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An historic jail steeped in infamy and horror.

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Police were shocked and horrified.

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A mighty railroad station with a sinister secret.

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The place is a virtual temple of a cult imagery.

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And a cryptic castle built by a Wild West swindler.

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The entire thing, it's all a hoax.

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Sometimes the greatest secrets lie in plain sight.

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These are monumental mysteries.

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Every day over one and a half million commuters enter the island of Manhattan.

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And more than 700,000 of them pass through one of the city's best-loved and most majestic monuments.

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The grand archways, vast domed ceilings and great horizontal spaces.

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This is Grand Central Terminal, crowning splendor of the Beaux Arts architectural movement.

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But as author Mitch Horowitz knows, hidden in its structure lies an extraordinary secret.

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The Grand Central Station tells a more mysterious story than what first appears.

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What sinister symbolism lies hidden within the walls of Grand Central?

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New York City, 1913.

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It's an era of unstoppable industrial progress in the burgeoning metropolis.

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Commerce was bounding, electricity was starting to power buildings and street lights.

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People were circulating into the city from all over the world and New York City lacked one thing.

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And that was a grand railroad station, a great gateway to the world.

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Enter one of the richest tycoons in the country, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

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He sets about funding and constructing what will become Grand Central Terminal.

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When the station opened in early 1913, people walked in and they were absolutely astounded.

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And what really grabs their attention is the colossal astrological mural,

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which spans the 40,000 square foot ceiling and features 2,500 stars.

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They had never seen a zodiac mural that looked anything like this.

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And the administrators of Grand Central proudly boasted that the arrangement of the constellations

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was so accurate that it could be used to teach school children about the stars.

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But one morning, soon after the terminal's grand opening, a surprising discovery is made.

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A commuter who was also an amateur astronomer noticed that the stars on the ceiling were backwards.

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The stars were represented in their mirror reversal.

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And the reversed zodiac isn't the only oddity hidden in the building's design.

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With the statues of Minerva and Hercules and in symbols of Mercury, Mercury's wand, the Caduceus,

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the place is a virtual temple of a cult and mystical imagery.

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And a crown at all, a further peculiarity to Grand Central's mural is observed.

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Not only is the zodiac's design backwards, it also depicts a controversial astrological occurrence.

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When you look up at that mural, you're actually seeing a transition from one spiritual age, the age of Christianity,

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to another spiritual age, the new age, or the age of Aquarius.

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At the turn of the century, many believed the age of Aquarius was expected to usher in a new world government,

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run by a sinister covert group of the most powerful men in the world, the Illuminati,

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of which Cornelius Vanderbilt is conjectured to be a leading member.

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If this theory is true, then could the Grand Central Zodiac hold a hidden declaration of the Illuminati's bid for world domination?

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The renowned tycoon was certainly no stranger to the supernatural.

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Cornelius Vanderbilt was a committed follower of spiritualism.

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He had a deep interest in the occult.

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One of Vanderbilt's more outlandish habits was to commune with and seek advice from the spirit world.

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He would write down questions and steal them in envelopes and give them to a spirit medium who would hold them up and foresee an answer.

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And his spiritualism permeated everything he did, including his business decisions.

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He was asked in 1870 by a newspaper reporter in New York City how people could follow his footsteps to fame and wealth,

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and he said, do as I do, consult the spirits.

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But some historians believe there is another explanation for the presence of so many occult figures and symbols on the walls of Grand Central Terminal.

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In the early 1900s, American architects and designers saw themselves at the vanguard of a new industrial and technological era,

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much like the Greeks and Romans thousands of years ago.

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And to echo this, they incorporated numerous classical icons into their work.

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As for the constellations appearing in reverse, it seems the designer of the mural, Paul Heliou,

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may have been inspired by a medieval illustration of the firmament in which the stars are depicted from above, from the point of view of heaven.

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Paul Heliou may very well have been trying to give the viewer the experience of viewing the stars from the heavens,

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as if you were the God Mercury looking down from above.

