1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: Salem has a long and notorious past with witches. The 7 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: infamous Salem Witch Trials saw hundreds of innocent people, including 8 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: children as young as four, accused of cavorting with the 9 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: forces of darkness, and contrary to popular belief, they were 10 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: not burned at the stake. Rather, they were hanged for 11 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,639 Speaker 1: their alleged crimes. Despite their novelty over the past three 12 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty years, the Salem Witch Trials only lasted 13 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: for one year between sixteen ninety two and sixteen ninety three, 14 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: or did they Some time later, a panic gripped the 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: Salem area. According to the newspapers, this small American town 16 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: had become ground zero for a new threat. The devil 17 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: had come to Salem, and a warlock was responsible. A 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: local farmer named Jacob Culp suddenly found himself mired in controversy. 19 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: Jacob had come to America from Germany, and he was 20 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: described by the press as a quiet, unpretentious individual. His 21 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: mother had recently passed away, and Jacob was at her 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: funeral when he noticed his relatives were acting strange. He 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: tried asking them what was wrong, but every person he 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: spoke to simply turned away without a word. They could 25 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: barely stand to look at him. Several days later, he 26 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: spoke to a reverend at his local church about why 27 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: his family had been shutting him out. At first, the 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,639 Speaker 1: reverend refused to say anything, but eventually he let Jacob 29 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: know what was going on. His relatives had accused him 30 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: of being a wizard, but this farmer wasn't a to 31 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: hop a train to a magic school inside a castle. Instead, 32 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: he would be subjected to a battery of questions and examinations. 33 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: Thanks to Sadie and Fanny Loup, his sisters in law, 34 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: their mother, Lydia, had fallen ill. The doctors couldn't make 35 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: heads or tails of her condition, and none of their 36 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: treatments were working, so her daughters sent for doctor Peter Burns, 37 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: a local physician known as the pow Wow Doctor. He 38 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: examined Lydia and told the girls that a close relative 39 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,519 Speaker 1: had bewitched her. He recommended that they get a second 40 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: opinion from another doctor, a guy named Andrew hoff. Hoff 41 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: was a seventy seven year old physician who confirmed Burne's 42 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: diagnosis Jacob had been perverted by an evil power. He 43 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: advised the family not to look the man in the 44 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,079 Speaker 1: eyes or get too close to him. Doctor's orders, lest 45 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: they wanted to find themselves under his spell. Within a year, 46 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: hoff promised that he would expel the devil from the 47 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: farmer's body. So why had Sadie and Fanny accused their 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: brother in law in the first place? While the answer 49 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: there is a bit of complicated family life. Jacob had 50 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: been married to Sadie's aunt Hannah until her untimely death. 51 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,119 Speaker 1: After she was gone, he wed her niece, Hattie, who 52 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: happened to be Sadie's sister. Apparently, Sadie had given birth 53 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: to a son out of wedlock several years prior, and 54 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: it was believed that Jacob was the father of that child, 55 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: but no one could prove it. On top of all 56 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: of that, Jacob had done well for himself in business, 57 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: much more so than the rest of the family, and 58 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: they resented his success, so the Loop sisters and their 59 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: husbands accused him of hypnotizing his neighbors in order to 60 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: steal from them and to make matters worse. They also 61 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: claimed that he had performed black magic on animals. Soon 62 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: after the accusation started to fly, Lydia Loop passed away, 63 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: and her daughters took their claims to the church. They 64 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: presented their case to Homer B. Shelton, their class leader, 65 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: as well as others in the congregation, and the church 66 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: did what it always did with accusations of witchcraft in 67 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: the community. They put the accusers on trial instead. That's right. 68 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: Rather than put mister Culp on trial for being a 69 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: wizard or a warlock, the Heart's Methodist Episcopal Church turned 70 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: the tables on the Loops for their greedy and immoral 71 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: attempts to discredit an honorable man. Sadie, Fanny, and the 72 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: rest of the family were all expelled from the church 73 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: the following January, while Jacob Culp was found innocent of 74 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: all charges, a surprising turn of events given Salem's history 75 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: with accusations of witchcraft, But this situation was different for 76 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: a few reasons. You see the witch trials of Salem, 77 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: Massachusetts did end in sixteen ninety three, but this particular 78 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: trial occurred in eighteen ninety four in Salem, Ohio. In 79 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: southern New Mexico, in the Embryo Basin, there is a 80 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: small mountain only about five five hundred feet high. It's 81 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: called Vitorio Peak, and looking at it, you might not 82 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: think it's much It's made up mostly of rocks, sagebrush, 83 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: and rattlesnakes. But Milton Ernest Noss, better known as Doc, 84 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: had found a lot more than just a bunch of 85 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: rocks and dirt. He'd come from Oklahoma to seek adventure 86 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: in the open Southwest, marrying a woman named Ova Babe 87 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: Beckworth in nineteen thirty three, before planting his feet in 88 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: Hot Springs, New Mexico for good four years later. In 89 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: November of nineteen thirty seven, Doc was on a hunting 90 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: trip with his wife and a few friends. Now accounts 91 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: differed depending on who was telling the story, but one 92 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: version claims that as the group set up camp at 93 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,359 Speaker 1: the base of Victoria