Original subtitles

This is the area where this legendary robbery happened.

No, we're in the exact spot

where the stagecoach robbery occurred.

[gunshot blasts]

He confesses that he buried it here.

This is not just a legend.

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

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

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

[Josh] I called in a little reinforcement.

I figure if we're looking for historic gold,

who better to call than Parker Schnabel?

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

Oh, boy. Hang on!

We got something here. What is that?

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

That's an old coin. Look at that!

Wait a minute. This is a smoking gun.

Oh, this could crack the whole case wide open.

We're going to literally pan for gold.

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

-Is that gold? -Mm hmm.

[Josh] Shut up!

[detector beeping]

Is that a hit? Oh, is that it?

Look at that. Come on!

[upbeat music plays]

If you've ever dreamed of moving to California,

that dream started in 1848 at Sutter's Mill,

where the discovery of gold led to a westward stampede

that hasn't stopped since.

In just five years after that first strike,

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

That's about $40 billion worth today.

Mining towns quickly spring up, which attract both prospectors

looking to get rich quick and bandits looking to get rich

even quicker.

Enter the brothers John and Charles Ruggles.

On May 14, 1892,

they rob a Wells Fargo stagecoach

traveling between Weaverville and Redding, California.

Its cargo?

Up to 200 pounds of the shiny stuff.

But the heist turns into a gunfight that kills one man

and leaves three others wounded.

After a statewide manhunt, both John and Charles

are apprehended.

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

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

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

somewhere in the mountains of Northern California.

Now, an avid treasure hunter is searching in a location

that has been off limits for years.

And a historian has uncovered a long-lost jailhouse confession

that could uncover the stolen loot.

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

of my own and calling in a friend

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

"Gold Rush's" Parker Schnabel.

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

for a historic gold rush in search of missing millions.

[coins clinking]

The past is all around us.

Oh, my God!

It goes on forever!

A world of mystery.

Come on! Look at that!

Danger.

Hang on!

And adventure.

It's just straight down!

[grunts]

I gotta get a new job.

I travel to the far corners of the Earth

to uncover where legends end...

We got it!

Yes!

...and history begins.

Whoo-hoo! Here we go!

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

[Josh] This is California,

but not the one the Beach Boys sang about.

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

but this area has its own appeal.

If you were strolling in these parts in around 1840,

you'd be surrounded by nothing but untouched wilderness.

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

of the California Gold Rush.

Welcome to the town of Weaverville.

By 1890, the miners here are pulling about

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

That boomtown money attracted a pair of bandits

known as the Ruggles Brothers.

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

with artifacts such as the alleged shotgun

used to fend off the brothers

as they attempted to rob this little beauty.

This remarkably preserved relic

is one of the six original stages

that ran the route between Weaverville and Reading.

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

although there is no gold inside.

I checked.

Finding the Ruggles' gold means following their story,

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

the Redding Stage.

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

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

this was the main thoroughfare for stagecoaches loaded

with rich shipments of gold, including the one knocked over

by the Ruggles Brothers.

I'm headed to the scene of their crime

to meet up with an old friend

who's gearing up for a new search.

[adventurous music plays]

[Josh] And there he is.

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

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

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

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

All right, now, last time I saw you,

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

[Josh] Troy McCormick and I last investigated together

in Indiana, hunting another stolen fortune,

that of the train robbing Reno gang.

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

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

And now we're getting soaked again.

Boy, just something about these outdoor adventures.

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

OK, so, the Ruggles Brothers.

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

This is the area where this legendary robbery happened.

No, we're in the exact spot

where the stagecoach robbery occurred.

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

That's so cool.

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

that a lot of people have never heard of.

True.

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

There was a lot of gold moving through Northern California

at this time, hundreds of millions of dollars.

And this kind of wealth was irresistible to people

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

And that brings us to the Ruggles.

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

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

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

you would call just a really nice guy.

Uh-huh.

Not much is known about the Ruggles' background.

We do know they came from a comfortable family

and couldn't be more different from one another.

