01x04 - Weeping Cave

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Tonight on
"Lost Gold of the Aztecs"...

There we go.

We need to build a shaker box.

That way we can move
a lot more material.

Whoa, whoa!

Whoa! What do we got here?

Holy [ bleep ].

This hole could be
a tunnel entrance.

- Oh, whoa.
- Man, I did not expect to see this.

There's so much
more to this mine.

This goes down.

Yeah, there's a
tunnel down here.

Narrator: 500 years ago,
the Aztecs possessed

one of the greatest treasures
the world has ever seen.

Word of this treasure attracted the
attention of the Spanish conquistadors,

but when they came for the gold,

it was already gone,

hidden by Emperor Montezuma
in locations throughout

what is now the
American Southwest.

Now, three treasure
hunting teams,

all with different approaches,

are closing in on
what they believe

is the location of
the lost Aztec gold.

This right here is
definitely manmade activity.

The Dillmans are
following a trail

blazed by the research
of their grandfather.

I believe it's my destiny
to find it for the family.

The Villescas are
treasure seekers

descended from
Spanish conquistadors.

They believe the
Spanish found the gold...

All right. Here we go.

And melted it into bars

hidden throughout the
American Southwest.

Gabriel: If anybody's
gonna find it, it's gonna be us.

Narrator: And
finally, the Hoaglands.

Fire in the hole!

They believe the treasure
is hidden inside mines

along well known
Aztec trade routes.

If anything happens,
be ready to go.

Decades of searching...

- [ beeping ] -
That's old as hell.

Three different theories.

Kevin: That's what
I do. I go find stuff.

Narrator: Which one of these
teams will be proven right

and be the first to find

the lost gold of the Aztecs?

Basically, you know, we're just
gonna do a cursory investigation.

All right.

The Dillmans are
headed back to cave five,

an intriguing location
where an earlier dye test

suggested the possibility
of interlocked tunnels.

Dan, I got color in cave five.

Based on research done
by Dan's grandfather,

he believes the tunnel
system could lead to a cave

holding Aztec treasure.

They're sending in
divers to learn more.

- So we call this Weeping Cave.
- [ water dripping ]

You can clearly hear that the
sandstone is weeping, right?

The water is dripping out of it.

All right, you guys
grab your stuff

and can you be
ready in 15 minutes?

- Yeah, 15 should be good.
- All right, beautiful.

We're checking out
Weeping Cave right now

because we've got some
tracing dye appearing in it

and it's not too far
away from Shadow Cave.

So we've got a connection there.

We continue to look for tunnels.

If we find a tunnel system,

then we've found evidence
that someone made those tunnels

and we need to figure
out if it was the Aztecs.

Yes, sir. Can you hear me okay?

Derrick: Looks like they've almost
made it across the back of the cavern.

What's the conditions
like down there right now?

Is it, you know, pretty
muddy, a lot of silt,

or is it pretty clear
as you got further out?

Yeah, can you guys
stay next to the wall?

My grandfather in his audiotape,

he said that we should find what
may seem like a natural spring opening,

but in fact that that
would also be an entrance

into a tunnel and cavern system.

Anything else that you guys
are finding against the wall

or are you guys moving
more towards the center?

Where are you guys at now?

White rocks?

See if it's been in any sort of
specific pattern or formation.

Yeah, do they seem to
be engineered, manmade?

Are they square blocks
or are they just rocks?

Dan: It's sandstone
around here. It's red rock.

If there's white
rocks down there,

it's not from that cave.

Okay, well, you know what?

Let's mark that as
a place of interest,

and let's get closer
to the back of the cave

where the green tracing
dye was coming out.

Someone at some point in
time put those rocks there.

It's definitely enough
intrigue for me

to say let's look
a little deeper.

You guys are headed to
the exact location at 10:00

where the tracing dye came
up. You're in a good area.

Follow the cliff down all the
way to the bottom if you can.

Are you guys feeling
any kind of change

in water temperature or
pressure while you're down there?

When we see the
temperature drop,

it could be an indicator

that that would be
a spring opening.

So that's what
we're looking for,

a natural opening,
a natural pathway,

that opens up into this
larger tunnel system.

