All language subtitles for Mysteries.Of.The.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S01E04.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

Abandoned structures hold
the secrets of America's past.

An imposing construction
reveals a little-known chapter

in an era-defining story.

A frozen landscape shows
how wars abroad
shaped the homeland.

When they set off all
the powder from the bombs,

you'd stand outside the house,

and it would just
shake the earth

and the little mushroom clouds
would come up.

And an ancient
wonder offers a glimpse

into this land's long
human story.

We don't really know
why they created this place

and then
what caused them to leave.

That's the great mystery.

Scattered across the United States
are abandoned structures,

forgotten ruins of the past,

monuments to a bygone era.

Each shines a light
on the story of this land

and its people.

These are the secrets of
hidden America.

Deep in the heartland,

hundreds of miles
from the nearest major city,

is an old facility with
a new secret.

We're out basically
in the middle of nowhere.

The site is enormous.

And we have
these different structures
dotted around for miles.

The first
impression that everybody has
when they come here,

hands down
across the board,

is simply "wow."

The more you
traverse this landscape,

the more you realize
how much is here

and how much
possibly happened here.

While much of the site fell
into disrepair long ago,

the largest section
appears almost unchanged.

The scale of
the original site was right
around the size of Manhattan.

But what you see
behind me right here,

this is the most
important part of it all.

The design of the bunkers,

the spacing
between the bunkers,

tells you
all you need to know.

This was a place that was
filled with danger.

But with those
risks now long gone,

something else
is taking root here,

and life is slowly
beginning to return.

This facility was
abandoned for decades.

But now things are changing.

What these were built for originally

makes it absolutely perfect
for what it's becoming today.

In operation
for over two decades,

this was once
a highly-secure military site,

as Tom Simons recalls from
his days growing up
on a neighboring ranch.

When we were kids,

we'd hunt rabbits and bobcats
over on the west end

and we found
a hole under the fence,

and we'd crawl under there
and pursue our bobcats,

and the guards would come.

They were in jeeps,

they had like
a .50 caliber machine gun
mounted on the back.

When you're nine years old,
you get pretty scared.

Now a shell of
its former self,

at the time,

the armed security
was here for a reason.

These buildings,
from what I gather from
some of my friends,

was small arms storage.

Like weapons,
...50 caliber machine guns, handheld,

I guess ammunition
for like ANA aircraft

and different things
like that.

The facility,
as a whole at some point,

housed bombs, grenades, rockets

and chemical toxins.

There was
a truly nasty cocktail

of chemical agents stored

such as VX gas, mustard gas
and sarin.

They weren't nice ingredients.

This is the
Black Hills Ordnance Depot,

a site established
to make sure the United States
was equipped for war.

After the attack
on Pearl Harbor
in December 1941,

America was thrown
into the war.

So, all of the sudden, is was
no longer about preparation

and more about ramping up
production of weapons
and munitions.

The purpose of this place
was to receive munitions,

store it safely and
maintain it

so it was ready when
it needed to be sent out.

Construction began
in early 1942.

Here stood a
vehicle classification area.

Nearby was an airfield,
ammunition workshops
and packing areas.

Burning grounds for
old munitions
were located at the edges.

Chemical weapons
were in the northwest.

But the largest area was
filled with storage bunkers

or "igloos,"
as they were nicknamed.

In total, 802 were built.

2,200 square foot apiece.

2 to 3-feet thick
concrete walls all around

and double rebar

insulated under the earth.

Inside every one of
these bunkers

was as many
as you could imagine

bombs,
ordnance or all kinds,

these things were
packed to the gills.

These bunkers were
constructed impeccably.

And the worst you'll see
out of any of these

after 80 years in existence
to this day

is minor cracking.

The first shipments
arrived in late 1942,

well before the site
was fully completed.

But with war raging abroad,

across the country,

sites like this were put
straight into use.

We had
military personnel,

we had
the advanced technology.

If you can't back that up
with the ordnance

and the weapons
to sustain that fight

that they knew would go on
for a very long time,

we would have been
out of the game a lot earlier.

A permanent labor
force had to be brought in

to operate the facility.