Younger brother Charles lives his life

on the straight and narrow,

while his older brother John was bad to the bone,

robbing stagecoaches, doing time,

and eventually roping in Charles for what he hopes

is the score of a lifetime,

the robbery of a Wells Fargo stage

loaded with hundreds of pounds of gold.

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

So why here?

The idea is they picked the spot because if you look

out over the valley, you can see the twisting,

winding Stagecoach Road.

And if you look from this exact spot back,

you'll see this hairpin turn.

He had no idea there were robbers and bandits waiting

for him until he came around that corner.

[Josh] The stage driver rounds the corner to find

Charles Ruggles standing in the road.

His face masked with a red bandana

and a shotgun in his hand.

After the driver stops, Charles demands

that the stage's passenger

throw down two Wells Fargo strongboxes

containing up to 200 pounds of gold.

The men comply, and soon Charles has a fortune

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

It would seem that everything was going to plan,

except for one fatal wild card.

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

When there was a lot of gold to be transported,

the Wells Fargo Company and other companies would send

along an armed guard called "a shotgun messenger."

Who was sort of riding shotgun.

That's where the phrase comes from.

[shotgun clicks]

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

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

a quality which he is about to demonstrate.

[gunshot blasts]

He shoots Charles in the face and upper torso.

Charles understandably drops to his knees

and blindly fires back,

hitting both the driver and passenger.

So this is going terribly sideways now.

It's a total mess.

At this point, the other Ruggles brother,

John, steps out with a.44 revolver

and hits Buck Montgomery,

fatally wounding him.

Wow.

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

Four people have all just been shot,

And what becomes of the stagecoach?

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

and they bolt and tear off down the Stagecoach Road,

leaving John and Charles Ruggles

with the two strong boxes.

So what do these guys do?

They must know they've got limited time

before the posse shows up.

Charles' face is bleeding from all these holes

from the buckshot.

[Josh] John drags Charles out of sight,

then hauls him to his feet.

They scramble down a nearby ravine to Middle Creek.

John then goes back to grab the two strong boxes

before returning to his brother.

Down that way.

Down that way to Middle Creek.

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

to the creek where Troy believes

their gold may be hiding.

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

[Troy] Who's this coming down?

I called in a little reinforcement.

We can definitely use the help.

You're gonna get it.

Parker Schnabel.

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

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

and Alaskan wilderness.

This is the perfect case for him to join.

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

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

Hi, I'm Troy.

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

I recognize him.

I figure if we're looking for historic gold,

who better to call than a gold miner?

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

With Parker is archaeologist Eric Ritter

from the Bureau of Land Management.

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

And let's talk a little bit about

rules and regulations here.

Right.

We're doing this project with proper permitting,

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

the land or damaging other historic resources

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

Absolutely.

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

turned over to your team and to the archaeologists?

Yes.

We want to do this archaeologically properly.

That's right.

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

Parker, are you ready for this?

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

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

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

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

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

Charles take these lockboxes, and they head where?

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

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

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

Let's do it. Come on.

[thrilling music plays]

[Josh] Everybody watch your footing!

It is slick in here!

[Troy] There's Middle Creek.

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

OK, so this is the spot.

Somewhere right along here is where the Ruggles brothers

and all that gold ended up.

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

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

So John takes and turns his brother's head

so that he can see the strong boxes.

John picks up an ax that he had with him,

busts open the strong boxes,

so that Charles can see the gold.

One last moment for the two brothers

to be together, they thought.

Touching moment for two villains.

There you go.

And what was inside the strong boxes?

It was kind of a combination of things.

We had gold coins, we had gold dust,

and we had quicksilver.

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

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

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

This is clearly werewolf country, obviously.

What is quicksilver again?

So quicksilver is mercury mixed with gold.

[Josh] OK.

And basically, mercury is a magnet for gold,

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

a lot of gold dust together,

and then it can be separated out afterwards.

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

There's a lot of it.

One of the strong boxes supposedly weighed

up to 100 pounds.

Right, and that's just one box.

