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An iconic bridge plagued by a deadly disease.

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These people literally were in agony.

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A national park of a buried secret.

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If you think about it, this is kind of a crazy thing to do.

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And a bizarre sculpture that's out of this world.

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Loud explosions, smoke in the sky. Something is going on.

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Sometimes the greatest secrets lie in plain sight.

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These are monumental mysteries.

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The capital of the nation between 1785 and 1790.

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Today, New York is the most populous city in the United States.

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It is also home to one of the most iconic landmarks in the world.

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It is about a mile in length.

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The towers are made of main granite.

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At dusk, the cables appear almost black against the sky,

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producing a wonderful web-like effect.

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It's a truly remarkable and beautiful bridge.

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It is the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Originally designed for horse-drawn wagons,

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this majestic crossing now bears the weight of 120,000 cars and trucks every day.

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But as historian Richard Hall points out,

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at the time of its construction,

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this epic span was the site of a sinister medical mystery.

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These people literally were in agony and died in agony.

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It's like tearing the flesh from your bones.

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What dark secret lies at the heart of New York's Brooklyn Bridge?

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New York, the 1860s.

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Manhattan and its neighbor to the east, Brooklyn, are booming.

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In just 20 years, the population of the two cities has more than tripled,

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putting a massive strain on the ferry boats that shuttle goods and people

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between the shores of the East River.

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The solution seems obvious.

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A bridge.

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And the most beautiful bridge in the world.

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The bridge.

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And the man charged with building it is German-born engineer John Robling.

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But when he dies in an accident while surveying the bridge site,

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his 32-year-old son, Washington Robling, is thrust into the daunting job.

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The Robling's plan calls for the longest suspension bridge in the world.

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This is not only an ambitious, but it's a mammoth task.

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And by far the biggest challenge facing the young engineer

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is how to secure the two support towers in the rapid currents of the East River.

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At the time, the Sandy Riverbed was not considered capable of supporting such heavy towers.

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So Robling must dig down and anchor them on bedrock,

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more than 100 feet beneath the water's surface.

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To do this, Robling builds huge watertight retaining structures called caissons.

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A caisson is basically an upturned box filled with compressed air.

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Via a series of access tubes, Robling sends workers into these pressurized caissons,

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which are designed to hold the waters at bay, allowing the men to excavate the Sandy Riverbed.

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Workers about a hundred at a time would go into the caisson and dig down.

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When the men eventually reach stable bedrock, Robling plans to fill the caissons in with concrete,

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leaving them in place as the very foundation of the bridge itself.

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But the conditions inside the caissons could hardly be worse.

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The work down there is extremely dangerous.

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You're working in compressed air, the gas lamps, it's hot.

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Despite the horrific conditions, the Brooklyn caisson reaches bedrock in a matter of months.

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But shortly after digging begins on the deeper Manhattan side,

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workers are confronted by a totally unexpected danger.

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A mysterious and painful illness.

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There was common symptoms, headaches, vomiting, joint pain, there was a convulsions, paralysis of limbs.

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It was terrible.

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And it's not long before the situation gets worse.

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A German worker had terrible pains all over his body and went into convulsions and died.

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Workers dropping like flies, nobody has any clue what's going on.

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As this sinister affliction continues to claim the lives of workers, many in the city start to wonder,

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is the Brooklyn Bridge doomed?

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In an effort to prevent further deaths, a physician named Dr. Andrew Smith is charged with investigating the unexplained illness.

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And after examining the affected workers, he names the condition, caisson disease.

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By the spring of 1872, he's narrowed it down.

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Workers are going into an environment of compressed air, they're coming out, and when they come out, there's problems.

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Smith suspects that the illness has something to do with the men returning to normal air conditions

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after working in the pressurized air at the bottom of the river.

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But before the doctor is able to prove his theory, and with a death toll from the disease standing at 20,

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Chief Engineer Washington Robling intervenes.

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Washington Robling makes a really courageous but also really amazing decision.

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He stops digging.

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He tests the sand that they are on at the time.

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He was a great geologist and he decided that the sand that they were on hadn't moved for about 20 million years.

