Sun Dance

The Wolf
Jan 20, 2016
3 min read

As I reflect back on my last treasure hunting moment prior to my retirement, I visited the gave of Kid Curry (Harvey Logan) of the Wild Bunch. He was one of the outlaws that rode with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The thing that flashed through my mind at that time was Forrest’s words that inferred a kid had an advantage but he didn’t want to explain why. Being convinced that aberration based hints is the way to solve the poem; I conceived a Wild West theory. I was convinced my comet theory (highlighted in my book) was the method that Mr. Fenn used to hint and prove the clues thus several points of light must merge to focus on one solution.

Examine the words from the chapter “Important literature” from The Thrill of the Chase: “If Robert Redford had ever written anything he probably could have done it better than the guy who wrote that Gatsby book.” Interesting because this too is an aberration, Robert Redford did write a book called Outlaw Trails, A Journey through time. The subtitle is as important as anything but that is for another story, so lets look at this book. It highlights the outlaw trail of the Wild Bunch which begins at the Big Muddy in Saskatchewan and runs through The-Hole-in-the-Wall, in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming (triggers Fenn’s “how deep is a hole” and "mud" comments), but more importantly it highlights outlaws like The Sundance Kid, who got his name from spending time in jail near Sundance Wyoming and who coincidentally was the character that Robert Redford acted. The Sundance Kid was born as Robert Leroy Parker. Many have believed Bad Leroy Brown is important and it could be a hint to the Sundance Kid, however I find the fact that he was born in Beaver Utah to be more signifiant. As I explained in my book the home of Brown or origin of beaver is derived from the word "brown." Of course one might even hone in on the fact that the Sundance Kid hung out in Brown's Park, Co.

Sundance means Sun-watching dance, which reminds me of Forrest’s words, “It was more fun to run the risk of being foolish than to watch "Dancing with the Stars.” The sun is a star and dancing makes me think of the pole star Polaris as that is where the Northern Lights dance.

Sundance is near Devil’s Tower a place where Mr. Fenn talked about flying so low they could see ants. We acknowledge the ant is another important aberration since Mr. Fenn talks of them often and intentionally made a false statement about the Coriolis Force and their direction of travel around trees and why people in London drive on the other side of the road. The Coriolis force being a north-south effect not an east-west.

Now we could go in many directions if I follow my comet theory including looking for a “Red Ford,” but to stay in context, lets look at “Sundance” the dance conducted by Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull is hinted by the poem’s word “go in peace”, Forrest’s prize possession Sitting Bull peace pipe and SB 99.5 which is a radio station in Montana called “The Bull.” Sundance was an outlawed spiritual ceremony involving praying for healing that involves sacrifice. General Custer found the sun dance buffalo skulls while tracking Sitting Bull. These Sundance skulls hang from Forrest’s walls and featured prominently on the Old Santa Fe Trading Co website and illustrated in scrapbook 90. Incidentally, when Mr. Fenn had his home raided by the FBI, as condition of them dropping the case, he had to return a Sun Dance skull from his home.

One final connection; Forrest's weekly words “Minding common sense in the mountains is good savvy” from Mysterious Writings. Savvy is a “kids” book written by Ingrid Law, which happens to be based in a town called none other that Sundance. The author's name also has importance but related to a different story. Now if we follow my technique highlighted in my book,it is not the book "Savvy" that is of interest for it is the hint, what we need to look at is Ingrid's other book Scumble The cover of the book details Devil's Tower but more importantly the Dragonfly. We know that Mr. Fenn has used the Dragonfly many times in The Thrill of The Chase and on his bronze Jars and in Dal' Scrapbook "Compensations for being Quiet." I have highlighted the importance of the dragonfly and there are other connections inside the treasure box (think inside the box) or specifically the dragon coat bracelet.