Now to the United States, where a real life treasure hunt is under way, after an eccentric millionaire claimed to have buried a chest filled with gold somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. He has invited anyone who finds the treasure to keep it for themselves but first they must decipher a cryptic poem that supposedly reveals the location. As many as 6,000 people are now reported to be searching for the loot but is the very treasure real or just a hoax. Dateline's Nick Lazaredes joined the quest to find out.
REPORTER: Nick Lazaredes
Spring is late in coming to Yellowstone National Park but the bison are out and the hunt is already under way.
CHARISSA KREIS: You cross that river and get on the other side and it's like being in Jurassic Park. You're so worried the whole time about the bears right behind you.
Charissa Kreis and her sisters have driven across five states to Montana's Rocky Mountains and believe they're well equipped for the dangers they may face.
CHARISSA KREIS: Bear bells, they make a lot of noise because you don't want to sneak up on the bears.
But these sisters aren't stalking bears. They're hunting for gold.
CHARISSA KREIS: There you go. There you go. No Indian marks. That's a good spot right there.
LIBBY KREIS: If he's carrying 22 pounds of gold, and had to walk back to his car and get 22 more pounds and carrying a digging shovel.
What's brought these sisters here are clues to the location of a treasure chest hidden by an eccentric multimillionaire named Forrest Fenn.
FORREST FENN: There are hundreds and hundreds of gold nuggets in that treasure chest. Two of them are as big as a chicken egg. I wanted it to be visual enough to strike somebody's fancy, for somebody to tell themselves - yeah I'm going and look for it.
Forrest Fenn's autobiography ‘The Thrill of the Chase' provides the only clues to the hidden gold. The treasure map is a riddle, spelt out in the lines of this poem.
"Begin it where warm waters halt and take it in the canyon down, not far but too far to walk. Put 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."
For almost a year, the Kreis sisters have been trying to make sense of Fenn's enigmatic verses.
CHARISSA KREIS: ‘If you've been wise and found the blaze, look quickly down, your quest to cease. But tarry scant with marvel gaze, just take the chest and go in peace.'
Forrest Fenn's poem has captured a nation's imagination, sparking a treasure hunting craze that's spread from coast to coast. For those caught in the grip of gold fever, it's a race against time to crack the code.
DAL NIETZMAN: Oh, man, what a view. You need this. Come on. Show me where it's at.
In New Mexico, 1,000 kilometres to the south of the Kreis sisters, Dal Nietzman is on his 37th expedition to find the treasure.
DAL NIETZMAN: So what I'd settle for up here is a nice petroglyph, some kind of Indian rock carving that says "the treasure is here"
For Dal, cracking Forrest Fenn's cryptic code has become an obsession.
DAL NIETZMAN: Look at this stuff. Look how broken up it is. Now if there was an igneous rock coming down - an intrusion in that stuff. Coming right down! You'd find me in that cave in a second!
After researching Fenn's poem, Dal believes the clues relate to the Aztec Indian tribe that once lived here.
DAL NIETZMAN: So Forrest is tricky. He knows a lot about Indian methods. I think if you find the place, if you find the blaze you're going to spend a lot of time finding his hiding place.
While Dal's interpretation has led him here to the Southern Rockies, for the Kreis sisters, all the clues point to the north. The sisters believe the poem relates to Forrest Fenn's childhood, leading them here to Yellowstone.
MARTY KREIS: When we found out about Forrest Fenn and read about him it was like our dad. So we clicked. And when we read the book and put the pieces together and saw this it was like - this is it. It has to be it. This has to be his favourite spot.
FORREST FENN: People have been pretty close. But the people that have been the closest don't know that they were close. There's 10% of me that wants to help 'em but the 90% supersedes the 10%.
But while they are certain of their progress, sceptics say they're being duped.
RON MALDONADO, ARCHEOLOGIST: "The Templar Knights. The Holy Grail". All of these lost treasures they don't exist they've never been found.
Archaeologist, Ron Maldonado has spent decades unearthing America's history and he reckons the tale of Fenn's gold is just another myth.
RON MALDONADO: The Forrest Fenn treasure that no-one will ever find, not in my lifetime, not in the next lifetime, not in three lifetimes because it doesn't exist.
CHARISSA KREIS: Oh my god just think of them poor Mormons crossing that Donna Pass! Holy Shamoly!
Real or not, solving Fenn's puzzle is a gargantuan task. With just a few vague clues, the search area extends to the Canadian border.
