Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse of Civil War Gold...

I have heard rumor of Confederate gold

-underneath the Pritchard house. -Oh.

GARY: Not every day you get to search

the property of a Civil War general.

Hey, hey, hey, it's a coin!

Oh, man.

Pritchard didn't come home empty-handed.

Could what you see on the screen there possibly be a tunnel?

-It is possible. -You just got wood.

AL: You're kidding.

It could be part of a vault. What is it? Bring it up.

AL: That's it!

♪

NARRATOR: 50 miles south of Muskegon, Michigan.

EVIN: So, are you guys nervous at all meeting with Rob?

I got butterflies in my stomach a little bit.

-A little bit, a little bit. -I'm excited.

NARRATOR: Kevin Dykstra,

his younger brother Al, and team researcher

Brad Richards are on their way to the town of Allegan

for what could be a breakthrough meeting.

Okay, diver in the water.

NARRATOR: During the past few weeks...

...they have discovered amazing evidence

that a boxcar filled with millions

in stolen Civil War gold...

Let it go.

NARRATOR: ...could be lying at the bottom of Lake Michigan,

just off shore from the town of Frankfort.

I would definitely call this a man-made structure

that needs a lot of further investigation.

NARRATOR: But while Kevin and his team must now wait

for the appropriate permissions

to return to the lake and begin excavating their search area,

they are using the time to further investigate

what Kevin believes was a major conspiracy,

one that suggests the gold they might have found

at the bottom of Lake Michigan could be only a small portion

of the gold that was stolen at the end of the Civil War.

Today they have arranged to meet face-to-face

with the great-great-grandson of a man who, Kevin believes,

was a key player in the plot to steal the gold

Confederate President Jefferson Davis

had with him at the time of his arrest,

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Pritchard.

EVIN: Well, guys, here we are. -AL: Here we are.

KEVIN: Get this meeting underway.

AL: Let the games begin.

-This is gonna be interesting. -I know.

NARRATOR: Because mainstream historians

have long argued that Davis did not have gold

or any portion of the Confederate treasury with him

on the morning he was captured...

-Mr. Proctor. -Hey, Kevin.

NARRATOR: ...if Kevin and his team can prove otherwise,

it would suggest that his theory of a vast conspiracy

and elaborate cover-up is true.

Well, thanks for taking the time to meet with us today.

We've never had the opportunity to speak

with a descendent of Mr. Pritchard, and I understand

that you lived in the Pritchard house for some time?

I did. We lived there, uh,

with my family from 1994

to 2007, but I've been around that house

since the '60s, when I was a little kid,

and it's been in our family since 1865 when he built it.

-Been in your family that long? -Yeah.

So I'm sure you've heard of some of the research that I've done.

Yes. I-I've seen your research,

and it's almost hard to grasp what was going on at the time.

You know, we're just searching for the truth.

Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: It is Kevin's belief

that Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Pritchard,

a native of Allegan, Michigan, was operating under orders

from his commanding officer, Colonel Robert H. G. Minty,

who, in turn, was part of a conspiracy organized

by another Michigan native,

lumber tycoon turned banker, Charles Hackley.

So growing up,

when they were talking about the arrest of Jefferson Davis,

were there any other things about the arrest

that you have information of?

ROB: Yeah, we had a couple of articles

that the general acquired during the capture.

If you'd like to see them now, I have them with me.

You mean, like, actual artifacts from the capture?

Yeah, they were in the possession of Jefferson Davis

-at the time of his capture. -Ooh.

-AL: Seriously. That's cool. -Yeah.

-Let's see 'em. -Yeah.

-Uh-oh. -So...

This is one of the buttons

off of one of the articles of clothing

Jefferson Davis was wearing when he was attempting to escape.

-AL: Really? Oh, wow. -BRAD: No way.

-And we have one more. -Oh, wow.

-What in the world? -This is the Tiffany chalice.

AL: Ugh, that's cool.

KEVIN: And your family lore says this was with

Jefferson Davis at the point of capture?

-Yes. -Wow.

NARRATOR: A Tiffany chalice?

A genuine article of treasure

taken from Jefferson Davis at the time of his arrest?

But if Benjamin Pritchard took this, could he have taken more?

Perhaps six wagonloads of gold and silver

the Confederate president had hoped

to smuggle across the border to Mexico.

KEVIN: It was amazing to hold that chalice in my hand,

knowing that Jefferson Davis

and his wife probably drank from that,

and it also appeared to be a trophy

for Colonel Benjamin Pritchard.

