Approx 65 minutes. In December of 1849 a group of optimistic and determined pioneers set out from the settlement at Salt Lake, Utah on their way to California. Most were gold-seekers, some Mormon missionaries, others simply looking for a better life, but all seemed impatient. When some of them took a shortcut it got them "into the jaws of hell" as was predicted, leading them directly into the place they named "Death Valley." Most escaped with just the clothes on their back, leaving behind a trail of animal bones, wagon remains and all their earthly possessions.

In December of 1998 an expedition set out to retrace the route of those lost pioneers. In a cave along the trail the team made an astounding discovery: a trunk containing valuables and a letter from one of the 1849 pioneers! For days, national and international media were drawn to this Death Valley discovery. It was one of the most extraordinary western artifacts ever found... or was it?