04x02 - The Curse of the Aztecs

[bunniefuu]

- [frog croaks]
- [narrator reading]

In their search
for the lost Aztec treasure...

- James! Buenos dias.
- Hey, how're you doing, Julio?

[narrator] ...James traveled
to Mexico City...

[Julio] Let's take
a look inside.

[narrator]
and uncovered old maps

that suggest the Aztec homeland

could be located
beneath Blind Frog Ranch.

[Julio] The Aztecs, we do know

that they came from the north.

[James] Holy [bleep].

This is what could be
under Blind Frog Ranch,

or Montezuma's treasure.

[Chad] Even over there. Like, there's
these little holes where smoke goes up.

[narrator] At the Bead Site,

Duane and Charlie learned that the
black soot collected from the vent holes...

[Charlie] We did an X-ray
fluorescence analysis.

It comes back as
charred plant material.

[narrator] ...indicates
that an ancient culture

might have once lit fires
inside the rock formation.

- [Eric] That's amazing.
- [Chad] Yeah.

- [Eric] Right in there. Now, I see it.
- [Chad] Yeah, yeah.

[narrator] While
at the South Cave,

Chad and Eric resumed
the hunt for a hidden entrance

into the Keyhole Chamber.

This cave points exactly
towards the energy zone.

[Eric] Wow.

[narrator] And gathered samples

of the mysterious hand-hewn logs

to see if they were left
behind by the Aztecs.

[Eric] They may have
been in here looking for gold.

- [narrator] But a strange tremor...
- [rumbling]

- and a dangerous rockfall...
- [bleep].

- Out, Chad...
- [narrator] ...left them scrambling for safety

before they could learn more.

- [rumbling continues]
- [objects rattling]

- [Eric] Chad!
- [exclaims]

[thunder cracking]

-[opening theme music playing] -[narrator]
Northeast Utah is a place of mysteries,

including legends of treasures
buried by long-dead civilizations.

[man] Oh, wow.

-[crow caws] -Look at that.

[Duane] This has to be
hundreds of years back.

- [narrator] Unexplained phenomena...
- [indistinct utterance]

[James] What the hell is that?

[narrator] ...that defy
human understanding.

I've never seen
anything like that.

[narrator] All these mysteries
meet at a crossroads.

A 160-acre property known

- as Blind Frog Ranch.
- [frogs croaking]

Duane Ollinger has owned Blind
Frog Ranch for over a decade.

And each year, he's
drilled closer to the truth...

- Hell, yeah. He can go faster than that.
- [mechanical whirring]

- [man] It's working!
- [whirring continues]

[narrator] ...and
long-lost Aztec gold

he believes is buried
deep beneath his ranch.

[Chad] It's freaking massive.

Could the Aztecs
have discovered this?

[narrator] But the
closer he gets...

[Chad] Whoo!
Feeling alive, boys!

Finally get to hold
[bleep] gold in my hand.

[narrator] ...the more
the land fights back.

[man] What would
eat the head off of it?

Weird [bleep] goes
on around here.

- [Chad] It's blinking red.
- [Eric] It's poison gas!

[yelling] Let's get out! Go!

[screaming] [bleep] Go!

[narrator] But Duane
will move heaven...

- and earth...
- [Chad] Fire in the hole.

[expl*si*n]

[Chad exclaiming]

- [narrator] ...until he gets to the bottom of the mystery.
- [liquid burbling]

[Duane] We've
started this whole deal,

and we're sure as
hell gonna finish it.

[narrator] And solves
what's lurking below...

[Eric] Holy [bleep]!
There's something in there.

[Chad] Hell, yeah!

- Come out!
- [Eric] [imperceptible]

[Chad] Josh!

- [rumbling]
- [rocks tumbling]

[narrator] ...at
Blind Frog Ranch.

- [Chad] All right, let's get this out of here.
- [Eric straining] All right.

- One more pull. Let me get down a bit.
- [Chad] Okay.

[narrator] At the South Cave, Chad
and Eric are beginning to clear out

the rockfall from the collapse.

Their plan is to stabilize
the tunnel with timber.

[Eric] Chad, I'm gonna
call out some numbers.

For our timbers.

- Twelve.
- [Chad] Six-by-six-by-twelve?

[Eric straining] Yep.

Sixteen-by-six-by-six.

And then 48,

that's going to
be a four-by-four.

So now, the fun part begins.

[mechanical whirring]

[electrical saw whirring]

-[electric saw
buzzes] -[Eric] Okay.

[narrator] Mining timber supports
have been used for centuries.

And entire forests were
cleared in the American West

to support the growing
mining industry.

Chad and Eric's timber support frame
will consist of vertical timber posts,

connected by a
horizontal cap beam.

The frame will then be covered on
the top and sides with lagging beams.

[Chad] Let's move these
into the fracture site.

- [timber clatters]
- [grunts softly]

[Eric straining]
Here we go. [grunts]

[timber clatters]

[Chad] This is just brutal, man.

