All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S17E03.en

This is the area where
this legendary robbery happened.

No, we're in the exact spot

where the stagecoach
robbery occurred.

[gunshot blasts]

He confesses
that he buried it here.

This is not just a legend.

He said, "I put some of it
in the ground here."

So any way you cut it,
a lot of money.

[Troy]
There's a lot of gold out here.

[Josh]
I called in
a little reinforcement.

I figure if we're looking
for historic gold,

who better to call
than Parker Schnabel?

-Careful what you wish for.
-[Josh chuckles]

Oh, boy.
Hang on!

We got something here.
What is that?

-[Parker] Josh!
-[Josh] You got something?

That's an old coin.
Look at that!

Wait a minute.
This is a smoking gun.

Oh, this could crack
the whole case wide open.

We're going to literally
pan for gold.

-[Parker] Yeah.
-[Josh] Wait a minute.

-Is that gold?
-Mm hmm.

[Josh] Shut up!

[detector beeping]

Is that a hit?
Oh, is that it?

Look at that.
Come on!

[upbeat music plays]

If you've ever dreamed
of moving to California,

that dream started in 1848
at Sutter's Mill,

where the discovery of gold
led to a westward stampede

that hasn't stopped since.

In just five years after
that first strike,

over 370 tons of gold
are pulled out of the mountains.

That's about $40 billion
worth today.

Mining towns quickly spring up,
which attract both prospectors

looking to get rich quick
and bandits looking to get rich

even quicker.

Enter the brothers
John and Charles Ruggles.

On May 14, 1892,

they rob
a Wells Fargo stagecoach

traveling between Weaverville
and Redding, California.

Its cargo?

Up to 200 pounds
of the shiny stuff.

But the heist turns into
a gunfight that kills one man

and leaves three
others wounded.

After a statewide manhunt,
both John and Charles

are apprehended.

But before they can give up
the location of the gold,

a local mob delivers frontier
justice at the end of a rope.

The loot, now worth up
to $10 million, remains buried

somewhere in the mountains
of Northern California.

Now, an avid treasure hunter
is searching in a location

that has been off limits
for years.

And a historian has uncovered
a long-lost jailhouse confession

that could uncover
the stolen loot.

Plus, for a treasure this rich,
I'm doing some recruiting

of my own
and calling in a friend

who knows a thing or two
about finding the mother lode.

"Gold Rush's" Parker Schnabel.

So hitch up the wagons,
because we're going out west,

for a historic gold rush
in search of missing millions.

[coins clinking]

The past is all around us.

Oh, my God!

It goes on forever!

A world of mystery.

Come on!
Look at that!

Danger.

Hang on!

And adventure.

It's just straight down!

[grunts]

I gotta get a new job.

I travel to the far corners
of the Earth

to uncover where legends end...

We got it!

Yes!

...and history begins.

Whoo-hoo!
Here we go!

I'm Josh Gates, and this is
"Expedition Unknown."

[Josh] This is California,

but not the one the Beach Boys
sang about.

The sunshine and surf may be
600 miles to the south,

but this area has
its own appeal.

If you were strolling in these
parts in around 1840,

you'd be surrounded by nothing
but untouched wilderness.

And yet, just a decade later,
this had become the heart

of the California Gold Rush.

Welcome to the town
of Weaverville.

By 1890, the miners here
are pulling about

$35 million dollars a year
out of the rivers and hills.

That boomtown money attracted
a pair of bandits

known as the Ruggles Brothers.

And at the Jake Jackson Museum,
their story comes to life

with artifacts such as
the alleged shotgun

used to fend off
the brothers

as they attempted
to rob this little beauty.

This remarkably preserved relic

is one of
the six original stages

that ran the route
between Weaverville and Reading.

In fact, it may be the one
robbed by the Ruggles Brothers,

although there is
no gold inside.

I checked.

Finding the Ruggles' gold
means following their story,

so I hit the road and trace
the path of their last target,

the Redding Stage.

This narrow trail is known
as Middle Creek Road, and it may

not seem like much of a road
at all, but over a century ago,

this was the main thoroughfare
for stagecoaches loaded

with rich shipments of gold,
including the one knocked over

by the Ruggles Brothers.

I'm headed to the scene
of their crime

to meet up with an old friend

who's gearing up
for a new search.

[adventurous music plays]

[Josh] And there he is.

-How are you, man?
-[Troy] Hey, there.

[Josh] What's going on?
Beautiful weather.

[Troy] Oh, it's something else.
Hi, Josh.

-[Josh] Great to see you, buddy.
-[Troy] Good seeing you.

All right, now, last time
I saw you,

we were waist deep
in water in a cave.
-Yes, we were.

[Josh] Troy McCormick and I
last investigated together

in Indiana, hunting
another stolen fortune,

that of the train robbing
Reno gang.

[Troy]
Whoo, I think the water level's
coming up in this cave.

[Josh] OK, we gotta get the hell
out of here, come on.

And now we're getting
soaked again.

Boy, just something about
these outdoor adventures.

-I think you're cursed, Troy.
-[Troy] That might be it, too.

OK, so,
the Ruggles Brothers.

-[Troy] Yes.
-An all-new mystery here.

This is the area where this
legendary robbery happened.

No, we're in the exact spot

where the stagecoach
robbery occurred.

-[Josh] It was right here?
-[Troy] Right here.

That's so cool.

OK, so, this is one of those
great Wild West stories

that a lot of people
have never heard of.

True.

