In one of those exercises peculiar to Hollywood and to schools of the Valle de los Españoles, a friend and I were assigned the task of tabulating the results of the various contests for “most popular/handsome-beautiful/energetic/bright/athletic and most studious student;” and “most popular/helpful/patient/best and most teacherious teacher.” Under cover, the two of us also invented a somewhat derogatory category we called “most unpopular teacher” and then stuffed the ballot box with the name of the assistant principal (whom we very much liked) and added “votes” for a few others just to cover our tracks.
Fortunately, since both of us were “counting challenged,” we had more ballots than voting students and we were immediately discovered. The interesting thing, though, was that many, if not all, of the teachers in that school system were far above average and rather than give us the punishment we deserved, the object of our prank held a general assembly and used the incident as a teaching moment: a thirty minute lecture on democracy and citizenship and the ethics required for both.
What bothered him was not his “selection” as the “worst teacher ever” but that we, his students, knew so little of the system we had the good fortune to be born into and, by luck alone, were a part of something that others had fought and died to gain and protect. He said that a vote was “sacred” and that it should never be bought or sold or denied or given lightly and only if done responsibly could the decisions of the many favor liberty over tyranny and justice over the unfair distribution of both the benefits and the burdens that our peculiar form of governance—one that we both belong to and own—guarantees.
Similarly, but on a totally different scale, is something called “crowdsourcing” which posits that, on average, a group of people is more knowledgeable than an individual. The procedure has had some successes as when the French sought a way to preserve food, and when the Brits put together the Oxford Dictionary. But it also has had its failures, as in the more recent effort by some to identify the Boston marathon bombers that fingered a pair of teenagers whose only fault was that they dressed like teenagers.
Given all of this, I thought it might be possible to use crowdsourcing as a way to pick out the nine clues—among nearly twenty possibilities—found in Forrest Fenn’s poem. And, in the interest of fairness, which is the ethical part of crowdsourcing, I would share the results with everybody. Plus, given my admitted problems in counting, I left all of the comments to stand so that you can make your own count. Here is mine with the vote totals and in the order they appear in the poem:
1. Begin it where warm waters halt; (5)
2. And take it in the canyon down. (5)
3. Put in below (5)
4. The home of Brown (5)
5. There’ll be no paddle up your creek (5)
6. Just heavy loads (6)
7. Found the blaze (5.5)
8. Tarry scant (6)
9. Marvel gaze (6)
This list may or may not help you. It only confuses me. But that’s because I know that one respondent counted a non-existent number seven and not just a few others preferred to discuss the meanings of “Tarry scant” and “Marvel gaze;” and then almost demanded that they be included as clues. And so I did.
I must say that this result is no more and no less than what I expected. But, from time to time, and as the delinquents come in, I will update so that maybe, just maybe, someday, we can figure it all out. For now, however, it appears that Forrest Fenn has won again.
I suggest a special beverage when you are feeling a bit heady about the clues. It’s called a Michelada. Remorsefully, I only recently learned of this spicier version than mine, the more familiar beverage that my great-grandmother gulped and one that I assumed to be the original bloody mary.
Many ya’lls stories regarding the chase remind me of this mix and the odd combination of flavors and their sources. If you’re already familiar with the drink, then it’s no point of illumination to you that although there are many ways to make it, there’s only one best way amidst a crowd of impostors. Because of that, many of the solutions offered up as the ideal beer to tomato juice ratio, you just may not dig.
I personally suggest that you leave the tomato juice behind if the food to be shared is fried. It may be an acquired flavor, but putting in the correct spice and garnish such as an olive or stick of celery, can rehabilitate any initial distaste. Enjoy and keep your spices to a hint.
The french art of preserving food is called “Garde Manger”. The Chef de Garde Manger is responsible for preserving leftovers and creating canapes and hors d’ oeurves out of them. One method of chaud froid is making a aspic out of demiglace which can be poured over meat to preserve them. It is essentially jello. The only thing I have done with chaud froid is to make very convincing fake vomit.
