"Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine" The United States of Gold

1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:09,720 Narrator: Since the birth of the nation almost 250 years ago, 2 00:00:09,740 --> 00:00:13,220 the promise of gold lured pioneers 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,340 to every rugged and wild corner of the country. 4 00:00:18,780 --> 00:00:21,590 Today, legendary miner Dave Turin 5 00:00:21,620 --> 00:00:25,560 follows in the path of these original gold rushers... 6 00:00:25,590 --> 00:00:28,530 Dave: It's the same for me as it was for the old-timers. 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,240 I think gold mining is the American dream. 8 00:00:31,260 --> 00:00:35,040 Narrator: ...In a quest to discover the gold they left behind 9 00:00:35,060 --> 00:00:37,810 in the lost and abandoned mines of America. 10 00:00:37,830 --> 00:00:41,310 The old guys, they had a pan, they had a shovel, and that's it. 11 00:00:41,340 --> 00:00:43,550 Now I'm going to come in, and I'm going to get the gold. 12 00:00:43,570 --> 00:00:45,820 - Now... - Okay, Pete, we're back on. 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,920 Narrator: ...With exclusive interview and never-before-seen footage... 14 00:00:48,940 --> 00:00:50,960 Holy crap! Look at that. 15 00:00:50,980 --> 00:00:54,360 ...Dave follows the old gold rush trail of America... 16 00:00:54,380 --> 00:00:55,690 These were our pyramids. 17 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,200 Narrator: ...Uncovering secrets... 18 00:00:57,220 --> 00:01:01,030 This is a primitive wash plant, and it's all by hand. 19 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:04,670 Narrator: ...And learning lessons from our forefathers... 20 00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:07,040 Dave: They didn't have modern-day equipment, 21 00:01:07,060 --> 00:01:09,880 but those guys had a lot of knowledge and a lot of wisdom. 22 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:12,340 All right, we're pumping water! 23 00:01:12,370 --> 00:01:15,080 Narrator: ...That take him closer to his fortune. 24 00:01:15,100 --> 00:01:16,380 - Boom! - Yeah! 25 00:01:16,410 --> 00:01:17,740 [ Both laugh ] 26 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:25,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,430 Dave: The history of America really is the history of gold mining. 28 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:35,430 Since the formation of America, 29 00:01:35,460 --> 00:01:38,240 we've been under the spell of gold. 30 00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:41,770 When you see gold in a pan, it can change your life, 31 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,510 and that's what started the mass migration of people 32 00:01:45,530 --> 00:01:48,910 west of the Mississippi river. 33 00:01:48,940 --> 00:01:53,650 220 years ago, they found gold in north Carolina, 34 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,160 and then 50 years later, they strike gold in California, 35 00:01:58,180 --> 00:02:00,890 which started the 49er gold rush, 36 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,430 which changed the course of American history. 37 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,040 Narrator: What begins in 1848 with just a few flakes 38 00:02:14,060 --> 00:02:16,840 discovered 46 miles east of Sacramento 39 00:02:16,870 --> 00:02:18,940 at John Sutter's lumber mill 40 00:02:18,970 --> 00:02:23,220 grows to a staggering $300 million worth of gold 41 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,520 and sparks the largest net migration in American history. 42 00:02:27,540 --> 00:02:30,760 These pioneers are nicknamed the 49ers, 43 00:02:30,780 --> 00:02:33,930 after the year of the gold strike. 44 00:02:33,950 --> 00:02:36,390 They were a different breed. They were tougher. 45 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:38,300 They could put up with the hardships, 46 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,300 and, a lot of times, they gone for years at a time 47 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,700 away from their family. 48 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,670 It was the American dream, is go find that gold 49 00:02:44,690 --> 00:02:47,290 and that's what drove them to California. 50 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:49,740 Give me a hug, man. 51 00:02:49,770 --> 00:02:52,010 So 10 years ago, I met a guy named Todd Hoffman, 52 00:02:52,030 --> 00:02:54,580 and he took me up gold mining in Alaska. 53 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,150 And I saw Todd's passion for gold. 54 00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:00,720 When I went to porcupine creek, it changed my life. 55 00:03:00,740 --> 00:03:02,720 [ Men cheering ] 56 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:06,120 First time I saw gold in a pan, it caught me, it hooked me. 57 00:03:06,150 --> 00:03:09,090 On my death bed, I'll still be dreaming about gold. 58 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,530 Not only did I get a passion for gold mining, 59 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,590 I got a passion for the old-timers. 60 00:03:16,290 --> 00:03:20,410 They were backyard geologists, they were backyard engineers, 61 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:22,560 and they were damn good at prospecting. 62 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,810 So, two years ago, when I left the Hoffmans, 63 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,110 a lot of families contacted me. 64 00:03:29,140 --> 00:03:31,820 These people are like, "Dave, my grandpa died 65 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:33,420 and left us this claim. 66 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,090 Is it any good?" 67 00:03:35,110 --> 00:03:38,160 My journey started in the lower 48. 68 00:03:38,180 --> 00:03:40,560 I know there was gold in the ground. 69 00:03:40,580 --> 00:03:42,890 That's why the old-timers were there mining. 70 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,600 The big question is, did they get it all? 71 00:03:49,930 --> 00:03:52,540 So when I started this journey, I considered California, 72 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,040 but I figured, "you know what?" 73 00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:56,640 There was almost 300,000 men there, 74 00:03:56,670 --> 00:03:59,040 and it was just too picked over. 75 00:03:59,070 --> 00:04:02,210 So I thought, "let's go to the number-one gold producing state 76 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:03,720 in America." 77 00:04:03,740 --> 00:04:06,620 I thought, "I'm going to start in Nevada." 78 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,620 Narrator: The discovery of gold in California 79 00:04:09,650 --> 00:04:12,660 sees huge numbers of families venture west, 80 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,700 but the gold fields are quickly overrun by fortune seekers 81 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,200 forcing gold hunters to look further afield. 82 00:04:20,220 --> 00:04:24,800 In 1859, when pioneers strike gold in Nevada, 83 00:04:24,830 --> 00:04:28,240 they uncover one of the richest gold and silver deposits 84 00:04:28,260 --> 00:04:30,540 the world has ever known, 85 00:04:30,570 --> 00:04:34,180 starting a gold rush that lasts to this day. 86 00:04:38,670 --> 00:04:41,150 To get the gold in Nevada, 87 00:04:41,180 --> 00:04:43,990 you really have to think outside the box, 88 00:04:44,010 --> 00:04:48,020 because there's no water, so we got to get creative. 89 00:04:50,180 --> 00:04:53,800 Narrator: Like thousands of prospectors who went before, 90 00:04:53,820 --> 00:04:56,030 in August 2018, 91 00:04:56,060 --> 00:04:58,540 Dave heads deep into the Nevada desert 92 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,600 in search of the marble rock mine. 93 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,380 Dave: So we're going to go see Jason Sanchez. 94 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,710 He started, you know, prospecting with his metal detector, 95 00:05:08,740 --> 00:05:11,040 and, lo and behold, he found a bunch of gold. 96 00:05:13,740 --> 00:05:16,390 I traveled through the desert, up into this hill, 97 00:05:16,410 --> 00:05:19,820 and, all of a sudden, I come upon a little tiny excavator, 98 00:05:19,850 --> 00:05:22,630 and there's Jason metal detecting. 99 00:05:22,650 --> 00:05:26,500 And I thought to myself, "that's an old-timer." 