-So all of this
goes down in 1892.
-[Troy] Mm-hmm.

There was a lot of gold moving
through Northern California

at this time,
hundreds of millions of dollars.

And this kind of wealth
was irresistible to people

who were willing to take
a big risk for big reward.

And that brings us
to the Ruggles.

So these guys are just a couple
of brothers who were bad news?

No, surprisingly,
they started out, they were OK.

In fact, Charles,
the younger one, he was what

you would call
just a really nice guy.

Uh-huh.

Not much is known about
the Ruggles' background.

We do know they came
from a comfortable family

and couldn't be more different
from one another.

Younger brother Charles
lives his life

on the straight
and narrow,

while his older brother John
was bad to the bone,

robbing stagecoaches,
doing time,

and eventually roping
in Charles for what he hopes

is the score of a lifetime,

the robbery of
a Wells Fargo stage

loaded with hundreds
of pounds of gold.

And so that brings us
to this stretch of road here.

So why here?

The idea is they picked
the spot because if you look

out over the valley,
you can see the twisting,

winding Stagecoach Road.

And if you look
from this exact spot back,

you'll see this hairpin turn.

He had no idea there were
robbers and bandits waiting

for him until he came
around that corner.

[Josh] The stage driver rounds
the corner to find

Charles Ruggles
standing in the road.

His face masked
with a red bandana

and a shotgun
in his hand.

After the driver stops,
Charles demands

that the stage's passenger

throw down two Wells Fargo
strongboxes

containing
up to 200 pounds of gold.

The men comply,
and soon Charles has a fortune

at his feet worth,
in today's value, $10 million.

It would seem that everything
was going to plan,

except for one fatal wild card.

A third man hiding in the coach
with a shotgun of his own.

When there was a lot of gold
to be transported,

the Wells Fargo Company
and other companies would send

along an armed guard
called "a shotgun messenger."

Who was sort
of riding shotgun.

That's where the phrase
comes from.

[shotgun clicks]

[Josh] The man riding shotgun
is named Buck Montgomery,

known as "a great guy
and a great shot,"

a quality which he is about
to demonstrate.

[gunshot blasts]

He shoots Charles in the face
and upper torso.

Charles understandably
drops to his knees

and blindly fires back,

hitting both the driver
and passenger.

So this is going terribly
sideways now.

It's a total mess.

At this point,
the other Ruggles brother,

John, steps out
with a.44 revolver

and hits Buck Montgomery,

fatally wounding him.

Wow.

So in a matter of 60 seconds,
you've got this bloodbath.

Four people have
all just been shot,

And what becomes
of the stagecoach?

[Troy]
Oh, the horses are just going
crazy now with all the guns,

and they bolt and tear off
down the Stagecoach Road,

leaving John
and Charles Ruggles

with the two strong boxes.

So what do these guys do?

They must know
they've got limited time

before the posse shows up.

Charles' face is bleeding
from all these holes

from the buckshot.

[Josh] John drags Charles
out of sight,

then hauls him
to his feet.

They scramble down a nearby
ravine to Middle Creek.

John then goes back to grab
the two strong boxes

before returning
to his brother.

Down that way.

Down that way to Middle Creek.

[Josh] We're about to head down
the same path as the Ruggles,

to the creek where Troy
believes

their gold
may be hiding.

But before we do, another 4x4
appears on the old trail.

[Troy] Who's this coming down?

I called in
a little reinforcement.

We can definitely
use the help.

You're gonna get it.

Parker Schnabel.

A legendary miner who,
in his career, has taken more

than $100 million worth of gold
out of the Canadian Klondike

and Alaskan wilderness.

This is the perfect case
for him to join.

The words "Gold Rush"
practically belong to him now.

What's up, brother?
Good to see you.

Hi, I'm Troy.

[Josh] Troy, you probably know
who this guy is.

I recognize him.

I figure if we're looking
for historic gold,

who better
to call than a gold miner?

-Careful what you wish for.
-[Josh chuckles]

With Parker
is archaeologist Eric Ritter

from the Bureau
of Land Management.

They run this property,
and Eric is here to protect it.

And let's talk
a little bit about

rules and regulations here.

Right.

We're doing this project
with proper permitting,

and we're doing it to make sure
that we're not damaging

the land or damaging
other historic resources

in this search for part
of the history that's out here.

Absolutely.

And if something does get
found down here, then it gets

turned over to your team
and to the archaeologists?

Yes.

We want to do this
archaeologically properly.

That's right.

Sounds like it's gonna be
a little wet and wild
down there.

Parker, are you ready
for this?

This is like an average day
in Alaska, isn't it?

-This is pretty normal, yeah.
-[Josh] OK, good.

-Doesn't mean I like it, but...
-But you can handle it.

-Yeah.
-[Josh] All right, good.

So at our point in the story
here, John and a wounded

Charles take these lockboxes,
and they head where?

-Head down toward Middle Creek.
-Should we follow?

I think we need to get down
there to see what we can find.

-OK, you ready?
-[Parker] Yeah.

Let's do it.
Come on.

[thrilling music plays]

[Josh]
Everybody watch your footing!

It is slick in here!

[Troy] There's Middle Creek.

[Josh] There's Middle Creek,
which is raging today.

OK, so this is the spot.

Somewhere right along here is
where the Ruggles brothers

and all that gold ended up.

And they were pretty shot up,
weren't they?

At that point, they both think
that Charles is a goner.

So John takes and turns
his brother's head

so that he can see
the strong boxes.