There is one place in the book where Forest Fenn mentions a job as a dish washer. He says that the job left his hands with “White Canyons” . I guessed that this may be one of those clues that he put in the book. So, I did a search and came up with a very good site to explore. White Canyon, UTAH. It seems to fit every clue in the poem. Here’s a link:
http://www.americansouthwest.net/slot_canyons/white_canyon/index.html
I also searched Canon Blanco but found sites to the south of Santa Fe. Then searched Arroyo Blanco and came up with some interesting sites. It is near Abiqui, New Mexico. Also nearby is Ghost Ranch, Ojo Caliente, and Frijoles spring. BUt, what really caught my eye is a place called the Plaza.
It looks like a great place to hike and explore!
Hi Michael,
Ahh. You found one of my favorite places in New Mexico. It is a fun place to hike but take a lot of water. Depending on what part you found, you may have been where “Cowboys and Aliens” was filmed. Do me a favor and bring out as much trash as you can. There are a lot of different kinds of rocks there that are interesting. Hematite is one of them. Dark brown to black, smooth, generally about the size of your thumb nail. Rub them on another light colored rock and you get yellow, or brown, or umber, or red, or orange. Don’t climb on the hoodoos since they may cave with you on them. Best wishes, r/
I went hiking at Plaza Blanca, near Abiquiu today. It is a very intersting place. I stayed on the trails or in the arroyo. I didn’t do anything that I wouldn’t expect an 80 year old man to do. I’m 54, but I have weak knees and lungs. I did not find any trash! What I did find were these stones stacked on each other to mark the direction of a trail. I had thought that these type of markers are what Forrest Fenn had meant when he refered to his “Blaze”. As in blazing a trail by placing such markers. These markers are all over the place though. As if left by multiple boy scout troops.
There are many places there where somebody could stash a cache. Along the arroyo there are ledges cut into the rock where I could stick my head into, or wave my walking stick. At one place somebody had laid out a laberynth like a spiral circle. It is a design of significance to pueblo culture. I stood there and meditated about it for a while. It was a point of destination for the plaza.
Did the site really match any clues?
1. Begin it where warm waters halt; No. The water halted here many thousand years ago.
2. And take it in the canyon down. Yes. You go down this canyon.
3. Put in below …Yes, the ledges in the canyon are a place to put in below.
4. The home of Brown. Qualified Yes. A rock called Hematite is brown.
5. There’ll be no paddle up your creek . Absolutely Yes. The arroyo is dry.
6. Just heavy loads, and water high. Imaginative Yes. Lots of rocks, and the site was carved out by high waters thousands of years ago.
7. Found the blaze. Yes. Stones piled up marking a trail is one sort of a blaze.
8. Tarry scant. Imaginative Yes. Tarry=doddle, Scant=little>move rapidly> Rio Arriba. It’s a stretch, I know.
9. Marvel gaze. Yes. Have you seen this place? It stirs the imagination.
Why would Forrest Fenn chose this area? Abiquiu is an artist colony, home of Georgia O’Keefe and many others,perhaps even somebody named Brown. It is along the Rio Chama, which is great for fishing, There are archeological sites. Not for the meek because it was part of Ghost Ranch.
“If you are wise” because Dar Salaam is next to the canyon. Who knows?
I should go back just for the fun of it.
Very interesting approach, Richard and very well done, my friend! Always interesting to check in here for a good read! Hope to see you again soon!
What exactly is a hoodoo?
I thought that a Hoodoo was a bluesman Junior Wells. But it may also refer to a piller that has been carved out by nature.
Who knew?
Hello,
I am a latecomer to your blog but am glad I made my way over here. Your posts are thoughtful and interesting and have given me some things to think about. I think I am alone in this, but based on my “key” to the poem, everything from “begin at” to “home of brown” would be one clue. I found out about this puzzle after the GMA publicity so I am well behind the vets and assume you all have probably already nixed the solutions I am investigating.
