With. Holy christmas. Im jamie colby, and today im driving along the Columbia Mountain range in esmeralda county, nevada. Im going to meet a man whose strange inheritance is a patch of semiabandoned ghost town, population 268. But it used to be nevadas largest and richest city. Why . Well, they tell me it has something to do with the towns name. Welcome. To goldfield. My name is jon aurich, and i inherited a gold mine. Jon, hi. Im jamie. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. So, i made it to the middle of nowhere. Can you imagine inheriting a gold mine . The heir, jon aurich, shows me around. Can i walk right up to it . You can. How far down is that . 1,650 feet. Whoa its called the Florence Mine, named after the daughter of an old prospector who discovered it in 1903. This is the original shaft of the florence. Bureau of mines estimates about 17 miles of workings underground. So, how much gold came out of this mine . About 9 million, and that was at 20. 67 an ounce. Jon tells me that to understand the backstory of his strange inheritance, i should visit the little ghost town down the hill. So i seek out veteran gold miner and local historian bob bottom. Hi, im jamie. Hi, jamie. Nice to meet you. Jon sent me down. He said you could tell me a little bit about goldfield. Sure. Well, goldfield was discovered in 1902. How big a boom was there during the gold years . There was a few years it was the biggest city in nevada. Thats right the biggest city in the state the population was over 20,000, at a time when only 400 people lived in the sleepy outpost of las vegas. Restaurants, theaters, and saloons with gambling halls are everywhere, while miners earn 5 a day, twice the average wage. What was this building . This here was a bank at one time. And it was a Mining Office also. Nixon and wingfield were wellknown moneymen. Nixon and wingfield owned goldfield consolidated mines. By 1907, its the 17thlargest corporation in the u. S. But by 1911, Gold Production declines rapidly, and the boom goes bust. I recall a quote from mark twain. Is it true that a gold mine is a hole in the ground next to a liar . Definitely. More money made on promotions than there has been producing gold. By the mid1920s, fewer than 1,500 people remain in goldfield, including a 24yearold diehard gold miner named martin duffy. This strange inheritance story really starts with him. Duffy believes theres still plenty of gold in goldfield, and he proves it in 1939. When he strikes it rich in a section of the Florence Mine that he was leasing. His haul . 160,000, the equivalent of 2. 6 million today. I just remember martin as being a hard worker. And he was always looking for gold. In 1944, martin marries 29yearold schoolteacher ruth rowe. They settle into this house, which they move so it sits right on top of the mine. Ruths niece, barbara sheffield, recalls visiting goldfield as a kid. I remember waking up at night, and a cow was walking down the street. And it was just a fun time. Martin becomes a nevada state senator, but his passion is always the florence. By 1962, he and ruth buy a 50 share in it. And martin keeps on mining, certain hell strike it rich again. [ explosion ] goldfield was a magic name at the turn of the century. Now, only one mine is operating. The duffys run an oldschool operation, as you can see from this National Geographic documentary from 1971. Ruth lowers the winch while martin rides this tiny platform deep into the mine. With all the glamour and the fabulous ore that was found here, its only natural that id want to find some myself. Before the end, i hope to get to that pot of gold. Not long after this film is made, duffy locates what he believes is that pot of gold, in a part of the mine 450 feet down. But then, on august 27, 1971, he falls in the shaft. Ruth calls for help and rushes martin to a hospital, but he dies the next morning of internal injuries. He is 71 years old. Ruth is his sole heir. Over the next decade, ruth, with no children of her own, mostly keeps to herself in this ghost town. Then, in the summer of 1982, a 16yearold from california stumbles into her life. Jon aurich has come to goldfield with a friend to check out the historical sites, he says. I wanted to see the headframe because it was the tallest wood headframe in the state of nevada. And thats when i came up here and met ruth duffy. Ruth, now 67, sees the teenager wandering around her property. Ruth had a no trespassing sign at the gate. Does she say, im calling the cops, or does she pull an annie get your gun . We talked about a halfhour outside. She asked me in. We played pool for about two hours. And she could tell that i was versed in goldfield history. The two