03x04 - The Mormon Wagon Trail

[bunniefuu]

[narrator reading]

Duane, I've only
ever seen that

in super massive black holes.

[narrator] On the quest
to find out

if there's
an ancient treasure
beneath their property,

the Ollingers map
the underground...

That's a series
of caverns and tunnels.

[Chad] That's gotta be a cave.

That circle
under the energy zone
looks man-made.

...and find evidence
that someone could have
been utilizing the caverns.

There is a void right here.
Look at that.

That may have been
a manmade vent for whatever's
underground to get--

-[Chad] Just airflow.
-Airflow down underneath.

[narrator] Duane and his team
attempt to breach the cavern.

Fire in the hole!

[narrator] But once again...

-[man grunts in frustration]
-...they encounter a setback.

[Duane] Those trespasser
holes got flooded.

This whole thing
is super unsafe.

[narrator] But despite
the flooding...

[Duane] Well,
that's [bleep] up.

...victory is pulled
from the jaws of defeat...

[Chad] This is something.

-...with the discovery...
-[bleep] Hey, hey!

-...of gold.
-Holy [bleep], dude.

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

[narrator] Blind Frog Ranch
stretches over 160 acres.

A remote and rugged area
in northeastern Utah.

It's a place
shrouded in legends
of ancient civilizations...

-[Chad] Look at that.
-This has to be
hundreds of years back.

...and mysterious phenomena.

[Duane] There's some
kind of dark force.

[man] We got something
really weird here.

I've never seen
anything like that.

[narrator] Duane Ollinger
has owned Blind Frog Ranch
for over a decade,

convinced that the land
holds secrets...

[Duane] What the [bleep]?

...and a massive cache
of Aztec gold
hidden underground.

We're sitting
on something huge.

[narrator] Rumored
to be worth more than
$3 billion.

Your ranch is part of the
most famous treasure hunt
that's never been solved.

[narrator] But every time
he's gotten close...

[man] Look at that.

...the land fights back.

What would eat
the head off of it?

-[man 1] Whoo!
-[man 2 exclaiming]

-[man 3] It's blinking red.
-[man 4] Poison gas.

-[man 5] Let's get out!
-[man 6] Go!
[bleep] Go!

-[James] What'd you find?
-[Chad] No [bleep] way.

Have you seen
anything like that?

It's pretty freaking heavy.

From the weight
and the way it looks,

I think
it's a low-purity gold bar.

This was just an amazing find.

I don't even know
where to begin.

When prospectors found gold,

they would go
use these smelters

to create gold ingot bars
that were pretty crude

so that they could
trade elsewhere using them.

In this area,
there were individuals

that used ingots for trade.

And we have evidence
of that now.

I mean, it's amazing.

Here's [bleep]
another one, man.
Look at this.

I finally get to hold
[bleep] gold in my hand.

I mean, this is all
I've wanted to do
since we got this property

is hold gold,
and now I'm doing it.

So this is...
This proves that there's
a lot more here.

Let me see it.

This is, uh...
This is a big deal that...

You know, I don't
show a lot of excitements,

but this is proof
there's gold
on Blind Frog Ranch.

[James] I'm telling you,

I bet you this is
a low-purity gold bar.

[Chad laughing]

You guys got a lucky break
by finding those ingots.

There is no doubt.

[narrator] After discovering
the ingots,

the team meets back
at the miner shack

to figure out where exactly
this gold could have
come from.

You know, it appears
that, that was maybe

somebody's personal
stash that was in there,
those two gold ingots.

The way the rocks
were stacked up.

You know, then you had
the carved rock

with the cross on it
right above it
and everything.

You know, it looks like
it could have been, like,

a safety-deposit box
for, for someone.

[Duane] Is it Aztec gold?

[James] No, this isn't
what Aztec bars look like.

Just outside of Mexico City,
in one of the barrios,

a construction worker found
a single gold bar.

That bar
was actually tracked back
to being Aztec treasure.