How big would you say it is?

Holy [ bleep ].

This hole or possible tunnel

that the diver is reporting
to us that he has found

could be where
the dye came out of.

It could also be
a tunnel entrance.

This is actually something that
we have to investigate further.

Are they coming
back? TJ, come on up.

TJ.

Oh, right on.

Just checking on you, guys,
making sure you're good.

A couple things he found? What
the hell could he have found?

When TJ reported to me that
he had something to show me,

it's kind of mysterious and
exciting at the same time.

All of kinds of ideas start
running through my mind.

- How was it?
- A couple things looking out of the ordinary back there.

Didn't see anything
else like it down there.

- They're hollow.
- Yeah, they're hollowed out.

You can see straight through it.

I don't know if this
is bone or shell.

It looks like it could be bone.

I thought it looked like
bone when I was down there.

Dan: TJ has brought us up

what looked to be bone or shell,

but when you look
at these pieces,

they've clearly been worked.

And you just found
this on the bottom?

It was kinda up by the wall.

- Really?
- Towards the back.

Were they grouped together
or kinda scattered around?

They were pretty close together.

We need to share
this with an expert

and get their opinion on
exactly what they believe this is.

But first we need to test that
opening at the bottom of the cave

and see if we've got
a tunnel entrance.

Finally get the
machine we needed.

Narrator: The Villescas
team is digging deeper

at a site they think could
be where Johnny Segura

discovered a bar of melted gold,

a bar that resembled the process
used by Spanish conquistadors.

They're searching
not just for gold

but for any signs that
the Spanish were here.

After finding evidence that
they may be in the right area,

Gabe has made a small
investment in equipment...

A 15-ton front loader
with a deep bucket

that can hold 5,000
pounds of rock.

We followed the breadcrumbs all the way here
to the actual spot where Johnny was working,

and possibly even
the conquistadors.

Johnny found one
of these gold bars,

and the Spanish
didn't just bury one.

We believe there's a large mass
quantity of gold buried out here.

Our next step on this location

is to see if we can't find any type
of proof the Spanish were here

and to find out if this
really is a legitimate site.

Narrator: Gabe has
come up with a plan

to sift through the
massive amounts of dirt

that the front
loader will dig up.

We need to build a shaker box. That way
we can move a lot more material quicker.

This process will allow us
to sift through the finds here.

We should be able to locate any small
artifacts that come through the screen.

Shaker boxes were invented in


to speed up how much material
miners could sift through in a day.

These devices
originally used water

and were built on rockers.

Once gold mining
moved into the desert,

it was adapted to use
gravity with a series of screens

like the one the
Villescas are building.

We take the angle iron

and we go on ahead and make
ourselves a nice square box,

and that's gonna
give us our rigid frame.

There we go.

Gabriel: We build
ourselves something stout.

Okay, I'm liking that.

Envision that it
has a top on there.

So we can get
Monico welding that.

Monico is a really
good friend of mine,

and I brought him in
to help us with this build

because we need
more hands on deck,

and it's dangerous for just one
or two people to be working on it.

Just go on ahead
and drop it on here.

- We got that one?
- There we go.

- Okay?
- You're good.

Go ahead. Down.

We're gonna build this
screen up at an angle,

suspend it with some chain in
four points all the way down...

- Ready?
- So it'll have a rocking motion.

A shaker box has
to have movement...

Whoa! Right there.

Maintaining that


If we just throw a bucket
of large material on,

it's gonna tear
that screen right off.

There we go.

And we're gonna need
some kind of Grizzly.

Gabriel: It's not gonna give under


If we use a large screen, that
should slough off the big material.

Jerome: Put it up
there. Don't be scared.

Gabriel: This tray should
be the hail Mary tray.

If we're gonna find anything,
it's gonna be found right there.

That loader's costing us
money every single day.

It's important that we come
across some type of evidence

so we can working this site.

Done! Ready.

Kevin: I don't know what it is.

I haven't got a clue.

Narrator: For
the last ten years,

Chris Hegg and Kevin Hoagland

have been searching along
the old Aztec trade routes.

They believe
fleeing Aztec warriors

used these ancient
corridors to hide the gold

in their own
previously dug mines

in the American Southwest.