100 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,400 He's in modern-day times, 101 00:05:28,420 --> 00:05:30,700 but he's got the soul of an old-timer. 102 00:05:30,730 --> 00:05:32,470 Got a hell of a hole here. 103 00:05:32,490 --> 00:05:34,570 Hey, Jason! 104 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:36,310 Jason Sanchez. Nice to meet you. 105 00:05:36,330 --> 00:05:38,010 Good to meet you, man. Let's go find some nuggets. 106 00:05:38,030 --> 00:05:39,340 All right. 107 00:05:39,370 --> 00:05:41,050 This is all brand-new to me. 108 00:05:41,070 --> 00:05:42,780 I haven't really done a lot of metal detecting, 109 00:05:42,810 --> 00:05:45,120 but I will be convinced 110 00:05:45,140 --> 00:05:47,290 when I see a nugget come out of the ground. 111 00:05:52,980 --> 00:05:56,830 Narrator: Modern-day nugget hunters have a game-changing tool... 112 00:05:56,850 --> 00:05:59,060 The metal detector. 113 00:05:59,090 --> 00:06:00,870 Jason: I think I just heard a hit. 114 00:06:00,890 --> 00:06:01,870 [ Metal detector whines ] 115 00:06:01,890 --> 00:06:03,540 [Bleep] Yeah. 116 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,490 Dude! I'm ecstatic. Let me see. 117 00:06:07,630 --> 00:06:10,640 Boom! That's a nice one there. 118 00:06:10,670 --> 00:06:12,910 Wow, Jay. 119 00:06:12,940 --> 00:06:14,950 So you already feeling that excitement, right? 120 00:06:14,970 --> 00:06:17,050 Oh, yeah. This is cool, man. 121 00:06:17,070 --> 00:06:20,450 Right, but this is what you're looking for. 122 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,690 - Oh, you've got to be kidding me. - What? 123 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:25,090 What in the world? 124 00:06:25,110 --> 00:06:27,390 Jason: Right here, right from this spot. 125 00:06:27,420 --> 00:06:30,400 Oh, my gosh. I've never seen a nugget that big before. 126 00:06:30,420 --> 00:06:32,320 - Neither had I. - Whoo! 127 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,430 That was pretty incredible for Jason to pull out a nugget 128 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:39,070 that was about that big, show it to me. 129 00:06:39,090 --> 00:06:40,910 I was like, "oh, my goodness." 130 00:06:40,930 --> 00:06:43,140 It's not easy to find a nugget like that, 131 00:06:43,170 --> 00:06:46,040 but I believe the old-timers, it was sure a lot easier 132 00:06:46,070 --> 00:06:48,410 for them to find it than what we're finding. 133 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,180 Check this out, you guys. I got this little... 134 00:06:51,210 --> 00:06:53,180 It's a dry wash plant. 135 00:06:53,210 --> 00:06:56,490 Narrator: With no water supply to sluice the finer gold, 136 00:06:56,510 --> 00:06:59,290 Dave has a modern take on old-timer tech... 137 00:06:59,310 --> 00:07:01,760 A motorized dry wash plant. 138 00:07:01,780 --> 00:07:04,200 It blew air. It had a bellows on the bottom 139 00:07:04,220 --> 00:07:08,030 and blew the air up to try to separate out the light material. 140 00:07:08,060 --> 00:07:11,540 The old-timers did have bellows, so it was similar. 141 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,610 Ours just had an electric motor. 142 00:07:13,630 --> 00:07:16,040 So here's the deal... this is going to capture the fine gold. 143 00:07:16,060 --> 00:07:18,230 - Dude, that's cute. - There she goes. 144 00:07:19,570 --> 00:07:21,350 That's it. This is the last bucket right here, you guys. 145 00:07:21,370 --> 00:07:23,210 - That's it? - Yeah, that's it. 146 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,780 We're going to take all this concentrate, 147 00:07:25,810 --> 00:07:28,250 and then we'll pan it out. 148 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:29,520 - Look at that. - Whoa. 149 00:07:29,550 --> 00:07:30,790 - Look at that, you guys. - That's gold. 150 00:07:30,810 --> 00:07:33,960 Oh, my gosh. That's a pretty nice flake right there. 151 00:07:33,980 --> 00:07:36,590 Narrator: But Dave has more than history on his mind. 152 00:07:36,620 --> 00:07:38,700 He needs to see the profit potential. 153 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,830 I was so worried about water, 154 00:07:41,860 --> 00:07:44,940 there were no roads, there was no access, 155 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:49,410 and it just was not set up for a big mining operation. 156 00:07:49,430 --> 00:07:52,510 We're two miles from the nearest water. 157 00:07:52,530 --> 00:07:55,340 Bottom line... I'm going to pass. 158 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,390 So the nuggets that Jason found were the same nuggets 159 00:08:00,410 --> 00:08:03,240 that the 49ers were looking for in California. 160 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,130 But as a businessman, you've got to have 161 00:08:08,150 --> 00:08:10,920 both nuggets and fine gold to pay the bills. 162 00:08:12,650 --> 00:08:15,300 Narrator: The few 49ers who get big nuggets 163 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,470 become millionaires overnight, 164 00:08:17,490 --> 00:08:20,000 but many others are not so lucky. 165 00:08:20,030 --> 00:08:22,070 Well, one of the most famous people 166 00:08:22,100 --> 00:08:24,540 in Nevada gold and silver history 167 00:08:24,570 --> 00:08:25,980 is Mark twain. 168 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,080 Narrator: In 1861, 169 00:08:28,100 --> 00:08:30,880 Mark twain arrives in Nevada with his brother 170 00:08:30,910 --> 00:08:33,250 to hunt for gold in the mining districts 171 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,920 of Humboldt and Esmeralda. 172 00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:38,190 Dave: He didn't find much gold, but what he did find 173 00:08:38,210 --> 00:08:40,830 was something that looked like gold. 174 00:08:40,850 --> 00:08:43,190 Turns out it was iron pyrite, 175 00:08:43,220 --> 00:08:46,250 and that left him penniless and broke. 176 00:08:49,390 --> 00:08:52,800 Gold fever, it's real. 177 00:08:52,830 --> 00:08:55,840 There's been a lot of people that hit it big in Nevada, 178 00:08:55,860 --> 00:08:59,210 but there's been so many that lost everything. 179 00:08:59,230 --> 00:09:02,480 Narrator: But gold fever isn't just a relic of the past. 180 00:09:02,500 --> 00:09:06,520 I've seen people, their eyes almost roll back in their head 181 00:09:06,540 --> 00:09:08,450 when they see gold in a pan, 182 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,520 and they get excited, and they get jittery, and they get nervous, 183 00:09:11,550 --> 00:09:14,130 and they want to touch it, and they always want to hold it. 184 00:09:14,150 --> 00:09:16,620 This is it... big canyon mine. 185 00:09:17,890 --> 00:09:21,930 Narrator: 250 miles south of Jason's nugget-rich claim... 186 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,370 Hello, Dave. It's nice of you to come see us. 187 00:09:24,390 --> 00:09:26,070 Narrator: ...In Yerington, Nevada, 188 00:09:26,090 --> 00:09:29,140 Dave meets Vic Carlson and Mike Miller, 189 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,380 miners who've invested big on historic land 190 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,450 with access to desert water. 191 00:09:34,470 --> 00:09:37,580 So, Vic, how much money have you put into this? 192 00:09:37,610 --> 00:09:40,340 We're in it about three quarters of a million. 193 00:09:41,510 --> 00:09:43,250 Have you gotten much gold out of here at all? 194 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,390 We got maybe six, eight ounces out of 3,000 tons, 195 00:09:47,420 --> 00:09:49,890 which is not enough to make ends meet. 196 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,730 And we've got to be able to pay the bills and make a profit. 197 00:09:52,750 --> 00:09:55,070 There's a geological report that claims 198 00:09:55,090 --> 00:09:58,340 that there's a lot of gold here, but it's old. 199 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,280 We're there. 80 tons. 200 00:10:04,300 --> 00:10:06,480 - Shut her down. - All right, we'll shut her down. 201 00:10:06,500 --> 00:10:10,450 Narrator: Worried that Vic and Mike may have modern-day gold fever, 202 00:10:10,470 --> 00:10:13,350 Dave runs his own tests on the ground. 203 00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:16,420 What do you think, Dave? How's it look? 204 00:10:16,450 --> 00:10:19,720 Dave: Well, this is it. This is all we got. 205 00:10:19,750 --> 00:10:22,460 I think there's between a quarter and a half an ounce. 206 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,530 Vic and Mike, that was gold fever 207 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:31,700 because they kept investing, chasing it, following after it. 208 00:10:31,730 --> 00:10:36,140 I'd advise you to cut your losses. 