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And even though many had feared the sand would be unsuitable as an anchor point for large structures,

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his tests show that the sediment beneath the Manhattan Tower is as stable as bedrock.

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So instead of reaching bedrock, he takes all the workers out of there and he'd build in the caisson.

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Robling's gamble pays off.

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The bridge is successfully completed and opens to traffic in 1883.

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To this day, the New York Tower stands on the sand.

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But the question remains, was Dr. Smith correct?

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Was the mystery illness really related to the compressed air in the caissons?

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Following his experiences working on the Brooklyn Bridge, Smith develops a ground-breaking decompression chamber

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that workers could pass through after toiling underground.

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When a functioning decompression chamber is finally built,

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countless workers on future bridge and tunnel projects are spared the terrible fate of caisson disease,

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which is now known as the bends and most commonly associated with scuba diving.

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Today, the robust beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge stands out against the New York skyline

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as a lasting memorial to the men who sacrificed everything to build it.

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Atop a 32-mile vein of some of the world's finest white stone is the marble city of Silicoga, Alabama.

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Here in front of the city hall and carved from the creamy rock sits an oddly shaped sculpture,

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a twisting, churning mass with a tangle of tails stretching up towards the sky.

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It's about eight feet tall and it's got a big round base and off of it are carved marble flames and smoke

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as it seems to be plunging out of the sky.

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According to curator John Hall, this unusual monument is a fitting tribute to an earth-shattering event.

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It got everyone's attention all over the United States.

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It's never been repeated in the 50-year history since it happened.

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So what momentous occurrence does the sculpture commemorate?

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And how did it set off a storm of fear and panic?

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November 30th, 1954, Silicoga.

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34-year-old housewife Ann Hodges is resting on her couch when something extraordinary happens.

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All of a sudden there is an explosion by and the air is full of dust.

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An intense pain shoots through Ann's hand and hip.

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When Ann jumps up, something falls off the couch and onto the floor.

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There is a smooth, satin-finished black rock about the size of a grapefruit.

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She doesn't know what it is.

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Looking up, Hodges sees a gaping hole in the ceiling.

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It seems that the strange object has fallen from the sky,

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crashed through the roof of her house and hit her.

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Her hand is swollen. It's quite a blow.

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A shell-shocked Hodges calls the police.

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But she's not the only one to have witnessed something strange.

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Officers soon find themselves overwhelmed with calls

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from people reporting even more bizarre and frightening incidents.

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There's loud explosions in Montgomery.

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One kid reports being almost knocked off his bike.

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It seems these unexplained events aren't just limited to Alabama.

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There were people in Mississippi and Georgia

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when this fireball descends through the atmosphere.

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Loud explosions, vapor trails, smoke in the sky.

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Everyone is aware that something is going on.

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As panicked reports stream in from across the South,

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the sleepy town where it all began is thrust into the spotlight.

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The idea of something falling out of the sky in little ol' silicog is just not one of the things you expect.

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Police call in the United States Air Force to investigate.

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A move that has the unintended effect of further spooking a populace

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already steeped in Cold War paranoia.

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There's a growing fear of the Russians and nuclear weapons.

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There's a lot of reasons to be afraid of something falling out of the sky and hitting a lady.

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With the military leading the investigation, people start to wonder,

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is America under attack?

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It's 1954 in Silicoga, Alabama.

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A bizarre dark colored object crashes into the home of Anne Hodges.

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And she's not the only one to experience something strange.

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Reports of explosions in the sky soon come pouring in from across the South.

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With the Cold War at its height, people start to wonder,

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is the Russian military still in the air?

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The Air Force takes the object that crashed through Anne Hodges' roof away for testing.

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And although some locals fear that it is from a Soviet aircraft or missile,

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officials are unable to find any evidence that Russian planes were anywhere in the area at the time.

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So speculation quickly turns to a new reality.

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The Russian military is now in the air.

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The Russian military is now in the air.

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This is 1954.

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The flying saucer hysteria is in full swing.

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The Air Force have begun Project Blue Book in which they examine all of these supposed extraterrestrial objects.

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And when military officials examine the object that hit Anne Hodges,

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the object that hit an Hodges,

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they make a startling discovery.

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Not only is it not man-made,

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but it is also not from planet Earth.