are 51 years apart, but nonetheless, a friendship develops. By 1994, 28yearold jon is still coming out for regular visits with ruth. Hes become a finishing carpenter and begins restoring several goldfield buildings hes bought dirtcheap, hoping tourism will catch on. To bring back some of that flavor of the past and to have tourists feel a little of that magic. Ruth is impressed. Pushing 80, she decides she wants jon to inherit her part of the florence. She was liking what i was doing in town, as far as restoration of the buildings. But as youre about to see, ruths relatives, including her niece, barbara sheffield, regard jon as someone who burrowed his way into a lonely old womans life. She had been a widow for 25 years when she did this. She was just used to doing things by herself without seeking counsel at all. Youre a smooth operator. No, it was just the history i was interested in. She was a lady you couldnt really manipulate, because she would figure you out and she would call your hand on it. A dispute over this strange inheritance turns nasty and ends up in court. What did she accuse you of . Unjust enrichment, elder abuse, manipulation. Thats next. But first, our strange inheritance quiz question. If you stretch a single ounce of gold into the thinnest wire possible, how long would it be . The answer when we return. sfx birds singing, distant dog barking sfx footsteps in wet cement sfx birds singing, distant dog barking hi hi whistling tune dont worry, be happy so. The answer is c. An ounce of gold can be turned into a very thin wire, 1 5,000 inch thick, that stretches for 50 miles. For decades, martin and ruth duffy live on top of this 100yearold gold mine in nevada. She runs the controls from this hoist room, sending her husband down into the mine. Its a little creaky and old, jon. This was her office, basically. That was her office from 9 00 in the morning. Then she would go to her house, and then around 3 30 in the afternoon, she would come and wait for the bell signal. May i . These are the controls . Yes. This is the speed. Okay. These adjustments are for the brake. Let me just see if i could. So basically. Oh, my gosh. So, ruth would sit here. Her husband is down there somewhere, martin. She cant even talk to him, and its like oh, my gosh, this reminds me of having to start a model t. [ grunts ] thats pretty good, no . Thats it, yeah, exactly. You have arms just like ruth duffy. Ruth, i got a lot of respect for you now. In 1971, martin took a fatal spill off a ladder inside the mine, leaving ruth a widow. By 1995, ruth, turning 80, starts thinking about who should inherit the mine, which has produced nary a nugget of gold since martins death. Ruth has no children, but for the past decade, theres been someone else in her life history buff and carpenter jon aurich. Because ruth wants him to help preserve her mine, jon says, she signs papers giving jon her rights to the mine upon her death. I was kind of shocked. And then she says, i need something from you. I says, well, what is it . She says, i need 10. Good and valuable consideration. I gave her the 10, and that sealed the deal for her, because she wanted the place preserved. Ruths niece, barbara sheffield, worried about her aunt, travels to goldfield in 1996 and meets jon for the first time. I just told him i said, i certainly hope that you are honest, because i believe that all of us are accountable for our actions. And so i hope youre on the upandup. Barbara believes that aunt ruth is suffering from the early stages of dementia and should return with her to colorado for medical care. Anybody thats familiar with dementia knows, once you have Something Like that occur to you, you kind of nosedive down. And then youll come back up, but youll never come back up to where you were before. Jon firmly believes that ruth did not have dementia when she left goldfield. Through the phone calls that i got from her for a while, she seemed sharp as a tack. But barbara believes jon shouldnt inherit any part of the mine. In fact, she says she and her aunt would prefer to see it become a state park. Jon refuses to give up his title to it. So barbara becomes her aunts legal guardian and sues jon. And she signs a deed on ruths behalf, transferring ruths share in the mine to herself, to ensure, she says, that her aunts intent is honored. What did she accuse you of . Unjust enrichment, elder abuse, manipulation. But jon gives as good as he gets. Mr. Aurichs attorney attacked my integrity. Id never had that done before. The lawsuit goes to trial in december 2001. Turns out jon has an ace in the hole. Did ruth ever explain to anybody else that she wanted you to be the one to oversee what she and martin had