209 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,680 Sometimes when you're in over your head, 210 00:10:38,700 --> 00:10:40,910 best thing is just drown. - Okay. 211 00:10:40,940 --> 00:10:44,450 I think we'll hang in here, maybe give it a few more tries. 212 00:10:44,470 --> 00:10:45,680 Okay. 213 00:10:45,710 --> 00:10:47,540 And we'll let you know what you missed out on. 214 00:10:49,540 --> 00:10:52,560 Dave: Vic and Mike, they're good miners. 215 00:10:52,580 --> 00:10:55,630 They set up an amazing operation. 216 00:10:55,650 --> 00:10:57,430 They had water in the desert. 217 00:10:57,450 --> 00:10:59,260 There just was not enough gold there. 218 00:10:59,290 --> 00:11:02,370 - Good luck, you guys. - Good luck, Dave. - Thanks. 219 00:11:02,390 --> 00:11:04,940 Dave: So, what I found in Nevada was I either had 220 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,670 water and no gold, 221 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:09,170 or I had gold but didn't have water. 222 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,280 The other thing I found in Nevada was that 223 00:11:11,300 --> 00:11:13,480 all the easy gold was gone. 224 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:16,010 We had to move on and continue the quest 225 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,910 for finding gold in these old abandoned mines. 226 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:22,350 Narrator: Coming up, Dave discovers... 227 00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:23,590 Oh, my gosh. 228 00:11:23,610 --> 00:11:26,690 ...just how tough the original pioneers were. 229 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,250 Could you imagine sitting in this seat for 12 hours? 230 00:11:33,150 --> 00:11:34,930 Narrator: The historic gold rushes 231 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,170 that erupted nearly two centuries ago 232 00:11:37,190 --> 00:11:40,870 changed the footprint of America forever. 233 00:11:40,900 --> 00:11:44,580 Now, Dave Turin learns from the nation's pioneers 234 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,810 how to find the gold they left behind. 235 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:49,810 Dave: I'm going after the old-timers. 236 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,640 It's a passion for the gold, and it's a passion for the history. 237 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,890 Narrator: He discovers the original trailblazers 238 00:11:56,910 --> 00:11:59,890 left poor pickings in the deserts of Nevada. 239 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,520 Dave: I'd advise you to cut your losses. 240 00:12:03,780 --> 00:12:07,000 But just to the south, there is another arid region 241 00:12:07,020 --> 00:12:08,770 with a rich mining history 242 00:12:08,790 --> 00:12:12,870 and a chance to find gold in lost and abandoned mine. 243 00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:20,340 California had a lot of people, Nevada had a lot of people, 244 00:12:20,370 --> 00:12:22,310 but Arizona was just a territory. 245 00:12:22,340 --> 00:12:24,720 It didn't have an infrastructure. 246 00:12:24,740 --> 00:12:29,220 The word just didn't get out when there was a lot of gold. 247 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,420 Narrator: Evidence of gold in Arizona 248 00:12:31,450 --> 00:12:35,160 dates back to the Spanish missionaries in the late 1500s. 249 00:12:35,180 --> 00:12:37,430 But it's not until 1858, 250 00:12:37,450 --> 00:12:39,900 when the California and Nevada gold rushes 251 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,000 are in full flow, that colonel Jacob Snively 252 00:12:43,020 --> 00:12:45,170 strikes gold in the Gila mountains 253 00:12:45,190 --> 00:12:49,210 and kick-starts Arizona's first modern gold rush. 254 00:12:49,230 --> 00:12:52,910 Arizona really was the wild, wild west 150 years ago. 255 00:12:52,930 --> 00:12:54,550 Not only could you get scalped, 256 00:12:54,570 --> 00:12:56,780 somebody's around the corner with a gun, 257 00:12:56,810 --> 00:12:59,750 probably going to steal your gold, and you had civil war. 258 00:12:59,780 --> 00:13:02,420 If you're always watching over your back 259 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:03,720 and fear for your life, 260 00:13:03,750 --> 00:13:06,460 you're probably going to make some mistakes. 261 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,050 I think that's the reason we can go there and find some gold. 262 00:13:11,420 --> 00:13:15,030 Narrator: Arizona gold becomes famous in 1863, 263 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:18,100 when Abraham Lincoln needs to fund the civil war. 264 00:13:18,130 --> 00:13:21,010 He sends infantry and cavalry 265 00:13:21,030 --> 00:13:24,540 to mines in La Paz, rich hill, and lynx creek 266 00:13:24,570 --> 00:13:26,640 to protect the Yankee war chest. 267 00:13:26,670 --> 00:13:27,750 To me, that's amazing. 268 00:13:27,770 --> 00:13:30,820 I'm stepping in the same footsteps. 269 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,690 Those guys had a hand in winning the civil war 270 00:13:34,710 --> 00:13:36,610 by just gold mining. 271 00:13:38,610 --> 00:13:41,290 Narrator: It's late October 2018, 272 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,230 and Dave has a lead on a mine connected to Abe Lincoln's gold. 273 00:13:45,250 --> 00:13:48,230 700 miles south of Nevada, 274 00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:51,600 Dave searches for the historic lynx creek mine, 275 00:13:51,630 --> 00:13:55,270 a major source of civil war gold. 276 00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:57,210 The gold that came out of lynx creek 277 00:13:57,230 --> 00:13:59,880 helped shape the history of America. 278 00:13:59,900 --> 00:14:04,080 Without it, Abraham Lincoln may not have won the civil war. 279 00:14:04,110 --> 00:14:07,220 I did get a phone call from a guy named Casey. 280 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,290 He sent me pictures of a pan, 281 00:14:10,310 --> 00:14:14,860 and he got like 2.7 ounces out of 30 yards. 282 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:16,360 Like, come on. 283 00:14:16,380 --> 00:14:18,760 I've never seen anything like that. 284 00:14:18,790 --> 00:14:21,170 So I'm excited. 285 00:14:21,190 --> 00:14:24,400 So 150 years later, after the civil war is over, 286 00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:25,970 I meet Casey Morgan. 287 00:14:25,990 --> 00:14:27,670 Good. Nice to meet you. 288 00:14:27,700 --> 00:14:29,710 No one believed me. They all thought I was crazy 289 00:14:29,730 --> 00:14:32,480 and it didn't hold any gold here, but it's got it. 290 00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:34,480 I was, like, pretty skeptical. 291 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:37,480 I just want to make darn sure 292 00:14:37,510 --> 00:14:43,390 that it is exactly what he said it was. 293 00:14:43,410 --> 00:14:48,820 So, two shovel fulls, a pan... Let's go see what we get. 294 00:14:50,150 --> 00:14:54,120 100 years ago, people were testing this same way. 295 00:14:55,890 --> 00:14:58,800 Goodness gracious. 296 00:14:58,830 --> 00:15:03,740 I'm seeing at least 20 to 25 colors in just one little pan. 297 00:15:03,770 --> 00:15:06,680 I've never seen pans like this. 298 00:15:06,700 --> 00:15:08,280 It's amazing. 299 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:09,580 All right, Dave, what do you think? 300 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,850 It looks fricking awesome, Casey. 301 00:15:11,870 --> 00:15:14,910 I've been all over the place looking for exactly this. 302 00:15:16,180 --> 00:15:17,460 Come on, man. - All right. 303 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,420 All right! 304 00:15:19,450 --> 00:15:23,130 I had to make a decision, and I had to do it quick. 305 00:15:23,150 --> 00:15:25,930 Casey convinced me that every one of the tributaries 306 00:15:25,950 --> 00:15:28,400 feeding lynx creek had a lot of gold in it. 307 00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:33,500 But I also felt it was such a big part of American history 308 00:15:33,530 --> 00:15:34,840 that I was going to follow in 309 00:15:34,860 --> 00:15:38,040 Abraham Lincoln's miners' footsteps. 310 00:15:38,070 --> 00:15:40,210 It was a huge decision. And was it risky? 