This tunnel is so narrow.

Everything has to move
one piece at a time.

It's like building IKEA
furniture in a closet.

- [timber moving]
- [Eric strains]

We do the furthest-back
timber set first.

[Chad strains]

[narrator] Using timber
supports has advantages.

-[drilling] -Wood
can be cut to size

and can support over 1,200
pounds per square inch.

It's easier to acquire
than steel supports.

[drilling]

And the sound of a
cracking wood beam...

[wood beams cracking]

could warn them of
an impending collapse.

[Eric grunts]

The design of these
supports isn't complicated,

but we do have to be precise.

Because if we're
off just by a hair,

it could collapse, and the
results could be deadly.

[drilling]

[drilling continues]

- [Eric] All right, we're stable.
- Okay.

[Eric] Now, we'll put in...

- Okay.
- The 2-by-12s on the top.

- [Chad] All right.
- Yeah.

[Eric] That's
looking pretty solid.

I feel safer under
here already, Chad.

[radio static]

- [engine whirring distantly]
- [Duane] What do you think, Josh?

[Josh] Beautiful.

What a place you
got here, Duane.

It reminds me of home.

[Duane] It ain't bad.

We have two areas we're
exploring to see if it'll lead us

into the Keyhole Chamber.

[Chad] It's Josh, huh?

[Duane] Y ou know, that's more
projects than we've ever done before,

so we're going to
get professional help.

So, I'm bringing in an
expert to help us decide

which one needs
to be prioritized,

and figure out where the
area is most likely to pay off.

Come on up here, Josh.

- Fellas, this is Josh.
- [Chad] Welcome.

- [Josh] How's it going?
- [James] How you doing?

- [Josh] Josh.
- James.

- Pleasure to meet you, sir.
- Yeah.

- Charlie.
- Charlie?

- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.

- Josh, Chad. Good to meet you, brother.
- Chad?

- Nice to meet you.
- [Chad] Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah.

- I know this old cowboy right here.
- [Eric] Yeah, yeah.

- Good to see you again, Eric.
- Good to see you again. Yeah.

[Josh] Duane's been telling me you
guys have been doing a lot of work,

and he thinks maybe
I can lend a hand.

Well, it's good to have you.

[Duane] You know, Josh,
he's got a hell of a background

in mining and treasure hunting.

[Josh] Yeah. I hope some
of my experience can help

the project here.

I'm Josh Feldman. I'm a
gold miner from Arizona.

- [rocks tumbling]
- [yelling] Rocks!

I've been treasure hunting
since I was a little kid with my dad.

[man] Here I go!

[Josh] I've been all over
the American Southwest...

That's a good one.

Searching hundreds of
different treasure stories.

We've had some success.

There's been a few that
we've discovered at the site.

He and his family has found
the Lost Dutchman's Mine.

[Chad] Damn. Really?

That's a big find, man.

[narrator] Josh and his family have
discovered what they believe to be

the remains of the
Lost Dutchman Mine,

hidden away for years in
Arizona's Superstition Mountains.

It's believed to contain
millions of dollars' worth

of gold bullion, left
there by its last owner,

a German prospector
nicknamed "The Dutchman."

After "The Dutchman's" death,

the mine's location
was lost to time,

until Josh and
his family's years

of historical research and
geological surveys revealed its secrets.

Duane believes that Josh's
experience with that discovery

could be the key to helping
the team find the Aztec treasure.

[Josh] What happened
at the Superstitions,

is it took us boots
on the ground.

- [Chad] Yeah. Okay.
- And reading the ground itself and understanding the geology,

understanding the people
that were there before us,

their history,
their motivations,

and listening to
their old stories.

Legends are not
created out of thin air.

They're not just a
story around a campfire.

Something happened
that motivated that story.

My dad searched for it

- for well over 50 years.
- [Chad] Wow.

The last 20 years of that, I
was with him side by side,

that's where I cut my teeth.

It's really my dad's life work.

I was with him finishing
his unfinished business.

I see Duane and his son, Chad,

and it reminds me of my father

and all the treasure
hunting that we did together.

So, if I can help
them out, I'm all for it.

Well, we can talk
all day out here.

Let's go inside and we'll
catch you up on what we want.

- [Chad] Let's get done. Let's do it.
- [Josh] Man, sounds good.

[Chad] We've always brought
out various experts to the ranch.

But recently, my dad's had
some health complications.

And let's face it, he's
not getting any younger.

[Duane] Hell, yeah.

Here we go, fellas.

[Chad] So, he's bringing in Josh

to try to help expedite
this treasure hunt.

So, I'm just going
to lay it all out here.

We're looking for
Montezuma's lost gold.

That's why you're here, brother.
That's why we brought you in.

I've followed that story.
I mean, it's... [chuckles]

the oldest treasure
story in the Southwest.

We are sitting on,
what I believe is,

not just Montezuma's
treasure, but their homeland.

That's the legend.