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Whether Vanderbilt was a follower of wider cultural trends,

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or whether he really intended to embed in the ceiling of this great train terminal,

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a secret message from the Illuminati may never be known.

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But today, the throngs of commuters who pass through Grand Central

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can gaze upon the portentous symbolism embodied in this masterpiece of architecture

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and reflect on its creator, a man who communed with spirits and created a temple to the modern age.

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In the heart of the Hawaiian archipelago on the lush island of Oahu, lies the spectacular seaside capital city of Honolulu.

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The area is surrounded by more than a hundred world-renowned beaches,

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but those lining the two-mile stretch of Waikiki along the South Shore are among its most popular.

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Waikiki is known for a beautiful climate. It's where millions of people come every year for vacation.

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And it's also known as a hub of Hawaii's signature sport, surfing.

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But as historian De Soto Brown points out,

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one looming figure along Waikiki's main strip reminds visitors that it wasn't always this way.

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It is a man with arms outstretched. The man is nine feet tall, he's wearing swimming attire,

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and behind him is a 12-foot tall surfboard.

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This statue is the most famous Hawaiian man who ever lived, the father of surfing.

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Who is this legendary athlete?

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And how did his heroic actions invent a new use for the surfboard that is still with us today?

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The 1920s, Hawaii.

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Hawaiian native Duke Kahanamoku is riding high on a wave of fame and athletic achievement.

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Duke Kahanamoku had won multiple swimming medals at the 1912 Olympics and was an extremely accomplished man.

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But the islander's favorite aquatic passion is surfing.

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And over the years, he proves to be as adept on a surfboard as he is in the pool.

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One of Duke Kahanamoku's surfing achievements was riding a wave for approximately one mile off the shore of Waikiki,

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and at that time, that was a big accomplishment.

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And Duke's feats are all the more impressive, considering that the sport had long fallen out of favor on the Hawaiian islands.

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The sport of surfing reached its peak before the 1700s, and after Westerners began to come here,

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the sport began to die out.

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Missionaries didn't approve of sports in general just for recreation.

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So as a result, by about 1900, very few people were surfing anymore.

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But all of that is about to change.

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Once the charismatic Olympian begins traveling the world holding surfing exhibitions,

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he shocks and thrills international audiences and ignites a trend that catches on like wildfire.

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Duke introduced or helped popularize surfing in the places that he traveled to.

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He helped revive the sport of surfing.

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And when Duke conducts demonstrations in California, the fad takes America by storm.

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Duke Kahanamoku was very well known for introducing surfing on the west coast of the United States.

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Then in 1923, the famous athlete moves to Los Angeles, lured by Hollywood producers and the California lifestyle.

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Duke was hobnobbing with the stars. He signed a contract to be in the movies for Paramount Pictures.

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It seems there's nothing that the hands of Hawaiian can't do.

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But little does Duke know that in the summer of 1925, his surfing skills would be put to the ultimate test.

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It's 1925. Hawaiian Islander Duke Kahanamoku has spent the last decade traveling the world promoting the lost art of surfing.

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Now he's moved to Hollywood, where fueled by his celebrity, the sport is taking California by storm.

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But the Duke's love of wave riding is about to be put to a treacherous test.

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June 14th, California. Duke Kahanamoku is on Corona Del Mar Beach.

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When he hears cries for help, it seems a massive wave has capsized a luxury fishing yacht,

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throwing all 29 passengers into the treacherous waters over 100 yards from shore.

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Without hesitation, Duke grabs his surfboard and rushes into the perilous ocean.

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Duke as an experienced surfer knows how to get through waves.

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And when he reaches the victims, he anchors them to his hefty surfboard.

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This is a 140 pound solid wood surfboard. It's a very large, stable device that you can use to help people get aboard and get through the ocean.

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Duke is able to paddle the victims safely back to shore.

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And 12 passengers are ultimately saved from a watery death.

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And when word gets out about the stunning rescue, Duke Kahanamoku becomes more than a champion or a celebrity.