John picks up an ax
that he had with him,

busts open the strong boxes,

so that Charles can
see the gold.

One last moment
for the two brothers

to be together,
they thought.

Touching moment
for two villains.

There you go.

And what was inside
the strong boxes?

It was kind of a combination
of things.

We had gold coins,
we had gold dust,

and we had quicksilver.

Quicksilver, that's for killing
werewolves, is that correct?

-Yeah, exactly.
-[Josh] OK, perfect.

Just a big issue back
in the gold rush days,
werewolves.

This is clearly werewolf
country, obviously.

What is quicksilver again?

So quicksilver is mercury
mixed with gold.

[Josh] OK.

And basically, mercury is
a magnet for gold,

and so it's used in the cleanup
process for kind of collecting

a lot of gold dust together,

and then it can be separated
out afterwards.

OK, but there's
a lot of it, yeah?

There's a lot of it.

One of the strong boxes
supposedly weighed

up to 100 pounds.

Right, and that's
just one box.

[Parker] Yeah.

So any way you cut it,
a lot of money.

There's a lot of gold
out here.

So why does he bust
the boxes open here?

The boxes are too heavy
to carry away.

-He can't take all of them?
-[Troy] He can't take it all.

Charles is not going to die,
though, right?

No, they actually, three boys
find him the next day

stumbling around.
-[Josh] Down here?

Right around
in this ravine area.

[Josh] The boys who find him
take Charles to be patched up

before throwing him
in jail in Redding.

As for John, he's captured
almost six weeks later.

Authorities throw him
in the clink, too,

eager to discover what became
of the stolen loot.

In an interrogation
by a Wells Fargo agent,

John tells him he buried
some of the gold near the creek,

but they'll never find it.

So he confesses
that he buried it here.

This is not just a legend.

He said, "I put some of it
in the ground here."

This is part
of the documented story.

OK, so some of that gold may
still be down here.

-[Troy] That's correct.
-[Josh] Let's do it.

Come on, fire them up, boys.

[dramatic music plays]

We pull out our metal
detectors and begin to hunt.

And it turns out
we don't have to hunt long.

[detector beeping]

[Josh]
Got a pretty good hit here.

[beeping louder]

[beeping softly]

[Josh] I'm digging down
to what I hope is a fortune

when something else
grabs my attention.

[Parker] Josh!

[Josh] You got something?

[epic music rises]

-[Josh] What'd you find?
-[Parker] Pickax!

Come on!
Look at that!

Legit old-school pickax.

No need to check
your program guide.

That really is "Gold Rush's"
Parker Schnabel,

who's prospecting
in my world this week.

He's joined treasure hunter
Troy McCormick and me

in the pouring Northern
California rain

to find, what else? Gold.

Buried by the bandits
Charles and John Ruggles

after an 1892
stagecoach robbery.

I mean, this is legitimately
an old mining ax...

-Yeah.
-[Josh]...right?

This was like calling
you from the earth.

Yeah, exactly -- I just need
to hone in on gold now.

-[Josh] Totally!
-[Parker] I'm on
the right industry.

[Josh] I mean, really, you are.

But you know, look, this is
gold rush country, right?

This was probably from old
mining that was happening here.

That's like a really cool find.
That's amazing.

Get some new wood for that.

You can bring that back up
to Alaska.

Well, you said you were
coming to work

on the mine site, right?
-I'll bring that along.

-[Parker] Here's your tool.
-Yeah, exactly.

How much are you regretting
answering the phone,

by the way, for this trip?

I need to look
at a weather report

before I say yes next time.

[Josh] Parker's gotten us
started at this soggy dig,

but I still have a hit of my own
to unearth, and I'm hoping

it's part of
the Ruggles' lost loot.

Really tough,
tough conditions in here.

Whatever it is, it's deep down.

[Parker] Josh!

How's your quest
for the center of the Earth?

-It's here, Parker.
-[Parker] Is this the gold?

This is the gold,
I'm telling you.

[Parker cackles]

I appreciate you coming over
to roast me

right in the middle of it.

I was actually coming to help
if you wanted.

Did you bring your passport
for this trip down there?

[holds laughter]

When's your flight
back to Alaska?

-[detector beeping]
-[Josh] Ooh, here we go.

[detector beeping]

Ooh, there it is.

[Parker]
Oh, please be a gold nugget.

Please be a gold nugget.

What is that?

[Josh] A buckle?

It's got something
written on it.

Looks like it says,
"Armstrong Brace."

It's like an old suspender clip.

Quick question, is mining
for gold easier than this?

Uh...Usually.

We don't spend an hour
digging up a suspender clip.

[Josh] No.

Well, we do know one thing.

Somebody's pants fell down
around here.

Between the rain
and the rushing water,

it's getting difficult to hear
our metal detectors go off.

But we manage.

[detector beeps faintly]

[Troy] Hey, Josh!

I've got evidence
of an old boot over here.

You found a boot?

He found something.

-What did you say, a boot?
-[Troy] A boot heel.

Boot heel.

[Troy]
Someone's having a bad day
when they lost that.

[Josh] Look at that.
That's old.

Oh, that's got nails in it.

[Troy] That's what
my detector picked up,

those little hob nails.

So somebody's wandering
around here with one boot

and no pants?
-That's right.

[all chuckle]

Sounds like me in college.

[Parker laughs]

[Josh] Well, somebody was
definitely down here.

Let's see what else is
in this area right here.

-[Troy] Good idea.
-Come on.