The story is, is that a
lot of their great wealth

went north back to their origin.

You're speaking our
language right now.

Here's a copy of a Spanish
map I brought back from Mexico.

It translates, "Fom
the shores of this lake,

the Aztecs left to
found their empire."

We are looking at this area.

This is Winter
Mountains, right here.

This is Blind Frog Ranch.

Right here.

[narrator] The map that
James brought back indicates

that the ancient homeland
of the Aztec people,

before they established
their empire in Mexico,

was located in Utah.

[James] I honestly believe

that they brought the
treasure back to their origin site

and added it to additional
artifacts that were here.

The Aztec knew about it,

and they brought treasure back

to a location that
they were familiar with,

and that had been used for thousands
of years by the indigenous people.

[narrator] For centuries,
it has been a mystery

why the Aztecs might
have fled north to Utah

after the Spanish invaded
their empire in 1519.

James believes he
might now know why.

They were returning to their
land of origin, Chicomoztoc,

which some scholars
suggest is in Utah.

[James] So, this map
shows Chicomoztoc,

which is the legendary
homeland of the Aztecs.

It translates roughly
into the seven caves.

Here's the thing. According
to local Mormon stories,

there are seven caves leading into the
Lost Rhoades Mine, right around this area.

We think they're the same thing.

[Chad] And here's another thing.

We had quantum imaging
come out here last year.

And they found this keyhole-shaped
chamber underneath the ranch,

and it stretches for,
like, a quarter of a mile.

Look at this.

Keyhole Cave from last year.

Seven caves, Chicomoztoc.

It matches up.

[Chad] So, this keyhole could
be the home of the Aztecs.

I mean, we're
right on top of it.

I bet you anything
we're going to end up

finding something very
similar to these seven caves.

These maps are awesome.

I take this very seriously.

And it looks like
you're on the right track.

We need as much
detail as we possibly can.

[James] Somewhere on this ranch,

there's an entrance
to that cavern.

We just can't quite
find the way in.

I can help with that, for sure.

These maps are pretty
impressive. I got to admit,

that's really something.

James has done a lot of
work to connect the dots here,

and it's definitely
worth investigating.

We have a lead.

There's a breadcrumb right here,

and I want to find the next
breadcrumb, and the next breadcrumb.

And maybe it does lead
to some something great.

You guys have already
done a ton of work here,

and I am really excited
to learn everything

that you've done
in great detail.

Everybody's bringing
something to the table.

We need to go out there.
Because I guarantee you,

with this team, we're gonna
figure this son of a b*tch out.

[Chad] Hell, yeah.

I need to see these sites.

Let's look at the ground

at the hard evidence.
Let's look at the research.

That's how I can help them find

the entrance to this
Keyhole Chamber.

[Duane] What do you think, Josh?

[Josh] I want you to
show me everything

that is important to
you on this property.

And then, my plan is
to come up with a plan.

[Duane] All right, let's do it.

[narrator] Duane has
brought professional miner

and treasure hunter,
Josh Feldman, to the ranch,

to seek his advice for their
two best leads to gain entry

into the Keyhole Chamber,

the South Cave,
and the Bead Site.

[Duane] You know,
Josh, right here,

this is the Bead Site
that we're talking about.

[Josh] Wow. It's impressive.

[Duane] Our hope is that

- this ties into a cave system.
- [Josh] Gotcha.

And this was all dug out
with the trackhoe, I assume?

[Duane] We thought this
was a pretty good target.

We dug this deal out.

And the deeper we
got, the more we found.

- What have you found here so far?
- Lots of the beads.

[Duane] Trading beads,
you know, 15th, 16th century.

[James] We have
found bone masks.

And metate.

So, it sounds like all
Native Americans so far.

- So far.
- [Josh] And right now, you're trying to see

if there was any Aztecan
influences going on here?

- [James] Correct. Absolutely.
- Okay.

[James] This is
the Shelter Area.

There was a lot of soot,
a lot of charcoal remains...

- [Josh] Sure.
- While we were digging with the bones,

- that looked like they'd been cooked.
- [Josh] Interesting.

The beads are everywhere.

It's impressive how many
beads are on the ground here.

Wow, there's just
hundreds of them.

- There's red, white...
- [James] Yeah.

Blue.

These are definitely
trade beads.

There's no question about it.

This is some fine-grained
material, isn't it?

It's covered up so much.

[James strains]

[grunts softly]

[Josh] Here you go. Right here.

There's a bottom of an
arrowhead right there.

We've been here for
no more than an hour,

and we're pulling
out all kinds of stuff.

It's a pestle, a mano,

for the metate.

They can grind their food down.

Stuff that I can't
fully explain.

This is interesting.

You see this here?

That's dinosaur bone.

- [James] Petrified?
- [sighs] Yeah, for sure.

This formation
we're standing under,

it's late Triassic,
early Jurassic.

So, this bone would be from,
like, 170 million years ago.

This is from a Therapod
dinosaur, from that era.