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It's a meteorite!

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Scientists determined that a huge meteorite,

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likely weighing over 100 pounds,

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had entered the Earth's atmosphere,

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creating the flaming fireball

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that was seen all across the South.

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This was visible for 100 miles in every direction.

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And as it breaks up, there are multiple smoke trails,

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there are several sonic booms.

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While much of the space rock was incinerated,

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a few pieces plunged to the ground,

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including an 8.5 pound fragment

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that hit but miraculously did not kill an Hodges.

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And Hodges has the distinction of being

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the only person authentically struck by a meteorite

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in modern times.

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It probably would have seriously injured her

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if it had not been slowed down by the roof,

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the ceiling, and the padding of the quilts.

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In 2009, 55 years after this extraordinary astronomical event,

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renowned sculptor Don Lawler creates this statue.

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Crafted from the region's finest marble,

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it's called Falling Star.

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And today it stands in Silicoga for all to admire.

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A lasting testament of this small town's historic visitor

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from the outer reaches of space.

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In southeastern California,

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in the foothills of the Mojave Desert,

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lie 800,000 acres of sweeping sandy plains

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and majestic granite formations.

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It is a strangely surreal landscape.

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It's like going to another planet.

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Named after the prolific plants that cover the terrain,

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this is the Joshua Tree National Park.

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But as music promoter John McKinney knows,

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there's more to this desert than just its beauty.

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It's also at the center of one of the most incredible incidents

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in rock and roll history.

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So what happened out here in the wilds

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of this beautiful national monument?

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1973, Los Angeles, California.

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The city is experiencing an unparalleled musical renaissance.

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And riding high on this wave of creativity

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is the former singer and guitarist with the birds.

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Graham Parsons.

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When Graham joined the birds,

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they were really America's answer to the Beatles.

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Graham came in and influenced things in a country direction,

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which kind of blew a lot of people's minds back then.

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Now a successful solo artist, Parsons, is at the peak of his fame.

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He was living very much the rock and roll lifestyle.

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And one of his favorite spots to unwind is Joshua Tree National Park.

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Joshua Tree is a place where you can just get away from everything.

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And you can have a good time out here.

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Problem is you can also have too good of a time out here.

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On September 18th, Parsons is partying at his regular hangout,

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the Joshua Tree Inn.

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The Joshua Tree Inn is a very quiet, low-key place.

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It was also a great place to go out and do drugs and do a lot of heavy drinking

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because everybody would leave you alone out here.

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But a little after 8 p.m., the good times suddenly take a dark turn.

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Graham apparently had an ingested, a little too much of everything,

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and he had passed out.

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His friends tried to revive him, but they just couldn't bring him back.

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Pyramidics came out, and he was pronounced dead.

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As the music world mourns the loss of an inspiring young talent,

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the musician's stepfather, Bob Parsons, flies into Los Angeles International Airport

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to begin the grim task of transporting Graham's body back to Louisiana for the funeral.

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But when he went in to get the body, they didn't have it.

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Nobody knew where Graham had gone.

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It seems someone has stolen Graham Parsons' body.

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In the ensuing investigation, police learned that while the rock star's body was being held at LAX,

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two men claiming to represent the Parsons family approached airport staff and took away the corpse.

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So who stole Graham Parsons' body?

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And where is it now?

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It's 1973.

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Two men claiming to represent Graham Parsons' family

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have stolen the dead rock star's corpse from Los Angeles International Airport.

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Who they were and what they did with the body is a surprising mystery.

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As police struggle to make sense of this highly unusual crime,

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150 miles away in the Joshua Tree National Park,

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a discovery is about to be made that will break the case wide open.

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A park ranger received a phone call that there was a fire in the park.

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When he got there, he found a charred coffin,

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and what looked to be human remains in that coffin.

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When the authorities examine the evidence,

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they learn that these are in fact the remains of Graham Parsons.

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But who would want to steal a dead body and then burn it in the desert?

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The answer would come from the most unlikely of sources.

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A few days after the body is found,

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a man approaches police and makes an astounding confession.

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He claims that he is behind the mysterious disappearance of Graham Parsons' body.