CHARISSA KREIS: How can you find the trail?
But in the wilds of the Rockies, hunting for treasure is a risky business. It's late afternoon and I'm driving through the middle of Yellowstone National Park, it's snowing, really harsh conditions. It's into this environment that more and more people are coming to look for Forrest Fenn's treasure. In fact, so many treasure hunters that emergency resources are being stretched to the limit.
TIM REID, CHIEF RANGER YELLOWSTONE: We've had probably five major incidents associated with people looking for this purported treasure.
In Yellowstone National Park this chief ranger Tim Reid, is now dealing with the fallout from Forrest Fenn's treasure hunt.
REPORTER: I understand you have just had an incident today in relation to the treasure hunt?
TIM REID: We had an incident where we arrested two people who had approximately a week ago caused a search and rescue event when they were swept away down a river while looking for the treasure. And they came back and committed another violation, criminal act. And we arrested them and took them to jail.
It's now four years since the hunt began and growing devotion is pushing searchers to extremes. For those on the trail, bad news travels fast, with word there's a treasure hunter now lost in the wilderness.
DAL NIETZMAN: This was the first year I've known of any of this to happen. So in the past we've never had anything like this to discuss. And now one party is missing.
Since the hunt began, Dal has forged a close friendship with Forrest Fenn and from inside his Santa Fe mansion, we find him embroiled in the rescue effort for the missing searcher.
FORREST FENN: Let me know if you find out anything and I won't tell his wife yet. Thanks pal. He didn't sleep in his room last night, although some of his things were still in the room.
It's clear this latest twist is weighing heavily on Forrest's mind.
FORREST FENN: I don't feel like I'm to blame but I feel somewhat responsible for it. I'll help them any way I can. There's something I want to show you.
Despite years of planning, Forrest Fenn could never be sure how the treasure hunt would evolve but Fenn was determined to leave his mark on history.
FORREST FENN: Isn't this a great wagon? This wagon was made in 1880.
Having spent his lifetime collecting precious objects from the past, Fenn devised his treasure hunt as a tangible way of giving back to society.
FORREST FENN: When I had that treasure chest and walked back to my car, it was totally out of my hands. And in a loud voice I said, "Forrest Fenn, did you really do that?" I started laughing.
This series of photos was commissioned by Forrest before the chest was hidden. It's the only visible evidence the treasure exists but it's far from definitive proof.
REPORTER: What about people that say the treasure doesn't exist?
FORREST FENN: What makes you think it's not out there hidden someplace? Give me the facts. Present your evidence. The only way I could prove to you I hid it is to take you out there, show it to you, then I'd have to kill you.
A tour of the maverick millionaire's Santa Fe mansion lends some credence to his story. His walls are a wonderland of ancient artefacts.
FORREST FENN: A trader brought this to me, it came out of a little ma and pop museum.
Fenn made much of his multimillion-dollar fortune trading in native American relics.
FORREST FENN: Here is the pipe with Sitting Bull holding it in his mouth. That's the same exact pipe.
In New Mexico, Fenn is regarded as a modern day Indiana Jones. He even bought the ruins of an Aztec village and dug up its ancient riches for himself.
REPORTER: Are they incredibly expensive as collectors items?
FORREST FENN: $35,000.
Forrest's workshop contains one of the most impressive private collections of native American antiquities in the world.
FORREST FENN: This is a typical size of an arrow point.
Some archaeologists regard the stockpile as private plunder.
REPORTER: Some people have called you a looter. How do you respond to those sorts of claims?
FORREST FENN: Well I don't respond. The definition between a looter and an archaeologist is that one has a permit and the other one doesn't. Archaeologists don't like anybody that has an Indian ruin on their land and excavates it unless they have a PhD in archaeologist. But the law is on my side, the law says that I can do what I wants to on my own land. The law is on my side.
But Forrest Fenn's zeal to dig up the past has appalled native Americans.
RON MALDONADO: I think he's done not only native America, but I think Americans in general an injustice by doing this, by kind of sending this message of - there's a treasure out there - go get it.
Archaeologist Ron Maldonado works for the Navajo nation, the largest native American reservation in the US. He's brought me to the Chaco canyon, a World Heritage site containing the remnants of an Aztec civiliation, thousands of years old.
RON MALDONADO: You know just look at it, it's nice it's pretty and then leave it alone and walk away from it. You know cause if you don't know how to use it you shouldn't take it.