311 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,370 Yeah, it was risky, but I felt compelled to do it. 312 00:15:45,570 --> 00:15:48,050 Narrator: Hard on the trail of American legends, 313 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,660 Dave is inspired to stake his life savings 314 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,490 on a five-week season, 315 00:15:52,510 --> 00:15:57,090 and in November 2018, he brings his rookie crew to lynx creek 316 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,970 hoping to discover the gold Lincoln's miners left behind. 317 00:16:00,990 --> 00:16:03,700 I'm so ready to see some freaking gold, dude. I can't wait. 318 00:16:03,730 --> 00:16:06,940 But halfway through the season, Dave strikes out. 319 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:08,740 Dave: We didn't understand the ground, 320 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,710 and, look, I was running out of money. 321 00:16:11,730 --> 00:16:16,380 Narrator: Dave calls in Chris Mather, a local rock miner 322 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,050 who has studied the history of lynx creek. 323 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,750 Well, I'm having a tough time figuring this ground out, 324 00:16:22,780 --> 00:16:25,520 where it hasn't been mined and where it has been mined. 325 00:16:25,550 --> 00:16:28,090 Lookit. This is from 1933, 326 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,160 and this is the last dredge that I know of 327 00:16:31,190 --> 00:16:32,700 that come through here. 328 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:33,930 Wow. 329 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:35,800 And that's what stacked that rock right there. 330 00:16:35,820 --> 00:16:39,400 Okay. So this was left by just a tailings conveyor 331 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:40,710 coming out the back of the dredge? 332 00:16:40,730 --> 00:16:41,770 Tailings conveyor, yeah. 333 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,780 It had been hit during the civil war 334 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:46,510 and then steam-powered dredges. 335 00:16:46,530 --> 00:16:48,710 Then there was modern-day dredges. 336 00:16:48,740 --> 00:16:51,220 So, lynx creek had been hit hard. 337 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,420 Narrator: The discovery of gold inspires huge leaps forward 338 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:57,860 in the technology used to capture it. 339 00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,860 What starts with basic hand tools 340 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,030 and primitive sluice boxes in the early 1900s 341 00:17:03,050 --> 00:17:06,700 evolves to giant floating wash plants known as dredges 342 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,230 using mechanical buckets to scoop pay dirt 343 00:17:09,260 --> 00:17:10,870 directly from creek beds 344 00:17:10,890 --> 00:17:12,800 and sluicing it on board, 345 00:17:12,830 --> 00:17:14,910 moving volumes in a single bucket 346 00:17:14,930 --> 00:17:17,010 that would have taken the original pioneers 347 00:17:17,030 --> 00:17:19,410 months to process. 348 00:17:19,430 --> 00:17:22,280 If they dredged up to here with that boat, 349 00:17:22,300 --> 00:17:24,300 then it could still be in there. 350 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,790 Is that a piece of it? Oh, my gosh. 351 00:17:29,810 --> 00:17:32,490 This has probably been here 80 years. 352 00:17:32,510 --> 00:17:36,730 He may have started a pass here and was working his way out 353 00:17:36,750 --> 00:17:38,300 and something happened to the dredge. 354 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:39,400 It could've quit. 355 00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:41,270 That is a big mountain that they've moved. 356 00:17:41,290 --> 00:17:43,330 - Yep. - But it stops. 357 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,400 If this dredge died here... 358 00:17:45,430 --> 00:17:47,710 Maybe that's an opportunity for me. 359 00:17:47,730 --> 00:17:50,140 You could be standing on the mother load. 360 00:17:50,170 --> 00:17:52,780 [ Laughs ] 361 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,180 Dave: What I learned from the old dredge graveyard 362 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,720 was not only did you have to know where the old-timers went, 363 00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:02,490 you also had to figure out what equipment they were using, 364 00:18:02,510 --> 00:18:05,590 you know, what the capabilities of that equipment was. 365 00:18:05,610 --> 00:18:07,990 You know, the fact that they turned a corner, 366 00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:09,890 why did they turn a corner? 367 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,960 You really become Sherlock Holmes. 368 00:18:12,990 --> 00:18:16,300 Hey, guys, meet me at the wash plant, you guys. 369 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,240 I got something to talk about. 370 00:18:18,260 --> 00:18:19,670 You got it. 371 00:18:19,690 --> 00:18:21,740 All right, you guys. 372 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,570 - What was the...? - Yeah. 373 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,480 - 8.9 ounces yesterday. - Total? 374 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:27,950 - Whoo! - Yes, total-total... 8.9. 375 00:18:27,970 --> 00:18:29,650 So, do I get to keep my job, then? 376 00:18:29,670 --> 00:18:30,680 Keep your job. 377 00:18:30,710 --> 00:18:32,120 Dave: I learned a lot in Arizona. 378 00:18:32,140 --> 00:18:34,020 I learned a lot about the old-timers, 379 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,590 what they did and what they couldn't do. 380 00:18:36,610 --> 00:18:39,990 Every place I go, I learn a little bit more, 381 00:18:40,010 --> 00:18:43,130 which then makes me a little bit better miner 382 00:18:43,150 --> 00:18:44,660 and makes me a little bit better 383 00:18:44,690 --> 00:18:48,470 at deciphering and decoding these lost and abandoned mines. 384 00:18:48,490 --> 00:18:51,040 And now I want to take that knowledge and wisdom 385 00:18:51,060 --> 00:18:53,270 and follow the tracks of the old-timers 386 00:18:53,290 --> 00:18:56,340 and the old gold rushes and head north. 387 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:59,640 Narrator: Coming up, Dave learns from history... 388 00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:01,880 These buildings are still standing from the 1860s? 389 00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:02,950 Yeah. 390 00:19:02,970 --> 00:19:05,150 Narrator: ...How to get to Montana's gold. 391 00:19:05,170 --> 00:19:07,410 - Holy crap. Whoa. - Yeah! Whoo! 392 00:19:12,350 --> 00:19:14,090 Narrator: Veteran miner Dave Turin 393 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:17,190 is on the trail of America’s gold hunting pioneers... 394 00:19:17,220 --> 00:19:20,230 Gold mining is the heart and soul of America. 395 00:19:20,260 --> 00:19:22,300 It's how we got our start. 396 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,400 Narrator: ...Now calling leads in north, 397 00:19:24,430 --> 00:19:27,260 into the wilds of the big sky state. 398 00:19:31,370 --> 00:19:33,780 Dave: After the California gold rush, 399 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,810 you know, people spread out. A lot of them went north. 400 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,650 In Montana, the gold rushes were a little bit different. 401 00:19:39,670 --> 00:19:42,450 People would rush in, and they'd find the gold, 402 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:43,850 they'd mine out that stream, 403 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,120 and then there'd be another area that somebody found it. 404 00:19:47,150 --> 00:19:49,260 And then, all of a sudden, there's another big gold rush. 405 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:50,790 It was boom or bust. 406 00:19:50,820 --> 00:19:52,630 So I know there was gold in the ground. 407 00:19:52,650 --> 00:19:54,950 The big question is, is there any left? 408 00:19:56,020 --> 00:19:58,340 Narrator: In September 2018, 409 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,770 Dave heads to the old mining town of Bannack, Montana, 410 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,460 to meet prospectors Jesse Goins and Roy McQuiston. 411 00:20:07,230 --> 00:20:08,610 Hey. Jesse? 412 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:09,880 You must be dozer Dave. 413 00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:11,420 - I am. How you doing, man? - All right. 414 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,080 Glad to meet you. - You, too. 415 00:20:13,110 --> 00:20:15,320 Narrator: Jesse and Roy believe they have a lead 416 00:20:15,340 --> 00:20:17,090 on historic virgin ground. 