Now, after uncovering the
entrance to an ancient mine...

Yeah!

They came in contact with a
potentially dangerous substance...

Kevin: I wanna figure
out what this stuff is.

We gotta get some help.

Which is causing concern
for the Hoagland team.

Man, I'm going with bugs

because it's what
I've known in the past.

It turns colors and...

As soon as it got wet, it
turned my hands purple.

I washed them,
like 12 times now.

I don't know if it's the
sweat on my hands or...

- Or the pH.
- Or the heat or the pH

or just before I
went up the ladder,

I took a big drink and washed
my hands off. I don't know.

- Where are you?
- Is that blood?

Kevin: When Chris called out
that my hands were bleeding

and I looked down and both of
my hands were just covered in red,

it was time to stop.
None of knew what it was.

And I got no idea.

Loupe that. See what
it looks like to you.

Chris: Some type
of dehydrated bug.

Kevin: I don't know anything
about a freeze-dried bug.

They do look freeze-dried,
which would be Aztec.

They invented freeze-drying.
Freeze dried potatoes.

- This is true.
- They went up on a mountain,

they figured out how to run
natural air current every day.

- Current, yeah.
- They'd dry them out

and transport them
all over their kingdom,

so that would be interesting
if this was from down south

and it's freeze-dried
and brought here.

If these things were
freeze-dried in a tunnel

in a high altitude in Nevada,
to me, that shows Aztec.

In fact only Aztec, not Spanish.

Narrator: The freeze-dried bugs
could be evidence of Aztec involvement.

Freeze-drying in cold mountain
air is a common technique

pioneered by the Aztecs
in the 15th century.

I've got a friend of mine, she's
an entomologist and a professor.

- Let's give her a call.
- Yeah. Her name is Michael.

- Michael?
- Michael: Yes?

- Hey, it's Kevin. How are you?
- Hi.

She lives in the
desert Southwest.

She understands
the desert Southwest.

I got a whole bunch of sample
materials that we took out of a mine,

and there's a bunch
of bugs in the sample.

I have no idea what it is.

If you had some time,
would you mind meeting us

and taking a look at this stuff?

Yeah, that'll be no problem.

- Perfect.
- Okay, see you soon.

- Bye.
- All right, bye.

Whatever this is, it's been
in there for a long time.

Gabriel: We got this
equipment now, Jerome.

Got you a loader.

- It's better than a shovel.
- Yeah.

Narrator: The Villescas team
has brought in a front loader

and built a shaker box.

They hope to find
either traces of gold

or evidence that Spanish
conquistadors were here.

Start with the material
at the far end of the pit.

Jerome: Okay.

Gabriel: There's some finer sand
there. We can kind of test it out.

We'll work our
way forward slowly.

- Be gentle.
- You got it.

We'll just ease into
it and hope it works.

Hope we find something.

Right there in the back, Jerome.

Jerome: You know, my whole life

I've been around
nothing but big machines,

operated them and everything,
and I'm just so excited

like a kid in sandbox, man, just
playing with the big toys again.

Gabriel: Keep going. Keep going.

All of it! All of it!

The shaker box is a
tool that we're gonna use

to separate the
material by size.

- Throw it all!
- The Grizzly bars will filter off

the larger material to the back,

and then two to three-inch
rocks will fall into the tray itself.

The really small, fine material
will filter out to the bottom,

and we're not
interested in that at all.

Let's hit it now!
Let's hit the front.

A couple taps!

In order to get the screen
to shake in the shaker box...

I'm tapping the
screen with the bucket.

Gabriel: There we go.

Jerome: We couldn't find a
motor out here and, you know,

we don't have
electricity to run it.

When you're working
out here in the desert,

guys like us, we just
make due with what we got.

Gabriel: All right,
Dad, let's take a look.

Well, yeah. We don't
wanna miss anything.

She worked. That
worked like a champ.

Totally improvised in
the middle of the desert

and it worked.

One more time.

We don't have a lot of
money. We ain't millionaires.

But we are crafty.

We're gonna be so
much more effective now.

We're just gonna go
through way more material.

It was a great design.