I've never been to a
Native American site

- and ever found a dinosaur bone.
- Really?

- [Josh] Yeah, that's incredible.
- [chuckles]

Somebody was
bringing in these fossils.

The only other explanation is
there's actually a dinosaur fossil here,

and those are things that
we need to keep in mind.

[Duane] In the last ten minutes,

Josh, looking around,
he's found a dinosaur bone.

We've been out here

for 14 years and we've
never even had a clue...

about a dinosaur bone
or anything like that. So,

you know, it's just amazing
what that kid knows.

[Charlie] Hey, Josh.

- Yeah?
- [Charlie] This appears to be a timber.

It's like it's been
worked on that end.

- You see that?
- [James] I sure do. That is interesting.

Why is this site so important,

and has been so important to so
many people through the years?

You see this straight cut here?

This is probably getting
into the 19th century.

It's showing us that people were
interested in this site for centuries.

And my Spidey
senses are tingling.

There is something to find here.

Very interesting.

[Charlie] Let me show
you the smoke vents.

[Josh] Okay.

[Charlie] But we've
got... what looks like

little chimneys coming
out of there, little vent pipes.

You've got one that goes...

right in there, where you
see all that black right above it.

- [Josh] I sure do.
- All right. The hole's right below it.

- Right here?
- [Charlie] Yeah.

Okay.

This right wall right
here is blackened,

almost like you'd
see on a chimney.

- It's, uh, like soot.
- [Josh] Hmm.

We're just wondering if... If
all this doesn't have something

to do with the fire that's
way down below the earth.

And if there was a fire,

does that mean that people
were living down there?

[Josh] That's interesting.

We had Dr. Bob
Morton come on out,

and he actually was
able to analyze that soot.

And he confirmed that it
was from campfire smoke.

Something's going on.

- We want to get to the bottom of this deal.
- [Josh] Understood.

Duane has all
kinds of questions,

some of the questions I
don't fully understand yet.

We're in the middle of nowhere.

And yet, here's this little spot

on this rock,

and all these people
have come here,

and all of their stuff
has been left behind.

That's interesting to me. The
answers to those questions,

if they're going to
be found anywhere,

they're going to be found
right here at this site.

One thing I notice here,

we're at much
higher elevation here

than we are down
there at the Shelter Area.

I think it would
help if we were able

to move all of this dirt back.

Once we open it up,

and we get our eyes
on the entirety of it,

then we can start answering
some of these mysteries here,

because this dirt's in our way.

You know, Josh, I agree
with you. If it gets us down

to where the cavern
is, that's all well worth it.

Totally agree.

[Duane] Josh, Let me take
you over to the South Cave.

[Josh] Let's go.

[Duane] Josh, this is
our South Cave right here.

[Chad] Yeah.

- Entrance is just right over there.
- [Josh] Okay.

It's at least a
couple hundred feet.

- [Josh] Wow, it's a long ways in there.
- Yeah.

[Chad] We think that this could
lead us to the Keyhole Chamber...

if we could find a
connecting tunnel.

Okay.

- Let's take a look.
- Sweet.

Make yourself at home in there.

I'm too big for that damn cave.

[Josh] Yeah, that's a
bunch of bull-[bleep].

- [Chad laughs]
- [Eric laughs]

- [Josh] Let's do it.
- [Chad] All right.

- [Josh] All right.
- Let's go check it out.

[narrator] The cave mouth sits 1,000
feet south of the Keyhole Chamber,

in the side of a rock formation.

Chad and the team believe
there is a hidden tunnel

that connects the
two cave systems.

[grunts softly]

[pants]

Yep. Here's the cave right here.

- [Josh] This is the entrance?
- Yep. Right in there.

- This is it.
- [Josh] Man,

- that's a coyote hole right there.
- Yeah. Exactly.

It's tight, too.

Are you claustrophobic at all?

[Josh] I'm a gold miner, Chad.

It's kind of tough
to be a gold miner

- and be claustrophobic.
- [laughs]

All right. Here we go.
Are you ready, brother?

- [Josh] I'm ready.
- All right.

There is no room...

- [Chad] No.
- In there whatsoever.

[Chad] No, it's tight, man.

It gets worse.

- That's fantastic news.
- [laughs]

You'll like it.

[grunts]

[grunts]

[breathing heavily]

[Eric] How's that
shoring looking?

[radio static]

[Chad] The shoring is still
solid. It's holding up really well.

Copy that.

[Josh] Oh, my God.

This is not safe in
here, Chad, I'll tell ya.

You don't think so?

[Josh] No, it's pretty sketchy.

[grunts softly]

[Chad] Some of these spots
you've got to get kind of sideways...

- [straining] to get through.
- [Josh] Yeah, I got you.

[grunts in effort]

[strains]

[pants]

- [whispering] Okay.
- [Josh grunts]

Got it. Nice job.

[Josh] Your head is tight
going through there, Chad.

It's, like, what is... It must
be what it was like being born.