[Parker] Yeah.

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

There's a lot of gold out here.

So why does he bust the boxes open here?

The boxes are too heavy to carry away.

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

Charles is not going to die, though, right?

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

stumbling around. -[Josh] Down here?

Right around in this ravine area.

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

before throwing him in jail in Redding.

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

Authorities throw him in the clink, too,

eager to discover what became of the stolen loot.

In an interrogation by a Wells Fargo agent,

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

but they'll never find it.

So he confesses that he buried it here.

This is not just a legend.

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

This is part of the documented story.

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

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

Come on, fire them up, boys.

[dramatic music plays]

We pull out our metal detectors and begin to hunt.

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

[detector beeping]

[Josh] Got a pretty good hit here.

[beeping louder]

[beeping softly]

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

when something else grabs my attention.

[Parker] Josh!

[Josh] You got something?

[epic music rises]

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

Come on! Look at that!

Legit old-school pickax.

No need to check your program guide.

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

who's prospecting in my world this week.

He's joined treasure hunter Troy McCormick and me

in the pouring Northern California rain

to find, what else? Gold.

Buried by the bandits Charles and John Ruggles

after an 1892 stagecoach robbery.

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

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

This was like calling you from the earth.

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

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

[Josh] I mean, really, you are.

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

This was probably from old mining that was happening here.

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

Get some new wood for that.

You can bring that back up to Alaska.

Well, you said you were coming to work

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

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

How much are you regretting answering the phone,

by the way, for this trip?

I need to look at a weather report

before I say yes next time.

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

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

it's part of the Ruggles' lost loot.

Really tough, tough conditions in here.

Whatever it is, it's deep down.

[Parker] Josh!

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

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

This is the gold, I'm telling you.

[Parker cackles]

I appreciate you coming over to roast me

right in the middle of it.

I was actually coming to help if you wanted.

Did you bring your passport for this trip down there?

[holds laughter]

When's your flight back to Alaska?

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

[detector beeping]

Ooh, there it is.

[Parker] Oh, please be a gold nugget.

Please be a gold nugget.

What is that?

[Josh] A buckle?

It's got something written on it.

Looks like it says, "Armstrong Brace."

It's like an old suspender clip.

Quick question, is mining for gold easier than this?

Uh...Usually.

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

[Josh] No.

Well, we do know one thing.

Somebody's pants fell down around here.

Between the rain and the rushing water,

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

But we manage.

[detector beeps faintly]

[Troy] Hey, Josh!

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

You found a boot?

He found something.

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

Boot heel.

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

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

Oh, that's got nails in it.

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

those little hob nails.

So somebody's wandering around here with one boot

and no pants? -That's right.

[all chuckle]

Sounds like me in college.

[Parker laughs]

[Josh] Well, somebody was definitely down here.

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

-[Troy] Good idea. -Come on.

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

to find any evidence of the Ruggles.

If John Ruggles did bury some of that gold down

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

that he could find again.

He needed a landmark.

[Josh] Totally.

We move along the creek, searching the woods

for any other distinguishing features.

Look at this. We got walls all in here.

And look at this flooded out up here.

Look at these old stone walls. Check this out.

This looks like it could be period.

It does. It's hand-laid.

There's no mortar to it.

Great place to search.

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

[adventurous music plays]

I got a hit in a waterfall.

[beeping]

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

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

[detector beeps]

[detector beeps louder]

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

[detector beeping]

Finally, here we go.

It's going to be some little piece.

-[beeps] -[Josh] Oh!

Troy?

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

That's a coin.

[Troy] It sure looks like it could be.

[Josh] That is a coin.

Come on!

That's an old penny.

That's an old coin. Look at that!

[Troy] That's an Indian head penny.

[Josh] That is an old Indian head penny.

Look at that! Come on!

The so-called Indian head penny features a portrait

of Lady Liberty wearing a Native American headdress.

The coins were minted from 1859 to 1909.

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

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

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

Give me something early.

1883.

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

[Parker] Yeah.

Dude!