You know, I'm kind of excited
to see what we're gonna find.

- Nothing?
- The biggest clues would be some Spaniard items...

Artifacts, tools, weapons,

iron last for a
long time, pottery.

- Gabriel: Rock?
- Ramon: Plain old rock.

They just don't dig a hole
and bury gold in a few days.

It takes months.

So there could be
tons of evidence

from the Spanish out here.

Nothing.

Whoa, whoa! Hold
on. Hold on, hold up.

- Got something here.
- 10-4.

Looks like some kind of spike

or a big nail of some kind.

What do you make of that?

It is a railroad spike
from small tracks

that they used to carry
the minerals from the mine.

Gabriel: It's definitely old.

It does look like some
kind of fastener or nail.

- Did you get something?
- Yeah, we found a spike.

Just go slower. Maybe
we'll find something else.

It might not be related
to anything mining,

and I don't see any tracks
or carts or any type of activity,

so I'm not too sure
what it's doing here.

Toss it in the bucket.

Gonna borrow some of
this material from you, Dad.

This hidden gold
by the conquistadors

is tied to us, to our heritage.

So searching for
the gold and artifacts

and being possibly
from our ancestors,

you know, the people we
descend from, the early explorers,

it's all fascinating to me
just being on that hunt

and walking around and sharing
that experience with my father.

All right, let's bump
this table again.

I don't see nothing else.
What about up there? Nothing?

Nothing.

Whoa, whoa!

Whoa! What do we got here?

That's old as hell...

I don't know what it is. It's old,
it's rusty. But come take a look.

Narrator: The Villescas
team has made a discovery

while digging in the fire pit.

What do you think that could be?

- Could it be Spanish?
- Gabriel: Maybe.

Like a pike maybe? The
tip of one of their lances?

Ramon: Too big
for that. Too heavy.

Yeah, I think it
would be too heavy.

Plus, it would have a hole drilled here
where they would slide a piece of wood in.

Yeah.

Let me see that thing, man.

- You know what it could be?
- Huh?

A drill head to
drill for dynamite.

Maybe that's why the
rocks all fractured in here.

Gabriel: It makes sense.

In my line of work,
building a road or whatever,

you're gonna go through rock.

This drill head that we found.

Sometimes they use
them just to break the rock,

or you can drill to put
dynamite in there and blast it.

Jerome: Why else
would it be so fractured?

- Look, that broke.
- Yeah.

The story is that my cousin Johnny
sometimes used dynamite out there

in the middle of
nowhere blowing stuff up.

He was always telling all these
stories about finding treasure.

He was always digging out there

and blowing things
up with dynamite,

looking for something.

So I guess that's where
the whole Crazy Johnny thing

came about, you
know what I mean?

Not to say that he was
the one out here using it,

but it kinda sounds like him.

- It makes sense.
- That would explain a lot.

Gabriel: If this was
Johnny Segura's drill bit,

possibly he was out
here working this very site.

We just don't know right now.

It's definitely unusual and
it's definitely a good find.

- Let's get back at it.
- All right.

We're about to figure out
how deep this hole is right now.

Narrator: The Dillman family,
along with their dive team,

are about to search the hole

they found at the
bottom of Weeping Cave

to see if it's an entrance
to a tunnel system

that based on his research,

Dan's grandfather believed
might lead to treasure.

Dan: All right, all right.

Dan: This hole, it
could be a tunnel.

We just don't know yet,
so we need to check it out.

Right now, though.
Let's figure this out.

- Hey, Derrick, let's get that PVC pipe, man.
- All right.

From our experience, PVC pipe
was quickest, most efficient way

for us to probe the opening.

All right. Good luck.

We're sending him in with
about an eight-foot long PVC pipe.

If that goes in a foot or two,

and is stuck and he
can't get any further...

then it's not a tunnel at all.

But if it goes...

we've got something.

How far do you have that
PVC pipe pushed in right now?

That opening there right
now, it could've easily been

covered up just by the
silt and everything there.

- Right.
- So it could be a much bigger opening

than what he's even
seeing on the ground level.

Dan: That is amazing.

Are you able to go further?

Talk to me, TJ.