[Chad chuckling]

[Josh] I'm seeing some quartz
veins coming through here.

Quartz veins, that's
where you find gold.

This isn't usually the type
of rock you find gold in,

but with these quartz veins,

that's something weird.

[Chad] Right.

All right. Right up here
is where the fork is.

You can see there's been,
like, rocks stacked in there,

or, like, it's been collapsed.

- [Josh] I see that, yeah.
- But that's where we put the endoscope.

And we saw something, like, a
shadow or whatever moving in there.

[Josh] Man, I don't think
the animal got in from here.

- There's no way he made it through this.
- [Chad] No. No, no.

Especially this...
It looked big.

It was, like, a big shadow, too.

[Josh] There's got to be
another opening somewhere then,

- if there was an animal in there.
- Has to be. Exactly.

And I think if we were
to get all the way in there,

we could figure out
where this opening is.

[Josh] Whoa. I swore I
just saw something move.

- [Chad] Really?
- Yeah.

Right there, about


-[water drips] -[Chad]
Do you hear that?

Right... Hey, hey.
Do you hear that?

[water drips]

[echoing drip]

- [water drips]
- [echoing drip]

Do you hear that?

- [water dripping]
- [water dripping echoing]

[water drips]

-[echoing drip] -[Josh]
Yeah, there's an echo.

[Chad] That's loud.

[Josh] You can just tell by the
way the water is dripping and hitting,

there's a bigger
void back there.

[water drips]

If that was just a
tiny little opening,

- you wouldn't hear any noise.
- [Chad] It's true.

- Yeah.
- You saw an animal back there,

- a large animal?
- Yeah. Uh-huh.

- I'm hearing echoing coming from the back.
- Right.

[Josh] I... I think for sure there's
a larger opening back there.

[Chad] Exactly.

You think we could, like, bring a jackhammer
and clean some of this [bleep] out?

Or is it too risky?

[Josh] Yeah. I mean, you're gonna need a
jackhammer to move some of this material.

- [Chad] Right.
- But you got to be careful,

because you could
destabilize this area.

You start moving rock,
and this gets destabilized...

Man, it could be dangerous.

When you excavate a gold
mine, it's a slow process.

Because safety is first.

So, we can totally
dig the side tunnel out.

But we're gonna have
to do it inch by inch,

one set of timbers
after another.

- Look at all this stuff, all this rubble in here.
- [Chad] Right.

This is actually giving
stabilization to the wall.

- [Chad] Gotcha.
- So, it's literally a rock and a hard place.

- [Chad] Yeah.
- We'll need to shore every foot of this up.

[Chad] All right,
let's go to the cavern

- where it opens up.
- [Josh] Okay, cool.

[rocks clatter]

- Whoa!
- [Chad] Watch your step, man.

There's ice all over the place.

Some of it is sharp.

You don't wanna step on it.

[Josh] ...Look at
the size of this room!

- This is massive, Chad.
- [Chad] So, back here,

that's where those big,
hand-hewn logs are.

[Josh] Yeah, right through here.

[Chad] These are those hewn
logs that I was talking about.

[Josh] Look at these things.

These definitely
did not get in here

- through the way we just came.
- There's no way.

- [Josh] All those twists and turns.
- Right.

[Josh] Looks like they've
been in here a long time.

[Chad] Yeah.

[Josh] Look at that.

Boy, they did a lot
of work on this one.

- That's been axed.
- [Chad] Axed?

[Josh] Yep. [pants]

This timber has
been hand-worked,

but I have no idea
how they got in here.

[Chad] My only thought that
where they could have came from,

is there is a spot
back over here,

that sounds like the floor
is hollow. [grunts in effort]

- [knocking on floor]
- [hollow thudding]

I mean, you hear that?
It's like there's a void

underneath the floor there.

There's definitely
a hollow back there.

- [Chad] Yeah.
- For sure.

You don't drag timbers in
this size just for the heck of it.

Whoever was here had a
major operation going on.

- Huh.
- I mean, this almost looks like the portal to me,

- like on a mine.
- Uh-huh.

The portal of a mine,
you're gonna have

a bunch of timbering
holding the opening.

So, this was your
header right here.

It would have been
holding the ceiling.

And then all of this,

these would have been
upright over this way.

And then over
time, they collapsed.

Uh-huh.

What do you think about
inside, like the structural stability?

[Josh] This stuff is
caved in right here.

-That's a lot of
material... -Yeah.

- To hold a lot of ground.
- Right.

That tells me that it's
maybe sketchy back there.

But the thing is, is...

- that's where we gotta go.
- Yep,

that's where the
answers will be.

This takes a lot of manpower

- to bring in this type of timbering.
- Right.

So, what they were doing
meant something to them.

So, they could have mined here,

and then used this
as a... site too, huh?

I'm not sure yet. And if we
can move all of this stuff out

and get through this
rubble, it's gotta open up.

And then, maybe see
what they were actually after.