Rob, is there any specific story handed down through your family

that General Pritchard

brought Confederate gold back here to Michigan?

Specific story, no.

I'm not aware of a treasure trail

story of Benjamin Pritchard

getting gold from Irwinville to Michigan.

But I will level with you.

I have heard conversation

about gold underneath the Pritchard house. Yes.

You've heard of treasure under the Pritchard house?

Yes.

We had stories of

Confederate gold, and it was folks

that would say, "Oh, hey, you live in the Pritchard house.

There's a tunnel under the Pritchard house."

-Tunnel? -I did say tunnel.

I lived in the Pritchard house for 13 years.

I've been around it since the '60s.

Throughout time, there have been folks that said,

"Oh, there's a tunnel in the Pritchard house."

KEVIN: Look at that.

Look at that! Nice.

NARRATOR: Last week,

Kevin and his team discovered evidence of a tunnel

connecting Charles Hackley's former mansion in Muskegon

to a home that once belonged to Hackley's friend

and longtime business partner Thomas Hume.

It had to be a tunnel. They just closed it off.

Well, and we were told there was a tunnel right here.

NARRATOR: It is Kevin's belief that the tunnel was used

to secretly transport portions of the stolen Confederate gold

from Hackley's house to Hume's,

as part of their plot to sneak the gold out of Michigan

and west to Utah,

where it would be melted down and laundered

in one of Hackley's numerous gold mines.

So, with all this talk of the possibility

of tunnels and treasures, do you think there's a way

that we could ever get into that house?

-Do you know the owners? -Yes, I do, very well.

You think they'd let us come on

to the property and search around?

Oh, I'm pretty sure they would, yeah.

KEVIN: You know, with my large background in construction

and being able to go into the Pritchard house,

which Benjamin Pritchard built-- it's exciting

because I think I might be able to see things

that the average person may not see.

Rob, I can't thank you enough

for coming up here and meeting with us.

This has been very valuable for my research.

I'm happy to help.

NARRATOR: While waiting for permission to visit the home

of Benjamin Pritchard, Kevin, Al and Brad

pay a visit to the Allegan Historical Society.

They are hoping to find further evidence

of Pritchard's involvement in a plot

to steal and then launder millions in Civil War gold.

SCOTT: Hey, guys. How you doing?

Good. Couldn't be better. Couldn't be better.

-Hey, this is my brother Al. -Hi, Al. Scott Kuykendall.

-Nice to meet you. -And this is Brad Richards. -Hi, Brad.

Scott Kuykendall. Good to meet you.

Nice to meet you, Scott.

NARRATOR: Housed in a former courthouse and jail,

the Allegan Historical Society contains rare artifacts

and historical documents

dating as far back as the early 1800s.

So, as we spoke on the phone,

you apparently have a lot of artifacts here

from Benjamin Pritchard

and the capture of Jefferson Davis, as I understand it?

We have the largest collection

of Pritchard artifacts in the country.

-Wow. -Because he was from our county.

And that's everything from documentation

to actual military artifacts.

-Can we go see them? -Follow me.

KEVIN: I'm certain I'm gonna find out things from Scott

that I don't know about Benjamin Pritchard.

And I'm really excited to see

how what he knows can propel my research even further.

I got a few items you might be interested in.

-Wow. -The first one we've got here.

This is Pritchard's saddle and saddle blanket.

-Wow. -You got the "4"

for the 4th Michigan Cav.

This was on Pritchard's horse.

-That was at the capture site? -In Irwinville, Georgia,

on May 10th of 1865, this was there.

Very nice.

Uh, next thing we're gonna look at here is...

-AL: Wow, look at that. -BRAD: Wow.

Gentlemen, this is the 1863 issue Colt .44.

This was Pritchard's army issue.

Al, why don't you put some gloves on here?

We're gonna let you hold a piece of history.

Be careful with that thing.

-Right. -I got it.

SCOTT: This revolver on Pritchard's hip heard

the conversation when they initially captured Davis.

BRAD: That was aimed at the president of another country.

SCOTT: Right.

AL: As I'm holding this gun, I cannot believe

that this is a gun that Pritchard was carrying.

If the thing could talk, what would it tell me?

Well, he was an amazing war hero and this is a real honor.

Yeah, he truly was a war hero,

and he was so popular in the state of Michigan,

there were several folks that wanted him to run for governor,

but he didn't want to. He wanted

to stay local, he wanted to stay here in Allegan County.