Peak, Doc set out on his 94 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: own to continue the hunt. He hiked up the mountain 95 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: in search of deer until the skies suddenly opened and 96 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: it started to rain, so he sought out refuge beneath 97 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: a large ledge near the top of the peak, and 98 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: as he waited for the weather to change, he looked 99 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: down at his feet. There was a large rock, one 100 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: that appeared to have been touched by human hands. So 101 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: he crouched down and he tried to move it, but 102 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: it was too heavy, so instead he duck around it 103 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: until he was able to get his fingers underneath. Then 104 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: he heaved it out of the way. It had been 105 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: blocking a hole in the ground, one that seemed to 106 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: go on forever. Doc looked inside and saw what he 107 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: felt was a mine shaft, so when the rain stopped, 108 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: he ran back to his wife to tell her what 109 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: he had found. They didn't share their news with the 110 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: rest of the group, though. Instead he and Babe came 111 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: back a few days later alone to explore the shaft. 112 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: Armed with ropes and flashlights, they repelled down roughly sixty 113 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: feet until they found themselves in a small ante chamber. 114 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 1: The walls of the room were covered in drawings, perhaps 115 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: painted by a local Native American tribe long ago, and 116 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: there was another narrow shaft that kept going down into 117 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: the mountain. By the time they'd reached the end. They 118 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: had descended another one hundred and eighty six feet. The 119 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: pair entered a massive cave about two thy seven hundred 120 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: feet long, where Doc immediately noticed a human skeleton. Considering 121 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: the tunnel was man made, perhaps one of the workers 122 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: had died during the dig, Except the skeleton was on 123 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: its knees and had been tied to a stake in 124 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: the ground, and its hands were tied behind its back. 125 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: And it wasn't the only one. In total, there were 126 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: twenty seven human skeletons in the Victorio Peak, well, twenty 127 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: seven the Doc Noss had found at least He and 128 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: his wife, though, pressed on deeper into the cavern, and 129 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: those skeletons gave way to treasure, gold, coins, jewelry, statues, 130 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: and historical objects, including a solid gold statue of the 131 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: Virgin Mary. There was also a pile of letters dated 132 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: as recently as eighteen eighty. But Victorio Peak still had 133 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: more to offer, because beyond that treasure room there were 134 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: stacks of iron bars, thousands of them. Well that's what 135 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: Doc thought at first. Each bar weighed as much as 136 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: forty pounds, and after careful inspection, it was Babe who 137 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: realized that they weren't iron at all. They were gold. 138 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: Thousands of bars of gold, just sitting in the middle 139 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: of a mountain in New Mexico. Who had put them there? 140 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: And why was going to wait around to find out? 141 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: He started filling his pockets with whatever he could carry 142 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: and climb back out to the surface with Ova. Together 143 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,119 Speaker 1: they set up camp near the entrance to the cave 144 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: and spent the next few years hauling out bars of gold, jewelry, 145 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: and anything else they could get their hands on. But 146 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: the story doesn't end there. In nineteen thirty nine, Doc 147 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: tried to make a wider opening to get the treasure 148 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: out more easily. Instead, he accidentally caused a cave in 149 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: and blocked off all access for good. He worked for 150 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: nine long years to sell those two hundred gold bars 151 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: that he and Babe had managed to smuggle out, but 152 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 1: had no luck, not until he met a man named 153 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: Charlie Ryan in nineteen forty eight. Ryan agreed to buy 154 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: fifty one of those bars. But there was something about 155 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: this Ryan guy that rubbed Doc the wrong way. So 156 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: rather than sell the gold, Noss and a buddy buried 157 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: it in a new hiding spot instead. Well, Ryan didn't 158 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: like being given the run around, so he confronted Doc 159 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: the next day with a gun. Noss tried to get away, 160 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: but he couldn't outrun a bullet. Ryan shot and killed 161 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: him where he stood. Babe and her children worked for 162 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: the next three years to try and clear out the 163 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: rocks blocking the entrance to the cave, but they were 164 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: only twelve yards from the main cavern when their efforts 165 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: were halted. The US Army had commandeered the land around 166 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: Victorio Peak for missile testing and kicked Babe and the 167 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: nos family out for good. Of course, rumors of the 168 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: treasure started floating around among the troops and they decided 169 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: to finish what the Nosses had started. Pretty soon, the 170 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: soldiers struck gold, literally, but rather than let them keep 171 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: it for themselves, the army set off dynamite to block 172 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: access to the treasure permanently. Since then, others, including Babe Noss, 173 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: have tried to find their way back into the cave 174 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: to claim the rest of the treasure, but to no avail. 175 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: As far as the rumors and legends will tell us, 176 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: that treasure is still there today waiting to be found. 177 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: Maybe Nicholas Cage is available to take on the job. 178 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: Hop If you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 179 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: of Curiosities, subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 180 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 181 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 182 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 183 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 184 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 185 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.