We spread out across the banks
of what is now a raging river

to find any evidence
of the Ruggles.

If John Ruggles did bury
some of that gold down

in this creek, he would have
needed to bury it somewhere

that he could find again.

He needed a landmark.

[Josh] Totally.

We move along the creek,
searching the woods

for any other
distinguishing features.

Look at this.
We got walls all in here.

And look at this
flooded out up here.

Look at these old stone walls.
Check this out.

This looks like
it could be period.

It does.
It's hand-laid.

There's no mortar to it.

Great place to search.

-Yes.
-[Josh] Let's look in here.

[adventurous music plays]

I got a hit in a waterfall.

[beeping]

-[Parker] Let's do it.
-[Josh] Right here.

-[Parker] Where is it?
Right there?
-[Josh] Yeah.

[detector beeps]

[detector beeps louder]

[Josh] Oh, no, it's here.

[detector beeping]

Finally, here we go.

It's going to be
some little piece.

-[beeps]
-[Josh] Oh!

Troy?

[Troy] Oh, that's round.
That's a coin or a button.

That's a coin.

[Troy] It sure looks
like it could be.

[Josh] That is a coin.

Come on!

That's an old penny.

That's an old coin.
Look at that!

[Troy]
That's an Indian head penny.

[Josh] That is an old
Indian head penny.

Look at that!
Come on!

The so-called Indian head
penny features a portrait

of Lady Liberty wearing
a Native American headdress.

The coins were minted
from 1859 to 1909.

So we may be, as they say,
in the money.

[Josh] Come on, baby,
what do you got?

-[Troy] 1890s, come on.
-[Josh] Yeah, come on.

Give me something early.

1883.

Get out of here!
No, it isn't.

[Parker] Yeah.

Dude!

That's Ruggles period
right there.

Nine years before the robbery.

[Josh] I mean, like,
we're in the period.

They could have easily
had that in their pocket.

That's a little Wild West
treasure right there.

-[Troy] It is.
-[Josh] I'll take it.

Man, that is so cool.

Where there's one coin...

There's probably more.

There's probably more.

Let's get rich one penny
at a time.

[Troy laughs]

[Josh] Let's do it!

We slog it out in the rain
until the light starts to fail.

It's been an intriguing start
with remnants of the Gold Rush

and even a historic coin
from that era, but our detectors

have covered every inch
of the creek below the robbery

and there's no gold
to be had here.

[rooster crowing]

[upbeat music plays]

[Josh] After putting a hairdryer
in my boots all night,

we're back on the trail.

Troy wants to follow up
a new lead on the Ruggles case.

Meanwhile, much of what
the Ruggles stole was raw gold

that had been mined in this
very area, leaving Parker

and me to wonder if there's
more where that came from.

Parker, we are like in the heart
of the Gold Rush here,

so I feel like there's
gotta still be gold

in them there hills.

Yeah, there's still
a lot of mining

in Northern California.
-[Josh] OK.

There's like active mining
happening every year.

They produce 70,000 to 80,000
ounces a year still.

So, you know,
over $200 million.

-That's not too shabby.
-[Parker] No.

All right, so how are we going
to get ourselves some of that?

Like, how do they mine
this stuff?

So there's three main types
of gold mining up here still.

One is hard rock mining,

where they're going
into the mountainside,

chasing gold and
quartz veins, you know.

-[Josh] Like mine shafts?
-[Parker] Mine shafts.

I take it we are not gonna be
digging a mine shaft today?

-No.
-OK.

I'm a surface dweller,
not really the gophering type.

[Josh] OK, good.
I like that.

And then
there's hydraulic mining,

which is where you
have water pressure

and you've probably
seen it spraying

the mountainside down,
washing everything

into like a sluice box
or something similar to that.

So are we getting
some fire hoses here?

-No.
-OK.

So then the third way
is to not worry about

all that technology
and just keep it super simple,

back to the basics.

Invest in Bitcoin.

Even simpler than that.

And when you say simple,
do you mean easy?

No...

No.

Great.

Well, so much for my dry boots.

Parker, this wasn't exactly
what I had in mind.

Well, this is where
you placer mine.

Placer mine.
OK, walk me through it.

What is placer mining again?

Placer mining is
when gold's already eroded

from a hard rock source
and ended up in a creek bed.

And the gold's really heavy,
so it stays in those

creek beds usually.
-Freezing creek bed.

[Parker] Yeah.

It's the kind of mining that
every gold rush in California,

Alaska, the Yukon was
all placer mining.

So you're guaranteeing me
that we're gonna hit

the mother lode today?

100%.

[Josh] That's good.
I like that.

Absolute guarantee.

All right, let's pan for gold!

Come on!

[upbeat music plays]

OK, folks, here's
how to get rich.

Step one, get Parker Schnabel.

Step two, go to the shallows
of the creek

to fill your pan
with sediment.

Step three, listen
to Parker Schnabel.

So the basic idea here
is that gold's heavy

and wants to sink
to the bottom of the pan.
-Check.

You give it, like,
good motion and fluidity.

-Is that a word?
-Yep.

[Josh] OK, here we go.

So we're kneeling down
in the river now.

Perfect -- hi!

OK.

[Parker] And so you just want
to get everything moving.

[Josh] Yeah.

And all those plants
and whatnot will come out.

-[Josh] This stuff?
-[Parker] Yeah.

Chuck it.

Perfect.
You're a natural.

Everybody get that?
I'm a natural!

And just like that,
we're panning.

Dirty water out,
clean water in.