And these gold bars
are on display
in Mexico City.

So we know
what Aztec bars look like,

and they're nothing
like what we found.

Where do...
Where do we go from here?

[James] What I'd like to do
is to take you

to the Uintah
Historical Center,

which is down in Vernal,

because there are
several maps.

I'd like to use those maps
to see what we can find out
about the ranch

a few hundred years ago.

Maybe those old maps
can tell us a few things

about who stashed
those ingots.

They might even be able
to show us a dry entrance
into the cavern system.

Sounds like a plan.

Go get it done.

[Chad] So, what are we
looking for in particular?

I want us to go through
a few maps that I thought
were important.

-Yeah.
-[James] There's maps that
date back to the 1700s

that show
different trade routes
used by civilizations.

-[bleep]
-Yeah.

Something that might show us
what civilizations

were coming through
Blind Frog Ranch.

I had the Historical Centre
pull all the maps
of the Blind Frog Ranch area.

She has it down here for us.

[Chad] You find anything?

[James] So, there were
a few things, you know,
we had discussed,

-some of the maps.
-[Chad] Right.

[James] This one is...

This is the map of 1858,

which includes
the main wagon trails

to see what goes
near the ranch.

-[Chad] No way.
-[James] That's something.

In the 1800s, the main way
of getting through
the Uinta Basin

and the Uinta Mountains
was through these
stagecoach trails.

So miles and miles
of these stagecoach roads

were built
to important places,

like towns and mines
and the railroad.

If there was
a gold source in the area,

I believe somebody
could have built
a wagon trail to it.

-[Chad] So where
are we at here?
-[James] So...

[Chad] Wow.

Here's where
the Bead site would be,

right here,
where we were digging.

[device beeping]

[James] And whoa,
look at that.

There's a wagon trail
going right past
the Bead site.

[Chad] Who would
be utilizing that?

[James] Let's take
a look at this other map.

This one's
a geological survey.

What number? 11001.

This was the
Ashley National Forest
from 1909.

And this does have
farm or field on it.

-Oh, yeah.
-Down to the east.

-So the ranch would be here.
-The ranch would be
right around here.

Yeah, those are
the battlement ridges
surrounding the ranch.

[Chad] And that's the creek
that runs south of the ranch.

[James] So I wonder
if we compare the spot
on the geological map

to the same area
on the wagon-trail map.

[narrator] By superimposing
the trail map

over the topographical
survey map,

Chad and James can trace
the geological features

that lie along
the wagon trail.

[Chad] Holy [bleep],
it's a cave.

I mean, this is great.

Like, on the map it shows
the wagon trails coming
from Blind Frog Ranch,

and that's by a cave.

That just has to mean
that there is an entrance

to a cavern system
right around there somewhere.

It's northwest of the ranch.

[narrator] The cave appears
to sit right alongside
the Keyhole cavern tunnel

identified by
the quantum team,

one mile northwest
of Blind Frog Ranch.

[Chad] So we gotta
check out this cave, right?

-Yup.
-Yeah.

[Charlie] This is where
we're currently digging,
over by the Bead site,

and I just found another hole.

Well, all we can do
is warn people that are
walking through here.

[narrator] Back at the ranch,
while patrolling the area
for trespassers,

Charlie has discovered
another ill*gal
excavation site.

[Charlie] It's just
more trespassers.

And you can see
their pick marks.

They're probably coming in
at night, when we're not here.

[narrator]
Earlier this spring,

Charlie and Chad discovered

the trespassers
had set up a camp
on public land

overlooking Blind Frog Ranch.

[Chad] They can see
the whole ranch from here.

[narrator] And were digging
on Duane's property,

close to the energy zone.

[Chad] These guys
are digging tunnels
to try to find the treasure.

Y'all are trespassing.

This isn't a mining operation,

this is a freaking heist.

[Charlie] Trespassers
have dug out here
for months.

We just keep
finding these holes.

You know,
these guys don't care.

They'll just start digging.