And from this,
a new community soon grew.

To accommodate
the work force,

they essentially had to
develop a small town.

There was accommodation for
1,000 people working here,

a hospital, a school,
a movie theater,

a bowling alley.

But the call to arms

also brought with it
something unexpected.

Across the country,

age-old barriers were
beginning to break down.

Reports show that there were
160 Native Americans
working in this space.

And there was also
a strong presence of the WOWs,

women ordnance workers.

It's a shame that
it actually took a war

to bring about
that kind of change,

but this was a turning point
in that history.

However,
social change
at sites like this

came at a price.

For those working here
over the years,

danger was ever-present.

In 1946,

a forklift driver punctured
a 100-pound bomb

filled with white phosphorus.

It then engulfed over 38,000
bombs in flames.

When you're storing these
extremely dangerous materials,

accidents can happen.

And that's exactly
what happened in 1950

when three people
were killed by an explosion.

But while
originally designed
to contain deadly materials,

more recently,

the bunkers have been
offering protection

from the outside, instead.

In 1950,

this site was suddenly
thrown into action once more.

The Korean War
saw America calling on
its stockpiled ordnance,

and this time,
Black Hills was ready.

War played a key part

in the United States history
of the 20th century.

So often,
we think about the battles.

We don't talk about
what was happening here

on the home front.

Hidden sites like this

remind us of all the effort
that goes into that

in order to be able to fight
these wars successfully.

After 25 years
of service,

the site would close.

The bunkers were emptied
and left to the elements.

But far from
remaining silent forever,

something new is
drawing people back here.

There's really two reasons
why people want to be here.

One is because there's
a huge desire
to just be off-grid

and living a simpler life,
in a way.

The other reason is

this facility is amazing
for disaster preparedness

because these bunkers
will protect you

from just about anything.

In 2016,
a company called Vivos

bought up around
575 of the bunkers.

So this is my bunker.
Home away from home.

It started out very modest
and very empty and basic,

just like the other ones
you've seen.

But this is what can
be done inside here.

I have a large
solar panel outside.

That's my primary
power generation.

We have water purification
up front.

And we have, um,
you know, casually,

just a nuclear biological
chemical filtration unit
on the other side.

Back here,
we have fuel storage.

And this is your ladder
to get up into the attic.

If you were to be
locked down in here for a year
or even more,

you need all the storage
you can get.

Um, back here, we have
a nice large gun safe.

For the Black Hills site,

this latest chapter in
its story is bringing back

something that was lost
a long time ago.

Like many communities
that are built up around
military investments,

once the facility closes,
people move away.

Slowly, this community is
beginning to reappear.

It's really
all kinds of people.

We have people with very
high-tech medical equipment,

entire arsenals of weaponry,

people with basically
all the seedlings
that you could need

to start and run a greenhouse
that could feed a community.

We're full-time
residents here.

There are about 30--

between 30 and 40 other
full-time residents here
right now.

From our perspective,
this is home.

While bunker life
isn't for everyone,

these old structures continue
to hold their own
in the modern world.

I have a good number
of friends that
I've known for a long time,

and they were curious about
what I was doing

until the pandemic.

They are suddenly
incredibly interested

in putting themselves in
a better position

to where their pantry won't
run empty in three days.

If things did go crazy
in the world,

if someone straight up
declared war on America

or there was enormous
civil unrest,

I feel completely safe here.

I can provide for my power
and my water.

We're good.

Today,
the bunkers and
the other parts of the site

help illustrate
how the country's past

has left its mark on the land.

In the '40s,

war was totally different
than it is today.

And this was a necessary
facility back in those years.

In a way, I'm glad it ended,

because we don't need this
no more.

And it's sad to see all
the buildings falling down.

It's just a part of our
history that we can't change.

In the foothills
of the Appalachians

is a quiet site that became
famous for the wrong reasons.

We're in a rural part
of Tennessee,

kind of far away from
any place that you would
really wanna be

by foot or car.

A winding road
cuts through the range,

ending at a walled fortress.

It's built out of
a light-colored sandstone.

And with its prenylated top,

it looks rather like a castle.