So, if he... if he wanted to stay local,

why did he agree to become the state land commissioner?

A lot of his friends were big players

in politics in the state of Michigan.

So when they moved up, they asked Pritchard

to take on some of the smaller jobs, in their view.

Well, see, Kevin's got this theory that the railroad

that goes from here in Allegan to Muskegon needed

-a land commissioner. -KEVIN: My theory says, Scott,

that a land commissioner would have been the person

who could have okayed the transfer of land

to be able to put a railroad together.

-Okay. -Because, it's my belief

that possibly the Confederate gold could have been brought up

to Muskegon on those railroads.

NARRATOR: Soon after returning home to Allegan

at the end of the Civil War,

Benjamin Pritchard was appointed

to the office of state land commissioner.

The job gave him oversight

of, among other things,

new railroad construction.

In 1870,

a 60-mile section of track known

as the Michigan Lakeshore Railroad

was built to connect the cities of Allegan and Muskegon,

the hometown of Charles Hackley.

Because the rail line ended right at the back door

of Hackley's downtown office,

it is Kevin Dykstra's belief that the project

was the result of a secret deal

between Hackley and Benjamin Pritchard.

So, my-my thought is that Benjamin Pritchard

possibly became the land commissioner

to help with that process to get that railroad to Muskegon.

-Mm-hmm. -And then

Charles Hackley would have benefited

from the land commissioner

deeding over the property.

Would you say that there was a good likelihood

that Charles Hackley knew Benjamin Pritchard?

Oh, very well. Yes.

Yeah, that's-that's a definite.

SCOTT: I do have some documents

that you might be interested in.

So, why don't you follow me. Bring your gloves with you.

NARRATOR: While looking for evidence directly linking

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Pritchard

to a conspiracy involving millions

in stolen gold and silver...

All right, we're gonna be coming in this room.

...Kevin Dykstra has just been informed that Pritchard,

in his capacity as the Allegan County land commissioner,

would have had extensive dealings

with local millionaire Charles Hackley,

the man who Kevin believes

was instrumental in the plot.

SCOTT: The first document I want you to look at here,

it's from the First National Bank of Allegan.

-This is one of-- on his... -AL: Oh.

-The letterhead? -You can see, up in the corner,

he's president.

AL: That seem like an odd thing

for him to be able to do

after the war was over?

Pritchard was, uh, very connected in the community.

He was able to raise

the $50,000 that was needed to start the bank.

So, he obviously had that

-or got that money from somewhere -Correct.

-to start the charter. -Correct.

Okay. Okay.

You know, in our paperwork that we have here,

we have no proof that he had $50,000 to start the bank.

KEVIN: Has any of the townspeople ever wondered

how was it he was able to start a bank

or did they just accept the fact that he had...

earned this money somewhere?

Uh, I think, initially, no.

Pritchard was a very philanthropic,

-very upstanding, -Mm-hmm.

-community-oriented, -BRAD: Honest.

honorable, courage, commitment to his community.

That's why it was never questioned.

-This guy is a returning hero. -Right.

He's not gonna be questioned for anything.

-He's-he's the capturer of Jefferson Davis. -No.

NARRATOR: A small-town schoolteacher and lawyer

who becomes a banker?

Could the money Pritchard used to start his bank

actually have been a payoff for his complicity

in an elaborate scheme

to steal a large portion of the Confederate treasury?

You know, the only thing that makes any sense to me

with Benjamin Pritchard opening up that bank

is he could have used that Confederate gold.

I can't wait to get to Benjamin Pritchard's house

and see if there's any remnants of that gold anywhere.

-Been a worthwhile trip. Thanks. -For sure, it has. -All right. Thank you.

-Scott, thank you. -Thanks, Kevin. Al. -Great meeting you.

SCOTT: Good seeing you.

♪

NARRATOR: Early the next day...

AL: There they are.

NARRATOR: ...Kevin and the team arrive

athe former home of Benjamin Pritchard.

Hey, guys.

-Hey, Rob. -NARRATOR: They have arranged

to meet once again with Rob Proctor,

who has secured permission from the current owner, Diana Lloyd,

to look around the house and property.

VIN: If Pritchard brought gold to Michigan, as my research

shows, there's a good chance that gold could be in Allegan

or it could be in his house or anywhere around it.

All right, come on in.

As you can see,

-the initial thing you see in the house -BRAD: Wow.

is the hanging circular staircase.

-BRAD: Very cool. -ROB: And what's really neat

about this is this was built by General Pritchard.