[narrator] But this hole
is only 100 yards
from the Bead site,

where Duane and his team
have been focusing
their recent excavation.

[Charlie] Every time
we start a new dig,

they sneak in here
while we're not here,

and then they are
basically digging
right beside us.

You know, they're taking
our information,
is what they're doing,

and it pisses me off.

I think they're just looking
for another entrance
into the underground.

[narrator]
With the trespassers
encroaching on the Bead site,

Charlie and Duane
decide to cover up
where they've been digging.

Yeah, Chad and James,
uh, they'll be gone
for a little while.

I'm kind of worried
about these trespassers

because they're just
sitting up there,
watching us.

We have to be very careful
until we can get them
the hell out of here.

[Duane] Attaboy.

All right,
I'm heading towards you.

[Charlie] You know,
we were just digging up
the Bead site.

And so we have
to cover that up.

Make sure those guys
don't get in there

and start digging
on that, too.

-[Duane] Unbelievable.
-[Charlie] This is [bleep].

[Chad] Here's the Bead site.

[James] Yeah. This is the way.

[narrator] Chad and James
are following

the 150-year-old
wagon-trail map

to guide them
to the location of the cave.

According to the map,

it sits roughly
one mile northwest
of Blind Frog Ranch

and could be a way
into the cavern system.

[James] Now, this is it.

[Chad] Apparently,
these wagon trails

haven't been used
for over 100 years

so they're, kind of,
hard to follow.

But you can see
where the vegetation is less

and it's, kind of, packed in.

People definitely
used to travel through here.

[James] Careful right here.

[Chad] There's a trail
down here.

It keeps heading north.

[James] Yup.

Let's go check it out.

Yeah, we just
gotta stick to here.

Yeah.

Does that look like
mining tailings to you?

[Chad] Are you
[bleep] kidding me?

Holy [bleep].
Look at this cave.

[James] It's a big
portal entrance.

Oh, [bleep],
goes way in there.

We're gonna need lights
for that.

[James] Does that look like
mining tailings to you?

[narrator] After following
an 1859 wagon trail map
from the Bead site to a cave,

Chad and James
have found the entrance,

which they believe
might connect
to the cavern system

underneath Blind Frog Ranch.

Oh, [bleep].
Goes way in there.

We're gonna
need lights for that.

So, we'll get some lights,
bring that camera.

-Oh, yeah, you see,
it goes way in there, man.
-[James] Yeah.

There's a vast
subterranean tunnel system
and cavern system

under Blind Frog Ranch,
and it's not just
Blind Frog Ranch.

It travels throughout
the entire Uinta Mountains,
down into the Uinta Basin.

[Chad] Whoa!

Totally is nerve wracking
because you don't know,
like, the hazards of cave in.

And we don't know
if an animal lives in there,

like a cougar
or a freaking bear,

so we're just gonna
take it real easy

and, uh, see what we can find.

-[James] Oh, yeah.
-[Chad] Damn. It goes
way back in there.

-[James] Man. Oh, yeah,
look at that way back there.
-Yeah.

[James] Look down here.

This is all limestone,
there's quartz.

[James] It's wet in here, too.
Look, it's dripping.

Dripping water.

[Chad] Look at that.

-[James] Look at the nail.
-[Chad] Oh, yeah.

[James] It had
some type of railing system
or something hanging there.

And this was done by hand.

[Chad] Look at these
holes here.
They were blasted.

-See that?
-[James] Oh, yeah.

[Chad] The map didn't say
anything about a mine.

But we get in this cave,
and you can clearly see
signs of hand tools.

And the tunnel has,
like, a flat floor.

You can clearly see
that this was manmade.

Yeah, we're not even
quarter of the way out there.

[James] Oh, wow,
this things keeps going on.

-[Chad]
Look how farther it goes.
-[James] Way back there.

Look at that.

[Chad] Uh-huh.

[James] Oh, what is that?

-[Chad] Oh, it's--
-[James] Check
that [bleep] out.