That's Ruggles period right there.

Nine years before the robbery.

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

They could have easily had that in their pocket.

That's a little Wild West treasure right there.

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

Man, that is so cool.

Where there's one coin...

There's probably more.

There's probably more.

Let's get rich one penny at a time.

[Troy laughs]

[Josh] Let's do it!

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

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

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

have covered every inch of the creek below the robbery

and there's no gold to be had here.

[rooster crowing]

[upbeat music plays]

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

we're back on the trail.

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

Meanwhile, much of what the Ruggles stole was raw gold

that had been mined in this very area, leaving Parker

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

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

so I feel like there's gotta still be gold

in them there hills.

Yeah, there's still a lot of mining

in Northern California. -[Josh] OK.

There's like active mining happening every year.

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

So, you know, over $200 million.

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

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

Like, how do they mine this stuff?

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

One is hard rock mining,

where they're going into the mountainside,

chasing gold and quartz veins, you know.

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

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

-No. -OK.

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

[Josh] OK, good. I like that.

And then there's hydraulic mining,

which is where you have water pressure

and you've probably seen it spraying

the mountainside down, washing everything

into like a sluice box or something similar to that.

So are we getting some fire hoses here?

-No. -OK.

So then the third way is to not worry about

all that technology and just keep it super simple,

back to the basics.

Invest in Bitcoin.

Even simpler than that.

And when you say simple, do you mean easy?

No...

No.

Great.

Well, so much for my dry boots.

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

Well, this is where you placer mine.

Placer mine. OK, walk me through it.

What is placer mining again?

Placer mining is when gold's already eroded

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

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

creek beds usually. -Freezing creek bed.

[Parker] Yeah.

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

Alaska, the Yukon was all placer mining.

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

the mother lode today?

100%.

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

Absolute guarantee.

All right, let's pan for gold!

Come on!

[upbeat music plays]

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

Step one, get Parker Schnabel.

Step two, go to the shallows of the creek

to fill your pan with sediment.

Step three, listen to Parker Schnabel.

So the basic idea here is that gold's heavy

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

You give it, like, good motion and fluidity.

-Is that a word? -Yep.

[Josh] OK, here we go.

So we're kneeling down in the river now.

Perfect -- hi!

OK.

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

[Josh] Yeah.

And all those plants and whatnot will come out.

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

Chuck it.

Perfect. You're a natural.

Everybody get that? I'm a natural!

And just like that, we're panning.

Dirty water out, clean water in.

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

[Josh] OK, I see.

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

at the bottom of the pan.

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

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

You said 100%.

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

You said 100%. OK, so...

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

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

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

side of the pan. -[Josh] Yeah.

And usually leave the heavy stuff in the top.

No.

-[Josh] Is that gold? -No.

Is that gold?

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

What about this?

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

You did everything right.

Slowly, but you did it right.

-Which is good. -No gold.

No.

OK, Parker, you're up.

Let's see how the pros do it.

What do you got going on?

Oh!

[Parker] So we got one right there.

Wait a minute, is that gold?

Shut up. That's gold.

Yeah. Why are you so excited?

What do you mean, why am I so excited?

We just pulled gold out of a river?

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

stagecoach robbery near Redding, California.

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

I'm leaning on the expertise of miner

and "Gold Rush" star Parker Schnabel,

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

I cannot believe, though, that...

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

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

like, shocked by this.

I mean, it's not very much.

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

We would throw that away.

You're throwing gold away?

[Parker] Yeah.

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

[Parker] We're all backwards.

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

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

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

What? Two flakes!

That's it. We're retired?

See you later, Discovery Channel.

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

If you can retire on, like, a penny.

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

I'm one of the Discovery Channel's

most loyal employees.

Back during the California Gold Rush

or the Klondike Gold Rush,

people found ounces of gold per pan

in really rich ground. -[Josh] Wow!

But surely this is an indicator that there's gold

in this creek. -100%, yeah.

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

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

We live here now.

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

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

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

Until...

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

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

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

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

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

[Josh] Get out of here!

