Original subtitles

Previously on "Blind Frog Ranch."

Wild!

Woo!

The team discovered a flooded cavern system...

OK, we're way back there, all the way towards the ranch.

...leading to the Keyhole Chamber,

where they believe the Aztec gold is hidden.

But with the passageway blocked,

Chad and Josh begin searching for another entrance

into the flooded caverns below.

Limestone.

We absolutely could've an entrance to a cave here.

Uncovering a series of ancient trail markers,

pointing them towards the treasure.

That looks exactly like a turtle.

It really does.

Is this not a bear guarding the cave?

And a mysterious stone monument.

Look how that's stacked up.

I don't see how it's lasted this long.

Surrounded by signs of Aztec weaponry.

There's another one right here. Look at this.

That's an arrowhead for sure.

Meanwhile...

That's the borehole we want to offset.

Eric's plan to drill around the meteorite

covering the keyhole chamber...

...hits a deadly problem.

Shut it down!

- Shut it down? - Shut down that rig!

This whole place is radioactive.

Oh

Denzel, shut it down!

Legends of ancient treasures...

This has to be hundreds of years back.

...and unexplained phenomena.

What the hell is that?

Meet at a 160 acre property in Northeast Utah,

known as Blind Frog Ranch,

where Duane Ollinger and his team are

digging in search of long lost Aztec gold

The Aztecs have discovered this?

But the closer they get...

I finally get to hold gold in my hand.

...the more the land fights back.

Go! [bleep] Go!

Now, Duane will move heaven...

There you go!

...and earth...

Fire in the hole.

...until he gets to the bottom of this mystery...

We've started this whole deal,

and we're sure as hell gonna finish it.

...and solves what's lurking below...

Holy There's something in there!

Guys!

...at Blind Frog Ranch.

This should be it, right up here.

That's where we found those artifacts.

Yeah, that's where that big rock structure thing is,

right there.

Chad and Josh are heading back

to the Stone Monument they discovered,

tracing the path of the turtle's gaze--

a large rock formation that is surrounded

with arrowheads from an ancient civilization.

That's an arrowhead for sure.

- Oh, look at here. - Another one?

Another arrowhead. That's three.

The profusion of worked arrowheads leads them

to believe Aztecs and their descendants

were using this area to make weapons.

This site was important.

It's not just a lone arrowhead that got lost.

It could be, like, an armory.

There is stuff all through here.

I think we just need to keep looking around.

I mean, there could be a cave.

Could be a sign of there being an entrance underground here

or something like that.

It's just kind of a-- it's like a big stone monument, right?

And it looks like it's been manipulated.

And there was a lot of rock here at one time.

You could tell it was there, and yet, not all, it's gone.

But it's actually, totally gone.

There's no rock here below it.

So where did all the rock fall go?

Where's the rubble at?

We're looking for an entrance

into this underground cave system

that leads back to our ranch.

Right here, there's another one, right here.

- You got something? - There's another one.

Look at that.

Yep, that's one for sure. Wow, look at that.

- I think it's obsidian. - Really?

Holy

- That's wild, man. - Absolutely.

I mean, obsidian's not found here in the Uintas,

so I have no idea where it came from.

Hey, right there.

That's definitely an arrowhead.

It's not a finished piece, but it's--

it's part of an arrowhead for sure.

It's like somebody was making it and then it broke.

- Oh, it broke. - So then they just throw it.

They trash it, exactly.

Or unless they brought them here.

But I wouldn't think it'd be, like, the best hunting.

Right, like--

This hilltop isn't any good for hunting.

There's no food. There's no water.

What if they were guarding something?

Guarding, yeah. And what do they guard?

- That's the thing, too. - Exactly.

Yeah. What are they guarding?

Why here?

I think this was a defensive position.

It's up high. It has weapons all over.

I mean, they were guarding something here, for sure.

Well, we can get these dated to see how long ago

they were here. - Yes.

And then figure out why they're here.

The wind's kicking up, man.

This is, like, any time we get close to anything,

weather happens.

Let's keep looking around and see if we can find them.

Oh, absolutely.

So I spent some time last week reviewing

all the core samples that we took from the Energy Zone.

There's some good news, and bad news.

The bad news is we pulled the core,

and it had this distinct yellowish sort of stain to it.

