This is what I believe.

[Hear me all]

Time is running out for the family?

Sounds like some is squeezing them. The question might be who?

[trueyeti]

From the context of Forrest's statement, he doesn't come out and say that anyone had figured out all nine clues, let alone figured them out in the correct order. Here is my transcript of Forrest's answer from "The Lure" post-screening Q&A (5/18/2017):

Q: “Has anyone determined the nine clues and what they represent?”

FF: “Well, there’s about 250,000 people that think they have. And, uh, I don’t know that anybody has … has … has told me the clues in the right order. I think that part of the problem is they don’t … they don’t focus on the first clue. If you don’t know where the first clue is, you might as well stay home because you’re not … you’re not going to find the treasure chest. You can’t go out looking for the blaze and expect to find the treasure chest. There’s ten billion blazes out there. So you have to start with the first clue and let it take you to the blaze.”

Hey Zap,
I started on some kind of a comment but then my brain...said "no...tired right now." I'll come back later. Thanks for knocking it out of the park. Wish that other blogger....would look up the word, "misconstrued." Cheers.

[Alsetenash]

Sounds like some is squeezing them. The question might be who?

I don't think there's any type of 'dark' agenda going untowards with the family ,nor anyone putting some sort of pressure on the family. What I see with the happenings since I've tuned back in and analyzing all happenings, is that it appears a name was given by Forrest. A name given by Forrest of a searcher (screen name , real name or both) that actually solved the clues/poem. It appears to me ,by means of some of Shilo's recent communications through folks here; that they are watching/reading/keeping an eye on of their posts , on here and or wherever that person is posting.

"Keep your airspeed up"~Shilo

[Harold H. Brown]
[William H. Brown]

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

https://youtu.be/_vfce74nyik

Someone fits the "Bill" and it is not Jack nor someone named Bill. Seems to me they have the same last name of a person named William/Bill" . The Willian/Bill might be a known name in the community. That is my hypothesis. That would mean to say that Forrest calling Jack "Bill" was a hint TO that searcher.

In my opinion , of course.

[[email protected]]

I will interpret the pictures that fennderkeepers posted for you all ,Shilo is playing with Forrest chase, the first picture of the map and signature is the big picture,second picture is wwwh, key here is the martini ,third picture of the flowers on the table and all books and Willy the dog and table are at the end, flower is the key here and Forrest said there was an X .yes I know all nine clues. I do believe Shilo knows to. Clint

[Alsetenash]

From the context of Forrest's statement, he doesn't come out and say that anyone had figured out all nine clues, let alone figured them out in the correct order. Here is my transcript of Forrest's answer from "The Lure" post-screening Q&A (5/18/2017):

Q: “Has anyone determined the nine clues and what they represent?”

FF: “Well, there’s about 250,000 people that think they have. And, uh, I don’t know that anybody has … has … has told me the clues in the right order. I think that part of the problem is they don’t … they don’t focus on the first clue. If you don’t know where the first clue is, you might as well stay home because you’re not … you’re not going to find the treasure chest. You can’t go out looking for the blaze and expect to find the treasure chest. There’s ten billion blazes out there. So you have to start with the first clue and let it take you to the blaze.”

Thanks for this ,Zap! I mentioned this quote a couple weeks ago here but couldn't find the quote. I could find FF's answer but not the question .

Q-“Has anyone determined the nine clues and what they represent?”
The word "represent" I couldn't remember if was "meanings" or whatever. It's "Represent"

This part of the answer..."I don’t know that anybody has … has … has told me the clues in the right order". When FF said that back then, I was wondering how someone could determine correctly , the nine clues and what they "represent" (meaning?) but in the wrong order? What I thought about that scenario , was that I looked at the poem to see if there were any lines in the poem that could be similar in perception meaning-similar in interpretation/representation/meaning. I determined the possibility of them being these two:

"From there it's no place for the meek"
&
"If you are brave and in the wood"

I think it's possible that's what he meant by the answer. So, he might have known back then that someone had solved the clues but with those two lines that person had them correct for interpretation.. Though, they needed to switch their representation meanings each for the other clue line as I said above

IMO.

[Round Peg, Square Hole]

From the context of Forrest's statement, he doesn't come out and say that anyone had figured out all nine clues, let alone figured them out in the correct order. Here is my transcript of Forrest's answer from "The Lure" post-screening Q&A (5/18/2017):

Q: “Has anyone determined the nine clues and what they represent?”

FF: “Well, there’s about 250,000 people that think they have. And, uh, I don’t know that anybody has … has … has told me the clues in the right order. I think that part of the problem is they don’t … they don’t focus on the first clue. If you don’t know where the first clue is, you might as well stay home because you’re not … you’re not going to find the treasure chest. You can’t go out looking for the blaze and expect to find the treasure chest. There’s ten billion blazes out there. So you have to start with the first clue and let it take you to the blaze.”

Ya gotta hand it to him, this guy remained shrewd and grounded, even at a ripe ol' age.

Was this an interview, off the cuff? If so, that's even more impressive.

[lowkey]

10 billion is a lot. That quote really is interesting. A blaze must be a pretty common sight in Forrest’s eyes.

[fflegacy]

There are 10^24 blazes in the observable part of the universe.

[lowkey]

There are 10^24 blazes in the observable part of the universe.

So you’re referring to stars then I’m guessing? That’s interesting if you combine it with the found statement. (Under a canopy of stars)

[starwheel]

Maybe you should read Doug Preston's foreword to OUAW when he questions Forrest over his poem possibly being found in a week on Page 11, he goes on to say:

'But he assured me that the poem, while absolutely reliable if the nine clues were followed in order, was extremely difficult to interpret-------- so tricky in fact that he wouldn't
be surprised if it took nine hundred years before someone cracked it"

Do not expect the mechanics of this puzzle to be easy or simple to unravel, they aren't. Deep thinking is required, but it should become apparent that if things start to connect there is a strong possibility
they are meant to.

