A Man Unearthed An Old ‘Box’ In The Woods, Only To Gasp When He Opened It
As sweat drips down his brow and exhaustion saps his strength, Andy Swanger’s close to giving up his search on a Utah trail. And who can blame him? Is buried treasure really worth all this hassle? But before he throws down his shovel for the day, something finally catches his eye.
How it all started...
It was a scene that could’ve been ripped straight from the pages of Treasure Island, yet there wasn’t a pirate in sight! We know what you’re thinking now, though — what was this all about, then? Why were people on the look-out for a random chest in Utah? Well, to answer that, we first need to introduce you to two local guys.
The masterminds
David Cline and John Maxim were the men behind this idea. And it all stemmed from a good-natured place back in 2020, as people continued to suffer through the pandemic in Utah. To go into more detail on that front, David spoke to Fox News in the summer of 2021.
“Morale was down”
David said, “We just kind of sensed that morale was down as a community, just because everyone had been locked in for everything for a long time. And so we were like, ‘Man, what would be a safe, fun way to get people outside?’ And we just kind of thought, ‘What about a treasure hunt?’”
The Utah Treasure Hunt
On that note, David and John set the inaugural Utah Treasure Hunt in motion. The duo placed $5,000 inside a chest and took it up a mountainous trail during the summer of 2020. From there, they dropped the box into a freshly dug hole, before alerting the locals that the search could begin.