-[radio static] -[Chad]
Hey, Eric, you copy?

[radio static]

[Chad] Hey, we're
heading back out, man.

[grunts in effort]

[strains, pants]

[Chad exhales sharply,
breathily] Oh, thank you.

[pants, straining] Ooh.

That's not that safe
underneath there.

- [bleep].
- [Josh] I mean, there's a lot of fracturing.

There's a lot of stuff
being held by imagination.

- One rock comes down, that's it.
- Yeah.

You're dead.

Chad's right.

The South Cave is drifting down
towards the Keyhole Chamber.

But as a miner,
I'm seeing rockfall,

back defaults,
smashed-up shoring

from centuries ago.

We're going to have to be extra
cautious as we excavate it here.

[Duane] Let's go, fellas.

[wind howling gently]

- [Duane] Gentlemen.
- [Chad] Hey.

- [Eric] Hey.
- [James] Guys.

- [Josh] Hello!
- [Charlie, softly] Hey.

[straining] Hey.

Well, Josh just
saw the property.

So, let's see what
he's got to say here.

[Josh] Duane asked
me to put a plan together.

So, I wanted to lay
out my perspective

of what I think should be done.

I mean, the thing that really
stands out to me is that Bead Site.

This is an important place.

We should really focus
in on investigating that.

So, Duane, Charlie, I
think we need to excavate

underneath those smoke chimneys,

and determine
what it actually is.

All the sand that's
blown in here

is hiding so much.

Pull all of that
overburden and topsoil off

and expose what's
underneath those chimneys.

There could be an
entrance sitting right there.

- [Charlie] Right.
- I like it.

[Josh] And then the other
side of that Bead Site,

James, you and I, we need to
excavate that by hand, layer by layer.

- Sure.
- Pulling out artifacts,

and recording everything we find
to figure out who those people were,

and what was
really going on there.

Learn as much
as we possibly can.

- Find that virgin layer.
- [Eric] Yeah,

might give you a clue
to where that entrance is.

- Exactly.
- [Josh] Chad, you and Eric should continue,

-absolutely, at that
South Cave... -[Eric] Yep.

Looking for some
other entrances.

- I mean, you guys are already underground.
- [Chad] Mmm-hmm.

[Josh] We can't visually
see where the tunnel is.

So, let's get a magnetometer in
there and see if we can find a void.

[Chad] Yeah, I like it.

More technology,
magnetometers and...

- [Eric] Yeah.
- Metal detectors.

But we've got to do it safely.

Absolutely. Be super cautious.

I think both sides are great.
But if we divide and conquer,

we hit the South Cave,

and y'all hit the Bead Site, I
think we can get somewhere.

There's many
possible entrances in.

- [Chad] Right.
- That's got to be the goal.

We're doing three
things at the same time.

- There's enough of us to do that.
- Mmm.

[Josh] That's what
it's going to take,

because it's possible that only
one of those is gonna get us in.

Right. Yeah, very possible.

[Josh] These guys have been trying
to find a way into the Keyhole Chamber

for quite a while now.

But they've got to remember
that hidden treasure

is hidden for a reason.

I mean, one of the
greatest treasures

to have ever been discovered
is King Tutankhamun's tomb.

That thing laid there for


Hell, it took almost a decade for
Howard Carter to get into King Tut's tomb.

So, just because they
haven't found an entrance yet,

doesn't mean
that there isn't one.

It took tons of research,

and I think we need
to keep that in mind.

Divide and conquer,

three different sites, and
just go as hard as we can.

[Duane] Hell, man,

we're not getting any younger.

So, we need to
light this thing up.

- [Chad] Hell, yeah.
- [Eric] Let's get to work.

[Chad] All right. Here we are.

[Duane] Mary, this is
our Bead Site right here.

[Mary] Have you
found old things?

[Duane] Beads
and all the artifacts.

[James] We've found
a lot of mammal bones.

[Mary] Gotcha.

[narrator] Before
beginning excavation,

Josh has invited a local
tribal elder out to the bead site.

[Josh] Let's take a look.

There's a lot of questions
that we need answered.

[Mary] Okay.

We'll walk right in here, Mary.

[narrator] ...who might
be able to shed some light

on the significance
of the location,

and the artifacts
the team has found.

[Duane] Watch your
step on these rocks here.

[Josh] We need to understand the
history of who was here at the Bead Site.

That's how we're
gonna find the treasure.

Hopefully, she can give us
some insight into who was here

and how they used this site.

[Chad] So, here's some
of those beads we find,

even some scrapings.

Yeah, I won't touch them because I
don't know what they were used for.

When you make
something, you pray over it.

Like, if I was gonna
make something for you,

the prayer would be for you.

-Somebody else touching
that... -[Chad] Yeah.

Diminishes that.

- [Chad] Gotcha.
- It affects it.

It's a transfer of spirits...

- is what happens.
- [Chad] Right. Okay.

- [Mary] Depending on what that was used for...
- Right.

