1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: to Ridiculous History. Thanks for tuning in, Ridiculous Historians. I 3 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: am Ben. I have found our legendary and legendarily obnoxious 4 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: uh sound making machine. Ben, I'm Noel. If you if 5 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: you think the batteries have ever been replaced on that, 6 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: do you think it's slowly like dying? And that's why 7 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: it's just that that that super tin e quality. I 8 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: think Okay, first off, I think we definitely cut corners 9 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: when whomever purchased this purchased it. The batteries had to 10 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: be replaced at some point because this is a p 11 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: O J piece of junk. Can you give us some 12 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: other samples? Shot them from the repertoire? Sure, but they all, 13 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: I want to worry, they all go on a little 14 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: too long. Here. I'll do one. I'll pass it to 15 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: you so we can share in the things. Yeah, okay, um, 16 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: oh of course, Uh. There there's some classic hits here. 17 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: But let's go with something a little bit, a little 18 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: bit out of the normal. Let's go with Poco stick. 19 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: See how they see how they said they go on 20 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: too long? Here you go knock one out. And also 21 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,839 Speaker 1: it sounds. I don't know. Never mind. I was gonna 22 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: say it sounds like a clown masturbating. But that's not 23 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: that's not okay, this is accurate. You know what, Maybe 24 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: we leave it is, keep it in. I feel like 25 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: that's articulate. Let's see, do you do you think there's 26 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: a diamonds and pearls sound cue. Um, there's definitely a 27 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: couple of disaster sounds. You think we'll get suited for this? 28 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: I I will give you diamonds and emper And that 29 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: didn't go long enough. I was trying to do a 30 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: siren diamonds and pearls mash up remix thing. I say 31 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: diamonds and pros because they were talking about only one 32 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: of those two things. It's diamonds and about pearls in 33 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: today's episode. Well, uh, there have been counterfeit pearls of 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: plenty we do. I shouldn't have handed this to you. 35 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: I almost I thought, let's just do it once, we'll go, 36 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: but but we do have to shout out the inspiration 37 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: behind the perfect sound cue. Of course that's our super producer, 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: Casey Pegrum. No. You know I'm interested because you said 39 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: diamonds right. Uh diamonds in a way because this is 40 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: also a bit of a crime story. It's a bit 41 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: of a con right, you know they say diamonds are 42 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: a girl's best friend. Uh was that a song or 43 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: did that come from the de Beers company? It was 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: a Liz Taylor thing, right, It's all de Beers, the 45 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: de Beers family and the way. In the same way 46 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: that Edward Burns made bacon a thing with the Beer's 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: family basically made diamonds a thing. And while they might 48 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: be a girl's best friend, um, they certainly aren't a 49 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: friend of of the working class or the folks in 50 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: uh third world countries that are you know, subjected to 51 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: horrible conditions to mind them from the earth. For the 52 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: privileged classes of countries, they'll never set fun in. Yeah, 53 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: this has been a personal hobby horse of mind since 54 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: that at times several years ago when I got married 55 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: and I had to go diamond shopping and I found 56 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: out about the whole racket. We have a great episode 57 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: about that on Stuff they Don't Want you to Know, 58 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: with our very own Lauren Vogel Bombs, who was the 59 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: first guest on Ridiculous History. You're right, she was, wasn't 60 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: she Yeah, what are we talking about with her? She 61 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: was the fact Genie. Yeah, the fact Genie, which we had. Okay, 62 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: this is funny. We will get to an episode today, 63 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: but you might enjoy this, folks. Collaboratively, we were all 64 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: pitching these ideas of segments. I'm a very big believer inside. 65 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: I think they're cool for shows. Uh. And we had 66 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: we had a time that never made it off the list. Uh, 67 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: maybe we'll dig that up, but we digress. Diamonds, Yes, 68 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: as you said, an old diamonds do have a dark side, 69 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: and they've been super popular for years and years. Travel 70 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: with us back to California, back to the West in 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds, you know, we're we're all familiar with 72 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: the California gold rush, right. That's the reason the San 73 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: Francisco forty Niners are named the San Francisco forty Niners. 