So I got out my Geiger counter and checked it,

and sure enough, it was uranium,

and it's emitting radioactivity.

While Chad and Josh were scouring for an entrance

into the underground,

Eric has been trying to breach the Keyhole Chamber from above.

- What do we got, guys? - 195 to 200 plus.

All right, good.

Attempting to size up the meteorite

and drill into the chamber,

Eric extracted a core sample

containing a distinctive yellow material

that proved to be highly radioactive uranium.

- Shut it down! - Shut it down?

Shut down that rig.

After investigating the core sample,

Eric has assembled the team to review his findings.

So this is really dangerous.

Going in through that uranium,

I mean, it's gonna kick up uranium dust.

You're gonna inhale it.

The good news is, with some really serious

mitigative efforts and testing, uh, ventilation--

ventilation shafts, things like that,

we can make a plan to safely drill through that.

Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive metal

that is used to generate nuclear energy

and power atomic weapons.

The element was used to create the Little Boy,

the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Prolonged exposure to uranium can cause sickness

and even death.

I think this uranium may very well be the reason

for the Aztec being attracted

to the Energy Zone to begin with.

Did they carve this keyhole cavern because of the energy

that was being emitted?

It almost seems like it was the reason

that they came there.

Yeah, I mean, what I see here is you guys have discovered

two resources that are very rare in any culture.

Meteorite and uranium, ancient culture sees those.

They're gonna look unique,

and they're gonna be attracted to them.

I mean, uranium is yellow.

Just that alone,

they're gonna go, "What is this?"

This doesn't look like everything else.

And meteorites, I mean, that's iron,

and that's the only way, really, in nature

that the ancient people were able to obtain actual iron.

They didn't know how to smelt back then.

So, I mean, it just makes sense

that of course, people were attracted to this place.

Absolutely.

Many of the great ancient civilizations,

such as the Egyptian Empire and the Shang Dynasty,

were built around impacted meteorites.

Meteorites also marked central sites of worship

for the Roman and Greek empires,

most notably being the Omphalo stone

at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece.

But what were they doing with it,

and what did it mean to them, that I don't know.

Well, throughout history, the most important artifacts

have been made from meteorites.

I mean, it's the most prized possession of any culture

or civilization that we know of.

King Tut's knife was made of a meteorite.

Meteorites have high iron content and were one of the few

sources of iron available to ancient cultures,

making them highly prized and vital in the creation

of ancient deadly weapons.

The sword of Tutankhamun, discovered in King Tut's tomb,

was carved from meteoritic iron

and decorated with a gold handle.

While in China, hammers were crafted from meteorites

during the invention of Kung Fu

over 4,000 years ago.

And ancient Indonesians fashioned crisp daggers

from meteorites,

which they believed possessed magical properties.

So why was the uranium with the meteorite?

The yellow is mineral called Carnotite,

which is uranium bearing ore.

So wherever that meteor created fractures,

water washed in and left the uranium deposit behind.

I wouldn't think everything under Blind frog Ranch

is gonna have this big concentrated zone of uranium.

That spot happened to.

Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen that distinctive yellow color

anywhere on the ranch before.

I think it would be smart to just go back

and look at our samples that we've taken, um,

at the ranch over the years

just to see if there's any uranium in them.

For all we know, there could be radioactive material

all over the ranch.

Yeah.

Still good information, though. I mean, it really is.

Everything is.

I've worked on long term projects,

and if you hit a roadblock, you don't get to quit.

If you do, you don't have a job anymore.

And so you just figure it out and keep moving forward.

So hitting that uranium is a blessing to me.

It's a good thing. It's all information.

You can use it for your benefit

or you can ball about it and go home.

I have never in my life seen a thing that looks like it's bad

that didn't turn into an opportunity for me.

It might kick your ass a little bit,

but I guarantee the blessings are so much bigger.

We did get boned at the Energy Zone

when we were drilling with the radiation,

but we can't forget about the armory site right here.

So this is where we found all of the arrowheads

and the spearheads right here.

And there could be another entrance,

or something that they were protecting.

I agree, man. That armory is a huge deal.

We go there, we found not just several arrowheads,

but an obsidian arrowhead.