NARRATOR: A spiral staircase built by Benjamin Pritchard?

General Pritchard built the stairs with his own hand?

-This is all his work? -Yeah. He was a carpenter.

NARRATOR: Could it be another clue,

one that further connects Benjamin Pritchard

to Charles Hackley?

Feel free to walk on up it.

-Okay. -This is amazing. -Yeah.

And see what you think. Does it f...

-All by hand? -All by hand.

NARRATOR: Because the spiral serves as an important symbol

in Freemasonry

and it was well-known that Charles Hackley

was a prominent member of this very secret society,

is it possible that Pritchard built this incredible staircase

as a means of illustrating his loyalty

both to Hackley and the plot

to steal millions in Confederate gold?

-ROB: Hear it creaking? -No, it's solid.

-KEVIN: Even with Brad on it. -[laughter]

The University of Michigan Engineering Department

has been here probably three times,

because they're trying to figure out

-how he's done it -How he supported it.

with this kind of support.

And outside of taking it all apart,

-which we're not interested in doing, -No.

it's staying there.

KEVIN: You know, wondering for eight years if,

at the Benjamin Pritchard house,

there was any treasure buried anywhere on the property

was always a thought in the back of my mind.

This great room used to be a front parlor and a back parlor.

KEVIN: But when I know he built it with his own hands

the same year the war ended,

that's where my thoughts ran--

was where could he hide stuff in this house.

General Pritchard died right there

in that room. That was his bedroom.

-KEVIN: Oh, really? -AL: No kidding. -ROB: Mm-hmm.

Yeah. He was 72 years old.

And he came home and he said he wasn't feeling well.

Had some chest pains.

He went in and laid down.

They got worse. They called the doctor.

The-the next afternoon, he passed away of angina.

-AL: Wow. -Passed right in there, huh?

-AL: That quick? -BRAD: Curious to see

-the rest of the place. -Yeah. -Yeah.

All right, there's a lot more.

When Rob Proctor shared that

his great-great-grandfather died fairly suddenly...

-All right. -I instantly started to believe

those rumors that Rob was telling me.

He said to me that if there was something

buried underneath the basement,

it may still be there.

Here we go.

-ROB: Watch your head. -AL: Yeah.

BRAD: Watch my head here.

AL: Especially down here, Brad.

Oh, wow.

It is an old Michigan basement.

ROB: [laughs] I told you.

KEVIN: This is interesting.

AL: This is impressive.

Is this a coal shoot?

ROB: Yeah.

Look at this.

KEVIN: So, to me,

an indicator right off the bat.

I mean, we haven't been down here five seconds,

and I already see something.

When I see this brick laid like this on the floor,

this is intriguing.

BRAD: What's going on here, Kev?

KEVIN: I think we're gonna find

there's things underneath here to look for.

ROB: Okay. I'm interested.

If you look over there, you see cement or you see concrete.

But over here we see brick.

When I see these bricks laid like this, that means

they can get back under it. Why?

Very intriguing, either way you slice it.

Obviously, those men had the money to cement this,

but they didn't. I'd like to find the reason why.

When I get down to the basement and I see

that part of the floor is concrete

and part of the floor is just bricks,

which can easily be taken back up,

there very likely could be something under this floor.

I'm wondering if we want to look at some ground-penetrating

radar, which would show us what could be underneath this floor.

But I'll guarantee you one thing--

this brick was put in here for a reason.

ROB: I am

cautiously, skeptically optimistic

-about what you're going to find. -[chuckling]

It would be very interesting that if I was playing

on this brick floor,

six inches above millions of dollars of treasure.

My children would be... floored.

-[chuckling] -KEVIN: I'd love to get

ground-penetrating radar

and Gary Drayton out here,

so we can really investigate these grounds.

This house is really in amazing condition

-for being as old as it is. -ROB: Isn't it though?

Boy, they've-they've taken very good care of this place.

BRAD: I'd like to investigate a little further.

NARRATOR: Two days after touring

the former home of Benjamin Pritchard in Allegan, Michigan,

Kevin Dykstra has returned with his brother Al

and history teacher Brad Richards.

Joining them are ground-penetrating radar expert

Joe Glidden and metal detection expert Gary Drayton.

-Gentlemen. -BRAD: Hey, Rob. -KEVIN: Hi, Rob. How are you?

Good morning. Welcome back to the Pritchard house.

Thank you so much.

