(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] In Bear Gulch, Montana,
the mine that holds Oly's gold
is buried somewhere under a mountain of rubble.
The Dale Brothers has identified three places
where the entrance might be.
But for bookkeeper Tad, guesswork isn't good enough.
- Mining is an expensive proposition.
You can't go in this blind.
You can't say, "Well, I've got a hunch it's over there."
We need to know exactly where that is.
- [Narrator] Tad heads to civilization
to find clues at the largest archive
of mining records in the state.
- Montana Tech is our alma mater,
and we can get some help on finding
that old number 5 portal.
We're opening up an old adit
at the Pete & Joe mine,
and so we've got some maps,
but I know we don't have it all.
So I'm trying to put those pieces together.
- We've got a fair amount on the Pete & Joe.
- I see that.
It's kind of a trip in a candy store here.
- Yeah.
- All right.
And this one's 1926.
This is a great map here, because it shows the workings
over on the Pete & Joe.
Five is the one,
so it would be right in here where we're looking for.
Yeah, that's a dandy.
I'm gonna have to get copies of that one.
When I retired, I had 42 years in the mining business.
We all have had successful careers,
and have been in positions of leadership in mining.
But I'm the only one out of my brothers
that have had my own mining operation.
So, I know what it's like to be on your own dime
and have to fund everything.
You know, you lay awake at night
wondering how you're gonna get your bills paid,
and when it's on your own time,
you are more frugal.
You have to be.
(bird caws)
- [Narrator] According to the map,
the Pete & Joe number 5's portal
is 75 feet from the workshop.
Tad recruits his younger brothers Paul and Kitt
to see if it's right.
- We've got to pinpoint that adit
that we need to dig out based on that old map.
So, let's start here and see where 75 feet takes us.
72, four, five.
- That's 75 right there?
- It is.
- Hm.
I wouldn't say there's anything that's a dead giveaway,
but let's sample this dump then.
- [Narrator] If the map is accurate,
sampling the dump directly below
should produce traces of gold.
Youngest brother Kitt suits up for the job.
- It's been a long time since I did anything on a rope.
Hope your rope is good, Tad.
- [Tad] Oh, that's Rick's rope.
- That's not reassuring.
(Tad chuckles)
I think I can do it.
- [Tad] The human fly.
- [Kitt] I'm just a human fly.
- [Tad] You're doing good so far there.
- Send the bucket down.
I am the 6th son born to Richard and Alice Dale.
I was born in 1960.
My dad loved mining, that was his thing.
We would go to Bear Gulch
it seemed like every weekend, to explore.
This claim and that claim, the B&H and the Pete & Joe.
And so, I came out of childhood
in love with the idea of mining.
That just by your own sheer will and physical effort,
you can produce more
and maybe even become wealthy.
But for me, it's not the gold, but the finding it.
That's the thing.
(dramatic music)
Well...
That's kind of fun.
- Yeah, you got quite a few pounds here.
- [Kitt] Okay, what next?
Go to the chipmunk?
- [Tad] Yeah, let's go down to the treasure
and work these up.
- [Narrator] With samples in hand,
Tad heads back to base camp,
where oldest brothers Rick and John
are ready to test the evidence.
- Hey, you ready to run some sample?
- Yeah.
- Let's process some of them
and get them ready for assay.
(engine runs) (dramatic music)
- [Tad] We took random sites on the number 5 dump,
and once it's all ground up,
that should be representative of that particular spot.
Hey, no problem.
Okay.
- Let's pull that sample, and we'll pan that.
Okay, let's go down here, by the creek.
- We all drank this water when we were kids.
Remember we had picnics right there
at the Pete & Joe cabin?
- Yeah.
I remember sometimes mom would make Kool-Aid.
- [John] As dad would say, a nice cream on there.
- [Tad] Yeah.
- One of the great motivations for this whole effort
is to validate what my grandfather believed,
and my dad and mom believed,
and really all the family in the previous generations
believed about the Pete & Joe,
but couldn't do anything about it
because they didn't own it.
So, as we combine our education
and the things we've learned through our careers to this,
we're hoping that we can really do right
by our parents and our grandparents,
and follow the dream that they had and make it real.
- [Tad] We're gettin' close here.
- [John] There, what's that?
- [Tad] That's a piece of gold.
- Well, having gold in that pan
tells us we're on the right track,
we're in the right stuff.
There's gold present.
That's the first step.