[Hear me all]

Maybe you should read Doug Preston's foreword to OUAW when he questions Forrest over his poem possibly being found in a week on Page 11, he goes on to say:

'But he assured me that the poem, while absolutely reliable if the nine clues were followed in order, was extremely difficult to interpret-------- so tricky in fact that he wouldn't
be surprised if it took nine hundred years before someone cracked it"

Do not expect the mechanics of this puzzle to be easy or simple to unravel, they aren't. Deep thinking is required, but it should become apparent that if things start to connect there is a strong possibility
they are meant to.

And yet f commented on two separate occasions that he was surprised nobody had figured it out yet. It wasn't complicated at all. Just clever.

[Hear me all]

For those that never used Tarry Scant it was a wonderful tool. For example you could type in "first clue" and get all the results from f talking about it. He talked about that clue more than any of the others because he said it was critical.

He said the only way you'd know what the first clue is, is if you found his treasure.
He said to stay home unless you knew what the first clue was.
He said the first clue was the most important.
He said people ignored the first clue even though they arrived their in droves.
He said searchers figured out the first two clues but walked right by it. It was so funny to see sea4chers make excuses that said the searchers would have been like 200' or 500' from it. How foolish! If that were the case anyone on the same plane around the globe on which the chest sat would also be walking by it. Ignorance magnified because searchers refused to consider that others had been where it was, even stood on it. It was so amazing that many searchers approached the problem from a scientific view but eliminated more possibilities than you could pack in the 3 Rocky Mountain states.
He said the first clue was the most important and that searchers were wasting time on the latter clues at thier own folly.
There were dozens more f comments regarding the first clue. Only after all your searching out there and not finding it, would you arrive at the start and declare, "Duh! What the hell took me so long and why didn't I listen to the man who created the challenge."
F told Steph that when someone found the treasure he would walk everyone through the clues to show them how simple they were. If you were paying attention that told you that he expected it to be found in his lifetime. The talk of 100 or 1,000 years were just hints for the location.

[starwheel]

Not in my universe lowkey . lol

A math formula: # of horses w/white on their face + # of trees w/scars made by man + # of unique things found in nature + # of other objects place in the wiles of nature that were made by humans = ?

10 billion is a good, off the cuff, guess by f since all must be north of SF in the Rockies but not in Canada, Alaska, Idaho or Utah but might be a bit shy. [there must be some few south of SF also]

But then again, "There’s ten billion blazes out there. So you have to start with the first clue and "let it take you to the blaze.” You only need one for the correct answer. A star can't be the blaze as there are no stars 'in the Rockies', they're over the Rockies [there's some in Telluride, so they think] ... and real stars are over everything else on this rock. Also, are there only about 10 billion stars? [that's anyone's guess unless someone took the time to count the precise #] My best guess is ∞ - 1. And, just how is "it" going to take you to a star anyway since "it" is in the Rockies and stars are over the Rockies? Didn't he say we're all overthinking it? Just apply logic if you can.

I've been at this awhile and it's been fun all along the way ... and worth every penny since time is money.

mountain digger Stars definitely do figure in the puzzle, or rather constellations do and they are made up of stars. The 'Triangulum' constellation is part of the map geometry as you plot the clues on the map and it appears again on the covers of both issues of OUAW.. The drawing of a young Forrest sat on a gravestone on a moonless night looking up at the stars should confirm to you that he is stargazing, why else would he be looking up? Furthermore a gravestone suggests burial and applied to the puzzle indicates treasure burial is associated with stars in some way. The revised edition of OUAW even has an extra star added after the name forrest fenn, so how can you discount their involvement in the puzzle?

[starwheel]

I didn't at all discount their involvement in the puzzle for I'm talking about the blaze. Although since you brought it up, all you need to solve the poem is the poem and a good map. Now unless there is a star in the poem (think real hard on this) or a star on the good map (again, one might need to think real hard on this too) ... the blaze is not a star. I'll keep my mouth shut now for I've said a lot, and you can sing about stars and dream!
When You Wish Upon A Star Karaoke Original Disney - YouTube

mountain digger I can state categorically that you would never solve this with JUST the poem and a map, his book is definitely needed as he has said there are hints in the book that will help you with the clues in the poem so good luck if you believe that. Furthermore never did I mention the blaze was a star, the stars are involved in helping to solve the poem puzzle's solution. Ignore them at your peril.

[Spoon]

I didn't at all discount their involvement in the puzzle for I'm talking about the blaze. Although since you brought it up, all you need to solve the poem is the poem and a good map. Now unless there is a star in the poem (think real hard on this) or a star on the good map (again, one might need to think real hard on this too) ... the blaze is not a star. I'll keep my mouth shut now for I've said a lot, and you can sing about stars and dream!
When You Wish Upon A Star Karaoke Original Disney - YouTube

I believe he said that all we need was the poem, my book and a good map, though I cannot find the exact quote. He also said that "all of the information you need to find the treasure is in the poem." Because searching for a hidden treasure requires geographical knowledge, it seems pretty clear to me that he was not saying that a searcher needed only the poem, because it would be useless without a map. So he was only saying that the poem contained all the necessary information to find the treasure, not that a person could realistically solve the puzzle with the poem alone. And because the poem is so ambiguous at a surface level, it also seems pretty obvious to me that some sort of "reference material" is necessary. Therefore, we have the book. Another slew of quotes from the author link the book with the poem.