I might not want
that spirit on me.

My name is Mary Murdock Meyer,

and I am the chief executive
of the Timpanogos Nation.

For our people, I think
it's an important thing

to share what you know,

because it gives them a
voice where they can be heard.

Mary, why would there be so many
of these beads, the deeper we dig?

[Mary] I would think that
they came off something large

that disintegrated,

or a lot of things.

- [James] Okay.
- What would you use these for?

- Ceremonies, possibly.
- [Eric] Ceremonies. Mmm-hmm.

[Mary] Or burial sites.

Whatever this place was,

this has a spiritual meaning.

Otherwise, people
wouldn't be leaving offerings.

That kind of explains the beads,

because this site
meant something.

People don't leave offerings

unless there's a reason.

That's why I'm saying you
guys need to be... careful.

[Josh] Understood.

[Duane] You know, Mary, thanks for
coming out here and helping us out.

[Mary] Sure.

[Chad] We have a lot of
questions. I hope that's all right.

Well, I just hope I can
answer them all. Well...

Where do you want me to start?

We'd like to straighten
out the history of the area,

so we have a better understanding
of what happened here.

"Timpanogo," it's...
Which is who we are,

is an Aztec word.

- It's amazing.
- So, there is a connection.

And... Which is why the Shoshone
language is called "Aztecan."

So, when Montezuma
sent people here

to hide his gold,

Cortes sent his
Spaniards after them.

Because they wanted that gold.

[narrator] Some scholars believe

when the Aztecs
fled Mexico in 1521

to their ancient
homeland in Utah,

it is believed the Timpanogos,

who are the indigenous
people of these lands,

helped the Aztecs protect their
treasure in underground caves.

Our people looked at it as
something... You can't eat it.

It can't do anything for you.

It's a rock.

If the Aztec brought the
treasure back up here,

would Native Americans
have closed off those caves

or sunk the known
tunnel systems?

They would have done something

to try and protect themselves,

because everybody
was after gold.

Shortly after the
Spaniards came,

they used our people as
sl*ves to try and retrieve it.

Good God.

[narrator] The Spanish
Empire was determined

to find Montezuma's treasure,

and dispatched numerous
expeditions to Utah to locate it,

forcing the
Timpanogos to aid them,

slaughtering those who would not
cooperate in their quest for the gold.

[Mary] They never did find it.

But so many of our
people were k*lled.

Jesus.

Gold has a spirit with it.

It always has.

And that spirit is powerful.

The gold miners
of old get gold fever,

and they go crazy
over that rock.

It causes people
to be sucked into it.

And when you mess with that,

it can k*ll you.

[Eric] Mary, uh,
I'm a scientist,

but we've had some
experiences out here.

[Chad] Um...

I guess, paranormal,
strange experiences out here.

He's had some difficulties, um,

-in the caves, and
some... -[Chad] Yeah.

Some very close calls.

Chad and I, um,
we heard a rumble,

- and we don't know where it came from.
- True.

I mean, it was shaking
rocks off the ceiling.

But, there's... There's some
bearing to what you say, I think.

Mountains could rumble
for several reasons.

There's an old legend about a
hill that, um, rumbles all the time.

And it's going to rumble
until things are fixed...

for us.

A lot of our people are upset

when they see gold hunters.

The gold hunters back in the day,
they would take and hurt you guys.

And that... Well, the only thing
we want to do is work with you.

[Josh] I'm with Chad.

Finding what has become
lost is the key to the truth.

And sometimes, that
what you find is gold.

But... it's cursed.

We've always believed
that gold is cursed.

And everybody that I
know that's gotten around it,

has got sick or died.

It's not meant to be...

found.

Certain things
are to be left alone.

[Duane] I understand the risk
of searching for this Aztec gold,

but it makes me push harder.

It's been hidden for centuries.

And if we find it,
we'll add our names

to the history books.

You know, we're just trying to find
out, kind of, what the truth is, and...

And you're opening, uh, a big
light for us, and I appreciate that.

[Mary] It's not
something to mess with.

Not to be taken lightly.

[narrator] While the first
records of the Timpanogos Nation

were written by Spanish
explorers in the 1700s,

archeological evidence and tribal
tradition indicates their ancestors

have called the American West
"home" for at least 12,000 years.

A hunter gatherer society,

the Timpanogos had no
boundaries or divisions on their land.

In the 1800s, other tribes
from outside of Timpanogos land

were forced into the area
by the federal government,

displacing the Timpanogos, who
now had to share a reservation

a fraction the size of
their traditional homeland.

- [Josh] Duane?
- [James] Hey, Duane.

[narrator] After
meeting with Mary,

the team heads
out to the Bead Site

- to go over their plan for excavation.
- [Josh] I'm thinking,

we can conquer two
sites at the same time.

We'll start leveling
this site right here,

working our way up
there next to the cliff,

- so we can open it up.
- Okay.

[Josh] And once we get to that
wall and we move all this back...

