Dan Flores

Among many aspects of Fenn's world that seemed more than improbable was that he actually owned the ground where the ruins of San Lazaro stood. That's why we were here. He was proudly showing off his possession of the largest ancestral Pueblo village site in the Santa Fe area.

Among many aspects of Fenn's world that seemed more than improbable was that he actually owned the ground where the ruins of San Lazaro stood. That's why we were here. He was proudly showing off his possession of the largest ancestral Pueblo village site in the Santa Fe area.

a native Texan and a former Vietnam fighter pilot who'd survived being shot down to become a successful art gallery owner in Santa Fe. Finn was in his late 70s then, his body lean, his silvery hair still in a military buzz cut. When we struck up a friendship, I found him garrulous, hugely energetic, and despite a slender education, fiercely opinionated.

a native Texan and a former Vietnam fighter pilot who'd survived being shot down to become a successful art gallery owner in Santa Fe. Finn was in his late 70s then, his body lean, his silvery hair still in a military buzz cut. When we struck up a friendship, I found him garrulous, hugely energetic, and despite a slender education, fiercely opinionated.

a native Texan and a former Vietnam fighter pilot who'd survived being shot down to become a successful art gallery owner in Santa Fe. Finn was in his late 70s then, his body lean, his silvery hair still in a military buzz cut. When we struck up a friendship, I found him garrulous, hugely energetic, and despite a slender education, fiercely opinionated.

True to his Texas roots, those opinions included a hatred for the federal government and a distrust of educated elites, although he could occasionally be impressed by experts. Finn was as dedicated to Old West history as fundamentalists are to old-time religion. His home came across as a combination museum, archive, and archaeology lab.

True to his Texas roots, those opinions included a hatred for the federal government and a distrust of educated elites, although he could occasionally be impressed by experts. Finn was as dedicated to Old West history as fundamentalists are to old-time religion. His home came across as a combination museum, archive, and archaeology lab.

True to his Texas roots, those opinions included a hatred for the federal government and a distrust of educated elites, although he could occasionally be impressed by experts. Finn was as dedicated to Old West history as fundamentalists are to old-time religion. His home came across as a combination museum, archive, and archaeology lab.

He outdid anyone in my experience with his boyish, Huck Finn-like romance about Western adventure, which led him to invest prodigious energy in several seriously crazy projects that made many people wince. One was acquiring and doing amateur excavations at a major site like San Lazaro. The last of Forrest's grand ideas, when he was in his 80s, got him national exposure that wasn't always admiring.

He outdid anyone in my experience with his boyish, Huck Finn-like romance about Western adventure, which led him to invest prodigious energy in several seriously crazy projects that made many people wince. One was acquiring and doing amateur excavations at a major site like San Lazaro. The last of Forrest's grand ideas, when he was in his 80s, got him national exposure that wasn't always admiring.

He outdid anyone in my experience with his boyish, Huck Finn-like romance about Western adventure, which led him to invest prodigious energy in several seriously crazy projects that made many people wince. One was acquiring and doing amateur excavations at a major site like San Lazaro. The last of Forrest's grand ideas, when he was in his 80s, got him national exposure that wasn't always admiring.

He buried a treasure chest containing more than $2 million of precious artifacts from around the world in a secret location in the West, then self-published a book featuring a page of verse offering clues to its hiding spot.

He buried a treasure chest containing more than $2 million of precious artifacts from around the world in a secret location in the West, then self-published a book featuring a page of verse offering clues to its hiding spot.

He buried a treasure chest containing more than $2 million of precious artifacts from around the world in a secret location in the West, then self-published a book featuring a page of verse offering clues to its hiding spot.

More than one person died and untold thousands trekked the West's vast public lands in search of a treasure that, to Forrest, offered ordinary folks a chance to reprise a classic Old West opportunity, finding loot and making a mint off nature.

More than one person died and untold thousands trekked the West's vast public lands in search of a treasure that, to Forrest, offered ordinary folks a chance to reprise a classic Old West opportunity, finding loot and making a mint off nature.

More than one person died and untold thousands trekked the West's vast public lands in search of a treasure that, to Forrest, offered ordinary folks a chance to reprise a classic Old West opportunity, finding loot and making a mint off nature.

San Lazaro had once been one of eight major Indian towns that, post-Chaco, spread across the Galiceo River near where Spain would found Santa Fe in the year 1610. The entire Four Corners is lousy with the surviving ruins of advanced farming civilizations that made the Southwest into one of the most densely lived-in parts of North America a thousand years ago.

San Lazaro had once been one of eight major Indian towns that, post-Chaco, spread across the Galiceo River near where Spain would found Santa Fe in the year 1610. The entire Four Corners is lousy with the surviving ruins of advanced farming civilizations that made the Southwest into one of the most densely lived-in parts of North America a thousand years ago.

San Lazaro had once been one of eight major Indian towns that, post-Chaco, spread across the Galiceo River near where Spain would found Santa Fe in the year 1610. The entire Four Corners is lousy with the surviving ruins of advanced farming civilizations that made the Southwest into one of the most densely lived-in parts of North America a thousand years ago.