built . Barni chapman. Barni chapman is a realestate broker whose friendship with ruth and martin duffy goes back to the 1960s. From colorado, ruth wrote to barni about the couples longtime desire to preserve the mine as an historic site. What did you tell the judge when you were on the stand . Your honor, i have a letter, and it states very simply, dear barni, i think i found someone that will live up to martins wishes. And she said she trusted him. Who was she talking about . Jon. On december 5, 2001, a judge rules that barbaras petition, in its entirety, is denied. My aunt ruth had dementia. And i truly believe she did. But to prove that, its just very difficult. And obviously, we werent able to. I was very disappointed. [ crying ] oh, im sorry. [ sighs ] ruth duffy dies just six months later. Jon gets to keep his strange inheritance. I think the judge could see there wasnt a manipulation or an unjust enrichment, because the mine was just a historical relic. I wonder, how can jon know it wont produce again . Technology has improved. You may be able to bring in another company, lease the mine, and have them come and pull up some of this gold for you. Thats the lure of the gold, you know. People think, wow, its get rich quick. You have any samples around that maybe youd let our show take and have tested . Yes, theres some samples that martin had. They were there in the basement. He was mining a certain area that he thought looked very promising, and ruth told me about it. Jon says this is one of those samples. Its from 1971, and one of the last martin duffy pulled from the mine before his death. Remember, he thought he was on the verge of his next big strike. Maybe he was. This is by far the hottest result that ive ever worked with. Thats next. Heres another quiz question for you. The 1849 California Gold rush spawned the phrase 49ers. How many dollars worth of gold did the 49ers find in that first year . Was it. The answer in a moment. [car screech] if i could go back and change it all. I would. I think im going to miss you the most. Im sorry. Im so sorry. [car horn] but maybe its just the little moments. If it could go back and change it all. I would. But i cant. Hey. Hey. You must be stevens phone. Now you can take control of your home wifi and get a notification the instant someone new joins your network. Only with xfinity xfi. Download the xfi app today. Its our most dangerous addiction. So we took our worst vice, and turned it into the dna for a better system. We created bionic and put the word out with godaddy. What will you change . Make the world you want. So. Its b. In that first year of the gold rush, miners found 10 million worth of gold, the equivalent of 300 million in todays money. Remember martin duffy, the prospector you met at the beginning of this strange inheritance story . With all the fabulous ore that was found here, i hope to get to that pot of gold myself. Alas, martin met his end before getting to that pot of gold. But i cant stop wondering if he was about to hit the mother lode. So we go to Salt Lake City to ask jim stieben, a metalprocessing engineer, to test a rock that jon told us martin pulled from the Florence Mine shortly before he fell to his death. The sample i received from jon aurich was only a pound in size. We crushed the material and then ground the material down to a fine powder. Jim prepares it for whats known as a fire assay, or a test to determine how much gold is in the rock. Doesnt look like much gold, but jim says, dont be fooled. This could be in a very hot zone in a vein. Theres no telling if that vein is 2 inches or 50 feet deep. But this is by far the hottest result that ive ever worked with. Had you ever had a lab in this area look at any of the samples you gave me . No. And you would be excited to know if it were what . 10 ounces a ton is a great number. Hows 300 . 300 . 300 ounces a ton. Holy christmas. 300 ounces is incredible. You know, thats interesting, because that what the lab technician, highly trained, told us. Wow. Martin was close to gold at the end of the rainbow. Part of your strange inheritance. And thats strange. Im perplexed. I was thinking hed be jumping up and down. So, why isnt he . The surprising answer after the break. Whats your strange inheritance story . Wed love to hear it. Send me an email, or go to our website, strangeinheritance. Com. Limu emu doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] its an honor to tell you that Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. And now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. I thought he was with you . No jack sfx piano plays Twinkle Twinkle Little star tommy . sfx audience laughing dont stop. Keep