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He becomes a hero.

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People thought it was the most wonderful thing they'd ever seen.

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The chief of police said, quote, Duke's performance was the most superhuman rescue act that I have ever seen in the world.

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Duke's ingenious use of a surfboard in the valiant rescue garners national attention, and it soon becomes a standard tool for lifeguards everywhere.

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In the years that follow his herculean act of valor, Duke Kahanamoku continues on an extraordinary path,

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winning another Olympic medal and even becoming the honorary sheriff of his hometown, Honolulu.

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I think Duke Kahanamoku in many people's eyes was kind of the personification of the Hawaiian Islands and someone who you could love.

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In 1990, on the centenary of his birth, the city of Honolulu erects this statue in honor of one of its most beloved citizens.

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Today, the open arms of Duke Kahanamoku still greet visitors to this Hawaiian island,

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reminding everyone of the father of surfing who introduced the sport to a whole new generation.

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Charleston, South Carolina is the cultural capital of the South and filled with antebellum charm.

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But amid the colonial mansions that line the gentile streets is a stone, castle-like structure that is steeped in infamy and horror.

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The building's ornate Romanesque features belie its dark and grim interior.

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The inside tells a different story. There's a lot of iron bars, the conditions were horrific, it was overcrowded, and many never left here alive.

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This is the Old Charleston Jail, a 19th century fortress constructed to house the city's most dangerous offenders.

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But it's the story of one unlikely female inmate that grips the imagination of tour guide John Laverne, more than any other.

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It's a tale of bloodshed, disbelief, and haunting.

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It's the story of one woman's downfall who lived in this building and she's never left.

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So who is the unquiet ghost that still wanders the halls of this infamous jail?

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February 1819, Charleston, South Carolina.

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The state's wealthiest city is bustling with traveling merchants.

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Among them is a fur trader named John Peoples, who is stopped at a roadside boarding house called the Six Mile Inn.

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I've been over 100 ships a day coming into this town and the Six Mile Inn catered typically to merchants that were coming in and out of the city.

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According to legend, Peoples is greeted by the hotel's stunning owner, a 27-year-old woman named LaVenia Fisher.

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Not only was she beautiful, she had a way with people that made him feel very comfortable.

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LaVenia invites the weary traveler inside to join her and her husband John for a drink.

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But as the three chat, Peoples begins to notice that something about their hospitality seems a little off.

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John Fisher kept asking him a lot of questions about his travels, who he was with and who was expecting them at home.

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LaVenia's behavior also strikes Peoples as odd. She's unusually insistent that he should sample a cup of her tea.

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John really wasn't a tea drinker, but his host was so gracious and she was so pretty, so he takes the cup of tea and while nobody was watching, he was able to pour the tea out.

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Still feeling that something isn't quite right, Peoples heads to his room, but instead of sleeping on his bed, he keeps a watchful eye on the door.

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He sits in a chair and he aims it towards the door just in case something bizarre should happen.

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In spite of his efforts to stay awake, Peoples soon dozes off.

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But as the story goes, in the middle of the night he is startled wide awake by a loud slamming noise.

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Lo and behold, in front of him he sees that the bed had somehow disappeared into the floor and some kind of trap door apparatus.

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The terrified merchant immediately flees the inn and heads straight to the police.

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He tells this crazy story, this bed vanished right in front of me and they had this trap door and these people are really weird and the constables think, is there any validity to this?

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Upon hearing his bizarre tale, authorities quickly set out for the hotel to investigate his claims.

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So what dark secrets are lurking in the depths of the six mile inn?

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1819, police investigating an attempted abduction are called to the six mile inn on the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina.

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So what horrors awake them inside this lone roadside hotel?

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Police descend on the fissures property and begin to search the place.

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The constables had the gut feeling they knew that something was weird in there and they leave no stone unturned.

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And according to the story, officials soon find disturbing signs of what they fear must be foul play.

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They uncover a series of trap doors and beds that disappear and underground tunnels.