NARRATOR: With the help of Rob Proctor,

Benjamin Pritchard's great-great-grandson,

they have secured permission to search the property

for evidence, evidence

which could prove Kevin's theory

that Pritchard was involved in an elaborate plot

to steal a fortune in Confederate gold.

He's the master metal detector guy.

-All right. -KEVIN: He-he can find anything.

He's been working very close with Marty Lagina up there,

and he's found some amazing things.

And we're hoping he brings that good luck down here for us.

Marty says, "Do you want to go search the property

of a Civil War general?"

-Heck yeah! -[laughter]

-ROB: Well, this is it. -KEVIN: I think

what we need to do is split up. Um, Brad and Gary,

why don't you start doing some metal detecting.

-BRAD: Sure. -And-and we'll head

inside the house and get this underway.

-Perfect. -That's good. -All right, well, give me that.

-You go help Gary. -All right. Will do.

KEVIN: We're gonna do a thorough search

on this property.

We're gonna be looking for gold coins

or gold bullion--

more evidence that might back up our theory.

And we won't stop till we find it.

-This is a great place to start. -Okay.

I've searched a lot of old homes,

and the best place to start is always close to the house.

If you get a big hit, I'm ready.

I got a big digger.

[both laugh]

-All right, mate, let's find some cool stuff. -All right.

[detector chirping]

-You see all these little chirpy signals? -Yeah.

-That-That's iron. -Okay.

We're not looking for iron.

We're not looking for ferrous objects.

We're looking for non-ferrous targets.

-Gotcha. -It would be coins,

jewelry, stuff like that.

BRAD: Yeah.

[chirping, beeping]

-Getting mixed signals here. -Is that a double?

Yeah. No, but that ain't worth digging, mate.

Okay. That's why you're here.

[beeping]

Now, that is.

Let me just have a little wiggle over it.

[beeps]

Straight in the middle, mate.

That's why I like going next to the house

to try and find something.

They wouldn't have ventured very far away.

[detector beeping]

BRAD: It's a nail.

GARY: It's a nail?

BRAD: It's an old nail.

Which explains the sharp poke I got.

[both laugh]

GARY: That stinks.

-Oh, that sounds good. -What do you got there?

-That's a good two-way -A good one?

repeatable signal, Brad, yeah.

Unfortunately, it's not deep but you never know.

Yeah, it's out, mate.

-It's in the plug. -Yeah.

Come on, baby. Be a coin.

[detector beeping]

BRAD: That's a weird-looking thing.

-GARY: Oh! -BRAD: What is that?

GARY: That is a Civil War era belt buckle.

There was a lot of Civil War soldiers on this property.

There are stories of his soldiers returning back

to this location, the soldiers that he led,

and they bivouacked on this hill over here.

That is crazy.

If I was dating that, I'd say that's late 1800s.

Whoo-hoo!

GARY: What a start.

That's unbelievable.

Put that in the top pocket?

GARY: Wow, that is crazy.

That is definitely a top pocket find.

Guys are gonna freak when they see that.

NARRATOR: As Gary and Brad continue their search

of the grounds around the Pritchard house...

Kevin and the rest of his team begin searching

for a secret tunnel that could be hidden somewhere

underneath the basement floor.

Joe, so what's that?

It's a ground-penetrating radar unit.

-So how far will it go down? -I've been in sand before,

and I've seen 20 to 30 feet with it before.

So if there's something ten, 20 feet down here,

-we should be able to see it? -It's very possible.

NARRATOR: The DS-2000 ground-penetrating radar unit

will send high-frequency radio signals through the floor

which will be able to detect differences

in ground composition, as well as any large objects,

or voids below the surface.

KEVIN: Isn't it interesting how you can look

through the brick to see what's underneath it?

-Yeah, it really is. -That's just,

just mind-boggling to me.

Kevin, if you look at this real quick.

-See that hyperbola? -Yeah.

JOE: You can see that layer

at that four-foot mark for-for most of this.

-AL: All the way across? -All the way across.

Could what you see on the screen there possibly be a tunnel?

It is possible.

RRATOR: Could Joe Glidden have eally just found evidence

of a tunnel beneath the house of Benjamin Pritchard?

If so, what was it used for?

And what might it still contain?

How do we get more confirmation of it?

Do we just move over and try it again?

Move-move over, see if it shows up.

KEVIN: All right, well,

you know what I'm gonna say.

Let's move over.

JOE: About there.

That's about the other edge of the disturbance right here.

-Well, that's odd. -Mm-hmm.

It starts to go that way.

It's staggered a little.

AL: And so is that one.

-AL: Oh, yeah. -JOE: Somewhat strange.