That is like a piece of gold, dude.

-[Josh] Is it? -Yeah.

Oh, look!

The student has become the teacher!

Oh, my word! Are you kidding me?

Oh, man.

[Parker] And that's a good chunk.

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

You hate this, don't you?

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

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

[Josh] Oh, no!

No!

There's two of them!

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

I wouldn't quite, like...

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

I wouldn't quite call them nuggets, personally.

Mini nuggets?

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

Sure, fun-sized, yeah.

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

OK, teach you a thing or two.

[Parker] I have some tiny ones.

You got something there, you did.

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

themselves, I'm definitely experiencing the intoxicating

allure of gold dust dreams.

This is amazing.

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

That was literally never discussed.

OK...

We're not telling Troy, though, right?

-Of course not. -OK, good.

Speaking of Troy, the third member

of our treasure-hunting dream team

calls us up for an urgent meeting

just up the road in Shasta, California.

We convene at the former Shasta County Courthouse.

Today, it serves as a museum.

Inside, we meet historian Ryan McCloskey,

with a new lead on a location

where John Ruggles may have hidden his gold.

First of all, this is an amazing museum.

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

enough to have some amazing artifacts from the robbery.

Those artifacts include the Ruggles' ax,

believed to have opened the strong boxes of gold.

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

examine John Ruggles's revolver.

That is incredible.

Which he used to end Buck Montgomery's life.

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

Good eye.

It is.

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

Alaska, I know, I know, exactly.

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

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

We don't know for sure.

We just know that he had several holes in him

when they got him to the doctor.

So there were multiple shots fired.

[Parker] Gotcha.

You hear these stories about robberies like the Ruggles,

and it all has this air of legend.

But once you put something like this in your hand,

this is real. This is real history.

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

You're holding a piece of the Ruggles' story

right there.

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

Both brothers are arrested and reunited in jail.

There, they become local folk heroes, drawing attention

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

But no vows would ever be exchanged.

The Ruggles published their planned defense

in the newspapers.

And in it, they claimed that Buck Montgomery

was not only not their victim,

but that he was their partner in crime.

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

the fulcrum point to their inevitable end.

Yeah, so the town rallies behind Buck,

and now they are enemies.

To avenge Buck Montgomery's sterling reputation,

dozens of masked vigilantes carrying weapons and torches

descend upon the jail in the dead of night

for a little frontier justice.

And at this point, the brothers are doomed.

The mob drags the boys out by force and hauls them

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

await in a nearby tree.

John pleads for his younger brother's life, bargaining

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

where he buried the rest of the stolen gold

after he left the creek.

Troy thinks the intel was likely the real deal.

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

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

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

because he's offering up the location.

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

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

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

[Josh] Right.

And do the townspeople take him up on this offer?

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

than they were in gold.

And the brothers are hanged.

[ominous music plays]

[Troy] They are.

And the problem is, we now lose the actual location

where the gold is buried.

Or did we?

[intriguing music plays]

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

to the courthouse's old jail cells,

where Ryan has uncovered clues

that have been buried in the archives for years.

OK, so why have you dragged us down here?

So what we've got is the research

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

but I've got one here

that I want you to pay attention to.

[Josh] OK, and what is this?

This is some material evidence to a location that has never

properly been searched. -I like that.

This is an old news article of some kind?

It is, 1899.

These two guys claim to have overheard John,

while he was in jail, talking to his brother Charles

about where he buried the gold.

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

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

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

a short distance beyond the old Spanish Mine."

Wait a minute, this is a smoking gun.

Oh, this could crack the whole case wide open.

This is huge.

He is listing a specific location here.

Yeah.

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

a lost 19th-century newspaper article might point

to the location of the stolen treasure

of the infamous Ruggles brothers.

Ryan pulls out a plat map from the Ruggles era,

and lucky for us,

we have world-class mining expert Parker Schnabel on hand

to examine it.

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

with mining properties at the time.

You know, different mining companies were here,

White Oak Construction, Gold Leaf Construction,

Arizona Construction Group.