All right, you guys
come on back out

and let's take a look at
that footage you've captured.

All right, I see you.

- Show me on this footage where the hole is.
- Yeah, sure.

So this is where
the opening started.

We're gonna start
putting the pipe in now.

You see right there?

Yeah, it starts to go in there,

and then it just kept going.

It was crazy.

Were you feeling any resistance
as you were going through?

Did it... pretty much clean shot?

It went pretty clean,
and then right at the back,

it felt like it was hitting
a wall of some kind.

Okay.

Dan: I'm not seeing much
from the divers' cameras.

Maybe that's the end
of what the tunnel is,

that it's just an impression
in the wall of the cave.

So it doesn't seem to
really be panning out

for what I'm seeing.

But we still have
those bones or shells

that we found in the cave,

and I need to get those examined

and see what information
they can provide.

- Great work, guys.
- Thanks.

Seriously, appreciate you both.

- Kevin: Michael.
- Kevin.

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

- Good to meet you.
- Narrator: Kevin and Chris

are meeting with
entomologist Michael Webber...

- Chris: Join us.
- An expert on insects of the American Southwest,

to find out more about the
substance they found in the mine.

- So what you got, Kevin?
- So this is what's been driving us crazy,

and I mean absolutely batty
crazy for the last few days.

Found this in a mine site,

and this has been
here for a while.

Chris thought I was bleeding.

- So...
- Let me take a look.

Chris: I can't believe
it can turn red.

That's what I don't understand.

What I'd seen was gray.

What he touched
was red or turned red,

so I don't know
what this stuff is.

Oh, okay.

I know what these are.

They're called cochineals,

actually parasites
on prickly pear cacti.

It's a parasite?

They have little
stabbing mouth parts.

- Yeah?
- They'll stab right into that prickly pear

and suck on the juices, and there
they live for the rest of their life.

Kinda like a tick on cactus.

Michael: Yeah, you
can think of it like that.

How do they get to
this point right here?

Well, these have been collected
or harvested and dried up.

These cochineal beetles,
they're heated with hot water,

dried, then it makes the most
beautiful, long-lasting dye.

Yeah, I know.

Narrator: Cochineal dye
was unknown to the Spanish

before they
encountered the Aztecs.

Made from a dry beetle,
their vibrant red pigment

was highly valued across
South America and in Europe.

It was used to dye clothing
and ceremonial items.

- How do we make this into a dye?
- You got a bowl?

We'll add a little bugs,
we'll add a little water,

and do a little grinding.

That's what you
call carmine dye,

It's produced from a
chemical called carminic acid.

Yeah, it doesn't take
much water to pull the dye,

so ancient Aztecs and Mayans used
it to dye the fabric of Aztec warriors

and it was very valuable.

When the Spanish came in, and they
had the conquest of the Aztec empire,

it was actually the second most
valuable export second to silver.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- Right behind silver?
- Correct.

Kevin: I've never even
heard of cochineal,

and to find out that this
thing was a huge part

of not only Aztec trade

but also the Spanish trade?

That's pretty amazing.

This would've been a treasure to
the Spanish and the Aztec, right?

Most definitely.

I mean, it was valued
all around the world.

This was the best dye that
money could buy at the time.

Everybody wanted the
secret of this brilliant red dye.

So the Spanish, they could have well brought
this with them and stashed it in there.

I would say if you're looking at
successful cochineal production,

Spanish is a good place to look.

They've had to be in
there for hundreds of years,

and we can't date
them at this point.

We don't know if
they're Spanish.

We don't know if it goes
all the way back to Aztec.

Probably transported obviously,
so who harvested them?

Be it Spanish or Aztec, there
could be more treasures in there,

other types of treasures.

Perfect, perfect. Keep
coming, keep coming.

Right there. Watch the dust.

Narrator: For the
last eight hours,

Gabe and his team have
been sifting heavy rock and dirt

through their newly
built iron shaker box.

You know, we found
a railroad spike.

We found a possible drill bit.

But I just don't know if
that's enough evidence

to go head first into this
and take that chance.

Whoa. Hold on, hold on. I
think I saw something there.

Thought I saw, like,
a nail or something.

False alarm. Keep going.