-[Chad] It goes vertical now.
-[James exclaiming]

-[Chad] This is
a winch system right here.
-Yeah.

Nobody pulled it out.

All this time,
and it's still here.

[Chad] Wonder why they went
down right here, you know?

Did they, like,
go underneath this?

It's like why would they
go down right here, though?

[James] Maybe there
was gold down there.

You have to think about this.

They went horizontally
all this way back,

-and then suddenly,
right here, vertical for what?
-[Chad] Yeah.

They had to have
a reason to go down.

[James] They had
to be mining, right?

[Chad] Huh.

-Looks like we need a camera
to see what's down there.
-[James] Yeah.

Let's drop the camera
that I put in your backpack.

Yeah. What if they
created another shaft
directly underneath this?

[Chad] Yeah.
We'll be able to see
with the camera.

Twist it a little bit,
there you go.

[James] Are you on the...
Is it touching ground?

[Chad] No, not yet.

It's deeper
than I thought, man.

All right,
we're at the bottom.

It looks like stone to me.

[James] Turn it a bit.

[Chad] It's still stone.

[narrator] The vertical shaft
ends only 20 feet down.

If this had been
a mining operation,

it appears to be abandoned.

[Chad] All right.

-[James] We're out of here.
-[Chad] Yeah.

[James] This mine is located
at the same latitude

as Blind Frog Ranch.

I mean,
that winch in the back
should be in a museum.

Yet, there it was.

They were clearly
mining for gold.

[Chad] So,
we went in the cave,

and it was deeper
than we ever imagined.

That just reiterates
that these stories
have to be true.

They say that there's
gold mines all around here,
and this is one of 'em.

Maybe the ingot we found
was mined here.

[James] Dude, this is amazing.

[Chad] So, we just got back
from the Historical Centre
in, uh, Vernal there,

-and we found
this wagon-trail map.
-[James] Yeah.

And what was so interesting
was, like, one of
the wagon trails

went up from the Bead site,
north of the ranch,
to this cave.

So we visited that cavern
that was on the map,

and it turns out
that it's a mine.

[Charlie] Holy [bleep].
So who was mining that?

[James] I was wondering
the same thing

so I did a little research
after we left.

I pulled the mining records
from the Historical Centre.

Unbelievable.

And it turns out
that the Rhoades family
had claims

on the entire region.

Few years ago,
you know, I went to the, uh,
county records department.

That is the people that were
filing the notice of location.

[Charlie] Rhoades.

And I found where Gale Rhoades

had mining permits
on the north and east part
of our ranch.

Exactly. The Rhoades family
had mining claims throughout
the entire Basin.

[narrator] According
to local accounts,

in 1852, a Mormon settler
named Thomas Rhoades

was commissioned
to salvage gold from
the Uinta Mountains

for the Mormon Tabernacle
in Salt Lake City.

Relying on the help
of local Ute
and Native Americans,

Rhoades began extracting gold
from a secret mine
in the Uintas.

According to records
in Salt Lake City,

the gold mine was so rich
that it helped fund
the Mormon empire.

It is known
as the Lost Rhoades Mine.

Before his death,
Thomas allegedly
left behind

a series of clues for his son

that marked the entrances
to the mine.

But to date,
the location remains hidden.

So we found a secret mine
that once was claimed
by the Rhoades family.

And they had a claim here
on Blind Frog Ranch,

so it had to be a lot of gold
they were protecting.

There's gotta be a chance
at that wagon trail map

leads to one of the Rhoades'
mine entrances.

I mean, there has to be
a connection with all of this.

[Duane] You know, I think
there's a damn good chance
that's what's going on.

Except, how in the hell
we gonna find this stuff here?

Hell, they've been looking
for this for centuries.

[James] So, I went through
some of the old journals

of the people that knew
Thomas Rhoades
and Caleb Rhoades.

And those people believed
that Thomas left clues

to guide Caleb to the mine.