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Then they make another troubling discovery. Levinia's cupboard is stocked with oleander tea.

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The tea is a powerful sedative which in large doses can lead to death.

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But the worst is yet to come. Upon excavating the dirt floor in the basement, investigators unearth a gruesome sight.

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Police were shocked and horrified. They found numerous bodies underneath the house.

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Police believe there may be 30 victims in the cache of remains.

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And that the entire hotel was rigged for the fissures devilish plot to kill and rob the traders.

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This was all orchestrated perfectly.

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What the fissures were doing, they were selling the goods and the merchants were travelers.

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They may go months, even years without anybody knowing that anything ever happened to them.

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The fissures are immediately arrested, charged with assault with intent to murder and sent to a wait trial at the notorious Charleston City Jail.

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I was rat infested, disease-ridden.

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John and Levinia Fisher had to be scared out of their minds.

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And Levinia is the only female inmate and she's in a jail full of the worst criminals of the 19th century.

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These are murderers and pirates and thieves.

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In January 1820, Levinia's request was granted to wear her bridal gown to the trial.

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Kind of a, I don't know, a last-ditch effort, she decided to wear a wedding dress, a way of showing them how innocent and pure that she was.

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But the ploy fails and both are found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.

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And this gives Levinia the very special distinction of being America's first female serial killer.

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As the story goes, John Fisher is executed first.

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And when it's Levinia's turn, she calmly marches forward to meet her end.

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Here she is in this beautiful, long wedding dress and she walks up the steps of the gallows.

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And right before she is hanged, it's said that the notorious femme fatale shouts out her infamous last words.

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She yells out into the crowd, if any of y'all have a message, she's going to be the last one to go.

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If you have a message for the devil, give it to me and I'll deliver it to him personally.

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At that point, when she jumps off the stool, the road catches her neck.

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And she dies.

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And it's here at the jail where Levinia spent her final days.

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That many have reported seeing an angry spirit stalking these cells.

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They would swear up and down, they would see a figure of a lady in a dress floating through the walls.

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Could this be the unquiet ghost of Levinia Fisher, forever tormented by the wicked deeds she committed in her lifetime.

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And condemned to walk the halls of this dilapidated prison.

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Today, the old Charleston jail, now a national historic landmark, continues to be a haunting reminder of this charming city's darker past.

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Chicago, Illinois.

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Just west of the towering skyline of this Midwestern metropolis is the century old Woodlawn Cemetery.

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And as circus historian Pete Shrake points out, in the midst of the weathered headstones here is a tranquil corner known as Showman's Rest.

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That is marked by a distinctive granite monument.

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It's a rather cheerful looking elephant.

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Right foot is playfully resting on a circus ball.

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But the actual story associated with this site is one of tragedy, of negligence, and of sheer carnage.

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So what heart-rending accident is memorialized here?

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And could it have been avoided?

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June 22nd, 1918.

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Darkness settles on a 26-car train winding its way west along the shore of Lake Michigan en route to Hammond, Indiana.

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Midway through its summer touring season, the Hagenbeck Wallace Circus is barnstorming the country with a colorful array of aerialists, trick riders, clowns, and dancing girls.

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Circus work by its nature is particularly exhausting. You unload the train, set up the tents, have a show, repack up, and are traveling onto the next show within a day.

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On board the train on this night are some 400 weary circus workers and family members. Scores of exotic animals travel separately.

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A result of cutting costs, the train is an outdated piece of equipment.

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So it's no surprise when at 4 a.m., the engine grinds to a halt with a mechanical problem.

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One of the train crew members, by the name of Oscar Tim, once the train stops, his job is to walk behind the train and lay down cautionary flares.

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As he jogs through the darkness, he is alert to any sign of oncoming train traffic.

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He is about 900 or so yards behind the caboose.

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Off in the not too far distance, he can see smoke emitting from the top of the trees. It isn't long before he sees the light.

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He quickly realizes that this is a fairly fast-moving train.