All right, Dad.

Gabe, Gabe!

Something's in the
Grizzly. Look at that.

Whoa. Let's see what that is.

Narrator: After ten hours
of hope and hard labor,

Gabe and his team may
have finally unearthed

a significant artifact.

It's an old spur,
but it looks like

it's also hand done as well.

Look at the design
on that thing.

Look at those little notches
right there in the holes.

This has been in the
ground for a long time.

This is something special.

Every single one of those notches
were hand-hammered in there,

and it's got some
decorative stuff.

- That's pretty fancy.
- Yep.

- Would a regular cowboy wear something this fancy?
- Back in the day.

I mean, it's definitely not like
anything I've ever seen before.

Jerome: No, the modern spurs are
cheap and flimsy, you know what I mean?

If this is Spanish, we
could be on it, dude.

We need to get this in front
of somebody that can date it.

Professor, thank you so
much for coming by today.

Narrator: The Dillmans are meeting
with Professor Kurly Tlapoyawa,

founder of the Chimalli
Institute of Mesoamerican Arts,

to get some information

on what they discovered
in Weeping Cave.

So we found these
here in the canyon,

- and I'd love to get your opinion on them.
- Kurly: Oh, wow.

So what you have here

are pieces of a spondylus shell,

and spondylus is characterized

by these bright
beautiful reds and pinks.

It's also known as a spiny
oyster, as some people call it,

because it looks
like a clam shell

but it has all of these
spikes coming off of it,

and it looks like
that's what these are.

Narrator: A relative
of sea scallops,

spondylus are found in warmer coastal
climates embedded in coral and rock.

So when you look at something
like this, this is what we call an exotic.

It doesn't come from here. It
comes from somewhere else.

Being that it's so
hard to get ahold of,

it's going to be held
with much higher value.

Right.

So where are they
normally found in the world?

Are they pretty common or are
they centralized in certain areas?

So spondylus shell, generally
you're going to find a lot

in what's now called
the Gulf of California.

You're talking about California
all the way down through Mexico.

You're gonna find spondylus
shell all the way down there.

The story of how this got here,

- you know, it's hard to pinpoint it 100%...
- Sure.

But we could certainly say

that this came from that region,

most likely along
the Pacific Coast

of what's now called Mexico.

Narrator: The Aztec empire ran
for miles along the Pacific coastline,

giving the Aztecs ample
access to spondylus.

These shellfish are
found only in saltwater,

not at all natural to the
freshwater in this Utah cave.

So what you have here is
absolutely rare for this area.

It seems to have been,
you know, drilled or worked.

Yeah, the way that these holes
are bored out through the center,

how would they have
done something like that?

So something like that,
they would have used a spine

from some sort of cactus

and a little bit of sand
to create the friction.

It would've been a
specialist who created this.

Gina: Oh, wow.

So this is a spondylus
shell necklace.

Wow. Now that's pretty
big. That's pretty amazing.

Was it a specific level
of society that wore...

Yeah, so something like this

could definitely have been

the personal
adornment of a priest.

So especially having
the associations

of water with the shells,

you'll see that a lot of
what they call gods...

Or the teteo is what
they're known as...

That are related to water

are often adorned
with spondylus shells.

This is really cool.

So I think that finding a
spondylus shell necklace

here in Southern Utah

- is pretty significant.
- Wow, awesome.

Kurly: I think you've got
something that's pretty spectacular.

The time and effort
that it must've taken

to create those bore
holes inside of those shells,

it just blows my mind
how hard and how long

and how much effort they would
take to make such an object,

and I'm honored to hold
these shells in my hand.

I really feel a connection
to my ancestors.

We're hoping that this is
not the last thing we find,

and that this is
just the beginning

of the amazing things that
we're gonna find in this canyon.

Chris: It's steep as hell.

Watch your step, man.

[ murmuring ]

Narrator: Kevin and Chris are
heading back into the ancient mine

to the same spot where they
found the cochineal beetles.

Kevin: Man, this thing
is a head knocker.

Chris: Yeah.

Kevin: There's so
much more to this mine.

Had I not been concerned about whatever
this red stuff was all over my hands,

I think we would've
gone further that day.

