All language subtitles for Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch S04 E02

-[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.

[explosion]

[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 bitch 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 12 feet in to the right.

-[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 3,000 years.
Nobody found it.

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 slaves
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 killed.

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 kill 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]