74 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: People thought you could make a fortune hunting gold or 75 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: or mining silver maybe in Nevada, and so everybody was 76 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: kind of speculating and like, what's the next big thing, right, 77 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: is it gonna be like, I don't know, platinum, Is 78 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: it gonna be copper, Is it going to be diamonds? 79 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: Possibly scorpion filled paperweights. Yeah, I was gonna hold my 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: likey scorpion until next next episode, but I think we're 81 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: just doing the one today, I think. So it's a 82 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: very beautiful talisman you've got there. Yeah, check this out. 83 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: So this is a glass encased preserved scorpion of no 84 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: small size from my last trip out to uh to Arizona. Actually, hey, 85 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,679 Speaker 1: that's just the part of the country that we're talking about. See, 86 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: I had I had to like a loose theme, man. 87 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: Uh So people are all trying to strike it rich. 88 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: And you know, whenever there's the speculative market. We see 89 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: this now, even even with stocks day, whenever there's a 90 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: speculative market, people will tell you, well, the thing that 91 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: just became a boom, you know, the time for you 92 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: to enter that is past. You've got to look for 93 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: the next thing, right, And people didn't have the benefit 94 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: of communication technology, or at least not at the time 95 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: we have today. So you had to trust people and 96 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: you had to you know, you had to stake a 97 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: lot on somebody's character, right. That's why so many people 98 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: rode the rails and traveled across the continent to seek 99 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: their fortune in the West, and in eighteen seventy. San 100 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: Francisco had already swelled to a city with a population 101 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: of like a hundred and fifty thousand people. And that's 102 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: where we meet one of the main characters of our story. 103 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: You're talking about Arnold and Slack. Oh yeah, Philip Arnold, right, right, 104 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: But what a great name for a for a duo 105 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: of huckster's right, Arnold and Slack. So Philip Arnold. It 106 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: was from Kentucky. He was He didn't have the best 107 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: formal education. He had a job as an apprentice to 108 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: a haberdasher. He was a veteran of the Mexican War. 109 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: He had gone, like so many souls, to the gold 110 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: rush in forty nine, and he had spent By the 111 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 1: time of our story takes place, he had spent about 112 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: twenty years working in mining operations in the West, and 113 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: he did okay. He eventually made enough money they could 114 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: go back to Kentucky. He got a farm, he got married, 115 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,119 Speaker 1: had some kids, and historians think he made a little 116 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: bit of money, sure, but you know, he didn't want 117 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: to rest on his laurels. He got a little squirrel 118 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: in a on eighteen seventy he had a gig working 119 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: as a bookkeeper for a company called the Diamond Drill 120 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: Company in San Francisco. It was a drill manufacturer that 121 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: used those famous diamond headed tips for their drill bits, right. Um, 122 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: So while he was keeping the books, he became pretty 123 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: fascinated in these these drill bits, um that were you know, 124 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: so widely used here. And he even like really did 125 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: his homework and started like researching how the material worked, 126 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: the whole trade of drilling, drill making, I don't know. 127 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: And uh in November he had amassed himself a small 128 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: cash of uncut diamonds. You know, I love it, man, 129 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: It's like the billionaires go bag. Just there's a few 130 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: things as sketchy as a bag at loose diamond I 131 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: love especially, so when you call him loose diamonds, that's right, um. 132 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: And you know, the idea is that he probably uh 133 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: pilfred these throughout the years from his boss. And he 134 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: had some other uncut gems mixed in there as well. 135 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: He had some sapphires and some rubies and some garnets 136 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: and it's pretty likely that he bought those in Arizona 137 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: from some of the Indian tribes there. Yeah, and he 138 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: also at this time got a partner, and that's the 139 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: guy who mentioned earlier black John Slack and Smithsonian magazine 140 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: and their article on this subject has a great description 141 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: of John Slack. They say that he is the listless, 142 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: taciturn foil to the voluble and cunning Arnold. Slack was 143 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: a cousin of Arnold's and he was also a veteran 144 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: for the Mexican War. He had gone chasing Golden forty nine, 145 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: but he was going to be the kind of the 146 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: assistant to Arnold in there too and con because you see, 147 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: they decided to commit hoax. They saw everybody in San 148 