417 00:20:17,110 --> 00:20:18,590 - Hello, Dave. Roy. - Hi. 418 00:20:18,610 --> 00:20:20,260 - Hi, Roy. Nice to you. - Same here. 419 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:21,690 What do we got going here? 420 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,300 Jesse: Well, this is where they did all the processing. 421 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:25,930 I love history, so let's go take a look. 422 00:20:25,950 --> 00:20:27,670 All right. Let's do it, Roy. 423 00:20:31,930 --> 00:20:33,540 This is amazing. I mean, look at this. 424 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,970 These buildings are still standing from the 1860s? 425 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,010 Yeah. 426 00:20:38,030 --> 00:20:40,040 - What was that? The... - That was the hotel. 427 00:20:40,070 --> 00:20:42,310 - The hotel? - Yeah. 428 00:20:42,340 --> 00:20:43,680 Dave: Bannack was amazing. 429 00:20:43,710 --> 00:20:45,180 It was really moving, 430 00:20:45,210 --> 00:20:49,220 and it was motivational for me to actually be in that place. 431 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,590 You're walking on the same planks that they walked on. 432 00:20:52,610 --> 00:20:55,590 It's like an old western. 433 00:20:55,620 --> 00:21:00,900 Narrator: In 1862, prospectors strike gold in Montana, outside Bannack, 434 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,500 on the banks of legendary grasshopper creek. 435 00:21:04,530 --> 00:21:06,040 And as news spreads, 436 00:21:06,060 --> 00:21:08,070 fortune seekers race north, 437 00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:10,980 thousands on the hunt for easy pickings. 438 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:16,000 The rush transforms Bannack into a town of 5,000 people. 439 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,550 In the first season alone, Bannack's miners dig out 440 00:21:20,580 --> 00:21:23,590 more than a ton of gold from grasshopper, 441 00:21:23,610 --> 00:21:26,720 worth $40 million today. 442 00:21:26,750 --> 00:21:28,290 So, Roy and Jesse told me 443 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,930 there's virgin ground on grasshopper creek, 444 00:21:30,950 --> 00:21:32,430 and I thought they were crazy. 445 00:21:32,450 --> 00:21:34,900 How could there be any virgin ground left? 446 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,240 So I knew I had to go look at it and put boots on the ground. 447 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:41,070 Holy crap, Jesse. 448 00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:42,960 This is it. 449 00:21:44,670 --> 00:21:46,480 That's a lot of water. 450 00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:51,220 When I saw the hole and I saw how much water was in that hole, 451 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,080 it started to make sense. 452 00:21:53,110 --> 00:21:57,920 So I had to figure out a way to dig and keep it dry 453 00:21:57,950 --> 00:22:00,960 and get to the bottom where the gold was. 454 00:22:00,980 --> 00:22:04,880 I think right there at bedrock, there's a boatload a gold. 455 00:22:08,020 --> 00:22:12,670 Narrator: In two days, Dave pumps 15,000 gallons of water 456 00:22:12,690 --> 00:22:16,910 and finally reaches ground no old-timer has ever seen. 457 00:22:16,930 --> 00:22:18,910 Whoo! Yeah! 458 00:22:18,930 --> 00:22:20,410 We're at the bottom. 459 00:22:24,370 --> 00:22:27,310 All right, boys. Let's hope we see some gold, Roy. 460 00:22:29,340 --> 00:22:32,320 - Holy crap. Lookit there. - Whoa. Look at that. 461 00:22:32,350 --> 00:22:34,020 That's a lot of gold. 462 00:22:34,050 --> 00:22:36,390 - Holy crap. Whoa. - Yeah! Whoo! 463 00:22:36,420 --> 00:22:38,300 Great pan. That's what I've been looking for. 464 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,160 It's probably 20 bucks a yard. 465 00:22:40,190 --> 00:22:41,400 That's a lot of gold. 466 00:22:41,420 --> 00:22:44,540 Maybe Dave's going to make his fortune here. 467 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,840 Narrator: Despite evidence of good gold, it's late in the season, 468 00:22:47,860 --> 00:22:50,840 and Dave's investor gets cold feet. 469 00:22:50,870 --> 00:22:52,640 Bye. 470 00:22:52,670 --> 00:22:55,110 Can't fricking believe it. 471 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:57,450 He just pulled us out. 472 00:22:57,470 --> 00:23:00,650 I was devastated. I was pissed when he pulled the plug 473 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:02,790 because I was so close. 474 00:23:02,810 --> 00:23:04,960 I figured I was a week away 475 00:23:04,980 --> 00:23:07,020 from getting down to where all that gold was, 476 00:23:07,050 --> 00:23:10,430 and then I was going to be able to solve the big mystery... 477 00:23:10,450 --> 00:23:13,260 How much gold was left at the bottom of grasshopper creek? 478 00:23:13,290 --> 00:23:15,100 As I was leaving, I said, 479 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,000 "I'll never let this happen again." 480 00:23:17,020 --> 00:23:18,770 And that's when I called Shelly, and I said, 481 00:23:18,790 --> 00:23:22,410 "look, I'm not going to rely on other people, other people's money. 482 00:23:22,430 --> 00:23:25,410 If we come back to Montana, I'm going to do it my way 483 00:23:25,430 --> 00:23:28,350 with my money and my crew." 484 00:23:28,370 --> 00:23:30,710 Narrator: In 2019, 485 00:23:30,740 --> 00:23:34,080 Dave returns to Montana for a self-funded season... 486 00:23:34,110 --> 00:23:35,890 This is going to be our year, Jason. 487 00:23:35,910 --> 00:23:37,490 Amen to that. 488 00:23:37,510 --> 00:23:40,660 ...this time to the rocky mountain gold belt. 489 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,530 It's here in 1867 490 00:23:43,550 --> 00:23:45,430 the Montana gold rush starts 491 00:23:45,450 --> 00:23:47,950 with one man's amazing discovery. 492 00:23:49,390 --> 00:23:51,940 The poor Irish immigrant Thomas cruse 493 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,370 begins prospecting at silver creek. 494 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,210 And four years later, he uncovers the source 495 00:23:57,230 --> 00:23:59,410 of the region's gold in the hills, 496 00:23:59,430 --> 00:24:04,550 naming the discovery Drumlummon, after his birthplace in Ireland. 497 00:24:04,570 --> 00:24:06,680 People around him thought he was just crazy 498 00:24:06,710 --> 00:24:08,390 because he wasn't placer mining. 499 00:24:08,410 --> 00:24:10,850 But he knew the mother load was up there, 500 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:12,990 so he opens up this tunnel. 501 00:24:13,010 --> 00:24:15,130 Pretty soon, he started hitting a lot of gold, 502 00:24:15,150 --> 00:24:16,790 and eventually, Thomas cruse 503 00:24:16,820 --> 00:24:19,890 became one of the richest persons in Montana history. 504 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,530 Narrator: In August 2019, 505 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,570 Dave leases ground at the historic Birdseye mine 506 00:24:26,590 --> 00:24:29,140 in the shadow of the Drumlummon load, 507 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,880 looking for gold men like Thomas cruse left behind. 508 00:24:32,900 --> 00:24:34,750 Dave: Welcome to Montana, fellas. 509 00:24:34,770 --> 00:24:36,300 - Montana, here we are. - Whoo! 510 00:24:37,870 --> 00:24:40,550 There we go... First load of dirt. 511 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:42,680 Birdseye is a very interesting place. 512 00:24:44,110 --> 00:24:46,820 When we showed up there, we were excited. 513 00:24:46,850 --> 00:24:52,000 We just thought that whole area was going to be full of gold. 514 00:24:52,020 --> 00:24:54,160 Well, it didn't take us long to figure out 515 00:24:54,190 --> 00:24:56,930 that this was the finest gold I've ever mined, 516 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,540 and fine gold is really hard to capture. 517 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,770 We're seeing it in the sluice box, 518 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,410 so whatever we're putting in is going somewhere. 519 00:25:05,430 --> 00:25:07,330 So where's it going? 520 00:25:09,140 --> 00:25:11,650 Narrator: But the fine gold on Birdseye 521 00:25:11,670 --> 00:25:14,750 hasn't just been a struggle for Dave and his team. 522 00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:16,390 Check this out. 523 00:25:16,410 --> 00:25:19,990 Early 20th-century miners went to extreme lengths 524 00:25:20,010 --> 00:25:22,190 to solve this problem. 