It's very out of place
in the area.

This place is
a mishmash of architecture.

Some of it is modern.

There are older structures.

Cleary, it has been built
and rebuilt over the years.

But inside are
rotting walls and rusted bars

that reveal its true purpose.

It's absolutely depressing.

You know that the prisoners
inside this prison

had horrific existences.

This is Brushy Mountain
State Penitentiary.

Some of America's most
dangerous criminals
were locked inside here.

But it was one inmate's crime

that changed the course
of American history

and drew the eyes of the world
to this place.

Teddy Basler arrived here
nearly 40 years ago.

His job, to keep convicted
felons under lock and key.

Behind these doors
were murderers,

violent criminals

and sex offenders.

Stand here, and every fiber
of your being will scream,

"This is the end of the road."

But this
high-security facility

started life as
a simpler structure.

In the late 1800s,

Brushy Mountain
State Penitentiary

was a wooden prison.

But in the 1930s,

authorities decided to
put the prisoners to work

to rebuild it

basically ensuring that they
would not be able to escape.

Brushy was designed
to be a threat.

To be sent here,
you'd either been convicted of
a heinous crime

or no one else would have you.

For the inmates,

living quarters were
small and sparse.

Brushy Mountain
State Penitentiary

kept some of America's
most notorious felons.

But in March of 1970,

Brushy's most famous
inmate arrived,

a man named James Earl Ray.

James Earl Ray was a fugitive

from the
Missouri State Prison.

He was a petty criminal.

He's the dregs of
American society.

And he played a role in
forever changing
the landscape of America

by killing Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On April 4th, 1968,

King was staying at
the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

As he stood on his balcony,

a single bullet struck him.

The world stopped.

Riots took place
across the country.

I actually remember the day

and how afraid I was of
the National Guard

when they came
into my Black community,

as a little boy.

It stayed with me
like it happened yesterday.

A manhunt began.

James Earl Ray
was the number one suspect.

He was captured
in London, England,

and sentenced to
99 years in prison

at Brushy Mountain
State Penitentiary.

When we found out
he was coming here,

we had staff meetings here
all the time.

He was a major escape risk.

On a June evening,
seven years into his sentence,

Ray made his move.

That evening,
I'm eating supper

and the whistle starts blowing

and then this long--
I think it was seven times.

And I told my wife,
I was like, "Oh, hell, Lola.

Oh, my God, honey, this--
it's a bad one.

This is bad.

If that man escapes,

it's real bad."

The inmates
squeezed through
a gap in the barbed wire,

just 18 inches wide.

And with that,

America's highest-profile
criminal was on the run.

Any escapee is dangerous.

He's extremely dangerous.

He'll hurt anybody
that gets in front of him.

On June 10th, 1977,
the nation's attention

was suddenly brought
upon this prison,

for the man convicted of
killing Martin Luther King
had escaped.

We had to call every employee.

Every employee of the prison,
we would call in.

The media
descended on the space.

And people
all over the country

watched the unfolding
of this manhunt.

The sent the FBI in here.

And I know most of the people
in the FBI are good people.

But the ones
they sent up here,

if they had been hand-picked
to be total rear ends,

they-- they got 'em.

They drove around at
night in cars

shining lights up
in the woods.

But you're not gonna
catch him

shining lights up in
the trees at night.

While the FBI
swept the roads,

Tucker and his colleague,
Stawney Lane,

planned an expedition
into the woods

with bloodhounds.

We called at night

and he said,
"We got a really good track
going over here."

Now he said, "I'm gonna
tell you something.

If I call you anytime tonight
on the radio

and I say the word 'shallow,'

I got him.
We're looking at him."

For two days,
Brushy's officers and the FBI

raced to find James Earl Ray.

When it come
over the radio,

he said, "We've still got
a good track going."

He said,
"It's hotter than hell."

He said that "over here
is a shallow church,"

boy, my hair stood up
all over me.

He's looking at him.
They done got him.

He said "shallow."

The hounds tracked
Ray to a spot in the woods.

Later, the dog handlers
showed reporters

how he discovered Ray buried
in a pile of leaves.

