Teams had to figure out where to go next by associating the etched clue with a place on the map (the answer was Lake George, Alaska), and tell that location to one of the five awaiting helicopter pilots before they could commence.
Unbeknownst to – and undiscovered by – the teams, if they had put the two clues together in a different way (by placing the cylinder in the middle of the painting on the back of the map), an image of Mount Rushmore would have been revealed.
Teams travelled 10,000 ft (3,050 m) into the mine and searched for the clue, a bucket (which was covered with snakes) inscribed with the words "bend the light."
Buried within a fire pit behind the 14th star teams found a table and code key for a double substitution cipher devised by Thomas Jefferson and used by Lewis and Clark, and journal pages describing their next destination, Tower Rock, Montana.
After making an estimated 80 mi (130 km) round trip to a Burger King restaurant, Josh quickly deciphered the message and they were able to find the artifact ahead of Team Brown Family.
Combined, the messages, referring to Paul Revere's famous midnight ride read: Teams determined they needed to head for the cemetery at the Old North Church.
Teams raced to Pemberton Pier, from which ferries departed for Boston Light, and grabbed tickets to determine their order of departure the following morning.
They found Civil War artifacts and lyrics to the slave song Follow the Drinking Gourd written on the tunnel walls.
All other teams as they arrived recognized that the bundles were clues, consisting of a Don't Tread On Me flag, a copy of the Drinking Gourd lyrics and special glasses.
After well over a 14-hour trip to arrive at Beneventum, teams located a key and a quilt with a map hidden in the embroidery, like those used by escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad.
Team Brown Family was informed that because of Keith's injury they could either quit the Hunt or continue, skipping the swamp but incurring a six-hour penalty.
The pouch contained a quilt panel with the message "I believed that in America most all men loved freedom and would rather go to their grave free than live their life as a slave."
One member of each team descended into the Catacombs in search of the remains interred in 1789, the year the Marquis de La Fayette designed the tricolor Flag of France.
This led teams to the "Children's Statue of La Fayette" sculpted by Paul Wayland Bartlett, located at the Cours Albert 1er.
Teams decided to break their copies of the mask, within which were concealed the true fourth artifacts, a medallion engraved with an unknown ship and the words "Dover Castle The Arrow Points The Way."
Teams departed from Eastwell Manor in Kent, England for Nice, France, in search of "where Via ferrata ends," which led them to Peille.
To find the next clue, teams were told to search a cave in Peille Gorge, accessible by climbing several rock faces and crossing three suspension bridges.
At La Turbie (the Trophy of the Alps), Team Air Force, well in first place, spotted a placard on the ground with an "inverted rose."
Searching around the area turned up a box with $50,000 in gold coins and a portfolio containing a partial street map of Paris with the Champ de Mars marked.
Air Force flew to Paris and headed to the park, and were instructed to climb to the second level of the Eiffel Tower and look West for "a classic symbol of American freedom."
Team Miss USA arrived at the Eiffel Tower after dark and actually discovered the Statue of Liberty on a souvenir picture postcard.
Southie Boys, Geniuses and Ex-CIA discovered the hidden Rosicrucian message on the subway travelling to the Champ de Mars and so were not required to ascend the Eiffel Tower or visit the Statue of Liberty.
At the chateau, the keys teams found earlier at Peille Gorge unlocked a cabinet in which there were locked boxes containing the sixth artifact, a cryptex.
The next morning, each team received a Susan B. Anthony dollar along with a clue directing them to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans on the campus of Bronx Community College.
Team Geniuses discovered a painting called Today, depicting a scene of the Gould Library with a light shining on a particular sculpture.
Teams were informed upon arrival that the code to open the cryptex was a seven-letter word, found in multiple locations within the hall, and that some of the rooms have secret entrances.
Teams were advised to seek one of three specific books (titled Poltroons & Patriots, Official Histories and The American Flag: Of Stars and Stripes) each of which covered the final artifact.
Team Geniuses were the first to arrive at the Fort McHenry docks and hired a boat to take them to the Francis Scott Key Truce Ship.
Upon arrival the team was advised to locate a hidden chamber to find the solution to the second cryptex, and that what was inside would point them to the treasure.
Pre-show reviews seemed optimistic about the fact that Treasure Hunters would be an intense, stepped-up version of The Amazing Race, in the wake of two lackluster seasons the latter show had just aired.