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: Francisco in the area going mad with greed and speculation 149 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: because of the gold rush. Like the gold rush literally 150 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: did make some people's fortunes, right, because you even had 151 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: like the Comstock load in Nevada, which was this massive, 152 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: massive pocket of silver underneath this mountain peak that was 153 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: just churning out silver just by the boatload, right, And 154 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: it really contributed to this speculation gone wild kind of 155 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: mentality because you did have some people that were absolutely 156 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: getting rich overnight. If you've ever seen the TV series Deadwood, 157 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: you get a sense of that. Um there's a few 158 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: characters that strike it rich and I think one of 159 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 1: them Ellsworth. You know, he goes from kind of being 160 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: just sort of this like pretty working class, kind of 161 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,079 Speaker 1: like ruffian around town to essentially having to figure out 162 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: what it means to be like a gentleman and uh 163 00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: and all that stuff. And it's actually pretty funny the 164 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: way they portray He's a great character. Um, but yeah, 165 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: you kind of see it from the ground up there, 166 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: and that was very real, Yeah it was. And people 167 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: were so convinced that they would be able to take 168 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: advantage of this bubble like any other bubble, like that 169 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: thing with the tulips over in Europe, like uh, Beanie 170 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: babies podcasts, my podcast. Oh it hurts you wound me, 171 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: but I don't think you're too far wrong, like any bubble. 172 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: People were convinced that, you know, uh, these other folks 173 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: might be rubes, but I'm the smart guy, you know, 174 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,599 Speaker 1: I'm the captain smarty pants who was gonna it was 175 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: gonna profit here. And that led to a situation where 176 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: some of these businessmen in San Francisco, where shall we say, 177 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: over confidence and you know, people would pitch them these 178 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,079 Speaker 1: wild ideas and as soon as they heard the m 179 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: word mining. Then they were on board. They would be like, 180 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: shut up, shut your pie hole. I've heard enough to 181 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:57,199 Speaker 1: take my money. Take my money, don't care where where, where, 182 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: where where, even in South Africa. It's fine. Give it 183 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: to me, take it to to one of those places 184 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: you just described, and then come back with gems. And 185 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: so here's how they instituted their scam. So Slack and 186 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: Arnold kind of dressed up as prospectors, you know, like 187 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: I'm rough. They've been sleeping, uh in like a situation 188 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: that Tom Waits was sleeping in that excellent what was 189 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: that Netflix film? Oh buster scrugs, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tom 190 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: Waits as the old prospector was I think the best 191 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: one in that anthology series. I really liked that moment 192 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: where James Franco asked the guy if it's his first 193 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,079 Speaker 1: time being hanged? Also great, there were a lot of 194 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: greater I just thought that Tom Waits one was really moving. 195 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: So picture Tom Waits and then film that's what they 196 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: look like when they go to, uh, the office of 197 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: a businessman named George Roberts, and their clutching a leather satchel. 198 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: So uh, they announced this businessman George Roberts that this 199 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: buckskin pouch they're carrying was full of pretty valuable loot 200 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: and they were hoping to deposit it in a bank 201 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,319 Speaker 1: if it if it wasn't so late. So instead they 202 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: decided to you know, they saw this place. This guy 203 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: was around, I guess, you know, closing up or like 204 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: doing some book work or whatever, and they were hoping 205 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: that he helped them out because it was you know, oh, 206 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: there's rough diamonds in your Oops, i've said too much, 207 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: said too much, good sir. Yeah, that's exactly how it works, right, 208 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: You get you hook people with that because you make 209 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: them feel like you've now entered into a bond of 210 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: privileged information or trust. So the way Arnold recalls this 211 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: was that the businessman Roberts was pretty impressed by this 212 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: discovery and he said, Okay, you guys, you can trust me. 213 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: I will keep your secret. You go explore this area 214 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: further and fig route what we're working with here. And 215 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: then Arnold knew that the best way to get this 216 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: word to spread was to get this businessman they didn't 217 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: know from mccanna paint to promise that he would be 218 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: quiet about it. Apparently, Roberts was cartoonishly bad at keeping 219 