By the end of the fourth day,

all the escapees
had been rounded up.

And Ray was heading
to solitary.

James Earl Ray
was put into D block.

This was the bleakest place
that Brushy had to offer.

Those in D block who were put
into solitary confinement,

the spent 90% of the time
on their own.

Their food was pushed through
a gap in the door.

Ray spent
six months in here.

A few years later,

he was transferred to
another facility.

He died behind bars in 1998.

Brushy kept going,
but eventually,

it couldn't keep up with
the growing prison population.

In 2009, it was
shut down permanently.

While this prison played its
role in the aftermath
of Martin Luther King's death,

that tragic event had much
further-reaching consequences

for American history.

His assassination,

particularly amongst
young African Americans

and other
civil rights activists,

created doubt about nonviolence

and the hope
for a better America.

It changed the face
of American history.

Many situations,
those riot-torn urban centers,

have never bounced back from
the destruction of 1968.

So, in essence,

the killing of Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

was a critical moment in, um,

the larger chronicle-ization
of American history.

In the lush hills
of wine country

is a building
whose disastrous end

was shrouded in mystery
for decades.

We're in one of the most
beautiful parts of America,

just north of San Francisco.

Wineries, golden hilltops,

oak rows,

and we come across
this large structure.

This place was clearly
something special.

But it isn't immediately
apparent what happened here

to leave it in this state.

Found in a tranquil setting,

together, it all reveals
something unexpected.

This place tells a story of
one of America's
most famous writers.

But the ruins show
that there was
a twist in this tale.

What we're looking at here

is the product
of one man's dream.

It all came crashing down
in a single night of tragedy.

Today,
these remains stand
within the boundaries

of a state historic park.

Bern Lefson has been
a docent here for 10 years.

This was the home
of a very important

famous individual in
US history.

This structure was
the dream of Jack London,

the most influential
writer of his time.

His books were read
by people around the world.

Today,
Jack London's books

like White Fang
Call of the Wild,

they're not held in
the highest literary esteem,

but in his day,

Jack London was a superstar.

Costing close to
$2 million in today's money,

this was intended to be
the home of Jack
and his second wife, Charmian.

He named it Wolf House.

Living here would have
made you felt like luxury.

But with all of the windows,

one would also feel
that you're part of nature,

which was very
important to Jack.

In 1911,

the foundations were poured

and they hid a secret.

They were strong enough
to carry a 40-story building.

The reason was down to the
1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

It's estimated that between
70 and 80% of the city
was destroyed.

London wanted to
make sure that his house

would not only be
stable in an earthquake

with the massive foundation,

but also, as close
to fireproof as possible.

He used volcanic rocks
for the walls.

Where he had exposed wood,

he used redwood
with the bark still on.

Redwood trees are
famously resistant to fire.

So with it
engineered to last,

how did it end up like this?

Jack London
had intended Wolf House

to be a lasting monument
on his grand estate.

What he was trying
to establish here

was a far cry from
his adventure-fueled
formative years.

Jack London grew up poor
on the streets,

literally, on the streets
of San Francisco.

He worked on seal boats,

sailed as far as Japan,

rode the rails back and forth
across the country,

and this was all by
the age of 20.

At 21,

he chose to follow the
gold rush north

into the Klondike.

He spent about
a year up there

meeting all
the various characters,

talking to people,
taking in the scenery,

and it's
out of that experience

that the germ of his writing
was really born.

London's novel
The Call of the Wild
in 1903

was a huge success
and it made him rich.

An affair,
the breakdown of his marriage

and then
a new marriage followed.

By 1905,

the now-famous author
was looking to settle down.

So, little
known about Jack London,

he was actually
very passionate about
conserving the soil.

And at that time
in California,

farmers were using
chemical fertilizers

and just basically
farming the soil out

and moving on to another farm.

And his travels
around the world showed him

ways to farm in a better
more earth-friendly way.

And that is something he
wanted to share with the world

through his work here
in the land.

The couple
bought up small areas of land

to create their new property
called Beauty Ranch.

And this
parcel here is the one

that allowed them to
physically move onto the land

and become residents of
their new dream together.