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Tim breaks into a run, furiously waving his flair. But incredibly, the approaching train, a state-of-the-art troop carrier made of heavy steel, does not appear to react.

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The steel monster keeps hurtling towards him.

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And with moments, the engine is passing him.

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Now all Tim can do is stand and watch.

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It's a runaway train. It's not going to stop.

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With hundreds of men, women and children stranded helplessly in its track, is there any way to avert this impending catastrophe?

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It's the early morning of June 22, 1918.

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Oscar Tim is the breakman on a stalled circus train just outside Ivanhoe, Indiana.

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As he's laying down flares on the tracks, he notices another train speeding towards them.

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He desperately tries to signal the engineer to stop, but to no avail. Disaster seems inevitable.

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The breakman, Oscar Tim, stares in horror as the massive troop carrier plows into the stranded circus train.

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It must have been a thunderous crash.

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Fire breaks out amongst the wreckage, and within moments, it practically becomes a firestorm.

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When the sun rises, 86 people are found dead, and more than 180 are seriously wounded.

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The Hagenbeck-Wallace circus train accounts for all of the casualties in the wreck.

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The question on Everman's mind at this point almost immediately is, what happened?

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All eyes turn to the surviving driver of the troop train, a veteran engineer named Alonzo Sargent.

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The story that ultimately unfolds is that Sargent is essentially overworked. He's had minimal amount of sleep.

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A cool breeze is coming off of Lake Michigan, and he starts to get a chill.

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He closes the window, and the heat from the engine starts to make him sleep.

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According to a report by the Interstate Commerce Commission, not only did Sargent sleep through the frantic signals of the breakman Oscar Tim,

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but he also missed at least two automatic stop signals a mile or so earlier, making the collision inevitable.

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And yet thanks to an aggressive defense by lawyers from the Michigan Central Railroad, Sargent is absolved of criminal responsibility.

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But his career on the rails is over.

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As for the surviving members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, the show must go on.

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The troop is quickly reconstituted from other circuses around the country, and incredibly performing shows again within a matter of days.

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The Hagenbeck-Wallace circus only misses two shows that season, and it's really an utterly remarkable feat.

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But in spite of their resilience, the circus will forever mourn the performers who are buried here in unmarked graves in the corner of Woodlawn Cemetery.

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And while no animals died in the disaster, this peaceful site known as Showman's Rest is marked by a granite elephant, the eternal symbol of the circus trade.

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And today, this stately pachyderm serves as a powerful memorial to those who died on that warm summer night so long ago.

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On the western edge of the Arizona desert sits Lake Habosu City, a planned community on a man-made lake.

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Established in 1963, this modern-day oasis seems an odd setting for a 180-year-old monument of old world engineering.

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It is a large granite structure. It weighs 33,000 tons. It's 502 feet long. Our beautiful desert sun has bleached it to a rather soft gray color.

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According to historian Mike Riddle, this historic span that once bore the imperial carriages of kings and queens is now considered the world's largest collectible.

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It was brought into this country, and its custom declarations said, one, large antique.

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Where did this legendary bridge come from? And did it actually end up here? By mistake.

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Southern California, 1963. Los Angeles-based industrialist and wealthy oilman Robert McCulloch has a problem.

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The rising price of real estate around LA is cutting into the profits of his chainsaw and outboard motor business.

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Searching for a new, more economical location to set up his factory, he comes across a remote oasis in the Arizona desert, where the damned Colorado River forms a 17-mile-long lake.

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Lake Habosu. Here, land is cheap, and the lake provides a perfect testing ground for his motors. But there is one snag. The area is devoid of people.

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But McCulloch is undeterred, convinced that he can attract workers to the site. On his own dime, he builds a new community in the desert sands and calls it Lake Habosu City.

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Lake Habosu City is in the middle of two deserts, the Sonoran and the Mojave. Most of the people that heard McCulloch's plan to build a city here thought he was just completely out of his mind.

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McCulloch knows that families need a reason to settle down in his rootless desert town.