[Parker] Like, you want
all that stuff to move.

[Josh] OK, I see.

[Parker] Because
the gold's down, hopefully,

at the bottom of the pan.

You promised it's down
at the bottom of the pan.

[Parker] Well, if you
did it right, it is.

You said 100%.

I'll play the tape back
if I have to.

You said 100%.
OK, so...

So then the final step,
to see if there's anything

in the pan...
-[Josh] Yeah.

Go in a circle, and it'll wash
the light stuff into the bottom

side of the pan.
-[Josh] Yeah.

And usually leave the heavy
stuff in the top.

No.

-[Josh] Is that gold?
-No.

Is that gold?

-Don't...Don't do this.
-[Josh] Is this gold?

What about this?

Um, so I don't see
anything in there.

You did everything right.

Slowly, but you did it right.

-Which is good.
-No gold.

No.

OK, Parker, you're up.

Let's see how the pros do it.

What do you got going on?

Oh!

[Parker]
So we got one right there.

Wait a minute, is that gold?

Shut up.
That's gold.

Yeah.
Why are you so excited?

What do you mean,
why am I so excited?

We just pulled gold
out of a river?

I'm hunting down the loot
from the Ruggles Brothers' 1892

stagecoach robbery
near Redding, California.

Since much of the stolen gold
was mined near this very creek,

I'm leaning on the expertise
of miner

and "Gold Rush" star
Parker Schnabel,

to see if there's even
more here to recover.

I cannot believe,
though, that...

in the first pan in the river,
there's gold.

This is unsurprising to you,
I can see, but I am,

like, shocked by this.

I mean, it's not very much.

Like, on our mine site,
we would consider that waste.

We would throw that away.

You're throwing gold away?

[Parker] Yeah.

Look, I don't know how it
works up on "Gold Rush," Parker.

[Parker] We're all backwards.

But where I come from,
if you find gold, you keep it.

No, just, like,
one flake in a pan.

Oh, two, actually.
There's another one.

What?
Two flakes!

That's it.
We're retired?

See you later,
Discovery Channel.

-[Parker] Yeah, I mean...
-What are these worth?

If you can retire on,
like, a penny.

-They're worth a penny?
-Probably something like that.

I'm one of
the Discovery Channel's

most loyal employees.

Back during the California
Gold Rush

or the Klondike Gold Rush,

people found
ounces of gold per pan

in really rich ground.
-[Josh] Wow!

But surely this is an indicator
that there's gold

in this creek.
-100%, yeah.

-OK, so we could get lucky.
-Yeah.

-Do you want to try another one?
-Another one?

We live here now.

I get back to work hoping
to strike it rich, or at least

snag one of those lucrative
"Gold Rush" spin offs.

I'll admit, it's not
looking too good.

Until...

-[Josh] Oh!
-[Parker] What is...

-Oh, my God, no way!
-Wait a minute.

-That's such bull[bleep].
-[Josh] Is it?

-That's beginner's luck.
-[Josh] Is it?

Yeah, that is, like,
actually a pretty decent --

[Josh] Get out of here!

That is like a piece
of gold, dude.

-[Josh] Is it?
-Yeah.

Oh, look!

The student has
become the teacher!

Oh, my word!
Are you kidding me?

Oh, man.

[Parker]
And that's a good chunk.

-[Josh] That's a piece of gold.
-[Parker] Yeah, yeah.

You hate this, don't you?

You're boiling right now
inside, aren't you?

-I mean...
-Is there another one?

[Josh] Oh, no!

No!

There's two of them!

Those are both pretty good
pieces of gold, too, yeah.

I wouldn't quite, like...

[Josh] Yeah, Parker,
let me tell you...

I wouldn't quite call them
nuggets, personally.

Mini nuggets?

-[Parker] Yeah.
-Fun-sized nuggets?

Sure, fun-sized, yeah.

[Josh] Now, Parker, let me walk
you through my technique here.

OK, teach you a thing or two.

[Parker] I have some tiny ones.

You got something
there, you did.

Just like the Gold Rush era
miners, and indeed the Ruggles

themselves, I'm definitely
experiencing the intoxicating

allure of gold dust dreams.

This is amazing.

-Now what?
-Well, you said 50-50.

That was literally
never discussed.

OK...

We're not telling Troy,
though, right?

-Of course not.
-OK, good.

Speaking of Troy,
the third member

of our treasure-hunting
dream team

calls us up
for an urgent meeting

just up the road
in Shasta, California.

We convene at the former
Shasta County Courthouse.

Today, it serves as a museum.

Inside, we meet historian
Ryan McCloskey,

with a new lead on a location

where John Ruggles may
have hidden his gold.

First of all, this is
an amazing museum.

Yeah, it actually dates back
to 1855, and we're fortunate

enough to have some amazing
artifacts from the robbery.

Those artifacts include
the Ruggles' ax,

believed to have opened
the strong boxes of gold.

Also, we're being given
white-glove access to actually

examine John Ruggles's revolver.

That is incredible.

Which he used to end
Buck Montgomery's life.

[Parker] This is like
a Colt.44 or something?

Good eye.

It is.

-The man knows his guns.
-Well, Alaska...

Alaska, I know,
I know, exactly.

-Comes with the territory.
-[Parker] Yeah.

Do we know how many times
John shot Buck with this?

We don't know for sure.

We just know that he had
several holes in him

when they got him to the doctor.

So there were
multiple shots fired.

[Parker] Gotcha.