So we've gotta get an expert in here to check this out.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I know Chris Bartell's an expert on projectile points,

and he can give you guys some really good information.

So I would definitely like to go dig deeper

into that location. - Yeah, we ought to look at that.

It's very critical that we look forward on every lead we can.

So now Chad's gonna find a way into those underwater tunnels,

what they call an armory.

And Eric is gonna start running tests on our samples

and see if there is uranium.

There's no stopping here, fellas.

We're nowhere close to stopping.

- Good, deal. - I like it.

Yeah, grab you a seat, Chris.

All right.

Wow.

So today we have Chris Bartel coming out to the ranch.

We've been finding a lot of arrowheads,

and he has a lot of experience

on different arrowheads that he's found here

and all over the world.

Wow, that is an incredible piece.

Yeah.

Chris Bartel is a high ranking private contractor

who oversaw security at Skinwalker Ranch.

He is also an expert in ancient artifacts and weaponry.

The team is seeking his insight on identifying the arrowhead

they recovered from the suspected armory.

That is beautiful. This is obsidian.

Obsidian is a volcanic glass that has been shaped

into tools and weapons for thousands of years.

Its unique molecular properties allow it to be honed down

to an edge 500 times sharper than a steel blade,

making it a deadly weapon in battle

for ancient civilizations.

This is a museum quality piece.

That tells me that something's trying to tell a story here.

Obsidian comes from volcanic activity.

This is not from around here.

This area right here doesn't have that volcanic rock.

I have not seen obsidian out here at all.

Yeah, I haven't either, actually.

But the Aztecs definitely used obsidian, for sure.

So this either-- this either--

you know, may have been traded back in the day

or brought in by somebody else, but you're right,

I haven't found any raw obsidian out here.

Obsidian comes from volcanic activity,

and there's hardly any volcanoes here in Utah.

So that means that someone had to bring this material here.

But what we do know is the Aztecs extensively used obsidian

in their weapons.

And this was, like, you know, deadly weapons.

It cuts like glass.

The richest deposits of obsidian in the world

happen to be in Mexico,

where the Aztecs built their empire.

Would obsidian been held in a higher regard as a material,

so that would have been more for ceremonial purposes?

Correct.

I've seen large obsidian blades

that were specifically used for ceremonial purposes.

Obsidian held immense significance in Aztec culture,

not only serving as a sharp and durable material

for tools and weapons,

but it was also crafted into mirrors

and used by sorcerers to seek visions of the future.

From what I understand, you did the arrowhead based on

the bottom half of it. - Right.

So how old do you think this is?

This is probably the Archaic period.

So this is a couple thousand years old, most likely.

Spanning from 8,000 to 1,000 BC,

the Archaic period in North America

was characterized by a shift toward a wider range

of food sources

and advanced tool technologies used

by the indigenous cultures.

It was people here on this ranch 3,000 years ago.

- Yep. - It's amazing.

We're talking early hunter gatherers that were out here.

You know, I mean, it's an incredible history.

And this is, like, you know, this is the truth.

This is undeniable.

You can't just make this stuff up.

I mean, to find them like they were made yesterday

out here means that there's way more stuff

to be discovered out here.

- Take a look at this. - Oh, wow.

It's a northern side notch bird point.

Nice! Look at this thing.

Bird points, like this, were used typically

to hunt small game, like birds or even rabbits.

They're razor sharp.

Actually, let me see that obsidian point you found.

Ain't that something?

- That almost matches-- - Oh, look at that.

Yeah, that is something. Look at that.

I wonder if it's the same maker.

Although the arrowheads are made of different materials,

their identical design indicates

a similar time period,

likely 3,000 to 7,000 years ago.

Amazing that you found that out here.

The other interesting thing about this arrowhead

is that the style of it matches an arrowhead made out

of a different material, but the shape

is exactly the same.

It makes me wonder if both of these points were made

by the ancestors of the Aztecs that lived in these caverns.

So it's almost like some of this area,

they're protecting it. - It could very well be.

I mean, these lands are protected for a reason,

maybe for the cultural reasons,

but maybe there's also hidden gold caches out here.

It's evidence of occupation, so

I'm interested to see what else you find there,

especially if you get inside the caves.

Chris, man, thank you for coming out, brother.