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His name is Phil Kaufman, the late performer's road manager and close friend.

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Phil Kaufman knew that Graham had won a regular burial.

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He wanted to be burned in the desert up in Joshua Tree.

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According to Kaufman, in the months before Parsons' death, the two friends had made a pact.

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Graham and Phil decided that if one of them died,

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the other one would take him out to the desert to be burned down in Joshua Tree.

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Kaufman explains that when Parsons' body was sent to LAX,

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he and a friend hatched an elaborate plot.

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With a rented hearse and a set of forged papers,

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the two set out for the airport where, amazingly,

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they convinced an employee to hand over the remains.

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If you think about it, this is a really kind of a crazy thing to do.

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You don't find too many people today that would stick their neck out like that.

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After driving for hours, they finally arrive at Joshua Tree.

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After Phil Kaufman said his goodbyes, he poured five gallons of gas in the coffin,

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stepped back, lit the match, and that was it. He was gone.

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Remarkably, because stealing a body isn't against the law in California,

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Kaufman is only fined $1,000 for the theft of the coffin.

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Parsons' remains are eventually shipped to New Orleans for burial.

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But today, legions of fans still flock to a makeshift memorial

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at the inn where the rock and roll legend passed away.

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Linking him forever to this most beautiful and wild of monuments,

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Joshua Tree National Park.

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The small agricultural community of Enterprise, Alabama

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is home to one of the country's most unusual monuments.

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Downtown, in the center of a fountain, stands a striking female figure,

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13 feet tall and made from the finest Italian alabaster.

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She bears above her head a large golden pedestal,

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upon which is placed a big black bug.

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It has six legs, big round black body, and a long, long picture.

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It's said that this is the only statue in the world that commemorates an insect.

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In fact, this ugly, beaked bug literally altered the course of history.

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It changed not only the city of Enterprise, but the South as we know it.

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So what is the story behind this bizarre monument to a bug?

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1915, Cotton is king in Southern Alabama.

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Thanks to the fluffy fiber, agricultural communities like Enterprise are boom towns.

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Cotton was relatively easy to grow here.

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It produced large quantities and it supplied the nation.

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One of the most successful farmers in Enterprise is one CW Baston.

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And as the profits made from cotton continue to grow,

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Baston and his fellow farmers eventually all but abandon their other crops.

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CW Baston had a 125 acre farm that was dedicated to cotton.

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He depended on cotton for his income.

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But little do Baston and his neighbors know their good fortune is about to end.

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One day, CW Baston is making his daily crop inspection when he sees something strange.

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Ugly, pimple-like scars on some of the buds of his cotton plants.

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Perplexed, Baston destroys the afflicted plants.

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But within weeks, the sinister affliction has spread throughout his fields.

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And when harvest comes, the crop is worthless.

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For the young farmer, the stakes couldn't be higher.

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Mr. Baston borrowed money to plant his crop.

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If he doesn't produce a crop, then it literally puts him out of business.

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And Baston is not alone.

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His neighbors are also inflicted with the same strange infestation.

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So what is destroying the cotton crop and threatening to bankrupt the entire community?

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The answer comes when scientists analyze samples of the decimated plants

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and deliver their devastating verdict.

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It's the bull weevil.

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The bull weevil is this very small bug only a quarter of an inch long

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that starves the plant of the nutrients that makes the cotton.

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Bull weevils work very quietly, silently.

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It's horrible to see.

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It's thought that the pesky pest originated in Mexico

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and hitched a ride into the U.S. on the Galveston Hurricane,

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destroying cotton crops not only in Alabama, but across the South.

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Desperate to save his livelihood, C.W. Baston does all he can to stave off this insidious insect.

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He tried burning the crops. He tried getting rid of them with whiskey.

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He tried getting rid of them with oil. He tried everything.

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Nothing worked. The pest itself was in proportion to a biblical plague.

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And this plague of weevils is so bad that in the following years,

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countless sharecroppers are forced off the land.

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This mass exodus of southern workers to the north leaves behind acres of empty fields

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and scores of abandoned farms, contributing to what would eventually become known as the Great Migration.

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Farmers were completely devastated. They had to leave. They had no choice.

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But one man is determined to not give up.