So it might...

Let's draw these lines out so we can see

-right where that possible tunnel is. -Mm-hmm.

JOE: That's where the bricks have been kind of sinking there.

-AL: Yeah, exactly. -KEVIN: See how they're caving in there?

It shows the size of a tunnel.

The top of the anomaly feels like it would be a tunnel.

Or a place to put something

-and cover it up. -That's why you want to dig so bad.

I do. Yeah. I want to see what's down there.

I have to say, I am interested to see what's under here.

I think we need to dig all the way down to it.

I do, too.

NARRATOR: While Kevin, Al, Joe and Rob finish up

their GPR scanning of the basement,

outside, in the front yard,

Brad Richards and Gary Drayton,

continue their search for other important clues

and evidence of treasure.

GARY: I always like to put myself back in the day.

I can just imagine General Pritchard out here,

bending down and losing some gold

-or silver out of his pocket. -Yeah.

No, just not solid enough.

[detector beeping]

-I just can't walk away from that. -[detector whining]

-I know. Let's do it. -Yeah.

-We didn't come all the way to... -No.

-This could be the one. -...General Pritchard's house

to-to not dig up the ones that you find.

GARY: Yeah, whatever it is, it's out, mate.

-Sounds real good. -Does it really?

Come on, be a coin.

[laughing]: Hey, hey, hey, it's a coin!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

-Oh, my God. That is beautiful. -Is that a good one?

Oh, man!

BRAD: Definitely a coin.

That is an oldie.

BRAD: With some old imprinting on it.

See, it looks like, uh, some stars there

around the s-- the, uh, edges there.

-Can you see those? -Yeah, I can. Yeah.

BRAD: Holy monkey.

Dang, that is nice.

That's gonna be an old one.

That's what we're looking for.

-That's sweet. -Yeah.

This reminds me of the coin

that came out of the ground in Georgia.

Yeah. Me, too.

Imagine that, if it's the same one.

That's sweet.

[laughs] Whoo!

NARRATOR: Last year...

Big fella in there and dig it up.

NARRATOR: ...while searching for artifacts near the site

of Jefferson Davis's capture in Irwinville, Georgia...

You can see the stars going all the way around the edges of it.

ARRATOR: ...Gary Drayton found what appeared to be

-a silver Confederate coin. -Whoo!

But what made the team's discovery even more exciting

was that it was found near the exact same spot

where Benjamin Pritchard is believed

to have buried millions

in gold and treasure, shortly after seizing it

from Jefferson Davis's entourage

in the hours after his arrest.

Look at that.

NARRATOR: Could Brad and Gary

have just found an identical coin

in Benjamin Pritchard's front yard?

And if so, could it be a piece of the Confederate treasury

that Kevin believes Pritchard later smuggled

to Michigan in 1870?

-We might have just found one of the spoils of war. -Yeah.

If that ends up being a Confederate coin.

I mean... [laughs]

That's a big step towards saying, uh,

Pritchard didn't come home empty-handed.

And we're not going home empty-handed.

-That's right. That's right. -All right, Brad.

-I'm just gonna keep going -All right.

in the same direction.

NARRATOR: As Gary Drayton continues to search the grounds

around the Pritchard home for more clues...

Here we go.

NARRATOR: ...Brad joins Kevin and Al

as they look for evidence of a tunnel

beneath the basement floor.

KEVIN: The top of what we thought

might be a tunnel is about three foot below us here.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna make a two-foot square box

and we're gonna drive that box down,

excavate the dirt out of it,

drive it down, excavate more dirt.

And we'll get down to about that three-foot mark.

There's something very hard underneath there.

All right, let's do it.

NARRATOR: To dig a three-foot deep hole,

and avoid a collapse or cave-in...

KEVIN: Just like that.

NARRATOR: ...Kevin and Brad build a shoring box

of heavy plywood.

Grab that other piece.

There you go.

Okay, Albert...

let's see how well you measured.

Oh, not bad.

Okay, you're gonna have to just scoop

and we'll undermine and scoop and undermine.

And that's the process.

Nice.

BRAD: You know, guys, this is how Dan Blankenship dug 10-X.

-Up on Oak Island? -Yeah. He used railcars,

but same principle. One scoop at a time.

KEVIN: Yeah. Watch your arm.

We're getting close.

Perfect.

Hand me that probe, will you, Brad?

Yeah.

Al, can you just kind of step towards the back of it?

It's right there.

BRAD: You can't go no further?