You hear these stories about
robberies like the Ruggles,

and it all has
this air of legend.

But once you put something
like this in your hand,

this is real.
This is real history.

-This is a murder weapon.
-[Troy] Oh, absolutely.

You're holding a piece
of the Ruggles' story

right there.

[Josh]
And as we know, it's a story
that doesn't end well.

Both brothers are arrested
and reunited in jail.

There, they become local
folk heroes, drawing attention

from women who offer gifts,
food, even marriage proposals.

But no vows would ever
be exchanged.

The Ruggles published
their planned defense

in the newspapers.

And in it, they claimed
that Buck Montgomery

was not only
not their victim,

but that he was
their partner in crime.

And this is that moment that
turns the town against them,

the fulcrum point
to their inevitable end.

Yeah, so the town rallies
behind Buck,

and now they are enemies.

To avenge Buck Montgomery's
sterling reputation,

dozens of masked vigilantes
carrying weapons and torches

descend upon the jail
in the dead of night

for a little frontier justice.

And at this point,
the brothers are doomed.

The mob drags the boys out
by force and hauls them

to Redding's railroad tracks,
where a pair of nooses

await in a nearby tree.

John pleads for his younger
brother's life, bargaining

with the only thing he has left,
the purportedly true location

where he buried the rest
of the stolen gold

after he left the creek.

Troy thinks the intel
was likely the real deal.

After all, both brothers' lives
were on the line.

-This is a huge deal.
-It really is.

And for us, it legitimizes
the fact that he buried gold

because he's offering
up the location.

Right, he says,
"You spare my brother's life.

I will take you to where
this gold is buried."

So we now know he actually
did bury some of that gold.

[Josh] Right.

And do the townspeople
take him up on this offer?

No, at this moment, they were
more interested in justice

than they were in gold.

And the brothers are hanged.

[ominous music plays]

[Troy] They are.

And the problem is, we now lose
the actual location

where the gold is buried.

Or did we?

[intriguing music plays]

[Josh] To dig deeper
into the legend, we head down

to the courthouse's
old jail cells,

where Ryan has uncovered clues

that have been buried
in the archives for years.

OK, so why have you
dragged us down here?

So what we've got
is the research

that Ryan and I have been
finding in the old records,

but I've got one here

that I want you to pay
attention to.

[Josh] OK, and what is this?

This is some material evidence
to a location that has never

properly been searched.
-I like that.

This is an old news article
of some kind?

It is, 1899.

These two guys claim to have
overheard John,

while he was in jail,
talking to his brother Charles

about where
he buried the gold.

[Josh]
So this says, "John Ruggles
indicates the spot described

as the scene of the buried
treasure," and says that,

"it's buried near a large rock
at the foot of a bluff

a short distance beyond
the old Spanish Mine."

Wait a minute,
this is a smoking gun.

Oh, this could crack
the whole case wide open.

This is huge.

He is listing a specific
location here.

Yeah.

[Josh] In the archives
of Shasta County, California,

a lost 19th-century newspaper
article might point

to the location
of the stolen treasure

of the infamous
Ruggles brothers.

Ryan pulls out a plat map
from the Ruggles era,

and lucky for us,

we have world-class mining
expert Parker Schnabel on hand

to examine it.

[Parker] So this is an old
U.S. mineral survey map

with mining properties
at the time.

You know, different mining
companies were here,

White Oak Construction,
Gold Leaf Construction,

Arizona Construction Group.

And then look over here
in the lower left.

[Parker] Oh, yeah,
the Old Spanish Mining Company.

Boom, there it is
in black and white.

So these would have been like
hard-rock mines then, huh?

-Hard-rock gold mines, yes.
-Underground?

Underground vertical shaft,
horizontal drifts.

They've all been backfilled in
for safety purposes

when the crews pulled out.
-[Parker] Gotcha.

But we know where
this location is.

We know where that mine was.

We know the general location,
but we've got to put some boots

on the ground to find
the actual shaft.

What about access?

Because where I'm from,
wandering around

mining property
is a good way to get shot.

It is on private property,
but I have connections.

OK, connections are good.

I don't want to get shot.

Me neither.

OK, well,
we're agreed on that.

-And easy to get to?
-Absolutely not.

Perfect!

[upbeat music plays]

[quad bikes revving]

Now, Parker, I assume you know
how to drive one of these?

Yeah, every Alaskan gets one
when they turn 10.

Hey, you guys go to prom
in these things, right?

♪ Yeah, rollin' down
the highway ♪

♪ like a ramblin' man ♪

♪ I feel right at home
when I move ♪

Oh, boy, hang on!

♪ I keep on rolling ♪

Ha-ha! Woo!

♪ Hard rollin' rambler
and I'm tearing up
this here town ♪

Good Lord!

OK, Josh, this is it.
We're on foot from here.

OK, let's grab the detectors
and get into it.

-[Troy] Let's do it.
-It's gonna dump.

Here we go.

Our brief patch of sunshine

is quickly replaced
by ominous skies

as we search
for the Old Spanish Mine,

reportedly a landmark
for John Ruggles

when he buried
the stolen gold.

OK, so in basic terms,
we are looking for what?

A hole in the ground
that's been filled in.

A hole in the ground, OK.

And how big is this mine
have to be?

I mean, if it's an old hand
shaft, it should be,

I don't know,
10-15 feet in diameter.

It should have big piles
of rocks around it.

Like, it should be a pretty big
area of disturbance around it.

All right, well, let's fan out
a bit and start working

this ridge and see
if we can find it.