This was really
a mark of success for Jack.

This was really
the pinnacle of his dream,

was to have a wonderful place
in the country

that he could farm
with his wife

and be very close to nature.

The small cottage
provided lodging,

but Wolf House was intended
to be their true home.

However, in August, 1913,

with the house
nearing completion,

the unthinkable occurred.

Jack was awakened
in the middle of the night

being told that the Wolf House
was on fire.

And when he got here,

he noticed the whole roof
was engulfed

and he knew
there was no saving it.

What's left standing
is all that does not burn.

Contained inside,

a fire had
burned out of control

before the alarm was raised.

The sad irony is
the thick walls

that were designed to
keep fire out

did not handle the fire
that began within.

For decades, the cause of
the fire remained a mystery.

But in 1995,

a forensics team
conducted a study of the site.

We are
in the dining room

and the fire was determined
by scientific methods

to begin right in front
of that fireplace.

Rags soaked in linseed oil

had been used to treat
the interior wood surfaces.

And it's believed that
at the end of the day,

those rags were
left in a pile there.

They were able to
actually confirm the
spontaneous combustion theory.

It was an incredibly hot day

and the sun beaming in
the open window

hitting those rags just
heated them up

until the point of combustion.

In this case, by
the time anyone was aware

the building was on fire,

it was far too late
to do anything.

Today, many
question Jack London's
personal and political views.

What these sites offer,
though, is perhaps

a glimpse at another side to
the famous author.

London was
a fascinating figure

in the history,
not just of literature,

but ideas about conservation,

about man's relationship
with nature

and still, in some ways,

there's a hint of that
lingering around these ruins.

In the Four Corners region,

where Arizona, Utah, Colorado
and New Mexico meet,

ancient structures hide an
often overlooked part

of this land's story.

We're out in the wilds here.

It's striking
and it's desolate.

This feels like
such a quiet
and distant place today.

But you can see from
all the remains dotted about

that, years ago,
this was anything but.

Aged forms
cover these grounds.

But one stands apart.

It's the kind of
settlement we associate

with Mesoamerican
Native architecture,

the Mayans or the Aztecs,

or South America,
like the Incas.

This was once
a thriving and populace area.

But something changed
and people began to leave.

That's the real mystery here.

Something must have happened.

This is one of the most
important archeological sites
in North America,

one of the most important
in the world,

and yet most Americans
don't know much about it.

Dating back
over 1,000 years,

the structures here
reveal an early chapter

in the human history
of this land.

Jon Ghahate is a member
of two of New Mexico's
Pueblo communities.

The skills that were
evolved here

to create the kinds of
structures that we see
a millennia later,

they are still here.

This structure,
at one point in time,

was about the height of
about four to five stories.

This wall is at least
3 feet thick.

That there are
two external walls

and then a second wall
where rubble would be used

because it has to support the
surrounding or upper walls.

That's why it
has to be so thick.

The structure
covers an area of
around two football fields.

And through years
of excavations,

it's been estimated it had
around 650 rooms.

This is Pueblo Bonito,

the grandest of the great
houses built in this canyon.

It's not just
the skill of the labor,

it's the sheer physical work.

They didn't have
draft animals,

they didn't have mules
or oxen.

As far as the walls
and the ceilings,

most of this wood comes
from at least 50-55 miles away

from the Chuska Mountains
and the Zuni Mountains.

We have to also remember,

all of this was done
with human labor

as well as simply other simple
tools, bone, wood and stone.

We learn a lot
from the evidence left behind.

But at the core of this story

is the mystery of
what this place really was.

Originally a nomadic people from
around the mid-9th century,

it was ancestral Puebloans
who began to settle here.

This is when the construction
of this site really begins.

And it continues
for centuries.

Key walls of this site

were constructed along
the cardinal directions
of the compass,

while certain windows
are aligned with
astronomical events.

They were positioned
around the sun

to mark the solstice
and the equinox.

The had meaning
and purpose.

This was
an engineering marvel.

Sites such as this
really reveal that
there was a long history

in this land
before Europeans came,

and that it was sophisticated.