Thanks. Thanks, man.

Thank you. Thank you, absolutely.

This was where most of the arrowheads

were coming out of, right here.

It'll probably be good for you to go through

with the metal detectors first.

See if there's anything out of the ordinary here.

Let me go ahead and set this up for you first.

Yeah, let's hammer it out.

This site we're calling the armory,

there could be an entrance to a cave here,

but we're finding all these artifacts,

so we're gonna do this by the book.

So James is gonna set up a search grid,

and we're gonna go through this area

with a fine tooth comb.

All right.

- OK, that's the last one? - Yep.

We know that this underwater cavern system is running

right below the armory.

There has to be an entrance very close by

to the armory here.

All these artifacts, all these projectile points,

may lead us to that entrance.

All right, so I'm gonna grab my detector,

and I'm gonna get that thing fired up.

All right, so we'll set up the provenience screen.

While Josh scans the area with his metal detector,

James will start excavating the area by hand,

using a wire grid called a provenience screen

to chart the discoveries.

Yeah, I wanna work this hillside.

Oh, this detector will cover some ground,

which is really nice. - Good.

We'll sniff it out.

Boy, nothing.

This area is clean right here.

No metal.

Nothing there.

Oh, there we go.

There's a signal.

Let's see if I can get that to repeat.

Yeah, yeah.

That's a target right there.

Here we go.

What the hell is that?

I got something in the hole right here, James.

Really?

Holy crap!

I think we got something.

Come take a look at this, James.

This looks like lead.

At the armory, the team has been successful uncovering

numerous projectile points.

But Josh has just unearthed a mysterious piece of metal.

What do you think? It does look like a--

that looks, it's lead, right? - Yeah, I've seen these before.

Yeah.

This looks like it could be a fired round.

That's interesting.

Yeah, it obviously hit something, too.

If we're talking a musket ball, Josh,

we're talking the earliest settlers here.

Muskets were commonly used on battlefields

in the 16th century.

Crafted from soft lead,

the musket balls would often deform

as they collided with their target's flesh and bone.

Look at that, I mean, it--

it was fired up here at something.

I mean, it probably just hit the dirt or a rock or whatever.

That's amazing.

Hey, fellas. Any luck?

Check this out. Projectile

- Another one? - Yeah.

You gotta go check out what Josh found.

Check this out.

Is this metal, or what'd you find?

That's lead.

Found that with the detector, just right here.

- It's half of a sphere. - Yeah, a musket ball.

- Like old school? - Yeah, it is.

You see that?

- Hell, yeah! - Yeah!

It sure is, isn't it?

How old do you think it is?

I mean, it has to be Pre-Civil War, but it can be--

it can go back from there, I mean, hundreds of years.

You know, I think what's most important,

everything we found here is Native American,

but this musket ball is European.

I'm just wondering if somebody fired that at this site

or at someone.

Exactly. It definitely hit something.

Look at that

It's definitely a musket ball.

Yeah, could've been a battle.

Yeah, some kind of battle.

That means there's something of value here.

I mean, something worth protecting.

- Something worth dying over. - Definitely.

Hey, I'm getting a signal here, guys.

Really?

Yeah, it's the same signature as the last one.

Let me just-- let me just kind of, narrow it down.

See where the signal's strongest.

Right there?

You see that line I drew in the sand?

- Yeah, yeah. - That's our midpoint.

I'm getting the best signal,

and I'm getting another one going this way.

- Anything? - Nothing.

Let's keep going.

Let me see if it's still in the hole, hang on.

Oh, yeah, it's still there.

- It's still in the hole. - Yeah.

Hey, wait, wait, wait.

Right there, right there.

- Yeah, look at this. - Look, it's intact.

- Oh, wow! - Look at that

- Look at that. - Amazing.

Look at that.

Josh has uncovered another musket ball,

but surprisingly, this one is unfired.

That's identical.

If you fired this and it hit somebody or something,

it's gonna look just like that.

- Wow. - Look at that.

Nice find, man.

I just wonder what they were defending right here, you know?

That's a good question.

So we're seeing these projectile points,

and we're seeing these musket balls.

One of the musket balls crushed on one side,

that tells us that this thing was fired

and came into contact with something,

and it's all telling a story.