-That'll work.
-All right, come on, guys.

Let's do it.

We split up and scour
the hillside, hopeful that

Parker's expertise can lead us
to the former mine shaft.

And it doesn't take long
for him to spot a possible clue.

[Parker] Well, we might be
getting close.

-Here's some quartz.
-[Josh] Yeah, there's
some here, too.

So that's a good indicator that
we might be close to the mine?

Yeah, like most of these hard
rock mines would be following

quartz veins that have gold in.
-Got it.

So where there's quartz,
maybe there's gold?

Normally, where there's gold,
there's quartz.

Not always the other
way around.

Got it.
OK, well, a good clue.

Let's keep moving.

The presence of quartz
on the surface indicates

that somebody may have been
mining for gold nearby.

Parker and I try
to follow its trail

to see where it leads.

[Parker] Here's an old
hole-looking thing.

[Josh] Oh, look at this!

That is definitely a big
depression in the ground.

What do you think?
Could that be our mine?

Mm, I don't think so.

Yeah, I would have expected it
to be bigger and have,

like, some, you know,
like, supports around it

and a bit more infrastructure.

So maybe we're
on the trail here.

Hey.
Hey, Ryan, Troy.

-[Troy] Yes.
-[Josh] Guys, come on over.

First thing we've seen that
really seems like man-made.

I mean, there's definitely
a big depression here.

We're not sure this is the main
mine shaft, but it looks like

it might be mining-related.

Yeah, it could have been
a secondary --

people coming in after
the main mine was closed down.

Totally.

Let's see what's above this,
like back in here.

-[Ryan] OK.
-Yeah?

-Sure.
-[Josh] Ryan, you want
to lead the way for us?

We slowly trudge up the steep,
rocky slope to higher ground.

Somewhere beneath our feet
is a literal gold mine.

Oh, we got something here.

What is that?

You see that?

[Troy] Oh, look at all
the white rock up there.

[Josh] We got quartz
everywhere up here, guys.

Look at this!

Oh, my word!

That is a mine!

Whoo!

[Troy]
That's the hole in the ground
we've been looking for.

[Josh] Look at the size
of these quartz blocks!

This site is exactly the kind
of place that Parker described.

OK, so Old Spanish Mine?

Looks like it to me.

[Josh] This is almost certainly

the entrance
to the Old Spanish Mine

that was mentioned
in the 1899 article

about John Ruggles'
jailhouse confession.

And since no one has searched
this area before, we may be

closer than anyone has ever
been to finding the treasure.

Ryan, according to the story,

John Ruggles says
the gold is where?

"Beyond the Old Spanish Mine

at the bottom of a bluff
near a big boulder."

[Josh] Well, that's a bluff.

[Troy] It is, and I'm sure
there's boulders.

-Let's find it.
-Old Spanish Mine.

Let's do it!
Come on!

[adventurous music plays]

As the weather turns ever more
miserable, we hurry to run

our metal detectors
around the entrance

for any sign
of the Ruggles gold.

So far...

nothing.

And it is quiet.

[detector beeping]

Oh, spoke too soon.

-Solid hit here.
-[Parker] You got something?

[Josh]
Yeah, I got a hit over here.

[intriguing music plays]

It's got to be right
in here somewhere.

That was a solid signal.

-[detector beeping loudly]
-Oh, here we go.

[beeping]

[Josh] There it is.

What is that?

-Is that lead?
-That's a bullet.

That's a bullet.
Look at that.

That's a bullet!

I think that's old, too.

I think that's hand cast.

Look at that.

-You see that seam?
-[Parker] Yeah.

[Josh] That's old.

[Parker] I don't think they make
bullets like that now.

No, no, they're
machined out now.

It's totally differently.

Hey, Troy!

[Troy] What'd you guys
find over here?

-[Josh] What do you think?
-[Troy] Ooh.

Definitely a bullet.

With all that seaming
on there, you think,

what, somewhere turn
of the century?

-More than likely.
-[Josh] Yeah?

So, I don't know
if it's from the Ruggles,

but we're not
far off time-wise.

[Troy] It's close.

It's real close.
That's super cool.

You know,
if you're looking for gold

from a couple of bandits,

finding period bullets
is a great start.

-It's a good start.
-All right, we got lead.

Now we need gold.

That's your specialty, Parker.

-[Parker] We're working on it.
-[Josh] We're working on it.

Here we go.
Come on.

We are wet, but undeterred,
as we press on, trying to scan

the entire bluff above
the Old Spanish Mine.

[detector beeping]

[Troy] Oh, Josh, I got a nice,
strong signal over here.

[Josh] OK, here we go.

Now we're talking.

Oh, here we go, right there.

What is that?

[Josh] Panning for gold
with Parker Schnabel

is like going one-on-one
with LeBron James.

And I did, well, about as well
as I do against LeBron.

[blooper bleep]

Yeah, you're not washing
any of the stuff out.

I don't want to lose the gold.

You're playing with it
a little bit.

-I'm not... [chuckles].
-[blooper bleep].

No, no, no, no, no, no.

You don't look through it.

-Sorry, heaven forbid.
-[Parker] Yeah.

-I got gold fever!
-[blooper bleep]

So the number one mistake
that beginners make...

Is doing this
in the first place.

[blooper bleep]

-Tilt, tilt, tilt, tilt, tilt.
-[Josh] And wash.

You're, like,
fighting me, stop.

[both laugh]

I'm trying!

[blooper beeping]

Have you thought
about a cooking show?