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So at that time, he began to think, how can we attract people? How can we keep them here? How can I build my city?

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One day, McCulloch receives word of an unusual prospect that he thinks will rejuvenate his faltering community.

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An auction is being held for an iconic British landmark.

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London Bridge.

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Built in 1831, the well-trafficked conduit over the River Thames is apparently sinking into the riverbed.

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A problem familiar to those who have heard the classic nursery rhyme.

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It was overcrowded and it was very, very heavy. It couldn't be short up. There was a need to move it or destroy it.

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But McCulloch, instantly recognizing a publicity gimmick and a chance to give his fledgling city an air of permanence, pays over $2.4 million for the structure.

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And he soon becomes the proud owner of the historic London Bridge.

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The task of deconstructing and transporting a 33,000-ton bridge over 5,000 miles to Lake Havasu City is a daunting prospect.

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It was carefully dismantled. Each part was taken down and numbered.

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The parts are then transported across the ocean on container ships.

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It made a journey from Great Britain through the Panama Canal and up the coast to the port of Los Angeles where it was unloaded and then reloaded onto trucks.

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The components of the monument finally arrive in Arizona. And as the modest arches of the London Bridge slowly rise between the desert sand dunes,

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legend has it that Robert McCulloch becomes aware that something is amiss.

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It's said that McCulloch thought he was buying a different bridge, the soaring majestic symbol of London, which is actually the Tower Bridge.

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As the story goes, when the bridge arrived here, there were no towers, no drawbridge. And McCulloch was very surprised and thought he had been sold a white elephant bridge.

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So did Robert McCulloch really buy the wrong bridge?

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It's October 1971. Businessman Robert McCulloch has successfully relocated the London Bridge to Lake Havasu, Arizona in hopes that it will attract new home buyers to his planned community.

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But many believe there's been a misunderstanding and that instead of the London Bridge, McCulloch thought he was getting the iconic Tower Bridge.

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So did this man really pay $2.4 million for the wrong bridge?

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If one were discussing bridges in London, the Tower Bridge gets the high marks. It's the architecturally and probably engineering jewel of the Thames River.

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And many people in Britain believe the rumor to be absolutely correct.

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So is there any truth to the tale?

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It does make a great story, but it's just that a story.

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The truth is that McCulloch visited London in person to inspect his bridge and oversee the intricate plans to disassemble it and ship it overseas.

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Bob McCulloch knew exactly what he was buying and bringing to Arizona.

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So why does the false story persist?

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It's suggested that some British citizens struggled with the fact that they were no longer a superpower in the world.

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And that while they no longer held economic or political sway on the international stage, they could still sneer at their culturally inferior cousins across the pond.

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To the Brits, McCulloch plays the role of the archetypal Brash American with more money than cents.

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If those yanks were silly enough to move at 10,000 miles to the middle of the Arizona desert and reassemble it, let them have it.

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And to this day, many Londoners will insist that the story is true.

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And that a gullible American millionaire really did buy London Bridge by mistake.

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That's maybe a little bit of jealousy.

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Viewed as the pride of Arizona, the Bridge helps McCulloch jumpstart the growth of Lake Havasu City and create a thriving community with more than 50,000 residents living there today.

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I think our granite bridge probably fits us a lot better.

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The Tower Bridge would be definitely imposing. It would also be a very, very large maintenance headache.

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And after the Grand Canyon, the graceful arches of the London Bridge draw more visitors to the state of Arizona than any other attraction.

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Death Valley National Park, California

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This vast desert expanse is famed for being both the driest and the lowest region in all of the United States.

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The temperatures here can reach a sweltering 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

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But the park is also renowned for an astonishing spectacle of architecture.

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Walking out of the blistering desert heat, one is greeted by a house that seems as if it could not exist in that location.

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This is the Death Valley Ranch, or as it's more commonly known, Scotty's Castle.

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A sprawling and opulent villa, which has long-facinated visitors and historians alike.

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This remarkable structure sprang from one of the most bizarre friendships in the history of the American West.

