Byars, Oklahoma. Byars is a town in McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 255 at the 2010 census.
The man behind the treasure is Forrest Fenn, an 85-year-old millionaire, former Vietnam fighter pilot, self-taught archaeologist, and successful art dealer in Santa Fe, N.M. No one knows where that treasure chest is but me, Fenn says. If I die tomorrow, the knowledge of that location goes in the coffin with me..
In reality, he was crossing the Beaufort River on the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge in Beaufort, South Carolina. Forrest was a member of the United States Army in the film, and during his time in the military he was deployed for the Vietnam war. The film crews and Tom Hanks did not actually travel to Vietnam to recreate the war scenes. Instead, they were filmed at Hunting Island State Park and Fripp Island in South Carolina. Beach at Hunting Island