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So can C.W. Baston defeat the plague of bull weevils?

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It's 1916. An incredibly destructive insect called the Bull Weevil

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has decimated the cotton crop across the American South, forcing countless farmers off their land.

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But one man refuses to go. An Alabama sharecropper named C.W. Baston,

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who's determined to defeat the weevil if it's the last thing he does.

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But who will win? Baston or the buck?

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After months of wrestling with the problem, Baston is approached by a man named H.M. Sessions,

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who claims he has the answer. Sessions suggests that Baston tried planting a strange new seed

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that he has brought back with him from his recent trip to Virginia.

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It's none other than the humble peanut.

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And the man who has the best seed in the world is the man who has the best seed.

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He's a better farmer than the humble peanut.

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And when Baston sows the seeds, he is stunned by the results.

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He was able to pass debt plus make profit.

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Once enterprise farmers realize that peanut crops are impervious to the bull weevil,

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they begin planting them too.

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Once peanuts was introduced to agriculture, the economy went from famine to feast overnight.

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The rest is history.

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And with more and more Americans clamoring for the tasty treat,

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enterprise eventually becomes the largest peanut producing community in the nation.

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And as luck would have it, the peanut is even more profitable than cotton.

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In the years following, an effective pesticide is developed to combat the bull weevil.

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And today, cotton is flourishing once again across the South.

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But in Enterprise, Alabama, the creepy critter is not forgotten.

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On December 11th, 1919, the bull weevil monument is unveiled.

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It is to commemorate the heralding and prosperity that the bull weevil brought to our city.

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It means a lot to our city.

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And I think it means a lot to the world.

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The bull weevil monument is a tangible reminder of one of the worst blights in U.S. history.

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But one that eventually led to even greater prosperity.

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Located on the southern shore of Lake Erie and named after the general who founded the city in 1796,

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Cleveland, Ohio now serves the nation as a vital transportation hub.

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But away from the hustle and bustle, on the tranquil grounds of Lake View Cemetery

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stands an imposing stone monument.

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It's an ornate sandstone structure that stands 180 feet tall

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and is decorated with these incredible murals.

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And the interior is equally grand.

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Intricate stained glass windows, mosaic tiles,

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and on the main floor, a larger-than-life marble statue commemorating the 20th president of the United States.

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This is the James A. Garfield Monument,

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one of the biggest and most elaborate mausoleums of any American president,

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as author Candice Millard can attest.

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It honors the venerable Ohioan, whose term in office was cut grievously short.

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This monument is a testament to one of the greatest tragedies in American history.

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So what caused Garfield's presidency to end so abruptly?

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And how did this event spark the development of a technology that's still in use today?

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1881, Washington, D.C.

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Republican James A. Garfield is inaugurated as president of the United States.

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A Civil War hero turned congressman.

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Garfield promises to pursue full civil rights for the nation's newly freed slaves.

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But on July 2nd, a mere four months into his term,

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the 49-year-old president is entering the Potomac and Baltimore train station

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when a volley of gunshots rings out, and the president is hit twice.

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First reaction was shock, and he said,

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my God, what is this?

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In the midst of the chaos, a train station policeman apprehends the shooter.

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A delusional man named Charles Guiteau, who, it is later learned,

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believed that God wanted him to kill the president.

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Garfield is rushed to the White House, where a team of the country's finest doctors

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gather to examine the wounded leader.

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While the first bullet only grazed Garfield's arm, the second, which entered his back,

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is unaccounted for.

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They think because the bullet went in his right side that it probably hit his liver,

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and they think that he probably won't survive the night.

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The doctors conclude that the only way to save the president's life

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is to locate and remove the deadly slug.

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And they desperately search the president's abdomen in a manner that is far from gentle.

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At one point, a probe gets caught in the ribs,

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and the surgeon has to kind of tug on it until he finally gets it loose.

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The president does survive the night, but over the following weeks,

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as doctors continue to search for the bullet, his condition rapidly deteriorates.

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President Garfield is too ill even to sit up.

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But just as his physicians are starting to lose hope,

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a wealthy inventor approaches the White House with something he claims can save the president's life.

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His name?

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Alexander Graham Bell.