There's texts that mention
that mention this ancient
eye beam

carved into the back
of the cave walls.

Individual's supposed
to go to it,

stand with their back
to that eye,

look directly
out of the cave entrance

and that's supposed to lead
to a mine or cave entrance

that goes directly
into the Rhoades mine.

What are the things
should we be looking out for?

Mormons were very specific

that there's these
seven stone monuments

that get progressively larger

as you get towards
the cave entrance

that's supposed
to have that eye

in the back of it.

These seven stone monuments,

it looks like a dragon's back
or a dragon's tail.

That's what
we can be looking for

if we're able
to get up to this area

and they're really
are those caves.

We might find gold
at the Rhoades mine

but we may also find
another entrance

into the underground
cavern system.

I hope you're
[bleep] right, man,

'cause if this is true,

this is what
we've been waiting on.

[Chad] So we found
a secret mine

that once was claimed
by the Rhoades family.

I mean, there has to be
a connection with all of this.

[Charlie] You know,
this all sounds good.

But heading out and looking
for the lost Rhoades mine

is gonna take us
away from the ranch.

Can we afford that?

[Duane] Well, Charles,
boy, there's nothing
we can do here now.

You know, it's clear
there's water coming
out of everywhere.

[narrator] With the
energy zone still flooded,

hampering efforts to drill,

the team must consider
their next move.

Wait for the waters to recede

or head north on the trail

of the lost Rhoades mine.

I have a suggestion.

There's a place called
Mosby Sink

that sits about 3,000 feet
above Blind Frog Ranch.

Since it's a sink,

it has an opening
that actually feeds water

into the underground
cavern system.

I think we should
head up there

and see just how much

water is being fed
in to the cavern system.

[narrator] A sink is a basin
like depression in the Earth

where water collects
during seasonal runoff

but has no visible outlet.

Sitting at an elevation
of over 9,000 deet

The Mosby Sink is one
of the largest
in the Uinta mountains

and is connected
to the cavern system
under Blind Frog Ranch.

So, if water levels
are found to be still high

at Mosby Sink,

it's an indication
that flooding will continue
at the energy zone.

[Chad] Going up the Mosby Sink

will tell us exactly
what's going on
with the water flow.

It might explain how long
our drill sites are gonna
be flooded on the ranch.

I'd like to see
what the [bleep]'s going on
up there.

We go now,
we're gonna have to hike it.

[Duane] Well,
we got Ryan Skinner
coming in today

and I think
he can help us out here.

Ryan Skinner?

-Yep.
-So, he's familiar
with all of this area, yeah?

He's paid
his dues around here.

He probably knows the way
up to Mosby Sink, too.

That's worth a shot.

I think
we should check it out.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Chad and James
head out to Mosby Sink

with the help of local expert
Ryan Skinner.

-[James] That's the sink.
-[Ryan] Holy [bleep]
that's loud.

[James] Yeah, I'm telling you.

[Ryan] My name
is Ryan Skinner.

I've written eight books
on the subject

of mysteries occurring
throughout the basin.

I'd like to say
what I bring to the table

is not only my 17 years
of research in the region

but also connecting
with the locals,

getting their stories
from them,

trying to put the pieces
of the puzzle together.

[James] Yeah, this is it.

There's an overlook
right here.

I've never seen
so much water before.

-That much water flow
will suck you in there, huh?
-[James] Yeah.

[James] Look at this.
Isn't that something?

[Ryan] It's like the [bleep]
Goonies in there, man.

[James] Yeah,
it's like Goonies, dude.

Splash mountain.

-[laughs]
-[James] Yep.

[Ryan] Let's check
it out, huh?

[Ryan] Yeah,
we could get sucked in.

[James] Yeah. Be real careful.

Once you're in that water,
you're not gonna be able
to get out.

If you fall in, you're dead.

Seriously, this is usually
always dry.

What you're on is not ground.

I'm trying to tell you.

It's just logs
that have washed down, yeah.

