Nevada Day Treasure Hunt: Trio nabs treasure at Fort Churchill

There was something about Mary Stanley's behavior Wednesday night that alerted her husband John something was afoot - it wasn't her flailing arms or the jumping up and down - it was all the hooting and hollering as she ran from a fence outside Fort Churchill.

"She was screaming, 'I found it!'" said John.

The Stanleys and friend Terri Ford, all of Carson City, had spent three days searching the ruins of the 19th century Army fort in Silver Springs, to no avail. Mary had even camped out overnight to search Saturday and Sunday.

And early Wednesday morning, Ford made the 92-mile round-trip drive only to come home empty handed.

Each time they went, the place was crawling with treasure hunters, they said.

But Mary couldn't stop thinking about the 13 treasure hunt clues that led to Fort Churchill.

So when classes got out Wednesday afternoon, the Carson Middle School science teacher and her husband made the trek into the desert.

"I just knew it was out there," she said.

And indeed it was. About 60 feet north of the cemetery as Mary and John walked alongside a fence outside the fort, Mary spotted a small leather pouch leaning against a post.

At first she thought someone had left behind a bag of marbles, but when she felt the square medallion inside, the celebration began.

In its ninth year, the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt and its $500 cash prize has garnered a huge following. Organizer Jesse Olson said 1,500 people registered at nvdaytreasure

hunt.com this year and there were 16,378 visits from web surfers. If you register, an additional $500 is tacked on to the prize money.

The Stanleys and Ford will split $1,000.

For nine years Olson's company, Sierra Electric, and the Olson family have hosted the treasure hunt to the delight of treasure seekers in Northern Nevada.

Olson and the other members of the Nevada Day Treasure Hunt Committee begin working on the clues early in the year. Since the hunt began, the medallion has been hidden all over the region, including Silver City, Genoa, Reno's Rancho San Rafael Park, the Nevada State Museum, Boundary Park, Virginia City and Carson City.

Olson said not only does the hunt help locals polish up on their Nevada facts, it also introduces newcomers to the wealth of history in the area.

"It's so much fun," said Ford. "Mary and I look forward to it every year."

The trio plans to spend some of the winnings on a celebration dinner.