He was cured by the time he hid the treasure. His idea was he was going to take it with him, his plan was to die with the treasure, but then he was cured.
So the poem changed a bit to reflect that he is still alive, and not the first concept of "Leave my bones".
There is way more then 6000 people searching for the fabled treasure. He is still alive and will answer your emails sometimes. Also its not just the US, there have been people from many other countries searching for this treasure.
Guess we will never know if it exists until it is found. This is the area of my forum that I have started.
I don't know, only he knows the answer to that question.
I think its true but I can't say that its true. I did make a few trips three years ago, but decided that if I didn't have a solution that was good enough to make me feel confident I would do something else. So, the last two years we have planned trips to the area, but have done something else. This year was the Grand Canyon instead, the year before was Rainbow Bridge and Four Corners area.
Don't think this isn't on my mind because it is, but I find the knowledge that I have gained to be quite exceptional. I have learned many things and continue to learn more.
From the article in the first Post his alleged treasure has sparked serious problems as well:
When I was in school I was very bad with English, now I know much more about structure.
History, I have learned a lot about different people along the way. Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allen Poe. The Nez Perce Indians and their plight with the US Government. How to analyze a poem, what is a end rhyme, a caesura, enjambment, assonance, middle rhyme, there are countless areas that I have improved in.
How Colorado was going to be called Idaho, Gem of the Mountains, but since it was proven that wasn't what it meant in the Indian language it was named Colorado.
The meek shall inherit the earth, I always took that to mean the weak and timid, it doesn't.
I am one that respects the law, I don't do things that could impact the environment, I pack out my trash and a lot of the time others trash. We have spent time on many hikes into the wilds, eating off the land, teaching my son how to survive with minimal gear. How to make a structure using items off the surrounding area, make a fire with his shoe lace and some wood. To make a compass with a needle and the socks he is wearing.
Most of the survival I learned many years ago in the Boy Scouts. How to make a clock with a stick, to use a compass, to use animal trails in rough terrain.
The areas that one must search in this quest is a learning experience. You must look at the smallest detail, and in doing so you learn many things that you didn't before you started.
Of course he won't say what type of land that the treasure is, it narrows down the search. I have found that asking the permission of the people that control the land is important, never has one said no to us at this point. We have also been able to go on reservation land, some areas will require you to have a guide. Navajo land if you want to see certain spots will require to you to have a guide, but seeing these places is a education for everyone.
Its a leap of faith, I am not saying it isn't but its also great enjoyment. I am taking my son to places that I have gone to as a child and some that we are seeing together for the first time.
You have learned a lot and regardless to finding eggs of gold you've already found great treasure that way. You are a unique person and probably part of the very few who will take the time to ask permission, etc. Sadly, the majority will just see this as a wild opportunity to become rich quick so without regulations I don't think the founder of this bizarre hunt should allow so much misdirection to continue.
We went on a hike to Camas Prairie Railroad on Stilts, we were able to by pass a lot of the hike by asking permission to park and hike the railroad on a farm. At the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Idaho the sisters allowed us to hike on their land. It was built from a quarry behind the monastery.
It is a lot of misdirection, and there is a lot of damage being doing to parts of the US because people don't follow the laws or rules. One thing I noticed is that some of places we searched, we weren't the first ones there. The railroad we searched had tunnels that were lined with wood, some people actually cut into them, or dug holes and left them. This railroad is a significant part of history, its closed now but still it had Italians and Chinese helping with construction. There were many areas that you could tell they had been by the various types of ovens they would make.
Personally I think that he has made it so you can claim the gold by some way of actually owning the land it is on. I think the area will be held in a trust of some sort.
I think my greatest accomplishment from this is the time spent with my son, he caught his first golden trout at Ship Island lake, which we had to hike 22 miles to get to, its a native fish but very hard to find a area that has them now because of the rainbow and brown trout.