What Did a Gang of Bank Robbers Bury Here? | Expedition Unknown

Yeah, you definitely got a view here. You could see pretty much in every direction.
Oh yeah, a mile. So, I mean, this is about as good a view as you could hope for.
Rivers to the West, Ry Ranch set that direction, so EMT was working up there.
And I mean, I don’t know, I could absolutely see this being Lookout Hill.
Yeah, definitely, totally.

So, okay, so let’s talk about this Dalton headquarters.
This Dugout, does EMT right about where in Lookout Hill they made this thing?
Yeah, in his book he says he dug it into the side of the Hill. He said years later,
uh, if you passed by, it looked like the eye socket of a mummy.
The eye socket of a mummy? So, just some scooped-out part of the hill?
Yeah, it’ll be just a depression in the ground now.

Okay, so we got something to look for. If we find the spot, we find the treasure.
Okay, and I do have one other clue.
What you got?
Oh, you’re going to like it— a map made of lead.
A map made of lead? All right, start explaining this.
If you look, they took the lead slugs and melted them down and cast this map.
These are bullet slugs?
Yeah, these are bullet slugs. This whole thing is made from melted-down bullets.
Bullet slugs. Where did this thing come from?
I was working here in town, and I talked to the people about… I like to go metal detecting and treasure hunting.
If there was anybody who knew of any interesting places to go to, and they pointed me to this, uh, local in town.
She told me about this Dalton Hideout and about this lead map. I went and visited with her and saw it.
It was found by the landowner of this area.
Okay, and hopefully this spot— right? Hopefully on this hill.

And where’s it been? I’ve never heard of this thing.
It’s been with the family this whole time. I mean, they’re, uh… they were using it as a doorstop.
Literally?
Literally a doorstop.

Okay, so the real question is, can you read it?
I have… I have my theories. Let’s start with the numbers up top.
All right, what do you think?
I believe it means $10,000.
$10,000?
$10,000.
And how come you leave that four out?
Well, if you look at the spacing, I think so.
You think that’s separate?
I think this is separate.

Okay, 6f, 6 ft.
6 ft?
All right, see, look at that.
I can read it— ET means extraterrestrial.
Oh, sorry. No, I had that, sorry. Apologies.
What do you think it means?
East of a tree.
East of a tree. You buy that?
Uh, it could be. Elm tree?
Elm tree. Yeah. And then, is this an arrow?
Yeah, you see an arrow.
And is it pointing at something?
Yeah, it’s a little dot.
So, 6 ft east of a tree, pointing to the spot.

The one thing that seems indisputable here is we’ve got north, south, east, and west— clearly.
So, that’s the part of this that really defines this as a map. I mean, we literally have these cardinal points on here.
So, find the Dugout, find the tree, and then we’re going to find $10,000.
All right, we got a plan. Let’s break out the metal detectors and start searching the base of this hill.
Sounds good to me.

The Dalton’s treasure was likely made up of gold and silver coins that they looted from banks and trains,
which means their $10,000 haul in the 1890s could be worth millions today.

The four of us fan out at the base of what we presume is Lookout Hill to scan for signs of a Dugout,
and it doesn’t take long before we hear the telltale chimes of a happy metal detector.

I think I got something.
Yeah, what do you got?
I think it’s something pretty good.
[Music]
Oh, dude, that’s a slug.
Yeah, it is. That is a lead slug.
Look at that. No doubt about it, man. Nice work. That’s time period too.
Hell yeah, that’s old.
Look at that. Look how it’s all deformed on the side there.
Lead slug.

Look at this.
What do you think?
Definitely period.
Yeah, no question. Right?
What do you think, Joe?
38?
Yeah, 38 caliber. Maybe the Doon bullet.
I hope so. And we’re right in this area still.
That looks like it could be like a prime place to make a Dugout, so…
Right.
You know what they say— where there’s bullets, there’s treasure.
I don’t think anybody says that, but I say it now.

All right, we’re off. Newly energized, we keep searching for the Dalton’s Dugout Hideaway.
What we find instead is something I’ve never seen before.

Hey, Jamie.
Yeah, Jamie, come here.
What’d you find?
I don’t know. Real strong hit. Look at this.
Look at this.
What is that?
It looks ornate, doesn’t it? Like, it doesn’t look like a piece of farm equipment.
It looks like it’s something…
Yeah, it’s got nerling on the side.

What’s nerling?
Nerling?
Yeah, with a G.
Hey, Siri, define nerling.
What is nerling?

It’s just something to give you a grip for adjusting things.
It’s got weight to it too.
What do you think that is?
You know what? I think this could be the eyepiece for binoculars.
I think that’s the end of an eyepiece.
Yeah, this could be the end of the eyepiece. Here we are at the base of Lookout Hill,
and somebody might actually have been down here using these to literally look out.
Right. Looking for the posse. A little piece of history right there.

This is no longer merely a matter of treasure.
The possibility that we’re standing in the dusty footsteps of the old West’s most notorious criminals
pushes us to find the Dugout and to touch a tangible past.

[Music]
Oh, hey, come here, look at this.
What is it?
Huge depression. You see this?
Oh yeah, this looks like a Dugout.
I mean, it does look exactly like a Dugout.
Huge depression and this channel here that clearly looks like an opening.
Yeah, right.

So, what do you think? Big enough?
Yeah, look how deep it is. Like, I’m on the high ground here. You could absolutely create a roof there,
and you’d have a really roomy Dugout.
Any sense of how big this thing was?
Yeah, they said it held two sets of bunk beds, so that must have been at least, what, 6 ft high, right?
So, and a fireplace for cooking.
And a fireplace for cooking.
It’s down from the hill. It’s right underneath the top of Lookout Hill.

If this is a Dugout though, there’s got to be evidence down here.
Yeah, there should be signs of habitation for sure.

Okay, let’s fan out. Everybody scour this area, see if we find anything.
The depression on the hill is easily deep enough to have been dug out for the Dalton’s shelter.
Now we need to find evidence to prove that it was.

Hey, Josh, I got a big hit right here at the entrance.
I like that. Good reading. Want to grab that shovel?
Down my shovel just hit something solid.
Okay, like a metal box full of gold?
Come on.
Oh, it’s big too. Oh, I can feel the edge of it right there.
See it? Yeah, that’s the edge of it. What is it? Is it a box?
I don’t know. It’s flat, and it is metal for sure. Let’s try to dig around it.

All right, I could use a break.
I think I might be at the back of it.
It’s flat, does feel like a hinge. Could that be a lid to…
[Music]
Something? What is it?
I don’t know. Okay, I’m under it. Oh my word, look at that.
What the hell is this? We got a handle here.
This is all slotted, which makes me feel like it’s ventilation.
Right, this must be for fire or heat.
Right. Right, the door to an old stove.
Old cook stove, camp stove maybe?
Old camp stove.

Could very well be. You buy that?
I buy it.
So this is 100% repurposed, right?
But you can see where the nail holes are driven through. See how that’s all rough in there