I think there very well could've been a battle here,

but what were they fighting over?

The bigger the battle, the bigger the treasure.

Exactly right.

All right, fellas, let's keep going.

This is great news. Let's find some more

I'm gonna get some gloves to crush that rock.

Eric is inspecting dozens of samples he's been collecting

from across Blind Frog Ranch, attempting to determine

the extent of the uranium deposit's reach,

fearing they may extend beyond the Energy Zone.

I took a bunch of samples from all over the ranch.

And I want to crush it and look at it under the microscope

and see if there's any uranium in it.

I'll check the sample for radiation

with the Geiger Counter,

but I'll need to do a visual inspection first.

This isn't exactly high tech,

but when you're out in the field,

you have to be ready to improvise.

So I've fabricated a rock crusher here.

And so I'm crushing it down.

As much as possible, to try to liberate

anything that's in there.

I'll look at it under the microscope

and see what we've got.

So we'll see.

This is a sample from the South Cave.

I'm seeing some hematite, malachite in there.

There's nothing there. So far, eh.

Well, I haven't seen anything in it.

Well, let me take a look at the next one here.

I'm seeing small flakes of gold.

There's one, two, three, four, five.

I mean, too many to count.

It's a decent looking sample,

but so far I'm not seeing any uranium.

This is sample number one from the open pit.

What the hell is this?

I'm seeing a couple small fragments.

It's really hard to mistake that color.

Oh, yeah.

It's uranium.

Or at least that's what I think it is.

But I'm gonna go ahead and check it

with the Geiger counter.

Yeah, it's uranium.

You got uranium at the Energy Zone?

You got uranium at the open pit?

What the hell's going on here?

Oh, boy. I think we've got our match.

It's uranium.

Eric is inspecting dozens of samples he's been collecting

from across Blind Frog Ranch.

Within the samples, Eric has uncovered uranium

in an unexpected location, the open pit mine,

a series of large mine entrances

which lied north of the Keyhole Chamber.

We've got uranium at the Energy Zone.

We've got uranium at the open pit.

So it's connected somehow.

I gotta think it's connected.

The uranium could've been naturally deposited

in two different places,

but I've got a hypothesis I'd like to test.

What if the uranium settled in both places

because they both had meteorite impacts?

We have a meteor impact site here at the Energy Zone.

We have found uranium here.

We have a fault here,

and we have uranium at the open pit mine, too.

So there's a connection there.

We know that meteor impacts can create faults, actually.

They can create zones of weakness.

So, did this uranium collect in the fault

created by the meteorite?

Is it possible that multiple fragments of this meteorite

hit along that flight path?

Each impact could've created faults

that later developed into caverns.

So that would increase the odds of us finding an entrance

that could lead us back to the Keyhole cavern.

With uranium detected at both the Energy Zone

and the open pit mine,

Eric believes several large fragments broke off

the incoming meteorite,

creating fault lines upon impact,

stretching between the two locations.

Over millions of years,

water seeping down through these fissures in the earth,

could've carved massive caves,

leading all the way to the Keyhole Chamber.

I mean, finding this both here on the ranch

and at the open pit mine means

there's continuity between the two.

What I'd like to do is go back to that fault line

that runs through Blind Frog Ranch

north towards that open pit mine

and take a look around for any other signs

of meteorite impact.

It's really cool.

So I'm digging it, man.

What are we looking for down here, though?

Well, what I'm looking for here is fragments of meteorites

made out of iron and nickel.

To validate his theory,

that meteorite fragments created openings

into the Keyhole Chamber,

Eric has asked Chad to help him search

for evidence of the impacts.

See how the creek bed, it's kinda deep there,

and then it shallows out here? - Right.

As the soil erodes,

any heavy material is gonna get washed down into that creek bed,

just like a funnel.

There's, like, nothing here.

Let's look over here by this outcrop.

The reason Chad and I are exploring down

in this creek bottom is--

everything that's in the rock, around it,

eventually makes its way down into that creek bottom.

I'm just picking up, like, noise here.

- Yeah. - Nothing here.

That's some, huh?

Yeah, there's something right in here.

- Hear that? - I heard it go off.

- Hear that? - Yeah, yeah.

The signal on here is telling me it's iron.

Let's take a scoop.