KEVIN: No.

I swear there's something there.

Okay. Take a few more scoops out of the middle.

Here.

It does feel like there's something there.

AL: I know. It really does. It really does.

[grunts]

Oh, he just got wood.

-Hey, Al. -Yeah.

You just got wood.

Where? Down there?

In that last one you dug, you just got wood.

You're kidding.

BRAD: I'll be doggone.

AL: We're on to something.

NARRATOR: Beneath the basement floor of Benjamin Pritchard's

19th century home, Kevin Dykstra,

along with his brother Al,

and researcher Brad Richards

have just found what could be evidence

of a secret underground chamber, where Kevin believes

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Pritchard

may have hidden a stash of stolen

Confederate gold after the Civil War.

AL: I don't know why wood would be down there that deep.

-Doesn't make any sense. -KEVIN: There's a few options

that it could be, you know.

We thought possibly it was a tunnel.

We thought possibly it could be a vault.

The fact that there's wood three feet below the surface

of this floor...

We know a human being put that wood down there.

Yeah. And there's no doubt about that.

KEVIN: When we started finding wood,

you could tell this wood was old.

That soil down there is very dry.

And this wood was very well intact.

So somebody had excavated that floor.

Could have been a treasure chest.

Could have been some type of a box.

But it was definitely made out of wood.

You want to switch with Brad?

-Why don't we let Brad get down there. -All right.

-BRAD: Take turns. -KEVIN: You want to try

-a little bit with the shovel? -Yeah.

I know there's something hard.

Every time you shovel right there, I can hear it.

But I keep getting deeper, and I think this might be

just a layer I'm chiseling away from.

-Yeah, it just keeps caving in. -Yeah.

I think I just punched through that layer and now I'm back down

into the, uh, softer sand.

-I think that's what we're hitting. -That's what we're hitting,

is wood.

It's cut.

Yep.

KEVIN: All right.

Let's take a break a minute.

That's indisputable, to have cut lumber

-that far deep. -Yeah.

Somebody was down here.

Pritchard put his treasure here.

This is where he had his personal vault, I bet.

Yeah. I'd agree with that.

Something man-made was down here.

Why don't we do this. Just on the chance

that maybe there is a hinge

-or a latch or something... -Hit the metal detector.

Why don't we hit that metal detector.

BRAD: You never know.

KEVIN: Can you get up?

-BRAD: I believe. -AL: There you go, Brad.

[groans]

♪

[beeping]

[beeping]

[Al laughs]

Yeah, well, it's close to the surface.

He just touched it, and it went right off.

[beeping]

-You got it. You got it. -What is it?

Bring it up. Bring it up.

[beeping continues]

-[beeping] -Yeah.

Whatever it is, it's in there.

-Is it a coin? -Oh!

-[beeping] -That's it!

-AL: Is that a coin? -[laughing]

-It's a coin! -No way!

[chuckles]

-KEVIN: Hit that with the... -[beeping]

Nice job, buddy.

A coin in the hole.

Ha-ha!

-It could be gold. -AL: It very well could be gold.

KEVIN: I agree.

It very well could be. We need to get this

to somebody who can analyze it and tell us what it is.

Can you see a date or anything on it?

No, I can't. And I don't want to rub it,

because I know we could damage it.

Feel it. It's heavy.

It isn't silver, and it's almost perfectly circular.

So, what do you think?

-It's definitely man-made. -Mm-hmm.

Man-made? Wha...

what business does a man-made object have

almost four feet below this floor? It all points

to a strong likelihood that there could very well have been

something of value below the general's floor.

-Yeah. -That's right.

KEVIN: So either Benjamin Pritchard

removed what was down there before he died,

or he told somebody to remove it for him.

But nonetheless, it was taken out before he died.

Three feet below General Pritchard's

-basement floor. -This is a major discovery.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: Discovering evidence of what could be the remains

of a wooden tunnel underneath the property

of Benjamin Pritchard further validates Kevin's belief

that Pritchard wasn't only involved

in Jefferson Davis's arrest,

but also continued to serve as a key player

in Charles Hackley's plot

to launder millions in stolen Confederate gold and silver.

I'm convinced that Benjamin Pritchard

was involved in moving that gold.

Marty always says, "Put something in my hand."

We got some trinkets.

We got some cool stuff to put in Marty's hand.

Yeah, it was a great day.

Let's get another box and get back down here.

I would really like to show Diana a handful

-of coins instead of just one. -Yeah.

KEVIN: This is gonna go in my top pocket.