If there was this much water
going down
into the cavern system,

the Aztecs must have
had a way to dam it
or divert it.

[Chad] All right.
We'll put this Go-Pro on.

Maybe we can see
how far it'll go in there.

Just gotta be super careful
not to get sucked in there.

[water gushing]

Holy [bleep]. You all right?

[Ryan] Yeah.

Yeah, we gotta be...

ridiculously careful.
We're in the edge.

Cause this whole thing could,

like a mudslide,
just fly out of here.

[suspenseful music playing]

Oh, it's sucking hard.
I got like 20 foot in there.

I mean, no wonder
I was getting
pulled in the pond,

'cause there's like
a literal suction of water

flowing under there
and it could suck you in

and you're gone.

-[Ryan] You got it?
-[Chad] Here it is.
Here it is.

[James] Be careful, man.

This shows
that this is the reason why

we can't go
into the pond anymore.

Because it's gotta be
destroyed by this
amount of volume

and we can't dig
at the energy zone or drill

because of this keeps
filling up with all this
damn water.

All of this water
flows under our ranch

and the energy zone.

But at least it tells us
that this water problem

is here to stay for a while.

I'm gonna call my dad
and let him know

but our best lead,
at least for now

is that wagon trail
that James and I found.

God, I just had a pine cone
stick to my ear.

[all laughing]

[narrator] While Duane
and Charlie guard the ranch,

Chad, James and Ryan set out
North along the wagon trail.

[exclaims]

[Chad] Yeah, man.

Sweet.

[James] We just wanna keep
a North direction.

We can follow the creek
the whole way.

[bird squawking]

[Chad] He's waiting
for one of us to die.

He could be guarding the cave.

[narrator] Chad, James
and Ryan head North
along the wagon trail

where they discovered
the abandoned mine.

They are searching
for a landmark

known as
the seven stone pillars,

which Mormons believe

lead to one of the entrances
to the fabled Rhoades mine.

[James] Hey, guys, look.

-What is that?
-It's a smelter.

-[James] Look at that.
-What is a smelter?

The smelter was where they...

-Heat the metal.
-...transformed-- Exactly.

They heated -- look at this.
It goes all the way back
in through here.

Unbelievable.

Yeah. Look at the mortar
in there even.

That's unreal.

[narrator] Smelters
are furnaces

that have been used
for thousands of years

to remove impurities
such as iron and copper

from metals
like gold and silver.

In Utah,

smelters were often
constructed close
to gold mines.

So that the gold
could be quickly refined

and shaped into ingots
for transport.

It's a centralized location.

So they were bringing
all that ore
that they just mined to here,

processing it.

But this thing is huge.

I mean, this is a big
walk-in smelter.

[Chad] This is where
they cooked it right in here.

They'd bring the ore here,
heat it up,

and make bars from right here.

[James] Right. They used
the smelters and the creek

to cool the external surfaces

while they were cooking it.

And it helped them transform
the end product into ingots.

Hell, those ingots we found
could have been smelted
right here.

[Ryan] And then they
would just run down
to the creek

and kind of wash it off
and cool off the heated metal.

[Chad] Yep.

[Ryan] This is crazy how close
this is to Blind Frog.

It's crazy to imagine

that we're standing
on a location

where they were actually
refining gold, silver,
who knows what.

Where you find smelters
like the ones that we found,

you know there are large
mining operations in the area.

[Ryan] You know
what this means?

We're on the right track.

[Chad] There has to be
an entrance nearby.

-[Chad] Let's look for it.
-[James] Yeah.
Let's keep going.

[Ryan] Let's check
this part out right here.

'Cause I believe there's
a few trails over there.

[narrator] After finding
the smelters,

the team continues along
the wagon trail northward.

They are looking
for a landmark known
as the seven pillars.

which Thomas Rhoades claimed

marked the direction
to one of the entrances

of the fabled Rhoades mine.

[James] Careful right here.

Hey, do you see something
on top of that mesa?