I start shallow and then get deeper and deeper.

And then I'll run the scoop over the detector.

Yeah, there's nothing in that one.

Oh, nothing there.

Maybe a little deeper.

- There it is. - Oh, there it is.

Yeah, yeah. This is dark right here.

- Yeah, yeah. - See that?

Yeah.

- That's it. - Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Run it over it again.

Does it show what metal it is?

It's iron.

- Iron? So this could be-- - Yeah.

- This could be a fragment? - Yeah, it could be.

Right off the bat, it has kind of a look

of a meteorite fragment.

See how it's kind of shiny, like that?

And it doesn't really look like anything else around here.

- It's showing iron, so that's-- - It's showing iron, yeah.

probably that's some kind of meteorite?

Yeah, and we can do a final test with an XRF gun.

- OK. - If it shows nickel,

then we know definitively that it is.

That means that a-- a meteorite could've came in here

and it just split up.

Small fragments of it should be, you know,

placed here and there, basically.

Oh, this is a good sign.

Everything down in the bottom of the swash has been eroded

from the slopes here, basically. - Right.

So this represents thousands and thousands

of years of material.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Chad, I got something here.

- Holy! - What is it?

Look at this!

It looks like a shatter cone.

You see how it's sort of,

it's small here and it's like a cone-shaped thing?

This is the result of a meteorite

impacting this bedrock.

The shock waves go through it and it just forms these cones.

And that's the same as the Energy Zone?

Yeah. It's like we have a meteor.

We found this shatter cone, and that definitely tells us

that there was some type of big explosion here.

Most likely from a meteor that impacted the Energy Zone.

The presence of a shatter cone,

half a mile north of the Energy Zone

is startling proof that Eric is correct.

There are now signs of multiple cavern entrances

that exist along the meteorite fault line,

leading to the keyhole chamber they've been trying to access.

We don't have time to hike it today,

but we've gotta go back to that open pit line.

Each one of these impacts

could be a way into that cavern system.

This is a great defensive site right here.

There was a skirmish taking place here for good reason.

This area was being heavily defended.

Throughout human history,

every culture has sought advantages

against their enemies.

Defending the high ground is a strategic tactic

that forces intruders to fight uphill

and provides an advantage when firing projectiles.

While excavating the underground city

of Derinkuyu,

archaeologists uncovered innovative defense mechanisms,

such as rolling stone doors

used to seal the entrances and exits,

as well as small, hatch-like openings

used to ambush intruders from below.

The Aztecs themselves were famous for using the waters

of Lake Texcoco as one of the world's most massive

defense systems.

So, if this was a defensive position,

there's gotta be an opening to the underground treasure chamber

where soldiers or warriors could come up to fight off invaders.

- Roger, how are you, sir? - Good, how are you doing?

- Welcome. - Thank you.

- Good to see you. - Good to see you.

With the discovery of the musket balls at the armory,

Chad has invited historian Roger Blomquist to the ranch.

Check this out.

He's hoping Roger can determine their origin to decipher

what took place at the armory.

How old do you think it is?

I mean, it has to be Pre-Civil War, but it can be--

it can go back from there, I mean, hundreds of years.

So, what have we got today?

Yeah, Roger, why we had you come out is

to check out some of these weapons

that we found at our armory.

And we call it an armory 'cause we found a lot

of arrowheads, plus musket balls.

We think there could've been some kind of war,

or maybe they were protecting something in that area,

something worth a lot of value.

OK, now, an armory, is that a hole in the ground?

Or is that a cave, or...?

So, they have a flat rock platform

that they actually looked like they were tooling at,

and then we found this ordinance along with it.

What's interesting is the lead that you found.

This hasn't been fired.

You still have the sprue mark in it, from when it was cast.

Sprue marks are small protrusions left behind

after the casting process.

In order to improve accuracy,

sprue marks were removed before firing.

The fact that it was dropped and not fired,

it speaks to urgency.

If you're in a battle, there's more of a chance

that you drop it and not retrieve it,

than if you were hunting. - Gotcha.

If you were hunting, you'd have more time to go,

"Oh, I dropped a ball, and they're so hard to get

that I'm gonna stop and pick it up

and take it with me."

They appear to be the same caliber,

so it could've been the same hunter or soldier.