KEVIN: I love giving reports like this.

BRAD [laughs]: Yeah.

NARRATOR: After making a number

of important discoveries on the property of Benjamin Pritchard,

Kevin Dykstra, his younger brother Al,

Jeff Zehr and Brad Richards have gathered in his workshop

for a video conference with Marty and Alex Lagina.

-Hey, guys. -Hello! -KEVIN: Hey. How are ya?

-ALEX: Good. -Fantastic!

It's good to hear from you.

I saw you sent me a bunch

of interesting photos but no explanation, so, uh,

let's talk about what I'm looking at here.

We've got a lot of explanations for you.

Good. Proceed.

We actually met with Rob Proctor,

who is Benjamin Pritchard's great-great-grandson.

Pritchard-- he's the guy that captured Jefferson Davis, right?

-Yes. -MARTY: Was he cooperative?

I mean, 'cause you're talking about his family, you know?

I was a little apprehensive, but it was the opposite.

He was a stand-up guy.

Rob Proctor shared that

for years rumors persisted that there was items buried

beneath the Pritchard basement.

-Wow. -Wow. -He was able

to actually get us access

to the Pritchard property and inside the house, as well.

-Fantastic. -Wow. -What I realized

when I first laid eyes on the basement,

half of the basement floor was poured with concrete,

and the other half of the basement floor

was laid with pavers.

-And I thought that unusual. -Okay.

We pulled out a metal object,

circular in shape with a flat side on it,

which was about four feet below the top of the brick.

-You guys mean this thing? -Yeah, that's exactly it.

We believe that if we can identify what it is,

we could probably come up with a good reason

why it was below Benjamin Pritchard's basement floor.

Wow. That is fantastic!

KEVIN: It's unbelievable.

So huge success in the basement.

But I'll tell you what, guys,

what Brad and Gary Drayton found out in the yard,

I'll let Brad talk about that.

We found a coin that,

when we pulled it out of the ground,

Gary immediately said,

"That's a really old coin."

Oh, my God!

-Is that a good one? -That is beautiful. Oh, man!

BRAD: He got really excited,

and Gary thought it was almost identical

to the one we found in Irwinville, Georgia.

Very, very interesting.

KEVIN: What are the odds that we find a coin like that

down in Irwinville and we go to Benjamin Pritchard's house

and we find the same type of coin out in his yard?

Yeah, that's exciting.

-Seems to link the two sites pretty conclusively. -MARTY: Yep.

KEVIN: I think sharing the results

of searching the Benjamin Pritchard property with Marty

is really great, because...

it's just more compelling evidence

that pushes this story forward.

Guys, is there any news on the Lake Michigan permit front?

You know, where are we at in the permitting process?

We are working on it with the state.

There's no definitive word yet, but we are working on it.

Okay, great. Let me know if I can help somehow.

KEVIN: We will. At this point in time, while we're waiting,

we're gonna be researching

where else we're gonna find missing gold.

What we're seeing here, guys, is that what started off

as one cache of gold down in Irwinville, Georgia,

it's really looking like

we're just at the tip of the iceberg here.

It wouldn't surprise me if more people reach out to us

with information that leads us to other caches of gold.

Maybe many more.

You know, at the risk of being a person who is viewed

as never being satisfied,

I am truly impressed with what you've done.

I mean, it's really remarkable.

-Keep at it. -We will. Thanks for your time, guys.

-Good talking to you guys. Bye. -Thanks a lot, guys.

KEVIN: Well, let's get back at it.

Yeah, let's go.

NARRATOR: For Kevin Dykstra and his team,

the notion that wagonloads of Confederate gold and silver

came to Michigan after the Civil War

is less a question of "if," but "how much,"

and "where is it now?"

They are also more convinced than ever

that they are on the verge of uncovering a vast conspiracy,

one that involves a number of wealthy and powerful men.

But as they dive deeper and deeper

to solve the mystery, what will they find?

Millions in stolen gold?

Or, perhaps, something of even greater value?

Something that has been hidden from the eyes of history

for 150 years.

Next time on The Curse of Civil War Gold...

Isn't it great to be back in Georgia again?

BRAD: There were six wagons full of gold.

GARY: And it was stolen at this site?

Once the robbery got underway,

it was just a free-for-all.

GARY: If you was running

with gold in your pockets,

this is the type of place you'd hide it.

-What is that? -I don't know.

I've never seen anything like it.

Oh, wow! Nice!

JEFF: It's time to go down and see

if that's real gold.

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