Totally agreed. The spirit of the whole thing seemed about adventure, exploration, and fun. Unfortunately the reality of the finder seems to be a far different set of stress which I hope he eventually is able to escape from.
It should be the right of the finder to stay anonymous but the cat's out of the bag now.
But this I don't understand though:
> and they both seemed to agree that the location of the find should be kept secret
In the interest of transparency after the fact I see no problem with telling people where the treasure actually was. This gives people closure especially to the ones who suffered or the families of the ones who died hunting for it, lets them verify that the instructions they went on were indeed valid, and puts to rest other suspicions people may have.
Under these conditions a judge has nothing to go on if they want to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the finder cheated in any way. There are no details on how this happened, the initiator of the treasure hunt passed away so there's nothing stopping anyone from taking this to court. Transparency is there specifically to preempt claims like this.
He said it was recovered in Wyoming. The person with the lawsuit claims they had a location in New Mexico. Not sure how the judge would let this proceed, but here we are
That's the problem, it's a "he said she said" because there's no official record. The decision to keep the location hidden even after the hunt was over makes no sense. And now the source of truth is dead with no evidence left behind, that we know of now. Imagine the lottery awarding the prize without telling you the numbers.
> Not sure how the judge would let this proceed
Because judges tend to be wary about claims made by the accused that don't have some evidence behind them to review. Fenn's log book or diary, any dated record from the time he planned and executed the preparation for the treasure hunt, or his signed affidavit could have been exactly what stopped these lawsuits in their tracks.
But as it stands neither Fenn nor the finder of the treasure considered it's a good idea to be transparent even after many people suffered financial hardship, injuries, or even death pursuing the same dream. This is not an unexpected outcome.
Some rich idiot put a treasure box on public lands, resulting in significant amounts of damage to national parks and monuments and several deaths. It was ruined from the beginning and it's a damn shame Fenn is no longer around to be prosecuted for it.
Wild lands like national parks or public wilderness are places where a person can still experience risk from the natural world. That is a significant part of the whole point of having them. That’s what makes an outing an adventure and not just a pleasant stroll.
People don’t need a $1 million treasure to get themselves into trouble in the wild. It happens regularly for reasons as trivial as selfies or even just for the fun of it. It is good that there are still places where people can do that.
Who's an idiot, the rich person that hid a treasure or the people who go into the wilderness and die?
People need to learn to be responsible for themselves. Supposing they were adults, going into the wilderness and not being able to survive is totally on them. "But there was a hidden treasure" is not an excuse.
People damaging national parks and monuments - again, that's on them. "But there was a hidden treasure" is not an excuse in this case either.
Out of hundreds of thousands of treasure-hunters, over a decade, four or five people are said to have died while looking.
On average, 38 skiers and snowboarders die in the US each year ... 1600 go missing in wilderness areas ... 5000 die riding motorcycles. Treasure-hunting looks pretty safe. Feel free to hide in your home.
Out of millions of snowboarders, 38 died. Out of hundreds of millions of park visitors, 1600 went missing. Out of millions of motorcyclists, 5000 died.
Out of a few hundred "treasure hunters", 6 died. Several dozen were seriously injured. "Treasure hunting" was by far the most dangerous activity of the ones you listed, even compared to motorcycle riding. And that doesn't include the damage to private or public lands caused by these idiots in their search.
Multiple deaths just for this treasure and the guy didn't end it after being asked by police. I think that if 5 skiers died on one mountain that ski lift would be shut down.
Leaving treasure on public lands is allowed, otherwise geocaching would be illegal. Maybe not in a national park, but certainly in a national forest or multiuse area.