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: his promise. As soon as the guys were done, I mean, 220 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: thank god he didn't have a cell phone. As soon 221 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: as the guys twitter account right, right, Roberts is riding 222 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: around town. He finds one of the most important businessmen 223 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: in San Francisco, guy named William Ralston, who also owns 224 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,319 Speaker 1: the Bank of California. And you could kind of picture 225 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: Robert's motivation, right, He's trying to get a big He's 226 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: trying to curry some favor, you know, and he wants 227 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: a piece of the diamond pie. Uh. Ralston gets worried 228 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 1: of this, and you know, you can picture the like 229 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: Morse code montage going on here with dits and dashes 230 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: and dots. Uh. And he sends a telegram to another businessman. 231 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: He knows. This guy has the best name you're talking about, 232 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: Ashbury Harpending. Yes, he's described multiple times as somewhat shady. Yeah, 233 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know, but with it with a 234 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: name like that, you've got the air of respectability about you, 235 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,199 Speaker 1: so you're allowed to kind of, you know, have some 236 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: secret shady dealings. Who. Yeah, he had actually been accused 237 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: of high treason though, um eight years prior to that. 238 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: When he attempted to sail out of San Francisco Bay 239 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: with a ship that he was going to use as 240 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: a Confederate raider um along the coast of California. Pretty weird, right, Yeah, 241 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: what does that even mean? Ben? What do you mean 242 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: he was gonna go a raiding, a rapin and a 243 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: pilage in. Yeah, it's like pillage ade harrying the Union 244 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: forces on the West coast. I guess was his idea 245 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: or yeah, you know, he clearly he hadn't thought it 246 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: through all the way. But we we want to show 247 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: you how the web is spreading the web of this misinformation. 248 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: While this is happening concurrently, Arnold and Slack are returning 249 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: to Roberts and they say, okay, we wanted to keep 250 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: our word. We want to update you. We're pretty excited 251 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: by what we found. Yeah. Yeah, they came back with 252 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: more loot. Yeah they they you know, valued off the 253 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: top of their heads at about six hundred thousand dollars, 254 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: which is just that is an absolute fortune in those days. Right. Yeah, 255 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: let's do an inflation calculator just to give you a 256 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: sense of how much money that was. Drumroll, please, six 257 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars in eighteen seventy was equal to about 258 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: eleven point eight million dollars today. So they walked up 259 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: to this guy and they said, hey, you seem cool, 260 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: thanks for keeping our secret. We have come back with 261 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: like almost twelve million dollar is worth of gems and 262 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: that's just the sixty pounds we could carry. Yeah, that's right, um. 263 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: And so they were kind of trying to just pull 264 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: him in deeper, and they could see those dollar signs 265 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: in his eyes just starting to flash like something like 266 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: a cartoon character. And so Robert's bit completely, he totally 267 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: took debit and started pulling in other businessmen, um, saying, look, 268 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: this is really real. Now. These guys are like they've 269 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: got a spot they're going to and bringing me these 270 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: diamonds from. We gotta figure out where it is, right yeah, yeah, 271 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: and yeah the jewels authenticated as well. So these were 272 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: not like fake jewels. I mean, this was they were 273 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: They were sort of I guess what you consider low 274 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: quality diamonds, right right, right, they were diamonds. Yeah, they 275 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: were definitely diamonds. That's the thing that we're real diamonds. 276 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: And they had had a jeweler say that and confirm it. 277 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: But remember we said these businessmen were overconfident. One common 278 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: thing about all great cons, all great scams, is that 279 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: they depend upon the human failings of people, in this case, 280 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: greed and over confidence. Because Roberts goes back to the 281 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: guy Ralston who owns the Bank of California, goes back 282 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: to that shady would be Confederate sailor Harpenden. And then 283 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: they also get to San Francisco miners who have already 284 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: made it. Two entrepreneurs named William Lent and a guy 285 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: named General George S. Dodge, and together these five men say, look, 286 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: we know the deal. Let's take these two yokels, these 287 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: two dumb dumbs from Kentucky, and let's buy them out. 288 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: Let's cut them out of the picture, and let's make 289 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:44,120 Speaker 1: some serious scratch. And so they say, Okay, the easiest 290 