525 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:26,700 This was an attempt at capturing the fine gold with cyanide. 526 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:31,000 It looks like this was their concentrator. 527 00:25:31,030 --> 00:25:32,870 Jason: That is cool. 528 00:25:32,890 --> 00:25:35,110 You would have thrived as an old-timer. 529 00:25:35,130 --> 00:25:37,980 For me, it's just amazing to think about 530 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:39,740 how long it took them to build this. 531 00:25:39,770 --> 00:25:41,200 Years I'll bet. 532 00:25:43,470 --> 00:25:47,220 We're looking around, exploring, and we found these old tanks. 533 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,360 Well, that was our first clue that the gold was so fine 534 00:25:51,380 --> 00:25:53,090 that they were trying to figure out another way 535 00:25:53,110 --> 00:25:54,830 to capture the gold. 536 00:25:54,850 --> 00:25:58,230 So they put the gold and the ore in a solution of cyanide. 537 00:25:58,250 --> 00:26:01,630 That cyanide absorbed the gold that was in the ore. 538 00:26:01,660 --> 00:26:03,730 And then they would pull the gold out of the solution, 539 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,200 out of the cyanide, and then they recirculate it. 540 00:26:06,230 --> 00:26:09,910 It was the first time I'd ever seen that in a placer operation. 541 00:26:09,930 --> 00:26:12,510 Can you imagine how rich they must've anticipated 542 00:26:12,530 --> 00:26:14,280 this ground to be 543 00:26:14,300 --> 00:26:16,710 to cyanide-leach placer? 544 00:26:16,740 --> 00:26:19,150 It blows my mind, Dave. 545 00:26:19,170 --> 00:26:24,520 That's just more evidence that the old-timers got creative. 546 00:26:24,550 --> 00:26:27,520 And it also shows that the gold in Montana, 547 00:26:27,550 --> 00:26:31,930 it's either tough to get or, you know, most of it's gone. 548 00:26:31,950 --> 00:26:36,900 It's harder now to find gold that'll keep paying the bills 549 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,700 than at any other time in history. 550 00:26:40,730 --> 00:26:43,340 A lot of the gold that's left on this planet 551 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,740 is places where the conditions are tough, 552 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:47,800 and that's where I'm going to have to go. 553 00:26:52,970 --> 00:26:56,850 Narrator: From the first discovery of gold in 1799, 554 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,920 through the major rushes in the west, 555 00:26:58,950 --> 00:27:00,960 Dave Turin follows the trail 556 00:27:00,980 --> 00:27:03,360 blazed by America’s historic miners. 557 00:27:03,380 --> 00:27:05,400 Dave: You might have a spot here that they missed. 558 00:27:05,420 --> 00:27:07,100 - Holy crap. - Yeah! 559 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:08,770 It's just amazing to think about 560 00:27:08,790 --> 00:27:10,430 how long it took them to build this. 561 00:27:10,460 --> 00:27:14,200 Narrator: After searching the desert plains and the rocky mountains, 562 00:27:14,230 --> 00:27:16,270 his hunt for undiscovered riches 563 00:27:16,300 --> 00:27:18,780 takes him even further into the wild. 564 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,750 So after I prospected in the lower 48, 565 00:27:21,770 --> 00:27:25,150 it showed me that the further away you are from civilization, 566 00:27:25,170 --> 00:27:27,450 that's probably where the most gold is. 567 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,340 And, in my opinion, it's the far north. 568 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:38,100 Narrator: Dave first arrives in the Yukon in 2010 with the Hoffman crew. 569 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,160 They take the same trail that the early miners faced 570 00:27:41,190 --> 00:27:43,030 over 100 years ago 571 00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:47,200 as they rushed to chase gold in the creeks of the Klondike. 572 00:27:47,230 --> 00:27:53,210 In 1896, almost 200,000 people headed up to the Yukon 573 00:27:53,230 --> 00:27:55,210 to strike it rich, 574 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,250 but there's a lot of gold left. 575 00:27:57,270 --> 00:27:58,920 We were excited. 576 00:27:58,940 --> 00:28:01,020 This is looking good. 577 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,350 We're mining here. Camp's there. We're ready to go. 578 00:28:04,380 --> 00:28:07,660 And this is... this is good stuff. This is good stuff. 579 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,130 Narrator: 200,000 people attempt the journey north 580 00:28:12,150 --> 00:28:14,970 over the notorious Chilkoot pass, 581 00:28:14,990 --> 00:28:20,040 a 33-mile, 3,500-foot-high trail through the mountains. 582 00:28:20,060 --> 00:28:22,310 Many die of exposure. 583 00:28:22,330 --> 00:28:25,440 Only 40,000 make it to Dawson city. 584 00:28:25,470 --> 00:28:31,210 Of these, as little as 400 have any gold to show for it. 585 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,650 Out of all the gold rushes, I think the Klondike gold rush 586 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,290 was the most extreme and the most difficult. 587 00:28:38,310 --> 00:28:39,990 You could hit it big, 588 00:28:40,010 --> 00:28:42,790 but then a hell of a lot of them lost their shares. 589 00:28:42,820 --> 00:28:46,400 Well, our first years in the Yukon, 590 00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:48,170 we didn't make it big. 591 00:28:48,190 --> 00:28:50,970 Only a few miners were making a lot of money, 592 00:28:50,990 --> 00:28:52,500 and we weren't one of them. 593 00:28:52,530 --> 00:28:54,640 I have some things for you guys. 594 00:28:54,660 --> 00:29:00,000 It comes out to, right today, at about $8,000. 595 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,480 Dave, you deserve a whole lot more. 596 00:29:04,510 --> 00:29:06,370 - Good luck. - Thanks. 597 00:29:08,310 --> 00:29:10,190 We just didn't make a lot of money, 598 00:29:10,210 --> 00:29:12,390 but I started to figure out how to find the gold 599 00:29:12,410 --> 00:29:14,120 left behind by the old-timers. 600 00:29:14,150 --> 00:29:16,790 What it showed me was that you either have to get smarter 601 00:29:16,820 --> 00:29:21,770 or you have to go where nobody's gone before. 602 00:29:21,790 --> 00:29:24,470 Narrator: Eight years after he first arrived in the Klondike 603 00:29:24,490 --> 00:29:27,240 with the Hoffman crew, Dave explores an area 604 00:29:27,260 --> 00:29:31,070 only the very boldest gold hunters dared go. 605 00:29:31,100 --> 00:29:34,640 You know, 100 years ago, there was thousands of men out here, 606 00:29:34,670 --> 00:29:38,520 and now I get to go on that same journey. 607 00:29:38,540 --> 00:29:40,350 Pretty cool adventure. 608 00:29:40,370 --> 00:29:44,520 Narrator: The peak of the Klondike gold rush lasts just three years, 609 00:29:44,550 --> 00:29:48,090 but in that time, more than $1 billion in gold 610 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,430 is pulled out of its rivers and creeks. 611 00:29:50,450 --> 00:29:53,630 We're headed up the Yukon river, going to a place called Donahue creek. 612 00:29:53,650 --> 00:29:56,800 I got a friend named Eric stretch that invited me up 613 00:29:56,820 --> 00:29:59,740 to do a little prospecting on his ground. 614 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,610 Narrator: 80 miles by boat from Dawson city 615 00:30:02,630 --> 00:30:05,080 is the remote Donahue creek mine, 616 00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:09,050 abandoned since the 1896 gold rush. 617 00:30:09,070 --> 00:30:11,010 Dave: There was actually a second gold rush 618 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,820 back to the Yukon in the 1900s, 619 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,920 but a lot of these miners didn't have the financial means 620 00:30:17,950 --> 00:30:20,620 to develop those mines. 621 00:30:20,650 --> 00:30:23,130 And that brought me to a guy named Eric stretch. 622 00:30:23,150 --> 00:30:24,800 Eric's dad was one of them. 623 00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:27,530 All right, let's go find Eric. 624 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,600 You couldn't have picked some better weather? 625 00:30:29,620 --> 00:30:32,270 - Oh, buddy. How are you, man? - How's it going? 626 00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:35,070 So what have we got here? Is that your first claim post? 627 00:30:35,100 --> 00:30:36,270 Yep. 628 00:30:36,300 --> 00:30:39,810 Dave: Eric's dad staked it over 50 years ago, 629 00:30:39,830 --> 00:30:41,210 and it's never been mined. 