Thank you.
We have already nixed the solutions that WE have investigated. Tell us yours.
Hey Tarry, Welcome to the big investigation.Re: your solutions–try us and we will let you know. Best wishes, r/
Unfortunately, I do not have much to contribute now. I will say that the Toledo clue was significant to me and that I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it in your older post. All best, tarry
Happy to do so, after I have nixed them as well. 🙂
I think I will go up to White Rock this weekend as part of my places named white exploration. There is a place called “Gallows Edge” that sound promising.
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/gallows-edge/105941047
With a name like Gallows Edge it is not for the meek and the end is ever nigh.
The rest I don’t know. But, I am sure my imagination will make it all fit.
When I saw this photo I thought that these guys had found the blaze in the area I am going this weekend. So, to double check I went to Forrest Fenns web site to see if that logo was anywhere to be seen. Nope. It’s probably not the blaze. But it is a cool place to stash a body.
http://www.summitpost.org/inside-the-pit/610581
Upon further research, Forrest Fenn flew an F-100. A very similar thunderbird logo was used by some pilots of this aircraft. Just a little fact. But why would that symbol be in a place called the pit?
I wasn’t going to say anything, but if you’ve been wise and found the belays, look quickly down your quest to cease.
Got it, Belays sounds like Blaze. Definition of BELAY. transitive verb. 1. a: to secure (as a rope) by turns around a cleat, pin, or bitt . b: to make fast . 2: stop. 3. a: to secure (a person)…
So, I went to White Rock with the expectation of being able to explore Gallows Edge and the Pit. But I was not physically able to decend the cliff My knees and hips would have none of it.
I first parked at Outlook Park and took the Rim Trail to the place recommended by the web site as the best place to access Gallows edge. I wrongly expected the rocks to form steps, or for there to be a chain. What I found was a place I would not expect an eighty year old man to go with a box of treasure.
I went back to Outlook Park to find an easier trail. Blue Point trail may have seemed easier on the map. But, body disagreed. Good luck to anybody else exploring that site. By the number of foot prints in the sand, there were many before me.
I didn’t want the day to be a total bust so I went down the road to a place I had never been:Tsankawi. Just down the hill from White Rock is a valley with a trail along the rim of the cliffs. There is the ruins of an ancient Pueblo that contains about 275 ground floor rooms. The area is designated as part of Bandalier National Monument, although it is a way down the road.
After poking around the many nooks and crannies at Tsankawi I head towards Santa Fe. Before I got there I made a detour to Shidoni Foundry and Gallery. Technically it is in the mountains north of Santa Fe. I always enjoy browing the statuary on the lawns there. In the gallery I found an interesting bronze sculpture by a man name Ross Brown:
http://sculpture.org/portfolio/sculpture_info.php?sculpture_id=1007550
My imagination swirled. It was a good day.
Interesting that belay and tarry scant can actually work together. Michael defines belay as to secure (as a rope) by turns around a cleat. Tarry scant means short rope in one interpretation. Tarry is a tar covered rope (as on a boat) and scant is short = Short Rope.
Is the word ‘no’ a clue not to go that way or a description of the way to go?
There’ll be no paddle up your creek. – Don’t go up the creek vs you cannot paddle up the creek you take.
Tarry scant can also mean short rope. Is he using tarry as an adjective or a verb? Is the blaze a short piece of rope tied on something, a tree perhaps?
Mr. Saunier,
I think I’ve figured out at least part of the poem, but I’m poor and on the East Coast. I can’t afford to go treasure-hunting. If I tell you my interpretation and you find the treasure because of it, can I have a share of the loot?
G.L.
Hey everybody,
I’ve got a unique interpretation of the poem, but I’m on the East Coast and I can’t afford to go treasure hunting. If I figure it out, will you guys give me a share of the loot?
G.L.