Clues coming for annual treasure hunt

Northern Nevada residents will soon be scouring city parks and tromping over national forest trails in search of treasure. While it's not a golden nugget, their are reasons to search for the 3-by-3-inch acrylic medallion.

A $1,000 worth of reasons to be exact.

What will it take to increase your bank account? Knowledge, research, a sense of adventure and a little luck, according to Jesse Olson, and he would know - he's the one who hid it.

Beginning Monday and running every weekday for 15 days - or until the treasure is found - the Nevada Appeal will run clues to the treasure's location. The 15 clues were created by Olson and the rest of the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Committee and consist of four lines per clue. The contest will end, regardless of whether the treasure is found, on Oct. 28.

"Each clue has something to do with the history of the area. What was once near where the treasure is or the area where it's located or simply a directional clue," said Olson.

For Olson, the hunt is more than the search for cash, it's a way to get out and explore while learning something about the history of the area as the state celebrates its 141st birthday.

"It's totally what Nevada Day is all about. Finding out some of the history about the state and area you live in," said Olson.

The hunt was first run from 2000 to 2002 but was absent for the last two years and is being started back up this year.

Yet, Olson's passion for the event goes back even further to when he participated in similar event growing up in Oregon.

"It was a big family thing for us. We'd try to decipher these clues and it was just a great time," said Olson.

Now, when he is not managing his own business, Olson spends his time creating clues instead of solving them.

"It's just part of my fascination with history," he said.

Want to try your luck? Here's how it works. The medallion will be hidden on public property somewhere in Carson, Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Storey or Washoe counties. The leather pouch containing the medallion will not be buried and no structure will have to be disturbed or climbed to find it.

The first person to find the medallion and return it to the Nevada Appeal office, 580 Mallory Way in Carson City, during normal business hours will receive $1,000 and a plaque commemorating their accomplishment.

Olson said the committee finds the location and creates the clues up to a year in advance, hoping to incorporate a wide range of information.

"Everything goes. We might use anything and everything. It does take some research and thought but also you just have to go out and try different places," Olson said. "We are not trying to make it something where you have to spend hours in the library. It's supposed to get people out and about in this area."

As for the clues themselves, Olson offered little advice to potential seekers, saying only that how the clues are written might be as important as the information they contain.

"Some are more surface clues and some you have to dig a little deeper," he said.

For complete rules and contest information, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Treasure Hunt Committee P.O. Box 22551 Carson City, NV 98721.

n Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

Want to participate?

• Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Treasure Hunt Committee P.O. Box 22551 Carson City, NV 89721 for contest rules and information.

• Look for clues weekdays in the Nevada Appeal, beginning Monday.

• Use the clues to find the location of the leather pouch containing the 3-by-3 acrylic medallion.

• Return the medallion to the Nevada Appeal office, at 580 Mallory Way in Carson City, during normal business hours.

• Think of the best way to spend your $1,000 prize!