630 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,910 I have the opportunity to open this up 631 00:30:43,940 --> 00:30:45,850 and start getting the gold out of here 632 00:30:45,870 --> 00:30:47,850 that everybody's been seeking. 633 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:49,650 Is this all hand dug? 634 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,660 Yeah, and it's even bigger down that way. 635 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:53,120 Holy cow. 636 00:30:53,150 --> 00:30:55,960 Donahue creek has great potential, 637 00:30:55,980 --> 00:30:58,300 but it's remote. 638 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,700 That far away from civilization, 639 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,370 in order to get my equipment there, my crew there, 640 00:31:03,390 --> 00:31:07,100 I needed one of the best pans I've ever seen. 641 00:31:07,130 --> 00:31:09,370 Narrator: During the Klondike gold rush, 642 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,880 everything must be carried in or hand-built. 643 00:31:12,900 --> 00:31:16,910 Tent cities sprung up around wooden sluices and rock boxes, 644 00:31:16,940 --> 00:31:20,550 and all the mining is done using basic hand tools. 645 00:31:28,750 --> 00:31:32,060 I don't think I can get to bedrock with this little machine, 646 00:31:32,090 --> 00:31:36,470 but what I'm kind of looking for is some big rocks. 647 00:31:36,490 --> 00:31:38,700 There should be gold around that. 648 00:31:38,730 --> 00:31:40,900 I'm going to jump down in here 649 00:31:40,930 --> 00:31:43,370 and pull some samples out of here. 650 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,440 Hopefully we find some gold. 651 00:31:45,470 --> 00:31:48,750 Ooh, there's a big rock. Oh, yeah. Come on, baby. 652 00:31:48,770 --> 00:31:52,680 It's going back to the old- timers' prospecting and mining. 653 00:31:52,710 --> 00:31:54,990 I had a little tiny excavator, 654 00:31:55,010 --> 00:31:56,920 but the old-timers had to dig that ground 655 00:31:56,940 --> 00:31:59,220 without having modern equipment. 656 00:31:59,250 --> 00:32:00,720 All right. You ready? 657 00:32:00,750 --> 00:32:02,690 Oh, yeah. It looks heavy. 658 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,130 It's pretty heavy. 659 00:32:04,150 --> 00:32:06,130 [ Laughs ] 660 00:32:06,150 --> 00:32:09,870 This is a primitive wash plant right here. 661 00:32:09,890 --> 00:32:13,360 Screening, washing, and it's all by hand. 662 00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:18,880 It was going back to the roots. I loved it. 663 00:32:18,900 --> 00:32:22,650 I felt like, again, I was right in the same paths 664 00:32:22,670 --> 00:32:24,850 as the old-timers. 665 00:32:24,870 --> 00:32:28,110 Dave, you do the honors. All right, good luck. 666 00:32:29,110 --> 00:32:31,150 We'll see what this pan does. 667 00:32:39,820 --> 00:32:41,560 Seeing some gold, Eric. 668 00:32:41,590 --> 00:32:46,240 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 669 00:32:46,260 --> 00:32:49,710 I don't know, 17, 18. That's not bad. 670 00:32:49,730 --> 00:32:51,640 It's not the best, but it's not the worst. 671 00:32:57,940 --> 00:33:00,920 If I were to guess, I think it's $30 a yard. 672 00:33:00,940 --> 00:33:03,520 It's good if I was close to town, 673 00:33:03,540 --> 00:33:07,450 but this far out, I need better than that. 674 00:33:10,350 --> 00:33:13,160 For me, it was really difficult to leave that, 675 00:33:13,190 --> 00:33:16,800 but I also knew that my next journey 676 00:33:16,820 --> 00:33:19,200 was probably going to be to the far north. 677 00:33:19,230 --> 00:33:21,370 Because if I could find $30 a yard, 678 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,140 I figured I can find $60 a yard 679 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,900 by going further into the wilderness. 680 00:33:29,340 --> 00:33:30,550 Narrator: Coming up... 681 00:33:30,570 --> 00:33:32,320 Dave: Holy crap! Look at that! 682 00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:35,750 ...Dave follows the pioneers deep into the wilderness, 683 00:33:35,780 --> 00:33:40,260 with never-before-seen moments from his Alaskan expedition. 684 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,230 - Wow. - It's a DC-3. 685 00:33:42,250 --> 00:33:43,760 Dave: It does make me nervous. 686 00:33:43,780 --> 00:33:46,150 This is the risk that we need to be willing to take. 687 00:33:50,620 --> 00:33:52,400 Narrator: The history of America’s gold rushes 688 00:33:52,430 --> 00:33:55,410 is the story of the men that built this country, 689 00:33:55,430 --> 00:33:58,240 but all great stories have a villain. 690 00:33:58,270 --> 00:34:00,380 There was a guy named Henry Plummer. 691 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,880 He had killed as many as seven people. 692 00:34:02,900 --> 00:34:05,480 Somehow he ends up in Bannack, Montana, 693 00:34:05,510 --> 00:34:09,490 and he talked the town folk into making him the sheriff. 694 00:34:09,510 --> 00:34:12,060 Well, he didn't change his ways. 695 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,460 The sheriff and his band of desperadoes 696 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,290 would Rob gold from the miners. 697 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,400 Well, they only put up with it for so long. 698 00:34:20,420 --> 00:34:23,670 They'd found Plummer, and they hung him. 699 00:34:23,690 --> 00:34:25,640 But that's not the end of it. 700 00:34:25,660 --> 00:34:28,170 They went to six other towns in Montana 701 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,370 and hung him up again. 702 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,430 The miners meant business. 703 00:34:36,340 --> 00:34:37,650 Narrator: For the last two years, 704 00:34:37,670 --> 00:34:39,480 Dave Turin has tracked the history 705 00:34:39,510 --> 00:34:41,580 of America’s great gold rushes... 706 00:34:41,610 --> 00:34:42,920 Every place I go, 707 00:34:42,940 --> 00:34:45,690 I learn a little bit more from the old-timers. 708 00:34:45,710 --> 00:34:48,990 Narrator: ...Hunting for undiscovered gold in lost and abandoned mines... 709 00:34:49,020 --> 00:34:50,930 Oh, boom! 710 00:34:50,950 --> 00:34:53,230 ...from the pioneering desert daredevils 711 00:34:53,250 --> 00:34:55,200 who mined Nevada and Arizona... 712 00:34:55,220 --> 00:34:58,440 100 years ago, people were testing this same way. 713 00:34:58,460 --> 00:35:01,700 What in the world? Oh, my gosh. 714 00:35:01,730 --> 00:35:03,210 Narrator: ...To the old gold miners 715 00:35:03,230 --> 00:35:05,740 who rushed to the rocky mountains of Montana... 716 00:35:05,770 --> 00:35:08,080 At bedrock, there's a boatload of gold. 717 00:35:08,100 --> 00:35:10,780 ...and the fearless men that took on the Yukon. 718 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:12,620 Is this all hand-dug? 719 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,580 Yeah, and it's even bigger down that way. 720 00:35:14,610 --> 00:35:16,720 Holy cow. 721 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:19,590 Dave: I love walking in the footsteps of the old-timers. 722 00:35:19,610 --> 00:35:22,590 Sometimes, it feels like I'm only one step behind. 723 00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:24,430 Here we go. 724 00:35:24,450 --> 00:35:26,730 Man: Runway 25-23-168. 725 00:35:26,750 --> 00:35:31,400 Narrator: Dave's journey goes full circle in October 2019... 726 00:35:31,430 --> 00:35:33,770 Man: This is what they call the cathedral peaks. 727 00:35:33,790 --> 00:35:35,740 Amazing. 728 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,700 ...as he returns to America’s final frontier. 729 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:46,750 Alaska marks the final chapter of gold rushes 730 00:35:46,770 --> 00:35:48,590 in the 19th century. 731 00:35:48,610 --> 00:35:51,790 After the Klondike gold rush in 1896, 732 00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:56,190 investors from San Francisco staked claims all over Alaska, 733 00:35:56,220 --> 00:35:59,360 hoping for a similar golden windfall. 734 00:35:59,390 --> 00:36:03,070 Much of the state's rugged interior is virgin ground, 735 00:36:03,090 --> 00:36:06,740 and it's estimated that over 1,500 tons of gold 736 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,070 still remains. 737 00:36:09,100 --> 00:36:13,140 Dave: Alaska didn't have the big gold rushes. 738 00:36:13,170 --> 00:36:16,850 They didn't have 300,000 people like California did 739 00:36:16,870 --> 00:36:18,850 because it's so rugged. 