures of it, and um he wrote this poem that gives clues as to where his treasure is located. And so everybody takes this poem, which has uh I think it's like nine clues supposedly in it, something like that, and uh they're they're trying to break this down and figure out you know where he hid this thing. And uh he growing up used to love to go out in the area we now call the Rockies. Um well, I guess we've well we've always called them the Rockies, but he he you know he used to go out in the area and and uh fly fish with his father. So that's um something that people have latched onto. Is there a clue in the fact that this guy was a fly fisherman? And you know, can we associate that with a place where the treasure may be hidden? But anyway, here's the poem that he wrote that has all the clues that he is going to give about where this is. And uh he actually has said that the amount of wealth in this box uh goes somewhere between one and five million dollars is what it's been estimated. So here are the clues. Uh here is the poem that Forrest Finn published. As I have gone alone in there and with my treasure bold, I can keep my treasure where a hint of riches new and old Begin it where warm waters halt and take it in the canyon down not far, but too far to walk put it in below the home of Brown. From there it's no place for the meek, the end is ever drawing nigh. There'll be no paddle up your creek, just heavy loads and water high. If you've been wise and found the blaze, look quickly down, your quest will cease, but Terry Scant with marvel gaze, just take the chest and go in peace. So why is it that I must go and leave my trove for all to seek? The answer's I already know, I've done it, tired, and now I'm weak. So hear me all and listen good, your effort will be worth the cold if you are brave and in the wood I give you title to the gold. Now he has claimed that it's not in a place that will especially danger people, and he also says it's in a place um that has the the uh I would I would assume like the rights and law so that if you find it it's yours. So in other words, you might think, hmm, well if he had hid it in a national park or something like that, there could be a contest about who gets it if somebody finds it. He's saying no no no, it's not set up like that. If if you find it, you will get it. So I'm not here to join this particular crowd of folks out there who are treasure hunters and try to tell you that I have unraveled the mystery of the treasure of Forrest Finn. But I will tell you uh a few things about this situation that come to my mind. For one thing, you have to consider that assuming this is true, that this man has done this, and most people apparently believe it's true, well, i he was like eighty years old when he put this thing in a backpack and trudged out into the wilderness. So you have to look at the limitations, the restrictions of what a guy uh who's eighty years old could do. Um and he says, you know, it's in a certain it's either in this state, this state, this state, this state, you know, going through the Rockies. But he also says, you know, the effort will be worth the cold. That's what he says at the end. Which it's like, hmm, how does he know it's gonna be cold? So it makes you think maybe there's cold water around. But here to me is sort of the most interesting aspect of what he wrote here. When he was asked in a night an ABC nightline interview about the clues, the only thing that he would say is simplify. So he starts with begin it where warm waters halt. So most people think that means somewhere close to Yellowstone National Park, because Yellowstone has all these hot springs and all this warm water flowing down, and so they assume that, well, that's what he's talking about when he says warm waters, and you have to start somewhere around Yellowstone, because if you don't know the starting place, well, you're screwed. But if you know the starting place, it should be pretty easy to figure it out where this treasure is hidden. But when he was asked, you know, for clues, and he said simplify, it makes me think, well, okay, for one thing, we really don't necessarily know if somebody has already found this. Because if you found it, would you go out and you know do a soft shoe and tell the whole world, I found this? Probably not. I mean, you might not be able to help yourself so that word would get out. But he says, Where warm waters halt, and then he says, simplify. Now, if that beginning point is the crucial point to begin the quest that will therefore allow you to figure out all the other clues, and he says, simplify, could it be that warm waters has been the problem for everybody because people are looking at warm waters and reading into that that it's Yellowstone when he says, no, no, simplify. I think maybe this is just my thought, and gosh, I hope nobody, you know, takes this to heart and goes out and dies. But maybe there actually is a place called Warm Waters. You know, like that's the key that's the key. It's like people go, Oh, warm waters must be yours. But what if there actually is some spot called warm waters, at least by the locals? And once you go to a place that's just called warm waters and one of these states that he's put on his map of possibilities, then it will c it will become, you know, much more obvious to you. Um I don't know. I I I'm not going to pursue this treasure and I'm not encouraging you to pursue it either. But that was the first thing that occurred to me when he talked about you know simplification. So I guess the bigger question here is is this ethical? You know, is it ethical for you to tell the world I have put a million dollars out there somewhere in this very dangerous territory? And good luck finding it. Because the authorities have contacted him on a number of occasions and said, please call this off. You know, when we have at least four people who have died searching for this, uh like what are you, you know, what what are you trying to accomplish here that's worth that? Um it's a good question, isn't it? Because on one hand, you have uh the the positive benefit that you're inspiring people to get out there and look for a treasure that it that, according to him, is there? It's a beautiful box of treasure if you go online and you look up Forest Finn, and you look up Forest Finn's treasure, it's a beautiful treasure trove that he has there. But does that outweigh the possibility that people are gonna go out? And yes, maybe most of them will have a fabulous time, but some of them are going to die searching for this thing. Um it's a very good question. It's a very good question. So this is just, you know, something that I've been looking at for the past uh few days because of this new news story that came out about this guy. I think he was in New Mexico who was digging a hole there, and they've kicked it kicked him out of there. Uh and it makes you also wonder about the responsibility that you have with your words. Because let's just say, let's just say, possibly, this guy is bullshitting everybody. And he loved to go out in the woods and he loved to experience wilderness, and so he thought I what I will do is I will give people a reason to get them to go out and connect with nature. And so he made up this story. Now I certainly am not saying that that is the case, but what if, what if that is the case? Um is that a responsible thing to do? Well, it's a very good question, isn't it? And I don't know the answer to that. But what I will tell you is that if you're the type of person who wants to go out and travel from state to state thinking that you might find a treasure trove. Well, in the mind of the great and terrible Joshua P. Warren, when he says simplify, I think that warm waters probably don't mean the area around Yellowstone, because the people have started at Yellowstone and gotten nowhere. There probably is literally a place called warm waters or something very similar, maybe not exactly those those words, but something similar to those words that would be uh a starting point in this vast amount of land. So the whole thing is quite symbolic though, isn't it? Uh it it makes you think about a lot of different issues about what drives humans and the relationship between humans and nature and the ethics of what you can achieve with words. I mean, what if I told you right now that I had buried a million dollars somewhere and I gave you a poem like this? Well the same thing would happen. Now I I'm telling you right now I haven't done that, but what if I did do that? I could say, Oh here here you go, folks. I am about to sign off, and so here is my last hurrah, my my legacy, I'm telling you where to find this, then thousands of people would go looking for it as well. Um so is that a good thing to do even if it's true? I don't know. I'd have to think about that some more. I guess uh I guess it could be good, but it could also be very, very bad, especially if it is bullshit. So anyway, that's just a thought for today. I have a lot of interesting things going on, and uh so I'm gonna get back to what is real for sure. What you will be able to enjoy, what you will be able to acquire, that I believe can bring you wealth and abundance, and that's something that I'm going to be announcing to you if all goes according to plan in the next couple of days. So I hope that you'll stay tuned. This podcast is called Joshua P. Warren Daily. You'll find a link to it at joshua p.com. You can subscribe there through various means or just follow me on Twitter at Joshua P. Warren at Joshua P. Warren. And I usually tweet when a new one is available. So thank you for listening. Thank you for your interest and support. Thank you for staying curious, and I will talk to you again soon.