And then look over here in the lower left.

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

Boom, there it is in black and white.

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

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

Underground vertical shaft, horizontal drifts.

They've all been backfilled in for safety purposes

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

But we know where this location is.

We know where that mine was.

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

on the ground to find the actual shaft.

What about access?

Because where I'm from, wandering around

mining property is a good way to get shot.

It is on private property, but I have connections.

OK, connections are good.

I don't want to get shot.

Me neither.

OK, well, we're agreed on that.

-And easy to get to? -Absolutely not.

Perfect!

[upbeat music plays]

[quad bikes revving]

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

Yeah, every Alaskan gets one when they turn 10.

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

♪ Yeah, rollin' down the highway ♪

♪ like a ramblin' man ♪

♪ I feel right at home when I move ♪

Oh, boy, hang on!

♪ I keep on rolling ♪

Ha-ha! Woo!

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

Good Lord!

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

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

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

Here we go.

Our brief patch of sunshine

is quickly replaced by ominous skies

as we search for the Old Spanish Mine,

reportedly a landmark for John Ruggles

when he buried the stolen gold.

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

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

A hole in the ground, OK.

And how big is this mine have to be?

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

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

It should have big piles of rocks around it.

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

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

this ridge and see if we can find it.

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

Let's do it.

We split up and scour the hillside, hopeful that

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

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

[Parker] Well, we might be getting close.

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

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

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

quartz veins that have gold in. -Got it.

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

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

Not always the other way around.

Got it. OK, well, a good clue.

Let's keep moving.

The presence of quartz on the surface indicates

that somebody may have been mining for gold nearby.

Parker and I try to follow its trail

to see where it leads.

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

[Josh] Oh, look at this!

That is definitely a big depression in the ground.

What do you think? Could that be our mine?

Mm, I don't think so.

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

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

and a bit more infrastructure.

So maybe we're on the trail here.

Hey. Hey, Ryan, Troy.

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

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

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

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

it might be mining-related.

Yeah, it could have been a secondary --

people coming in after the main mine was closed down.

Totally.

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

-[Ryan] OK. -Yeah?

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

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

Somewhere beneath our feet is a literal gold mine.

Oh, we got something here.

What is that?

You see that?

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

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

Look at this!

Oh, my word!

That is a mine!

Whoo!

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

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

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

OK, so Old Spanish Mine?

Looks like it to me.

[Josh] This is almost certainly

the entrance to the Old Spanish Mine

that was mentioned in the 1899 article

about John Ruggles' jailhouse confession.

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

closer than anyone has ever been to finding the treasure.

Ryan, according to the story,

John Ruggles says the gold is where?

"Beyond the Old Spanish Mine

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

[Josh] Well, that's a bluff.

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

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

Let's do it! Come on!

[adventurous music plays]

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

our metal detectors around the entrance

for any sign of the Ruggles gold.

So far...

nothing.

And it is quiet.

[detector beeping]

Oh, spoke too soon.

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

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

[intriguing music plays]

It's got to be right in here somewhere.

That was a solid signal.

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

[beeping]

[Josh] There it is.

What is that?

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

That's a bullet. Look at that.

That's a bullet!

I think that's old, too.

I think that's hand cast.

Look at that.

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

[Josh] That's old.

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

No, no, they're machined out now.

It's totally differently.

Hey, Troy!

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

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

Definitely a bullet.

With all that seaming on there, you think,

what, somewhere turn of the century?

-More than likely. -[Josh] Yeah?

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

but we're not far off time-wise.

[Troy] It's close.

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

You know, if you're looking for gold

from a couple of bandits,

finding period bullets is a great start.

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

Now we need gold.

That's your specialty, Parker.

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

Here we go. Come on.

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

the entire bluff above the Old Spanish Mine.

[detector beeping]

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

[Josh] OK, here we go.

Now we're talking.

Oh, here we go, right there.

What is that?

[Josh] Panning for gold with Parker Schnabel

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

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

[blooper bleep]

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

I don't want to lose the gold.