740 00:36:18,870 --> 00:36:21,680 The interior still has a lot of potential. 741 00:36:21,710 --> 00:36:24,390 There's a lot of gold up there. 742 00:36:24,410 --> 00:36:27,590 Narrator: Dave heads 200 miles north of Anchorage 743 00:36:27,610 --> 00:36:31,790 to the remote mining outpost of Nixon fork. 744 00:36:31,820 --> 00:36:34,160 - Nice to meet you. - Good to see you. 745 00:36:34,190 --> 00:36:37,600 If you look this way, there's nothing for 5,000 square miles. 746 00:36:37,620 --> 00:36:40,440 Narrator: But shortly after Dave arrives, 747 00:36:40,460 --> 00:36:42,740 he confronts the very real dangers 748 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:44,810 of off-grid mining in Alaska. 749 00:36:44,830 --> 00:36:46,580 - Wow. - It's a DC-3 750 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:48,700 that was bringing us a load of fuel. 751 00:36:49,940 --> 00:36:53,320 It does make me nervous when you go over the mountain ranges, 752 00:36:53,340 --> 00:36:55,320 thinking about one of these going down. 753 00:36:55,340 --> 00:36:57,320 If we're going to mine up here in Alaska, 754 00:36:57,340 --> 00:36:59,360 this is what we're going to need, 755 00:36:59,380 --> 00:37:02,890 and this is the risk that we need to be willing to take. 756 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,960 And then you consider my crew, my family, 757 00:37:06,990 --> 00:37:10,730 because you have to bring them all up here. 758 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:12,900 When you get this far out in the wilderness, 759 00:37:12,930 --> 00:37:15,640 it's not for the faint of heart. 760 00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:20,110 Narrator: Gold was first discovered at Nixon fork in 1917, 761 00:37:20,130 --> 00:37:21,880 and for over 100 years, 762 00:37:21,900 --> 00:37:24,950 men have moved heaven and earth to uncover its riches. 763 00:37:24,970 --> 00:37:27,820 Look at that. A real caterpillar. 764 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:31,120 Dave: Okay, I got to look at it. Oh, my gosh. 765 00:37:31,140 --> 00:37:33,290 It's just amazing to me 766 00:37:33,310 --> 00:37:36,490 what those guys went through just to get there, 767 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,800 and then they had to drag their equipment up. 768 00:37:38,820 --> 00:37:42,400 How in the world they ever got that thing that far up there 769 00:37:42,420 --> 00:37:45,870 over glaciers, you know, through trees, through swamps, 770 00:37:45,890 --> 00:37:48,240 through the tundra, across rivers. 771 00:37:48,260 --> 00:37:50,410 That was a modern-day miracle 772 00:37:50,430 --> 00:37:52,640 just getting that thing up there. 773 00:37:52,670 --> 00:37:56,110 Oh, my gosh. It's one of the first dozers. 774 00:37:56,140 --> 00:37:59,080 Try to crank it. Does it still turn over? 775 00:37:59,110 --> 00:38:01,670 - Yep. - It still turns over. Perfect. 776 00:38:03,510 --> 00:38:06,520 Dave: So now they're going to bring in combustion engines. 777 00:38:06,550 --> 00:38:10,360 More mechanized labor, increased productivity, 778 00:38:10,380 --> 00:38:14,030 more tons, better access, and double the production. 779 00:38:14,050 --> 00:38:15,470 - Yeah. Yeah. - Or triple the production, 780 00:38:15,490 --> 00:38:17,400 or quadruple the production. 781 00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:20,270 Here we go. What do you think? 782 00:38:20,290 --> 00:38:22,640 Could I have made a 1920 operator? 783 00:38:22,660 --> 00:38:25,840 Could you imagine sitting in this seat for 12 hours, 784 00:38:25,870 --> 00:38:27,710 no cab on it? 785 00:38:27,730 --> 00:38:31,110 - That'd be a rough day. - [ Laughing ] It'd be a rough day. 786 00:38:31,140 --> 00:38:35,020 It makes me feel like a wimp. It really does. 787 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:36,950 Because I flew in in an airplane, 788 00:38:36,980 --> 00:38:40,020 I'm in a nice camp, drove up here with a pickup. 789 00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:42,960 I've got nice boots, thermal underwear. 790 00:38:42,980 --> 00:38:45,190 Those guys didn't have any of that. 791 00:38:45,220 --> 00:38:49,870 Narrator: The gold at Nixon fork inspired the old-timers to think big. 792 00:38:49,890 --> 00:38:52,370 Holy crap! Look at that! 793 00:38:52,390 --> 00:38:55,570 Ten-stamp mill. 794 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,270 This stamp mill would have been hand-built here 795 00:38:58,300 --> 00:39:00,110 in the late 19th century 796 00:39:00,130 --> 00:39:01,810 to crush hard rock ore 797 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,780 so that it could be processed to recover the gold. 798 00:39:04,810 --> 00:39:07,580 That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen 799 00:39:07,610 --> 00:39:10,550 in the Alaska wilderness out in the middle of nowhere. 800 00:39:10,580 --> 00:39:14,620 Narrator: Each of the 10 steel stamps weighs over 900 pounds 801 00:39:14,650 --> 00:39:18,800 and made the 200-mile wilderness journey by mule and cart. 802 00:39:18,820 --> 00:39:21,500 Dave: People don't realize how big that is 803 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,800 and what an engineering accomplishment it was. 804 00:39:24,830 --> 00:39:29,240 Unbelievable to not only transport it from Juneau 805 00:39:29,260 --> 00:39:32,680 but then to set it up and get it operating and functional. 806 00:39:32,700 --> 00:39:35,310 They knew there was gold. 807 00:39:35,340 --> 00:39:37,350 They figured they're going to strike it rich. 808 00:39:37,370 --> 00:39:39,820 You think of the vision, getting it there 809 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:42,150 and setting that up, that's my heart. 810 00:39:42,180 --> 00:39:43,750 I'm one of those guys, 811 00:39:43,780 --> 00:39:45,490 and I wished I could have had an opportunity 812 00:39:45,510 --> 00:39:47,690 to be a part of putting that thing together. 813 00:39:47,710 --> 00:39:49,930 At the time, it was one of the state-of-the-art mines 814 00:39:49,950 --> 00:39:52,430 in the whole state of Alaska, if not North America. 815 00:39:52,450 --> 00:39:54,360 Just incredible. 816 00:39:54,390 --> 00:39:57,370 That's a living testament to what they did. 817 00:39:57,390 --> 00:39:59,940 It's almost like these were our pyramids. 818 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:02,940 They built these structures 819 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:05,480 to live the dream and to better their lives. 820 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,320 Narrator: After following historic clues, 821 00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:15,990 Dave digs into virgin ground and discovers for himself 822 00:40:16,010 --> 00:40:19,010 what drew the miners to Nixon fork. 823 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:22,590 It's the biggest nugget I've ever panned. 824 00:40:22,620 --> 00:40:24,290 Boom! Yeah! 825 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,760 [ Laughing ] 826 00:40:26,790 --> 00:40:29,030 I felt a connection with the old-timers, 827 00:40:29,060 --> 00:40:33,500 that that's how it felt to travel thousands of miles 828 00:40:33,530 --> 00:40:35,340 and finally find the gold, 829 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,240 hoping and praying that that's the end of their journey. 830 00:40:42,070 --> 00:40:44,880 I'll never stop learning from the old-timers 831 00:40:44,910 --> 00:40:49,220 because, for them, it was a matter of survival or death, 832 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:52,760 and so, they had to be very good at what they did. 833 00:40:52,780 --> 00:40:55,190 Right now, we're going through some tough times, 834 00:40:55,220 --> 00:41:00,060 not only as a community and a country, but worldwide. 835 00:41:00,090 --> 00:41:03,130 But throughout all of history, 836 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,570 whether it's world wars, famines, or plagues, 837 00:41:06,590 --> 00:41:09,230 we were still capturing gold. 838 00:41:10,500 --> 00:41:13,440 And I feel like, for me and my crew, 839 00:41:13,470 --> 00:41:16,480 I want to continue to go after the gold, 840 00:41:16,500 --> 00:41:18,700 I want to continue to inspire people. 841 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:25,150 So I don't really know where the future is going to take us next, 842 00:41:25,180 --> 00:41:27,520 but I do know that we're going to get through this, 843 00:41:27,550 --> 00:41:29,430 and we're going to keep working, 844 00:41:29,450 --> 00:41:31,480 and things are going to get better. 844 00:41:32,305 --> 00:42:32,660 Support us and become VIP member to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org