playing. sfx pianist playing masterful duet here we go heres the fun part and now the conclusion of strange inheritance. Florence mine hoist house, 1906, one of the best preserved in the state of nevada. I thought id make a little video of it so people could see it. Since he inherited this gold mine in 2002, history buff jon aurich has been trying to preserve the site. And he creates dozens of videos of the artifacts hes found in it. Here are some cabinets they used to put their tools in. This segment is about blueprints. Yeah, yeah, all that history stuff is fine. But i guess im more like that old prospector martin duffy. I want to know if theres still gold down there. So i took a rock jon says is from the mine, had it tested, and was able to inform jon there was a High Percentage of gold in it. Im shocked. Shocked, but apparently not overjoyed. What am i missing . Well, for starters, jon tells me, the mine would need extensive renovation before anyone could work it. Its been flooded, the gypsum walls have contracted, and the tunnels are liable to cave in. In other words, things are a lot dicier since the last guy was killed down there. Oh, and in the years since he got his strange inheritance, jons become a husband and father. If you were to go ahead and proceed with mining, when do i come back and find you still in this home of ruths that youve preserved and maybe getting a few extra bucks for your two adorable children from mining . Id have to talk it over with my wife and see, cause this is really a lot to digest. If jon wanted to do something with the mine, it is my understanding that he would have to have my permission to do so. Then there ruths niece, barbara, who claims a share of this strange inheritance. Shes even less bullish on opening up the florence again. I cant honestly think of a situation where i would want the mine to be exploited. With jon and barbara intent on preserving the mine as an historical site, they both fear a force that would be out of their control. Itll be a gold rush. To your door. Yes. I guess i see why that worries jon, but i got to tell you, im thinking, wouldnt it be cool if that lab result does prove old martin was right and if this ghost town did get one more boom . Then again, maybe i just caught my own case of gold fever out here. It seems the storys not over. The state of nevada says its rerouting a highway to make room for a new gold mine way over yonder, and jon says hes fielded multiple calls from Companies Looking to explore the possible riches right here in his strange inheritance. Sure is nice to be sitting on a gold mine. Im jamie colby for strange inheritance. Thanks so much for watching. And remember, you cant take it with you. Its one of the largest armies of its kind. Would you say it was a hobby . Or was he obsessed . I think that he was obsessed. Soldiers of fortune and a fortune in soldiers. Do you have any idea what its worth . Yes, we know what its worth. Can i know what its worth . The man who raised this army was on a mission. He was a true historian. He wanted to bring these battles to life. But is it a bridge too far for his heirs . He left you with a huge responsibility, didnt he . Its just too difficult. Its kind of interesting that toy soldiers would get their own trust. I dont have my own trust, but they got theirs. [ theme music plays ] im jamie colby, and today im in new york on the south fork of long island on my way to the Beach Community of southampton. A viewer wrote to me about her father, whose childhood hobby became his lifelong obsession. He wanted to share his strange collection with the world after he died. His heirs want to honor his wishes, but is the world even interested . My name is linda munn. In 2011, my father, my father, orson, passed away, leaving the family one of the largest collections of its kind, along with the monumental challenge of carrying on his legacy. Linda has invited me to her parents country home. Hi, linda. Im jamie. Jamie, it is such a pleasure to meet you. So great of you to invite me here. You wrote me. You said you had something really strange. I have something very special to show you. All right. Im ready. Shall we go in . Come on in. Yeah. In here . Yeah, just walk straight ahead. What . Linda takes me into her dads war room. Its amazing. Where orson spent countless hours over the years on his unique hobby. The room is filled from floor to ceiling with nothing but toy soldiers. Thousands strong, the tiny troops stand frozen in time, their miniature faces stoic with expressions of war. This is a lifetime of work, linda. Amazing. Theres the charge of the light brigade. The battle of cambrai. Napoleons defeat at waterloo. Clashes from the boe