Around the mid to late 1980's there was a man who put out a book. The
book was a fictional setting with Rip Van Winkle and a golden bowling
pin. The idea was that there were clues in the fictional book to lead
you to a REAL golden bowling pin buried in the Catskill mountains. (As
I remember, $100,00 0 was the value of the buried prize.)
Did anyone ever win this prize?
What was the name of the book?
Thanks,
Kaiserwilhelm

The book was called "The Lost Treasure of Rip Van Winkle." It was
privately printed by the Kaaterskill Foundation as part of a tourism
promotion in 1984, and it originally sold for $5.95.

Here are two interesting accounts of how the book came to be
published:

Armchair Treasure Hunt: The Lost Treasure of Rip Van Winkle
http://www.armchair-treasure-hunt.com/past/vanwinkle.htm

Hunts: The Lost Treasure of Rip Van Winkle
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mparry/treasure/Hunts/rip_van_winkle.htm

Apparently, although the treasure was found, the name of the person
who found it was never released. (This is understandable. I don't
think I would want the whole world to know that I had a solid gold
bowling pin in my house.)

The Kaaterskill Foundation (now called Greene County Tourism) also
published a sequel, "Captain Kidd and the Missing Crown," in which
gold has been hidden somewhere along the Hudson River. I have not seen
any information that would indicate that this treasure has yet been
found.

Further information about both books can probably been obtained from
the Greene County Promotion Department.

Greene County Promotion Department
P.O. Box 527, Catskill, NY 12414
Phone: 518-943-3223 or 800-355-CATS(2287) 
Fax: (518)943-2296 

http://www.greene-ny.com 
Email: greene@mhonline.net

Search strategy:

"rip van winkle" + "treasure hunt"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22rip+van+winkle%22+%22treasure+hunt

Happy hunting!
pinkfreud-ga

OK, so I have wondered for over 15 years about this thing. I think you
answered the question in a total of less than one hour after I put it
up. That is what Google Answers is all about.
If there were a way to give six stars I would. EXCELLENT A+++++++++++
Thanks a million.....er, I mean $6 bucks.
Kaiserwilhelm