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 1: way to do this is we'll buy out their interests 291 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: or their their right to mind in this land, yeah 292 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: wherever that might be right, Because they still didn't know, 293 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: and honestly, I mean, that's what they're that's what they're 294 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: angling for too. It's like they're willing to go out 295 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: of pocket on good faith, just in the hopes that 296 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: that will you know, be led to this magical trope 297 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: because they're picturing a like comstock load, but the diamond version, 298 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: you know, like they can just constantly pull precious stones 299 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: from the earth and be uh just gazillionaires. Yeah. Yeah, 300 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: and they know how to tease the money out. So 301 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: the five big shots go to the prospectors and they say, 302 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: all right, hey, we're gonna we just want to buy 303 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: your share. And then at first the prospectors say, uh, 304 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: you know, I need to think about it. I don't 305 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: I don't feel too too good about making a decision 306 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: right now. So they turn up the pressure and they 307 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: start offering them more money, and eventually Slack, who is 308 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: kind of the at least the less outgoing of the two, says, uh, 309 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: you know, I will, I'll sell, but I'll solve for 310 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars. Yeah, fifty now and fifty after 311 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: we come back and bring you a third haul, right 312 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: from from this secret mind. Um oh. Once he gets 313 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: the first half of the hundred grand, he and his 314 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: buddy head back off to England to take that money 315 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: and buy more uncut gems. Right. Uh. And this is 316 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: July of eighteen seventy one. They're using fake names. Uh, 317 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: they didn't deviate too far, at least Arnold didn't. Arnold 318 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: became on doll and Uh Slack used his middle name, 319 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: which was bircham Um. They bought twenty grand worth of 320 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: rough diamonds and rubies, spent many thousands of dollars on 321 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: other diamonds and rubies. Um all told. They had several 322 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: thousand stones that they were bringing back because they had 323 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: to have that wow factor. You know, this is the 324 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 1: third the third haul. They needed to show that this 325 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: was a producing mine and that it was worth what 326 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 1: they were being paid for it to keep the Cohn alive, right, 327 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: exactly exactly, So there's still thirty grand up right, thirty 328 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: more than they had. And there's a there's an interesting 329 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: thing that the guy in London they buy the diamonds 330 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 1: from is a man named lee A Pold Keller. Leopold 331 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: remembers thinking there was something weird about this, because he says, 332 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: I asked them where they were going to have the 333 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: diamonds cut, and they don't say anything, because of course 334 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: they have no plan to cut these. They want to 335 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: come up with another bag of loose stones and show 336 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: these Uh, businessmen in San Francisco that they have. They 337 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: just keep finding stuff. So they get back there it's 338 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: seventy one and they say, look, we'll make one more 339 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: trip to the diamond field. Will come back with a 340 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,199 Speaker 1: couple of million dollars worth of stones, and then you 341 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: can hold that as a guarantee on your investment. So 342 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: they left and instead of mining the fields, they apparently 343 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: a salted them. And then that guy Harpending, who in 344 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: my mind is always the would be Confederate, Right, Harpending 345 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: meets their train in the town called Lathrop, California, which 346 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,199 Speaker 1: is east of San Francisco. And he had as a 347 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: description of them when he sees them, right, he sure does. 348 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: He referred to them as both travel stained and weather beaten, 349 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: not the most flattering of descriptions. Um, and he referred 350 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: to their general appearance having gone through much hardship and privation. 351 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: Good good, good turns of phrase. There. Uh Slack was 352 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: sleeping at the time, um and Arnold was awake, and 353 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: he was sort of keeping watch almost right. He had 354 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: like his rifle, UM and that same buckskin satchel. Right, yep, 355 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: that's correct. And they say, you know, they look like 356 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: they've been mining and sleeping rough and they say, we 357 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 1: have found this spot, and we do have that two 358 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 1: million dollars worth of diamonds we talked about. We divided 359 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: it into two packs. But here's the thing. We're crossing 360 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: the river. We built a raft, but we're miners, were 361 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 1: not boat rights shipwrights, and so we lost one in 362 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: the packs. I know it's bummer, so we just have 363 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: this one pack. Uh, that's probably around a million. And 364 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: then they hand this package to Harpending and he gives 365 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: them a receipt for it, which is weird, but I 366 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: guess that's kind of like their deposit totally. So he 367 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: gives them the receipt and then he takes it into 368 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: a ferry and he goes back across the bay to 369 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: San Francisco. There's actually a memoir called The Great Diamond 370 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: Hoax and Other Stirring Incidents in the Life of Ashbury Harpending. 