- It's looking pretty good.
- Yeah.

But I wanted to make
sure that I was safe.

The plan right now
is to get by the shelf.

- It's going to be low and slow from here.
- [ beeping ]

- How's your gas?
- Let's see what it has to say.

It says so far so good.

Good oxygen, okay.

Here's the shelf.

- Open right here.
- Yeah. Big opening.

I believe this is
our intersection.

- Chris: Oh, that's right.
- It's getting a little tight.

Chris: Hey, watch your roof.

- Oh, whoa.
- Man, I did not expect to see this.

- Dimensional lumber, so it's newer.
- But why?

- I don't know. I don't know.
- What's this?

- Has it got a date on it? Oh, there it is.
- It's 1955.

So we know somebody's
been in here after '55.

Chris: We got into this mine

that now appears
to be more modern.

And right in front us now
we have dimensional lumber,

which means more modern mining.

That looks interesting.

Kevin: The big
question for both of us,

especially with this decline,

where did they go?

- This goes down.
- Yeah.

Kevin: I'm concerned about
some of this timber, but...

- Yeah.
- It's been here a long time.

Now what's the plan?

The plan is that I don't
trust any of this wood.

I don't trust
any of this at all.

- What we need to do is rope this.
- Yep.

Find a good secure
spot, baby cam it up.

Let's get to it.

Narrator: With the
tunnel at a dead end...

Let's get some rigging done.

The only place left
to explore is down.

But due to the condition
of the support wood,

Chris and Kevin work to anchor
their safety line to the bedrock.

I'm anchored, you're anchored.

- All right.
- Go find us something.

Be careful. Keep your eyes open.

I got you up here, brother.

Here we go.

Good?

It goes down quite
a bit further, so...

I think this rock is flat down
here and the wood's warped.

Let's... give me some slack.

Keep going.

Hey, Chris, will you check air?

Gotcha. 20.0 oxygen,
so still all right.

Slow.

Yeah, there's a lot of
fractured rock down here.

There's fractures on both sides.

So this has caved
some in the past.

It's just slivering off.

Kevin: Chris, you're
beyond where I can see you.

I can't really hear
you. Use the radio.

- Yeah, I agree. Slack.
- Kevin: All yours.

Slow.

Okay, a little bit more
and I'm at the bottom.

Okay, I'm on the bottom.

Kevin: What's it look like?

Chris: All right, let
me look around here.

It's not like up there.

I got a lot of old rock.

This an old hand dug tunnel.

It's way older than 50 years.

An old mine down here.

Kevin: So is it an old hand
dug? Did I copy that right?

- Yeah, there's a tunnel down here.
- Kevin: Copy that.

Which way is it running?

It looks like both way right
now, but I can't see the end.

- I gotta go off rope.
- Kevin: Copy that.

I want you to hang that line
somewhere where you can get to it fast.

Roger. I got it.
Okay, I'm off rope.

I'm gonna go right.

I'm not liking this.

Oh, nope. That ends
over here on the right.

Oh, bats. Bats above our head.

Well, he was there
before you were.

Just keep talking to me.

I'm moving to the left.

And looks like there's
a shaft that goes down.

This whole room
down here, it just stops.

They were hunting for something

because this
doesn't go anywhere.

So you've got a decline
that doesn't go anywhere?

Yeah. Oh, whoa.

I found something.

- Kevin: What'd you find?
- Chris: Some kind of a tin.

Like a tin can or...

Chris: Yeah. I'll bring it up.

Kevin: Why don't you go
ahead and get back on line.

Let's pull you up, figure out
who the hell was down there

and why they were there.

Narrator: Next on "Lost
Gold of the Aztecs"...

Derrick: All right, here we go.

Dan: So what
we're hoping to find

is an entrance to
the treasure chamber.

You gotta be
kidding me. That's it.

- Let me know what you're seeing up there.
- Guys, I got something.

We found something out in the
desert that I'd like your opinion on.

It was something that
I'd never seen before.

How you doing, Emmett?

Emmett's one of the last

independent miners that I know.

I think Emmett holds
a lot of secrets.

Oh.

I've been in this desert
my whole life,

and I know a grave
when I see one.