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Who was the mysterious Scotty who gave the castle its name?

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And what unlikely friendship led to the creation of this fantastical mansion?

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1902, Death Valley

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Gold rush fever grips the region. New mines open every day and ambitious prospectors arrive in droves.

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One of these is Walter Scott, aka Death Valley Scotty, who has had a colorful past.

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He traveled for 12 years with Wild West shows.

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He was an adventurer and he was a character who was hard to pin down what he actually did.

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After several months of digging, Scotty makes an announcement that has investors running to jump on board.

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He has found gold.

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And one such investor is Chicago tycoon Albert Johnson.

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He invested initially thousands of dollars, as did many others.

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They were told that their investment would ultimately be repaid tenfold once the mine was developed.

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But when months pass and Johnson has seen no sign of gold, he presses Scotty for answers.

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Eventually announcing his intention to travel down and see the mine for himself.

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When Johnson arrives in Death Valley, Scotty, accompanied by his brother, leads the businessman towards the gold mine.

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But unruly, they're ambushed by armed bandits.

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And Scotty's brother takes a bullet.

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In all the confusion, the visit to the gold mine is abandoned.

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Johnson returns home to Chicago without even a glimpse of his investment.

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And back in his native city, he begins to wonder, does this gold mine actually exist?

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It's the early 1900s in California.

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Gold prospector William Scott, aka Scotty, has convinced Chicago businessman Albert Johnson to invest in a gold mine he's discovered in Death Valley.

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But two years in, Johnson has yet to see any return on his investment, and he's beginning to smell a rat.

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So what's the truth behind Scotty's extravagant tales of gold in the desert?

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Johnson hires a private detainee.

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Johnson hires a private detective to trail Scotty and investigate his activities.

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And the first discovery the agent makes is alarming.

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In the mine that Scotty claims to have found, he is apparently planting samples of gold.

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But that's not all.

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When the detective questions local residents, he hears the tale of the notorious ambush from a different perspective.

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The entire shootout was planned exclusively for the benefit of Johnson to dissuade him from going on.

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But the staged shootout did not go quite as planned, and Scotty's brother was in fact gravely wounded.

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This dangerous ruse demonstrates the extremes Scotty was willing to go to, to disguise the fact that his lucrative gold mine didn't actually exist.

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The entire thing, it's all a hoax.

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On learning that he's been duped, a furious Johnson returns to Death Valley to meet the con man face to face.

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But when he gets there, his reaction is not what people expect.

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He's fascinated by this remarkable character, and it was enough that he was willing to look past the fact that he had been tricked.

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Admiring the brazen confidence of this savvy entrepreneur, Johnson strikes up an unlikely friendship with the swindler.

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So much so that he decides to build a house on the land where the gold mine was supposed to have been.

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He lavishes every luxury of his day on this mansion of truly epic proportions.

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Over time, Johnson invites his down-of-the-heel friend to move into the lodging with him and his wife.

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And Scotty never won to miss a trick.

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Sets about spinning a new yarn.

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Scotty told locals, visitors, basically anybody who would listen, that this house was actually his house.

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And Johnson does nothing to refute Scotty's tall tales.

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He actually plays along with it, describing himself to some visitors as Scotty's banker.

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But a few years later, the stock market crash of 1929 drives Johnson into financial ruin.

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And the expense of maintaining his huge mansion becomes too much to bear.

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And at this moment, his unlikely savior is Scotty, who suggests that they can turn their location into an actual hotel.

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The venture is a roaring success, with tourists, along with a slew of the era's biggest celebrities,

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from Betty Gravel to Norman Rockwell, attracted to the legend of Death Valley Scotty and his opulent castle.

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And today, Scotty's castle is owned by the National Park Service and open to the public for tours,

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standing as a testament to one of the most peculiar friendships in the history of the Wild West.

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From a desert palace to a circus catastrophe, a superhero surfer to a colossal collectible.

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I'm Don Wildman and these are Monumental Mysteries.