[James] See the stack of rocks

It looks like
they've been stacked up.

[Ryan] Somebody went
through a lot of effort
to build that.

[Chad] Are you [bleep] me?

I think we need
to check it out,
somehow get up there.

[James] It looks like a cairn.

C, a, i, r, n.

-[Chad] What does that mean?
-So, it could be a marker,

it could be a monument.

It's hard to say
from this far away.

[narrator] Stone piles
known as cairns

were used
by ancient civilizations

as a way to locate treasure.

Archaeologists estimate
that indigenous tribes

built cairns for over
5,000 years

in the Americas.

And believe the practice
was later adopted
by the Spanish

and Mormon settlers.

I wonder if we could
hike up there somehow?

We could just see
if that's a marker
that leads to another--

-To another marker, yeah.
-Just another clue.

[James] Well, if it's marking
all this over here,

we definitely need
to go and check it out.

Especially, in that
lower portion right there.

If Rhoades actually mined here

and there's
a smelter right by it,

that means something.

-It's a good possibility.
-Let's check it out.

[Ryan] I think if we go
around the side over here,

I think we might be able
to find an access point
to get on top.

Let's do it.

[James] Where was it, Skinner,
up here?

[Ryan] Right up here to the,
to the right.

Right at the end of the cliff.

There it is. Right over here.

-[James] Yeah.
-[Chad] Oh, there it is.

[Ryan] Somebody put
some effort into
putting that together.

[James] They put time into it.

[Ryan] Those are some
heavy boulders, jeez.

[James] Wait a minute.

Look at this!
You know what this is?

It's a marker.

The cairn got us up here

but you wouldn't notice
that it's pointing.

Cause you couldn't
see it from down there.

You had to come up here.

You couldn't see it
because of the back wall
but look at this.

It's a pointer.

What the hell?

God damn.

This wasn't here yesterday.

These are fresh
overnight tracks.

So, I went down to the pond.

I wanted to actually
look for the, uh,

the trespassers down there.

When I got down there,
I found something
even more surprising.

These very large tracks.

It was all fresh.

You know, I called Duane
right away,

'cause he really
needed to see this.

[Duane] What the heck
is that from?

[Charlie] Maybe those
trespassers were dragging
something out of the pond.

Oh, yeah, yeah.
There is no doubt
something's going on here.

[Charlie] We've seen
evidence of the poachers
all over the ranch

but this is something new.

It looks like they were
pulling something huge
out of the pond.

[Duane] It looks like
they had something long

like a log or something.

[Charlie] God damn.

[Duane] Oh, [bleep]

The track just keeps on going.

[Duane] What the [bleep]
is this?

[Duane] That's fresh, too.

[Charlie] Yeah.
It's real fresh.

Like, overnight fresh.

Right here.
Look at this [bleep] Charlie.

Right here. Look here.

Right to the beaver ponds.

[Charlie] What the hell
were the trespassers

be doing in the beaver pond?

[Duane] What the [bleep]'s
going on now?

[Charlie] I don't know
what to make of this.

If this was from
the trespassers,

they dragged something
out of the pond,

across the road
and into the beaver ponds.

This doesn't
make any sense to me.

I mean, I've just,
I've never seen
anything like that.

[Duane] Well, Charlie,
let's keep an eye
on this deal.

Let's get the [bleep]
out of here.

But that is so [bleep] wild.

[James] Finally heading
up there.

[narrator] Chad, James
and Ryan are following
the old wagon trail

that leads North
from Blind Frog Ranch.

They are searching
for a landmark known
as the seven pillars.

Which is said
to mark an entrance
to the lost Rhoades mine.

[James] This mine
is supposedly

how the LDS church
became wealthy.

How they were able
to bring in three or 4,000
converts a month.

[narrator] So far,
they've discovered
an old gold smelter.

[James] It's a smelter.

Look at that.

[narrator] As well
as a directional cairn,

which pointed northward
into the Uinta mountains.