What I'm looking for here is rifling marks to decide

whether it came out of a musket or out of a rifle.

Rifles, as we know, are more accurate

because it spins the ball,

it's like John Elway with the football. - OK.

As opposed to a musket, that it just lobs it out there.

So the fact that I can't see riflings on here,

it could predate rifling and be from a smoothbore musket.

Muskets were muzzle loaded guns used by infantry troops

from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Muskets were so inaccurate that the guns were equipped

with bayonets to allow soldiers

to engage in close quarter combat.

Eventually, they were replaced by the rifle,

which had deep grooves cut into the barrel,

which created spin and increased the accuracy

of the bullet.

So early Spanish coming over would've had smoothbore barrels.

But then again, so did some of the Mormon battalion members

in the mid 1800s,

because the Mormons were looking to take over Utah.

In 1857,

as the Mormons expanded their presence in Utah,

President James Buchanan launched the Utah Expedition,

Ordering US Troops into the territory

to police Mormon activities and enforce federal law.

Fearing persecution,

the Mormons, led by Brigham Young,

started to stockpile muskets

to fend off the advancing US Soldiers.

Before 1800s, it would've been pure lead,

and then after the 1800s,

they started putting in other things,

tins and things like that to-- to strengthen it.

But by the feel of it,

this musket ball feels like it's pure lead.

Because of the difficulty procuring lead,

this was almost as valuable up here as gold was.

But just like with modern warfare,

that if you're leaving a battlefield,

you don't wanna leave your ammunition behind

because you need to cover your retreat.

So it's not likely that they would've left this behind

if they could've helped it. - Ah...

So the fact that you're finding this up by

where there could've been a settlement

is very likely a sign of a hasty retreat.

- Interesting. - OK.

So that'd been like the first wave of the Spanish

coming in following the Aztecs?

So you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Aztecs brought the gold back up to Utah.

There's no reason why the Spanish wouldn't follow 'em,

and they wouldn't mount multiple expeditions

to come up and get that gold.

Earlier this year, James's visit to Mexico City

yielded several maps outlining the Spanish conquistadors'

pursuit of the Aztec gold from Mexico...

to Utah.

This Spanish musket ball is evidence they made it

to Blind Frog Ranch,

and possibly, fire upon the Armory.

I wonder if the Spanish were chased off

by whatever Native Americans were here,

protecting whatever gold was brought up

by their Aztec brothers.

With all of the conflicts

between the Native Americans and the Spanish,

the Native Americans did what they could

to sabotage the Spanish efforts.

So between killing them, collapsing mine, hiding caches,

burying the gold under the surface of the earth

where the Native Americans could find it,

but the Spanish couldn't.

That happened all over the place.

Do you think the Spanish found the Aztec gold?

A treasure that big would not have gone

unnoticed or unrecorded.

It would've been worldwide news.

So, do you think they could've been protecting

the entrance to the keyhole chamber here?

Well, that's the question now, isn't it?

It's entirely possible that that's what they were there for,

was to guard that entrance.

So Roger's confirming what we suspected.

There was a battle here.

Our best guess is that the Native Americans fought off

the Spaniards that were looking for Montezuma's gold.

The fact that people may have died to protect this area,

it makes me think there has to be a tunnel

that connects the armory to the Aztec Keyhole Chamber.

These warriors would've rushed to this point

to protect their gold,

so there has to be an entrance around this monument.

We are close to finding that gold.

The armory may be the most important discovery yet.

There is something worth defending and dying over, here.

Well, that tells us one thing for sure.

That gold is still here.

Next time on Blind Frog Ranch.

Holy

An old friend...

This is another entrance, right here.

This is another entrance, brother.

...shows them a path into the underground...

Hey, whoa, whoa!

...with explosive results...

Shut it, shut it, shut it!

- What the - Whoa, whoa, whoa!

...and the stakes rise...

If we drain the pond,

we'll be able to get an entrance into there.

...as Duane starts the biggest, most daring project ever

at Blind Frog Ranch.

We'll put that dam right across there to the other, boy.

Hoping they can access a tunnel to the treasure.

You're right on the edge over here, buddy.

Duane, the boat's coming down!

- Whoa, whoa, whoa! - Stop!