You're playing with it a little bit.

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

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

You don't look through it.

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

-I got gold fever! -[blooper bleep]

So the number one mistake that beginners make...

Is doing this in the first place.

[blooper bleep]

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

You're, like, fighting me, stop.

[both laugh]

I'm trying!

[blooper beeping]

Have you thought about a cooking show?

[blooper bleep]

This is so frustrating,

trying to teach somebody how to pan.

[Josh] Why!

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

when I was, like, 10.

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

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

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

Come on!

[dramatic music plays]

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

[Josh] Digging near a Gold Rush-era mine

in search of the Ruggles brothers' lost treasure,

we've just gotten a big hit

on the metal detector.

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

-Look at that. -[Josh] What?

It does look like that.

[Troy] Maybe for a strong box?

This appears to be the escutcheon plate

off a chest.

It would likely have framed some kind of locking mechanism.

Yeah, like two bolts in the top and bottom?

[Josh] Totally, right?

And you can imagine a key fitting right in there.

Yeah, into a Wells Fargo strong box.

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

[Josh] How about that?

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

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

This is intriguing.

The confession that led us here mentioned a boulder

beneath a bluff at the Old Spanish Mine

as a landmark.

Mine...check.

Bluff...check.

Now we just need to find the boulder.

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

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

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

It really is.

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

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

that way, yeah?

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

Where? Oh, that!

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

I think that qualifies as a boulder.

OK, let's check there.

We furiously metal detect the area,

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

is exactly who you'd expect.

[detector beeping loudly]

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

[Troy] Maybe that's the treasure.

That's like under the boulder.

You're going to hit right there?

[Troy] The boulder.

[Josh] Wait, what is that?

[Parker] It's 500 ounces of gold.

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

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

At the Old Spanish Mine, come on!

[Parker] Yeah.

Oh, is that it?

What is that? Is it heavy?

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

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

[Troy] Didn't look shiny enough.

[Parker] Head of a hammer?

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

Look at that.

Old mining hammer?

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

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

[Josh] Wow! Old mining hammer.

Look at that.

You can even see wood still broken off

in the handle rotted out in there.

I love stuff like this because somebody held this.

Yeah.

You know, somebody worked with this.

-Probably down underground. -[Josh] Yeah.

Chiseling out the white quartz, looking for gold.

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

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

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

for probably not even a dollar, or nothing at all

if they're mining and not finding any gold.

[Josh] Right? A tough life for sure.

But these guys were literally the pioneers.

These guys literally broke the Earth wide open

and started this whole industry.

[Parker] Yep.

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

We got evidence of those early miners.

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

But, uh, I don't know.

We got a few hours till the sun goes down.

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

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

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

-[Parker] Yeah. -Yeah?

You know, there's still gold out there.

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

Come on!

Whoo!

[epic music plays]

We search and we search,

but the Ruggles gold stays hidden,

at least for today.

The California Gold Rush was an explosion

of unbridled ambition at its most pure

and sometimes its most predatory.

For every gritty prospector and stalwart stagecoach driver,

there were schemers and bandits

seeking to prey on their success.

The story of the Ruggles is undoubtedly a classic tale

of greed and the inevitable cost of material obsession.

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

in the hills of Northern California

and experienced firsthand a case of gold fever.

Why are you so excited?

What do you mean, why am I so excited?

We just pulled gold out of a river?

Over one unceasingly rainy week, I spent every waking,

soggy minute dreaming of striking it rich,

I hardly cared that I was soaked to the bone

in frigid temperatures

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

of that what-if feeling,

with every hit on the metal detector.

I was also basking in the determination

and good-humored camaraderie of some of the best company

a treasure hunter could hope for.

That's a little Wild West treasure right there.

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

while the California Gold Rush is behind us,

its legacy lives on

in modern-day pioneers and prospectors,

and in the knowledge that somewhere just beneath

our feet, a $10 million payday

is patiently waiting for someone to dig down

and cry, Eureka!

[epic music concludes]