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The inventor of the telephone has a new device called an induction balance.

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Bell designed this apparatus to reduce static on telephone lines,

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and it works by emitting an electric current

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00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:19,000
that makes a distinct buzzing sound when it comes into close contact with metal.

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00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:27,000
But now Bell realizes that his induction balance can serve a far different and critical purpose.

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It is a sort of metal detector, and he thinks I can use this to detect where the bullet is lodged and the president.

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00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,000
Can Bell's device locate the slug and help save the president?

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00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,000
A month after being shot by a deranged gunman,

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President James Garfield is in critical condition.

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Doctors have been unable to find the bullet lodged somewhere in his body.

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But help is at hand.

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Inventor Alexander Graham Bell has created a primitive metal detector

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that could locate the slug and save the president's life.

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But will it work?

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August 1st, 1881.

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Alexander Graham Bell arrives at the president's bedside, his new invention in hand.

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Bell slowly moves the metal detector over Garfield's body,

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but rather than emitting a strong buzzing sound that would indicate the presence of a bullet,

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all Bell hears is a faint pulsating noise.

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Desperately he tries again and moves the metal detector several times over the ailing president's frame.

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But the result is the same.

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Bell's device has failed, and the esteemed inventor leaves the White House confused and despondent.

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And then, on September 19th, the 49-year-old president dies.

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But when pathologists perform an autopsy on Garfield and finally locate the slug,

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they learn that it was not the assassin's bullet that killed the president after all.

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This bullet didn't hit any vital organs, it didn't hit his spinal cord,

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it went behind his pancreas, where it had done all the harm it was going to do.

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So if the bullet didn't kill the president, what did?

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The answer lies with the very men who had tried so valiantly to save Garfield's life.

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Unfortunately, the medical community at the time did not fully understand the connection between germs and disease.

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The president's own doctors probe for this bullet with unsterilized fingers and instruments day after day,

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every time introducing more bacteria and adding to this growing infection in the president's body.

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Ultimately, it was the infection caused by the doctors looking for the bullet that killed President Garfield.

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00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,000
But Garfield's story doesn't end there.

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In the wake of Garfield's death, Alexander Graham Bell remains determined to answer why his induction balance

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failed to detect the bullet when put to the test.

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And he finally comes up with a compelling reason.

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Garfield was lying on something that was very unusual at that time, which was a mattress with metal coils.

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And obviously, metal coils are going to affect something that's basically a metal detector.

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00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,000
While Bell's device was not sophisticated enough to cope with such interference,

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his induction balance is one of the earliest recorded uses of a metal detector.

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00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,000
Today, metal detectors are used in security systems worldwide.

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And at Cleveland Ohio's Lakeview Cemetery, the James A. Garfield Monument stands as a memorial to a president's tragic death

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and an invention that is still with us today.

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Founded more than 400 years ago in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains,

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Santa Fe, New Mexico is the nation's oldest capital city.

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And amidst the earthen clay structures is a truly exceptional building.

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Completed in 1878, the Loretto Chapel is a stunning architectural landmark.

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But according to curator and historian Richard Lindsley,

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the star attraction of this monument is not stained glass or ornate stonework.

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But a spiral staircase.

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There are 33 steps to the top and it's 20 feet tall.

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When you see it, you are totally amazed.

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In fact, the enigmatic origins of this staircase have perplexed scientists and historians for more than a century.

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People from every walk of life come to visit us to look at our staircase.

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And they're all fascinated by its beauty and its mystery.

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So what is the strange tale of the Loretto Chapel's miraculous stairway?

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1872. Santa Fe, New Mexico is an isolated frontier settlement.

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Among the pioneers and prospectors brought here by the promise of the gold rush

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is a group of Catholic nuns called the Loretto Sisters.

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The focus of their work is a majestic chapel that is rising on the rough landscape.

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But when the chapel's architect dies in 1879, he leaves a critical part of the sanctuary missing.

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There are no stairs leading to the choir balcony.

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And when they realized that installing a traditional diagonal staircase

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would leave almost no room to seat the congregation.

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The sisters reach out to members of the community for assistance.

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00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,000
The sisters ask the local carpenters to build a staircase and they fail.