[Ryan] Yeah,
this is the spot. We're here.

-[Chad] Okay.
-Yeah, we're gonna
be sh**ting for the, uh,

ridgeline right over here.

See the first hill?

That's where the cairn
was pointing.

[narrator] The ridgeline
is steep and 250 feet high.

Since climbing it
might require rappelling,

Chad asks expert
John Gillham to guide them.

We have to realize
this could be like,
some heavy [bleep].

Like, we could find
the entrance right here
to a [bleep] load of gold.

So it could be really
[bleep] close.

We're gonna have to
keep our heads about us

and see what we find, then.

All right.
Let's start hiking, guys.

-Let's go do it.
-Let's do it.

[Ryan] And like,
this is the easy
part of the hike, too.

Right up here.

Hey, is that marking
right there on that tree?

[Ryan] The second one back?

[James] Right all by itself
in the middle.

[muttering indistinctly]

[Chad] Uh, I don't know.

Looks like a claw mark
in a way but...

[James] Like a claw mark?

-[Chad] Yeah, no signs though.
-No?

[Ryan] Let's keep going.
The ridge is that way.

Hey, look.
Look at this right here.

There's carvings.

That's definitely carvings.

-[James] Oh, yeah.
-Oh, is that like initials?

-What is that? S? W.
-S.

And then three lines.

What is S.W.?

This is definitely
some type of direction.

This, what do you think, Ryan?
Added later?

[Ryan] I think that looks
like an 'I' to me.

[Chad] Yeah, I see it.

So what if there
is something just right there?

-Up here? I mean it's worth...
-Yeah.

I mean,
does this look cut to you?

I mean,
does this look natural?

I mean, look at the tree.

-It already looks--
-Hey, dude, look, too.

[Ryan] Oh.

Cut on top.

it's one of the main markers

that there's something
to look at.

That first
and then you see this.

Maybe that's where
we're going. Yeah.

[narrator] Cut tree-tops
is a tracking method

used by indigenous people
for centuries.

To locate their lands
from a distance

and mark trails
to their treasure.

This practice is believed
to be handed down

from the Ute American
Chief Wahkara

to the Mormons
upon their arrival.

[James] We've got
a lot of journal entries

from the early Mormon periods
in around the 1850s,

where they discussed,
Thomas Rhoades
cut the top of trees off

to show that
there was treasure nearby.

[Chad] Yeah, let's follow
the tree markers.

[James] They were chopping
'em off because you could
see it from a great distance.

[Chad] So, it could have
meant on top here.

Look at this up here.

Jesus, man, if this goes off,

my heart's gonna...

-Wow.
-Yeah. That's it.

-Holy [bleep]
-Nice!

Look at that.
That's beautiful.

Hey, that's the Seven Sisters.

-That's what
I was wondering, too!
-Look. One...

-If you would
call it the Seven Sisters.
-...two, three, four,

five, seven.

-There's Seven Sisters.
-[Ryan] Is it?

-And the biggest one
marks the cave...
-Right, right.

...at the very end.

[James] That might be
the seven stone monuments.

[narrator] The team believes
the stone markers
they spotted along the ridge

are the seven pillars,

also called the Seven Dragons
or Sisters,

that the Momon journals
described as a landmark

to the lost Rhoades mine.

Guys, the tree
lead us to here.

Then there's the Seven Dragons
right there.

We have all these
tunnels here that said
in the [bleep] journal

that it's right below there.

We're [bleep] on it.

-We're on it.
-This is it.

-Yeah, that's the cave
right there.
-Everything is lining up.

Let's find that [bleep]

[cheering]

[narrator] On the next episode

of Mystery
at Blind Frog Ranch.

Rappel on?

We ride together,
we die together.

[bleep] Holy [bleep]

[bleeping]

There's a hole right in there.

This could be the motherload.

Holy crap!

-[bleeping]
-You all right?

[Ryan] James, you good?

[Chad] You all right, James?

Well, he fell earlier.