Twelve other
great houses are found here.

But this was just one area in
a larger civilization.

There were around
150 of these great houses
in the region.

And they were
connected by a road system.

They were all part of
the same society,

a shared way of life.

This culture
reached across
large parts of New Mexico

up into Colorado and Utah

and west into Arizona.

This was a very
dominant group.

For centuries,

Pueblo Bonito flourished
as the largest
of these structures

and the center of this
so-called Chacoan culture.

But then, something changed.

The twist in the tale
comes soon after

when, suddenly,
they began to leave.

In one corner of the site,

you can see there's been
a rockfall, a huge collapse.

And you immediately wonder
if that played a role
in its decline.

Built around
1,000 years ago,

Pueblo Bonito stood as the
largest building in this land

for around eight centuries.

Dominating the site
is the large central plaza,

a clue to what this all
may have been built for.

Most scientists presume
that this was a place

where all the people,
all the community members,

participated either with
trade or ceremonies.

But they also
kind of congregated

to perhaps maybe celebrate
or just have a feast or a fair

that you would expect them
to share something together.

The scale of
the structure suggests

a large population
could have lived here.

But something is amiss.

One of the things
that we do not see here

is what we call trash mittance
or garbage.

Why don't we have large--
evidence of large amounts
of trash?

That's why the accepted
hypothesis is

that only a small group of
people lived here
at any one point in time

and other groups came here
either on a pilgrimage

or of a way
to visit this place.

Something that
adds to this theory

is the abundance of these
large circular structures

known as kivas,

the largest of which has
a diameter of around 70 feet

and lies to the south
of Pueblo Bonito.

It's suspected that
perhaps it probably was

able to hold
the whole community
at one point in time.

They would have
been covered over

either as
underground structures,
sunken down into the earth,

or as roofed buildings with
an access point on top,

likely with a ladder
to lead you down inside.

We see them
throughout Chaco Canyon

as well as other
extensions of the culture

that existed
throughout the southwest.

But it's a way that we can
simply understand

that the humans who
created places like this

had some
existential constructs.

They perhaps have belief
in the afterlife,

a belief in the spirit
or the soul of a human being

that they made a conscious
effort to incorporate that
into their society.

While Pueblo Bonito
could have been a site
of pilgrimage

or intended
for ceremonial use,

the kivas also represent
something more,

a link to the modern day.

Only this time, any mystery
surrounding their use

stems from
a conscious decision.

The current-day Pueblos
have these structures
within our communities

that we still use,

that they are part of
our rituals,

our existential constructs.

Kivas are ways of helping us
understand that we are
spiritual beings,

but at the same time,

we protect what we want to

and simply not divulge in
completely everything.

Across three centuries,

the structures of Chaco Canyon
continue to grow in size
and importance.

But it wouldn't last.

There's a huge
rock collapse in
the corner of this site.

But that happened long after
the ancestral Puebloans
were gone.

Something else
led to their leaving.

And it wasn't
only Pueblo Bonito
that was affected.

Around the 12th,
13th century,
something happened,

something significant enough
to change the culture,

to change the approach
to living across the region.

This thriving community
just started to empty.

Theories covering
drought, disease, violence

and religious change
have been suggested.

But for now, at least,

the answers to exactly
what this place was built for

and why it ended

remain a mystery.

While the inhabitants
departed long ago,

the significance of
Chaco Canyon and these sites remains.

Perhaps some of
the first impressions
that people experience

is that it's abandoned.

But it's really not abandoned

as it applies to
our Pueblo culture.

These places are significant
even today.

They give us a sense of
looking into the past,

but it helps us understand
who we are in the present

and then certainly
who we are in the future.

For Jon, however,

the lessons aren't limited to
the descendants of
this culture.

One of the important
things we as humans can learn

is what history is.

It gives us a sense of place,
where we belong

in this greater thing
we call the cosmos,

this universe.

Literally, we are
just part of something

and we are connected
to everything.

By learning about some
of those components,

we realize
that we belong here.

And, therefore, we should
take care of this planet.

That's what we can learn
by experiencing
places like Chaco.