- [James] There could be an entrance.
- [Duane] Exactly.

[Josh] We're going to excavate
two areas at once at the Bead Site.

On the right side, Duane's
going to clear away 10 foot of soil,

all the way up to the wall.

Once it's clear, we'll be able
to see if there's a cave opening,

something to tell us where
the smoke vents lead.

Hopefully, they connect to
the Keyhole Chamber below.

Meanwhile, we'll continue
excavating the Shelter Area

on the left side by hand.
We're going to be looking

for artifacts that might
give us additional clues

to where the entrance
was into that cave system.

Charlie, you're going
to be spotting Duane.

So, as Duane's digging,

just keep your
eyes on everything,

so we make sure that
we don't miss any artifacts.

While you're doing
that, we'll be over there

- with the detectors.
- [Charlie] Okay.

[Josh] I brought this thing.

This detector goes deeper than any
other detector you've had here before.

- I like it.
- [Josh] So,

we might be able to find
something really great

- at depth.
- [Duane] Perfect.

I think we've got
a good plan here.

Let's go. Let's get to work.

[Duane] Charlie
boy, let's do this.

Duane, we're ready
to go. Fire it up.

Ten-four. Here we come.

[excavator engine whirring]

[continuous whirring]

[Duane] Hell, yeah.

[excavator beeping]

[gear lever clicks]

- [Josh] All this stuff here, this is just overburden.
- [Charlie] Yeah.

[Josh] It's just in our
way. It's got to be removed.

- [continuous whirring]
- [excavator beeping faintly]

This is the first
layer taken off.

[excavator beeping continuously]

This soil over here,

at the Bead Site, it's dark.

We see dark soil,

we're gonna have to
really take a close look.

[narrator] From Bob
Morton's analysis of the soil,

the team now knows
that any dark soil

could contain carbon from
ancient fires lit by humans

at the Shelter Area,

and somewhere inside the rock
formation that connects to the chimneys.

[Josh] Not an
artifact in sight...

- [James] Nothing.
- In any of this stuff.

I think he can take this down,
deeper down at this level here.

And then we can start working
and getting deeper, deeper, deeper,

to, you know, where
you're standing.

[Charlie] We'll
start on the left side,

take it down another two foot.

[Duane] Go ahead and shut
that door, if you don't mind.

My tootsies are getting cold.

-[excavator engine
revs] -[beeping continues]

I'll just start detecting then,

- this whole area...
- [James] Sounds good.

- To see what I can come up with.
- Okay.

[Josh] I'm setting
up my metal detector.

This one... [strains
softly] is a pretty large one,

so it will go fairly deep.

So, that will give us a
little bit more assurance

- that we're not going to miss anything metal.
- [metal detector sounding]

I use this machine
at our gold mine.

So, if there happens
to be gold here,

we got the exact
machine to find it.

But it will also find

any other type of
metallic objects.

And those are almost as
important as finding gold here,

because that's going to
help answer the questions

of who was here,
and what did they do.

[indistinct background chatting]

[rattling]

What have we got here?

This is interesting.

That don't look natural.

[metal detector sounds, beeps]

Oh! It's a metal.

This is really
interesting, James.

[James] What do you got?

The heck is that?

[James] I'm coming over.

[Josh] Some sort of
larger beads, James?

[James] Let me see.

What you got?

[Josh] Man, let me
put my loop on him first.

[James] And that's
hitting as metal, huh?

[Josh] It did. It hit as metal.

These look like to be
some sort of copper beads.

Yeah, it's oxidized. I
can see that from here.

- Yeah.
- They don't look modern, do they?

No. They don't
feel modern at all.

They look like they've
been done by hand.

Copper beads. We got smelting.

I mean, were they making
these things right here?

Who traded copper beads the
most that you and I both know of?

- The Aztec?
- The Aztec.

That was what they traded in,

was copper beads.

I mean, that was more
important than gold to them.

[Josh] Copper beads are found in
the American Southwest through trade,

but this is the first time

we have ever found copper
beads here at the Bead Site.

This could absolutely show
that there's a connection

to Aztecs being
here at this site

on Blind Frog Ranch.

This is freaking awesome.

- Bag it and tag it.
- Wow.

[narrator] Next time on
Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch...

[Charlie] Hey,
hold up, everybody.

I've never seen anything
up here like this before.

[Eric] That is,
in fact, concrete.

I've seen it all
throughout Mesoamerica.

I think this could
be a religious site.

[Josh] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Duane] What the hell?

- [Josh] Around my neck of the woods.
- [rumbling]

call it the thunder gods.

[Charlie] Every
time we get close

to an answer, something
throws a monkey wrench into it.

[drilling]

[Chad] I feel, like,
cool air coming out of here.

This could be it.

- [Eric] Yeah.
- [object thuds]

- [object creaks]
- [rocks tumbling]

- [rumbling]
- [Eric yells indistinctly]

- [Chad grunts]
- [rocks continue tumbling]