REPORTER: Let alone dig up buried treasure.
RON MALDONADO: Exactly - dig up buried treasure.
Chaco is one of several cultural landmarks targeted by reckless treasure hunters. Trespassing on Indian lands digging for Fenn's gold.
RON MALDONADO: If you get caught doing this and you have your brand new 2014 wheel drive vehicle, guess who gets to keep it? Law enforcement or in the case of Navajo - me!
FORREST FENN: I've said in my book that the treasure is hidden in the rocky mountains north of Santa Fe - and I'm not going to tell the Indians it's not on Indian land, I'm not going to tell the forest service it's not on forest service land, I'm not going to tell some rancher out there it's not on his land - it's in the rocky mountains and I'm not going to narrow the search down.
As Fenn's legend grows, so too does a potential fallout and as this wily 83-year-old has discovered, it can sometimes get personal.
FORREST FENN: I've had about four or 5 threats. One guy says, "Tell me where the treasure is right this second or I'm going to kill you." I've called 911 three times and arrested people at my front gate.
NEWSREADER: Police say Kevin Fulham was parked at Fenn's house yesterday and refused to leave.... Fulhmam allegedly assaulted one cop and then he was arrested for aggravated assault on a police officer.
Although he anticipated a lunatic fringe, Forrest has been shocked at the extent of their deranged behaviour.
FORREST FENN: I've had people tell me they're going to go to Temple, Texas and dig in my fathers grave because my treasure chest, and I remind them that the treasure chest is north of Santa Fe - I've had ten people tell me they're going to dig in my fathers grave.
In New Mexico's back countries, I've been invited to attend a special event called ‘Fenn-Bor-ee'.
DAL NIETZMAN: It will attract a lot of searchers and many will be very obsessed with the treasure hunt.
After hours of traversing remote desert canyons, I soon discover the defining line between curiosity and obsession is as elusive as Forrest Fenn's gold.
MAN: Everybody say, "Treasure."
WOMAN: I'm convinced it's in New Mexico. My husband is right over there. He knows where it is.
REPORTER: Who is your buddy that helps you out while you're treasure hunting?
MAN: This is him right here. If we ever find the treasure, I know he's not going to stab me in the back.
DAVID: Why doesn't he go and get the chest?
In the middle of their camp, a shrine who has been devoted to the man they call the master puppeteer. Even amongst his most devoted fans, nagging doubts persist.
DAVID: Mr Fenn may have just put the chest away and not hidden anything for all we know. I don't think Mr Fenn would do that. But he could have.
Up north, the Kreis sisters have no room for such doubts.
CHARISSA KREIS: This would have been a good spot. This is alright. Forrest, you should have put it here.
As they move deeper into the mountains, the women constantly scan the landscape for physical matches to clues from the poem.
MARTY KREIS: Heavy loads and water high. After that you can see the blaze. Look around. See if you see a blaze.
REPORTER: What makes you think it's maybe on this side?
MARTY KREIS: Because we didn't find it on that side. That's a pretty good walking trail through here in the spring.
REPORTER: So everything pretty much fits here -you just have to look under every rock until you find it?
MARTY KREIS: Yes. Just got to find the blaze.
The sisters are reluctant to leave any stone unturned, despite the constant disappointments it only appears to strength their resolve.
CHARISSA KREIS: We have to find it. Every time we come out we find something that seems to tie us into the poem a little bit more.
MARTY KREIS: The more exploring you do the closer you feel.
DAL NIETZMAN: None of us have found the treasure but we found little treasures on the way. We found places we never would have bothered to go to that are pretty interesting and pretty fascinating and beautiful, that we would never have seen if it hadn't been for Forrest's treasure hunt.
But perhaps the biggest reward of all is reserved for the only man that isn't looking.
FORREST FENN: I love the fact that I'm the only one that knows where it is and I've started a fire under the imagination of a lot of people. I'm 83 years old. I may have a few months yet to live. If nobody finds the treasure I promise you 1,000 years from now people will still be looking.
ANJALI RAO: If you fancy joining the hunt for the Fenn fortune, you can read his poem online. Plus, watch an exclusive interview where he reveals for the first time new clues to the hidden millions.
Reporter/Camera
NICK LAZAREDES
Producer/Researcher
CALLISTE WEITENBERG
Graphics
JETHRO LAWRENCE
Editors
MICAH MCGOWN
SIMON PHEGAN
Stills provided by Addison Doty and Forrest Fenn