Super Dave/Evel Knievel

“Imagination is more important than knowlege” is emphasized with a spelling mistake on the bronze jar that is attributed to Einstein. This is an aberration that Mr. Fenn wanted us to discover but why? What is the importance of Einstein to his puzzle? As with many of these aberrations it is too difficult to use them in isolation or to define the clues, but with many of them and a solution in place, they can be used to support the clue solution. Confirmation bias is always going to work against this process so the more coincidental connections, the stronger the support. These aberrations and hints in his memoir are subtle which means in isolation they are meaningless.

So let’s start with the very first aberration noted many years ago when Forrest Fenn visited Suzanne Somers at her home in Palm Springs. He mentioned meeting, George Hamilton, who he claimed made 57 movies. Ok, it was actually 60 movies Forrest but who is counting? One of those movies was as Evel Knievel in the self-titled 1971 movie. Ironically, his first movie was Lone Star for those who have read my “Follow the Star” theory. Evel Knievel has that “no place for the meek” feel if you “listen good” since “evil” is no place for the God fearing meek. The name Hamilton is specifically mentioned in another Fenn aberration in the chapter Mountain Men from his book, too far to walk, where he claims the bullet hit Hamilton in the head of the $100 bill. We all know the $100 bill features Benjamin Franklin.

So what does this have to do with Einstein? Well I feel that during the time Fenn acquired cancer and conceived his plan to hide a treasure in 1988 likely reflects the hints and ideas of that time. During that period there was a satirical stunt show called Super Dave featuring the daredevil (there is that evil association again) character Super Dave Osborne. Osborne Russel is another character mentioned by Forrest Fenn that I believe hints to Super Dave. Super Dave is a naïve and optimistic stuntman similar to some of the characteristics of Forrest Fenn and in particular the story the Long Jump and jumping off towers. The actor who created and acted as Super Dave Osborne was none other than Bob Einstein and thus the Einstein connection.

Super Dave Osborne was promoted in a few commercials, one was for the Nike Air Flight basketball shoe. This supports the Shoeless Joe Jackson theme that is hinted in Scrapbook 98 "I don’t plan to attend any more weddings or funerals, and that space is needed for jeans, shirts, fur slippers, and Nikes." He is mentioned in a few interesting song titles by Ice Cube (worth the cold) and A Tribe Called Quest song "The Chase, Part II."

So what do all these connections imply? Well Evel Knievel was born, raised and buried in Butte Montana. He was most famous for his steam-powered rocket (Skycycle X-2) jump across Snake River Canyon (Forrest hints of snakes often). Recall the meadow lark aberration? The one where he claims to hunt them for food along with scissor tails. Both those birds hint to the "V" or chevron, The meadow lark on the breast and the king bird with the V-shaped tail. This star filled "V" was prominent logo of Evel and appeared similar to the the meadow lark.

Forrest Fenn has "dared" us to find his treasure, "And I 'm going to dare you to come find me," subliminally hinting to daredevil. The poem's use of brave is also a hint to the daredevil. Mr. Fenn has similarities to Knievel. Being a fighter pilot in war has daredevil qualities, but in Fenn's latest book, Once Upon a While, he mentions two instances where he is dared to jump off a bridge into water in the long jump, reminiscent of Evel Knievel's long jumps of cars, bus, fountains at Ceasar's Palace and the Snake River Canyon. The Tower acrobatic jump of a 1.5 somersault into the water and recording it on film is an obvious hint to the showman Evel Knievel.

Evel is a star noted for his stars and stripes uniform. This is one star worth following and he also swings a mean baseball bat.