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They just didn't have the skill or ability to do it.

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That's when the sisters decide to turn to prayer.

467
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:25,000
It's said the Loretto Sisters prayed for eight days straight.

468
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000
And then on the ninth day, just as they are starting to lose hope

469
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,000
a shabby bearded stranger appears on the horizon.

470
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:40,000
This strange man rode off the desert by himself on a donkey and offered to build the staircase.

471
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:48,000
The man assures the holy women that he can solve their architectural problem, but on one condition.

472
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:53,000
He insisted upon working inside the chapel with the doors locked by himself.

473
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:03,000
The man works alone in this way for several months until the sisters can bear the anticipation no longer.

474
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:10,000
Finally, one morning the sisters went in and to their amazement, he was gone.

475
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:21,000
Before them is a twisting spiral staircase that makes two 360 degree turns within a height of only 20 feet.

476
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,000
It must have been quite a sight for them.

477
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,000
The man has achieved what it seemed impossible.

478
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:33,000
His beautiful curving staircase provides a passage into the loft while occupying hardly any space.

479
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:42,000
But even more astoundingly, the structure stands with no visible nails, screws or means of central support.

480
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,000
There's no pole down the center to hold it up.

481
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,000
They're totally amazed that the staircase stands as it does.

482
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:56,000
When the sisters try to track the carpenter down to thank him, they discover he's nowhere to be found.

483
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,000
No one saw him leave. They never got to pay him for his work.

484
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:08,000
So who was the mysterious man who built the seemingly miraculous staircase?

485
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,000
In the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

486
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:23,000
A mysterious stranger has single-handedly constructed a seemingly impossible spiral staircase.

487
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:28,000
But before the nuns can thank him for his work, he vanishes.

488
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:34,000
So who was this man and how did he create such a wondrous masterpiece?

489
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:41,000
Despite their efforts, the sisters never locate the mysterious carpenter.

490
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:47,000
Eventually, they declare the incident to be a case of divine intervention.

491
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,000
The sisters came to the conclusion that he had come from heaven to build the staircase for them.

492
00:39:53,000 --> 00:40:02,000
While many doubt this explanation, the story of the craftsman and his wondrous staircase remains shrouded in mystery for over 100 years.

493
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:14,000
Finally, in the late 1990s, a local historian named Mary Jean Straw Cook makes a discovery that could reveal the identity of the carpenter.

494
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,000
She had been investigating the builder of the staircase for almost 20 years.

495
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:28,000
Combing through Santa Fe newspapers from 1895, Cook stumbles across the obituary of a man named Francois Rochard,

496
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,000
who claims that he was the builder of the staircase.

497
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:40,000
Cook learns that Rochard was linked to a secretive guild of French craftsmen called Les Compagnons.

498
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:48,000
To gain entry into this enigmatic brotherhood, a carpenter had not only to complete a masterpiece in wood,

499
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,000
but was forbidden from taking credit for the work.

500
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,000
So was Rochard the mysterious stair builder?

501
00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,000
The evidence is compelling, but we may never know for sure.

502
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:05,000
And to this day, there is no conclusive proof as to who this man was.

503
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,000
And that's not the only enigma that surrounds the staircase.

504
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,000
Exactly how it was built is something that has also confounded experts.

505
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,000
The sisters would have entire graduating classes of students stand on it,

506
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,000
and architects and engineers are amazed the staircase never collapsed under all that weight.

507
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:36,000
Over the years, scientists examining the structure have concluded that its secret lies in a series of tightly bound wooden beams

508
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:40,000
called stringers that run along the sides of the stairs.

509
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:46,000
The interior stringer makes such tight inward turns that it actually functions like a pole.

510
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,000
Providing a surprisingly strong support.

511
00:41:53,000 --> 00:42:01,000
However it was built, and whoever built it, the staircase continues to astound churchgoers and experts alike.

512
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:11,000
And today, visitors to the Loretto Chapel can marvel at the craftsmanship of every step of this miraculous stairway.

513
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:23,000
From a creepy killer to a rock and roll rebel, an ill-fated president to a spiritual stairway.

514
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,000
I'm Don Wildman, and these are Monumental Mysteries.