371 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: That is Harpending's memoir. It's a great, convolutedly long title. 372 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: I love it. Here's an exerpt from that. We're gonna 373 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 1: read um entirely. UM arrived at San Francisco. My carriage 374 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: was waiting and drove me swiftly to my home where 375 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,439 Speaker 1: the other investors were waiting. This is when they were 376 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: waiting for proof. We did not waste time on ceremonies. 377 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: A sheet I don't know, he's not British, but whatever, 378 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: a sheet was spread on my billiard table. I cut 379 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: the elaborate fastenings of the sack, and holding the lower corners, 380 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: dumped the contents. It seemed like a death many colored 381 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: cataractive lights. Yeah, it's impressive, right, and they say, wow, 382 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,640 Speaker 1: this looks great. This is literally a sack of precious gems. 383 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: But despite their very high opinions of their own intelligence, 384 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: they were not complete jabrones. They said, Okay, before we 385 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: get any deeper in this, we're gonna take a little 386 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: bit of a little bit of the loot, random sampling, 387 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: right exactly, let's say about ten percent of it, and 388 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: we're gonna carry it to uh, some jewelers. Actually, let's 389 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: find Charles Lewis Tiffany over in New York City, the 390 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: famous one from the salsa commercials, and uh, let's have 391 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: him a praise this random sample from this bag. And 392 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: then let's also hire a mining engineer, an actual expert, 393 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: to check out this diamond field. Let's also let some 394 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: of these stones be on display in a local San 395 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: Francisco jewelers store, and you know, kind of kind of 396 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: stoked the fires, what the appetite, uh, you know, make 397 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: the city start to desire diamonds. Yeah, So in October 398 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,360 Speaker 1: of eights e anyone they met at this gentleman's house, 399 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: but them of Barlow was The address was twenty three 400 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: Street and Madison Avenue for this appraisal. And so Harpending 401 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: presents the diamonds and Tiffany took a look, likely through 402 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: his jeweler's loop. Um, and he was kind of storing 403 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: them into different piles. We had the sapphires, the emeralds, 404 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: the rubies, and of course the diamonds. Uh. He was 405 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: described as having viewed them gravely in Harpending's memoir and 406 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: he really gave them a serious looking over, it, didn't he? Yeah, 407 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: and uh, he got it wrong. Here's the Yeah, he 408 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: does the inspection and he says, jan driben abiond question 409 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: precious stone drivinrm's value. And he can't tell them how 410 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: much these are worth exactly until he has you know, 411 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: some of his boys take a look. And so two 412 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: days later he comes back and he says that these 413 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: this sample of stones, just the ones he looked at, 414 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: were worth a hundred and fifty grand Harpingdean does a 415 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 1: little math and he says, well, that sack they told 416 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 1: me was worth about a million dollars must actually be 417 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: worth one point five million. Here's where the scam gets 418 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 1: really interesting, because it starts like they are really benefiting 419 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: from some kind of random occurrences, like the best jeweler 420 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: in the world essentially are like one of the most 421 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: well known, well regarded jewelers totally borks it, you know, 422 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: and just just really like makes the wrong call. That 423 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: is something that that are are huckster boys could not 424 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 1: have predicted, right, and that would have been a sign 425 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: for a smart scams to to get out, you know, uh, 426 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: light out for the territories as Mark Twain. Which but 427 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: instead of course that they let it ride. And they 428 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: let it ride, so they knew that they lucked out. 429 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,400 Speaker 1: They were they were beside themselves with joy and they 430 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: were flushed with they were flushed with good fortune. But 431 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: let's for us not forget they the investors still have 432 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: not seen this miraculous you know diamond field, right, right, 433 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: So at some point they are going to have to 434 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,880 Speaker 1: see this field before they give them any more money. 