[blooper bleep]

This is so frustrating,

trying to teach somebody
how to pan.

[Josh] Why!

It's like, I used to do this
at my grandpa's mine site

when I was, like, 10.

All right, I have the skills
of a 10-year-old?

-Is that what you're saying?
-No, no.

-[Josh] Not even?
-It's worse than that.

Come on!

[dramatic music plays]

-[Josh] Is that iron?
-It is iron.

[Josh] Digging near
a Gold Rush-era mine

in search of the Ruggles
brothers' lost treasure,

we've just gotten a big hit

on the metal detector.

That might be for, like,
for a key slot or something.

-Look at that.
-[Josh] What?

It does look like that.

[Troy] Maybe for a strong box?

This appears to be
the escutcheon plate

off a chest.

It would likely have framed
some kind of locking mechanism.

Yeah, like two bolts
in the top and bottom?

[Josh] Totally, right?

And you can imagine
a key fitting right in there.

Yeah, into a Wells Fargo
strong box.

-Into a Wells Fargo strong box.
-Wouldn't that be something?

[Josh] How about that?

If there was a box attached
to this, what was in it?

We're just going to have
to keep looking to find out.

This is intriguing.

The confession that led us
here mentioned a boulder

beneath a bluff
at the Old Spanish Mine

as a landmark.

Mine...check.

Bluff...check.

Now we just need
to find the boulder.

The only signs I've seen
of any larger rocks are kind

of up this ravine, which...
-Yeah.

is kind of at the base
of the short bluff here.

It really is.

I mean, there's a couple
big rocks there.

I don't know about boulders,
but let's look up

that way, yeah?

You know, that one up there
looks more like a boulder.

Where? Oh, that!

[Troy] That's the biggest one
we've seen today.

I think that qualifies
as a boulder.

OK, let's check there.

We furiously metal
detect the area,

but in the end, the guy
who gets the strongest hit

is exactly who you'd expect.

[detector beeping loudly]

-[Josh] Is that a hit?
-[Parker] It sounds like it.

[Troy]
Maybe that's the treasure.

That's like under the boulder.

You're going to hit
right there?

[Troy] The boulder.

[Josh] Wait, what is that?

[Parker]
It's 500 ounces of gold.

-[all laugh]
-[Josh] Come on, Parker,
be right.

I mean, we are at the base
of a boulder at the bluff.

At the Old Spanish Mine,
come on!

[Parker] Yeah.

Oh, is that it?

What is that?
Is it heavy?

[Troy]
Not a bar of gold, is it?

[Josh] I don't think so, no.

[Troy]
Didn't look shiny enough.

[Parker] Head of a hammer?

[Josh] Oh, I think
that's exactly what it is.

Look at that.

Old mining hammer?

Well, it's like
a ball-peen hammer,

but that would have been
for driving a chisel into rock.

[Josh] Wow!
Old mining hammer.

Look at that.

You can even see wood
still broken off

in the handle
rotted out in there.

I love stuff like this
because somebody held this.

Yeah.

You know, somebody
worked with this.

-Probably down underground.
-[Josh] Yeah.

Chiseling out the white quartz,
looking for gold.

[Josh]
This is another reminder that,
I mean, you know, look,

gold mining's plenty
hard today, but this was like...

Oh, imagine those guys swinging
that hammer for 12 hours a day

for probably not even a dollar,
or nothing at all

if they're mining
and not finding any gold.

[Josh] Right?
A tough life for sure.

But these guys were
literally the pioneers.

These guys literally
broke the Earth wide open

and started this whole industry.

[Parker] Yep.

That's something.
So we got a lost mine.

We got evidence
of those early miners.

-No Ruggles gold yet, though.
-Not yet.

But, uh, I don't know.

We got a few hours
till the sun goes down.

That's true, and it's not like
I'm gonna get any wetter.

-No, we're soaked through.
-[Troy] Yeah.

-Should we keep at it?
-We might as well.

-[Parker] Yeah.
-Yeah?

You know, there's still
gold out there.

That's what they say.
Let's find it.

Come on!

Whoo!

[epic music plays]

We search and we search,

but the Ruggles gold
stays hidden,

at least for today.

The California Gold Rush was
an explosion

of unbridled ambition
at its most pure

and sometimes
its most predatory.

For every gritty prospector
and stalwart stagecoach driver,

there were schemers and bandits

seeking to prey
on their success.

The story of the Ruggles is
undoubtedly a classic tale

of greed and the inevitable cost
of material obsession.

But if I'm being honest,
I, too, felt bit by the bug

in the hills
of Northern California

and experienced firsthand
a case of gold fever.

Why are you so excited?

What do you mean,
why am I so excited?

We just pulled gold
out of a river?

Over one unceasingly rainy week,
I spent every waking,

soggy minute dreaming
of striking it rich,

I hardly cared
that I was soaked to the bone

in frigid temperatures

because I felt the warmth
of that starry-eyed affliction,

of that what-if feeling,

with every hit
on the metal detector.

I was also basking
in the determination

and good-humored camaraderie
of some of the best company

a treasure hunter
could hope for.

That's a little Wild West
treasure right there.

As our fellowship parts ways,
I'm heartened by the fact that

while the California Gold Rush
is behind us,

its legacy lives on

in modern-day pioneers
and prospectors,

and in the knowledge
that somewhere just beneath

our feet,
a $10 million payday

is patiently waiting
for someone to dig down

and cry, Eureka!

[epic music concludes]