435 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: So Arnold goes back to England, presumably under a pseudonym. 436 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: He buys more uncut gems, and then he and Slack 437 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: go to a little piece of nowhere on the border 438 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: of Colorado and Wyoming and they literally sprinkle these gems 439 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 1: that they bought just kind of on the ground. Realized 440 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: that's not how diamond mining works. Don't you have to 441 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,159 Speaker 1: like hack it out of like a rock wall. You know. 442 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: I guess they were like the closest they got to 443 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: actually mining was maybe an East drag hunt. Yeah, that's wild. 444 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 1: Just sprinkling it in the dirt, that's fantastic. Um. Yeah, 445 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: So they take him to this this is in Wyoming, 446 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: by the way, and um they bring the investors there finally, 447 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: you know, it long last. It takes four days to 448 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: get there on horseback. Uh. They even go so far 449 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,679 Speaker 1: as pretend that they're lost and make it real to 450 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 1: do to get here. You know, these guys are gonna 451 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: be like exhausted and annoyed by the time they get there, 452 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: So maybe they'll be a little distracted, I'm thinking, is 453 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: what their calculus was yeah, yeah, exactly. And more importantly, 454 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: they won't have an accurate memory of the true path 455 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: to this, this legendary diamond mine. So Harpending again, we're 456 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 1: using his memoir as a source here. Harpending notes that 457 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: eventually people got tired of it. They were kind of 458 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: sick of being in the saddle. They were crossed. They 459 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: started arguing with each other, and then finally on the 460 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: afternoon of June seventy two, they reach the Mesa and 461 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: they start looking for diamonds. Apparently Arnold was very much 462 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: like an adult at one of those Easter egg things, 463 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 1: and he was, you know, giving them hints. He's like, 464 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe maybe maybe go by that rock. WHOA, 465 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: look at you. Who's my big boy, it's you, Mr 466 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: Harbin Harbender, Harpender, Harpender. I like like, I like thinking 467 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,920 Speaker 1: of it as being at War two where it's harp 468 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: and Ender Um. So yeah, they were pretty pleased. They 469 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,440 Speaker 1: I guess we're not fully aware of how the mechanics. 470 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess you can't find in the way 471 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: you find gold in a stream. Maybe you can find 472 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: little diamonds and the dirt, and I don't know about that. 473 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: That seems wrong. I mean, people luck out all the time. Yeah, 474 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: that's true, that's true. I guess some could have gotten 475 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: knocked loose or whatever through erosion or something. Yeah, But 476 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: I I maintain, though, I think you're right. The majority 477 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: of diamonds, because of the enormous pressure they have to 478 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: be under to transform from coal, enormity of diamonds are 479 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: probably on your ground. That's why they're called diamond minds, right, 480 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: not diamond fields. Yeah, it's like a diamond sandbox at 481 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: this point, which work into it at all um So 482 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: at this point they're relatively satisfied. Uh, they found he said, 483 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: you know Harpening. Harpening wrote in his memoir it was 484 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: a diamond fast enough. Any fool could see that much. 485 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: Then we began to have all kinds of luck. For 486 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: more than an hour, diamonds were being found in profusion, 487 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: together with occasional rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. Why a few 488 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: pearls were whoa see? Why a few pearls weren't thrown 489 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 1: in for good luck? I have never yet been able 490 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: to tell. Probably it wasn't oversight. That's cute. I thought, 491 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: for a minute, I thought we were going to get 492 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: some pearls now. No, but everybody gets convinced, even people 493 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: you should know better. Jan And the mining engineer, was 494 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: paid at two thousand, five hundred dollar feet, and he 495 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: had also been guaranteed the right should he choose to 496 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,479 Speaker 1: purchase one thousand shares of stock in this new diamond 497 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: venture at ten dollars a share, and Harpending later notes 498 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: he was wildly enthusiastic. You know, you can only watch 499 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: so many people just pick gems up off of the 500 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: ground before you think you have a good a good 501 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: shot at getting some of yourself. And he said to himself, 502 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: you know, based on my experience as a mining engineer, 503 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: the surrounding land has a pretty good chance of having 504 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: gems as well. So he stakes out three thousand acres, 505 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: even though the area where Slack and Arnold were perpetrating 506 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: their hopes was only an acre itself. He buys three 507 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: thousand acres around it, and then he says, these one 508 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: thousand shares of stock or easily worth forty dollars each, 509 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: and then he later sells his shares at that price, 510 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: so he makes in addition to his engineering fee, he 511 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: makes thirty thousand dollars and he is the only So 512 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: now people who are not the con artists are making 513 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: money off of the con. That's how lucky these hoaxters were. 514 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: This guy had nothing to do with it. He fell 515 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: for it, hook line and sinker, and he still made 516 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: thirty grand. Unbelievable. Yeah, you got to appreciate the hutzpah 517 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: of these two fellows, and just that they were able 518 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: to kind of like Bob and weave and go with 519 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: the flow to keep it going, you know. And so 520 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: everybody else finishes up their Easter egg hunt and they say, okay, 521 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: we gotta leave some people behind the guard the site. 522 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: They leave one of the con artists, Slack. They need 523 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: to leave another fellow Rubery and they're supposed to guard 524 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: the site, but they don't get along with each other, 525 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: so in a couple of days they Scedattle as well. 526 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: We never learned what happened to Slack. He disappears from 527 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 1: the historical record, but his family legacy carried on when 528 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: they invented a very popular messaging system. Yeah, yeah, it's true. 529 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: That is a direct result of the Diamond hoax of 530 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two. Way, who whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, whoa, 531 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: I know what's happening. Yes, I know what's happening. Here 532 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: are you feeling it? I think the listeners are probably 533 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: feeling it. Yeah, where there's no way we're going to 534 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: get this done in one episode. Yeah, we probably could, 535 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: since podcast is a is sort of a time you know, 536 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: there's no time restrictions on podcast. It's all we impose 537 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: upon it ourselves. Yeah. But like Dan Carlin Hardcore History, 538 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: which is a fantastic show that guy goes on for 539 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: like hours, that's a good point. You gotta you gotta 540 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: have standards, You gotta set boundaries, and by golly, we're 541 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: gonna do that today by making this one another two parter. 542 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: Please don't be upset. Um, we wanted to take President's 543 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: day off. Is that that? Come on? You can't hold 544 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 1: that against well. Also, we wanted to tell the whole story, 545 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: and I'm sorry it's mainly about that. It would be 546 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: it would be an hour plus long episode. But we 547 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: want to thank you so much as always for tuning in. 548 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 1: This concludes part one of the Great die In Hoax 549 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: of eighteen seventy two. Stay tuned for part two. Uh. 550 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: In the meantime, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. 551 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: We especially recommend Ridiculous Historians, where you can meet our 552 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: favorite part of the show, your fellow listeners. You know, Ben, 553 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: I would say anything with great in the title deserves 554 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: the two partner. There we go. Yeah, huge, Thanks to 555 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram, super producer, Exhordan Are, Alex Williams who composed 556 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: our theme, Christopher Haciotis, Jonathan Strickland, everyone, God, Bill Murray. 557 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 1: Um Uh tupac tupac was cool. Uh, let's see, I'm 558 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: thinking fran Dresser, you love friend Dresser. I've yeah, oh 559 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: man doing a new thing. I heard one time years 560 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: ago she uh, she tried to pay for dinner at 561 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: a fancy restaurant with autograph pictures of herself. I don't 562 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: think that currency holds up. I don't know. Man. If 563 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: I had been working at the restaurant, I would have 564 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: been like, thank you, this is amazing. What's the conversion 565 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: rate of fran Dresser autograph pick to dollar? I'd what 566 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: what price can you put on joy? Really is what? Uh? No, 567 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,959 Speaker 1: Uh they do have an I think she has a 568 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: new show out. But yeah, thanks you friend Drescher. We 569 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: squashed the beef with Cheryl Crowe, So thank you to you, 570 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: Mrs Crowe. Uh. Leonard Nimoy, he's cool. I'm just naming people. 571 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,400 Speaker 1: The Golden Girls Leonard Leonard Cohen, great one. Yeah uh. 572 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: And thanks to you, Noel Hey. Thanks to you Bett. 573 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:33,880 Speaker 1: We'll see you next time, folks. For more podcasts for 574 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,759 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 575 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows