1 00:00:03,712 --> 00:00:09,262 Tonight, a famed ancient city overflowing with gold. 2 00:00:09,843 --> 00:00:11,263 MARTIN PEPPER: The legend of El Dorado takes hold 3 00:00:11,386 --> 00:00:13,506 amongst the Spanish, and people start 4 00:00:13,597 --> 00:00:15,887 looking for it everywhere. 5 00:00:15,974 --> 00:00:18,234 For centuries, explorers seeking it 6 00:00:18,310 --> 00:00:21,230 find only disappointment or death. 7 00:00:21,355 --> 00:00:23,025 AMORY SIVERTSON: It’s less a quest for gold 8 00:00:23,106 --> 00:00:25,816 and more a fight for survival. 9 00:00:25,901 --> 00:00:27,991 Now we reveal the top theories 10 00:00:28,070 --> 00:00:31,780 surrounding this legendary lost city. 11 00:00:31,907 --> 00:00:33,947 MARTIN: Pictures from space show what appears 12 00:00:34,076 --> 00:00:36,946 to be rivers of gold weaving through the area. 13 00:00:37,079 --> 00:00:39,909 There could be a lost golden city 14 00:00:39,998 --> 00:00:42,578 right there under the rainforest canopy. 15 00:00:42,709 --> 00:00:44,499 There’s not just one golden city. 16 00:00:44,586 --> 00:00:47,256 There’s multiple golden cities. 17 00:00:47,381 --> 00:00:52,931 Does El Dorado exist? And if so, where could it be? 18 00:00:53,053 --> 00:00:59,143 ♪ ♪ 19 00:01:06,608 --> 00:01:09,108 LAURENCE: March, 1537. 20 00:01:09,236 --> 00:01:12,946 For nearly 20 years, the Spanish have been on a mission 21 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:16,163 to conquer South America with their infamous 22 00:01:16,285 --> 00:01:18,755 army of conquistadors. 23 00:01:18,829 --> 00:01:21,119 As part of that mission, 24 00:01:21,248 --> 00:01:24,668 Chief Magistrate Gonzalo Jimenez De Quesada 25 00:01:24,793 --> 00:01:26,503 leads an expedition to find 26 00:01:26,628 --> 00:01:31,168 an overland route from present-day Colombia to Peru. 27 00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:35,720 De Quesada and his men have been tasked with finding a way 28 00:01:35,804 --> 00:01:40,104 around or over or through the Andes mountains, 29 00:01:40,183 --> 00:01:41,733 a long mountain range that has proven 30 00:01:41,810 --> 00:01:45,860 to be an obstacle to the Spanish conquistadors. 31 00:01:45,981 --> 00:01:47,941 It’s a brutal trek. 32 00:01:48,025 --> 00:01:51,575 There’s bad weather, it’s cold, there’s disease. 33 00:01:51,653 --> 00:01:54,203 The men are really ready to give up. 34 00:01:54,323 --> 00:01:57,083 But then De Quesada hears a rumor 35 00:01:57,159 --> 00:02:01,159 that causes him to completely change his mission. 36 00:02:01,288 --> 00:02:05,918 LAURENCE: The rumor, a city filled with gold. 37 00:02:06,001 --> 00:02:08,091 This is absolute music to De Quesada’s ears, 38 00:02:08,170 --> 00:02:10,590 because for Spanish conquistadors, 39 00:02:10,672 --> 00:02:12,472 nothing is more important than gold. 40 00:02:13,342 --> 00:02:15,472 For decades, the Spanish have been exploring 41 00:02:15,552 --> 00:02:18,602 Central and South America and conquering its peoples. 42 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,720 Along the way, they’ve sent back ships 43 00:02:20,849 --> 00:02:23,269 filled with tons of gold 44 00:02:23,352 --> 00:02:26,062 and stories of unbelievable wealth 45 00:02:26,188 --> 00:02:28,398 to be found in the Americas. 46 00:02:28,523 --> 00:02:32,443 Stories of what is waiting to still be found, 47 00:02:32,527 --> 00:02:35,567 unlimited resources, unlimited land, 48 00:02:35,697 --> 00:02:40,787 unlimited food and wealth were believed to be possible. 49 00:02:40,869 --> 00:02:43,539 The problem is, by the time De Quesada 50 00:02:43,622 --> 00:02:46,922 gets to South America, most of the easy to find 51 00:02:47,042 --> 00:02:49,542 stores of gold have already been plundered. 52 00:02:49,670 --> 00:02:52,760 Now he’s desperate to know, "Where is this 53 00:02:52,881 --> 00:02:55,091 so-called golden village?" 54 00:02:56,051 --> 00:02:59,721 LAURENCE: As De Quesada’s troops press further south, 55 00:02:59,805 --> 00:03:03,105 they encounter the indigenous Muisca people. 56 00:03:03,225 --> 00:03:06,235 The Muisca are as advanced as Aztec, 57 00:03:06,311 --> 00:03:09,731 Inca, or even the Maya, but they aren’t as warlike 58 00:03:09,815 --> 00:03:11,575 or even really as organized. 59 00:03:11,650 --> 00:03:14,900 MARTIN: They’re more like a loose confederation of tribes, 60 00:03:15,028 --> 00:03:16,988 but they’re known as skilled metal workers, 61 00:03:17,072 --> 00:03:19,282 and their metal of choice is gold. 62 00:03:19,408 --> 00:03:21,868 Gold has no monetary value for them. 63 00:03:21,952 --> 00:03:25,412 They use it because it’s soft and easy to work with. 64 00:03:25,497 --> 00:03:28,077 But it also has a spiritual significance for them 65 00:03:28,166 --> 00:03:32,836 because the Muisca’s god, Chiminigagua, is a sun god 66 00:03:32,921 --> 00:03:35,841 and gold shines like the sun. 67 00:03:35,924 --> 00:03:39,144 This suggested to Quesada that there was more 68 00:03:39,261 --> 00:03:42,971 where it came from, and he was gonna go find it. 69 00:03:43,098 --> 00:03:45,978 LAURENCE: De Quesada’s men quickly overpower the Muisca 70 00:03:46,101 --> 00:03:49,231 and interrogate them about where to find gold. 71 00:03:49,312 --> 00:03:53,862 The Muisca people describe a ritual to De Quesada 72 00:03:53,942 --> 00:03:57,202 in which a new leader is coronated, 73 00:03:57,279 --> 00:04:00,279 and the ritual entails this new leader. 74 00:04:00,365 --> 00:04:01,815 He will be called the Zipa. 75 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:05,410 He is covered in a sticky substance 76 00:04:05,495 --> 00:04:08,575 that then is covered with gold dust. 77 00:04:08,665 --> 00:04:11,575 Then they take him out to the middle of a sacred lake 78 00:04:11,668 --> 00:04:15,958 on a raft, and they put gold statues, figurines 79 00:04:16,047 --> 00:04:17,507 and jewels on the raft. 80 00:04:17,632 --> 00:04:19,722 And there are thousands of Muisca people 81 00:04:19,801 --> 00:04:22,301 standing on the banks, watching all of this. 82 00:04:23,305 --> 00:04:25,355 BUDDY LEVY: At which point, the chieftain immerses himself 83 00:04:25,474 --> 00:04:28,814 in the lake, cleansing himself of the gold dust, 84 00:04:28,935 --> 00:04:33,055 and the attendants throw trinkets and gold objects 85 00:04:33,148 --> 00:04:34,978 into the middle of the lake. 86 00:04:35,066 --> 00:04:36,686 Thousands of people are along the banks, 87 00:04:36,818 --> 00:04:39,238 also throwing gold themselves. 88 00:04:39,321 --> 00:04:42,571 And when that man emerges, he’s the new chief, 89 00:04:42,657 --> 00:04:47,697 the Zipa of the community, and he is known, importantly, 90 00:04:47,829 --> 00:04:50,829 as El Dorado, The Golden Man. 91 00:04:50,957 --> 00:04:52,627 ♪ ♪ 92 00:04:52,709 --> 00:04:54,539 Although it’s just the story of a man, De Quesada 93 00:04:54,669 --> 00:04:56,919 considers this to be something much bigger. 94 00:04:57,005 --> 00:04:59,005 He thinks of this man as a golden king 95 00:04:59,090 --> 00:05:01,180 who must live in a golden kingdom, 96 00:05:01,259 --> 00:05:03,589 and therefore all he has to do is find it. 97 00:05:03,678 --> 00:05:06,808 LAURENCE: Inspired by the story of the Muisca, 98 00:05:06,890 --> 00:05:10,100 De Quesada believes he’ll find the golden city 99 00:05:10,185 --> 00:05:12,815 on the shores of a nearby lake. 100 00:05:12,896 --> 00:05:15,936 ♪ ♪ 101 00:05:16,024 --> 00:05:19,034 The Spanish press on, and soon De Quesada comes 102 00:05:19,110 --> 00:05:22,910 upon a body of water called Lake Guatavita. 103 00:05:23,031 --> 00:05:29,001 Lake Guatavita is located about 35 miles northeast of Bogota. 104 00:05:29,079 --> 00:05:34,079 It’s a really beautiful, almost supernatural or eerie place. 105 00:05:34,209 --> 00:05:36,419 The lake is almost perfectly round. 106 00:05:36,545 --> 00:05:39,345 It’s surrounded by trees, it reflects the sky, 107 00:05:39,422 --> 00:05:41,972 it reflects the environment around it. 108 00:05:42,050 --> 00:05:43,970 There’s no obvious city on its shores, 109 00:05:44,052 --> 00:05:47,262 but De Quesada still thinks this is the place. 110 00:05:47,389 --> 00:05:50,519 He thinks this city must have either been abandoned 111 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,640 or perhaps it lies underwater. 112 00:05:54,771 --> 00:05:56,401 ALEXEI VRANICH: The Spanish think that all they need to do 113 00:05:56,523 --> 00:05:59,693 is get to the bottom of the lake and they can recover 114 00:05:59,776 --> 00:06:02,196 all these golden jewels that have been thrown in. 115 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:03,909 DR. LYNNE S. MCNEILL: De Quesada is here 116 00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:09,580 in the mid-1500s, so the technology to get underwater 117 00:06:09,661 --> 00:06:11,331 simply isn’t available. 118 00:06:11,413 --> 00:06:13,543 To get to the treasure, they assume 119 00:06:13,623 --> 00:06:16,003 they’re gonna have to drain the entire lake. 120 00:06:16,084 --> 00:06:19,004 It’s an insane amount of manual labor. 121 00:06:19,087 --> 00:06:22,667 But they have a captive workforce. 122 00:06:22,757 --> 00:06:25,967 Two conquistadors, Lazaro Fonte and De Quesada’s 123 00:06:26,094 --> 00:06:29,894 own brother, Hernan Perez de Quesada, 124 00:06:29,973 --> 00:06:32,063 come up with a plan. 125 00:06:32,142 --> 00:06:36,732 They are going to empty out this entire lake by hand. 126 00:06:36,813 --> 00:06:40,233 They essentially form this huge bucket chain. 127 00:06:40,317 --> 00:06:43,817 Using the brute force of these captured indigenous people, 128 00:06:43,945 --> 00:06:45,985 they’d spend months taking the water 129 00:06:46,114 --> 00:06:49,704 out of Lake Guatavita, one bucket at a time. 130 00:06:49,784 --> 00:06:52,374 LAURENCE: Progress is painfully slow. 131 00:06:52,454 --> 00:06:56,334 After three months, they haven’t come close to their goal. 132 00:06:56,458 --> 00:07:00,338 They manage to drop the water level about ten feet, 133 00:07:00,462 --> 00:07:03,672 and they do find some pieces of gold 134 00:07:03,798 --> 00:07:06,178 in the mud that they manage to expose. 135 00:07:06,301 --> 00:07:08,801 It’s not nothing, but it’s certainly 136 00:07:08,887 --> 00:07:10,597 no lavish city of gold. 137 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,390 Their bounty ends up being worth about $100,000 138 00:07:13,475 --> 00:07:16,195 in today’s money, certainly not a fortune. 139 00:07:17,479 --> 00:07:20,309 LAURENCE: Without the technology to explore any further, 140 00:07:20,398 --> 00:07:24,778 hundreds of years pass with no new discoveries. 141 00:07:25,195 --> 00:07:27,665 Then, in the late 1800s, 142 00:07:27,739 --> 00:07:31,279 a British entrepreneur is inspired to investigate. 143 00:07:31,368 --> 00:07:36,748 In 1898, Hartley Knowles hears about De Quesada’s efforts. 144 00:07:36,831 --> 00:07:39,791 He has started the company for the exploration 145 00:07:39,876 --> 00:07:43,746 of the lagoon at Guatavita, and he now is taking 146 00:07:43,838 --> 00:07:47,298 his turn at getting to that gold. 147 00:07:48,593 --> 00:07:50,933 What’s different now is that it’s the turn of the century, 148 00:07:51,012 --> 00:07:53,472 and Britain is an industrial powerhouse, 149 00:07:53,556 --> 00:07:56,056 so he has much better equipment at his disposal. 150 00:07:57,018 --> 00:07:59,308 They bring in a massive steam pump 151 00:07:59,396 --> 00:08:01,106 and earth-moving equipment 152 00:08:01,189 --> 00:08:03,819 to dig a huge tunnel under the middle of Guatavita, 153 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:05,690 and start to drain it. 154 00:08:05,777 --> 00:08:09,067 LAURENCE: After six years, the lake is finally emptied. 155 00:08:09,197 --> 00:08:13,407 But what remains is another problem. 156 00:08:13,535 --> 00:08:15,665 Hartley Knowles manages to get to the bottom of the lake. 157 00:08:15,745 --> 00:08:18,115 BUDDY LEVY: The problem is, when he gets to the bottom of it, 158 00:08:18,206 --> 00:08:20,746 there’s silt and mud and hard pan, 159 00:08:20,875 --> 00:08:24,455 and as it’s baked in the sun, it becomes like cement. 160 00:08:24,546 --> 00:08:27,256 And so they have to abandon the project. 161 00:08:27,382 --> 00:08:30,432 After spending all that time and money, 162 00:08:30,552 --> 00:08:32,552 Knowles and his company only end up finding 163 00:08:32,637 --> 00:08:36,097 about 30 to 40 golden artifacts in the mud. 164 00:08:36,224 --> 00:08:39,694 They’re auctioned off at Sotheby’s in London in 1909, 165 00:08:39,769 --> 00:08:45,229 and they’re sold for a whopping total of 500 British pounds. 166 00:08:45,358 --> 00:08:49,528 Unsurprisingly, the company goes bankrupt. 167 00:08:49,612 --> 00:08:54,912 By 1965, Lake Guatavita has been almost ruined, 168 00:08:54,993 --> 00:08:58,833 and the Colombian government has decided that it’s had enough. 169 00:08:59,914 --> 00:09:02,294 LAURENCE: The government bans any further exploration 170 00:09:02,417 --> 00:09:04,037 of Lake Guatavita, 171 00:09:04,127 --> 00:09:06,837 officially ending the quest for El Dorado here. 172 00:09:06,921 --> 00:09:10,841 But Lake Guatavita was not the only candidate 173 00:09:10,925 --> 00:09:14,925 for the location of El Dorado, not by a long shot. 174 00:09:18,933 --> 00:09:21,313 LAURENCE: When Spanish conquistador 175 00:09:21,436 --> 00:09:23,096 Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada 176 00:09:23,229 --> 00:09:26,269 spreads a rumor of a lost city of gold in 1537, 177 00:09:26,399 --> 00:09:30,359 others quickly expand the search far and wide. 178 00:09:30,445 --> 00:09:32,415 The legend of El Dorado starts to take hold 179 00:09:32,489 --> 00:09:34,409 amongst the Spanish, and so they look everywhere, 180 00:09:34,491 --> 00:09:36,161 all over South America. 181 00:09:36,284 --> 00:09:38,374 Many of these soldiers have come looking for gold, 182 00:09:38,453 --> 00:09:40,413 and they haven’t seen much of it yet. 183 00:09:40,497 --> 00:09:44,457 Among the inspired conquistadors is Gonzalo Pizarro. 184 00:09:44,584 --> 00:09:47,594 He’s the half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, 185 00:09:47,670 --> 00:09:49,710 the man who conquered the Inca Empire, 186 00:09:49,798 --> 00:09:52,798 and brought boatloads of gold back to Spain. 187 00:09:52,926 --> 00:09:54,966 Because of the strength of his last name, 188 00:09:55,095 --> 00:09:58,435 Pizarro has been made the vice governor in Quito, 189 00:09:58,515 --> 00:10:00,105 which is modern-day Ecuador. 190 00:10:00,183 --> 00:10:02,813 But he has bigger ambitions than just being 191 00:10:02,894 --> 00:10:04,104 the local vice governor. 192 00:10:05,563 --> 00:10:09,483 LAURENCE: In 1541, four years after De Quesada’s expedition, 193 00:10:09,609 --> 00:10:13,899 Pizarro sets out on his own quest to find El Dorado. 194 00:10:13,988 --> 00:10:17,448 Pizarro enlists the help of his childhood friend 195 00:10:17,534 --> 00:10:21,084 and cousin, Francisco de Orellana. 196 00:10:22,205 --> 00:10:24,715 Pizarro speaks to a different indigenous group in Ecuador, 197 00:10:24,833 --> 00:10:28,003 and he’s told that the gold that De Quesada seeks 198 00:10:28,086 --> 00:10:31,006 is actually much further south than where he’s looking. 199 00:10:31,089 --> 00:10:33,799 It’s some 600 miles south, 200 00:10:33,883 --> 00:10:36,893 and it’s not even in the Andes mountain region. 201 00:10:37,011 --> 00:10:39,261 MARTIN: Avoiding the mountains sounds like a really good idea 202 00:10:39,347 --> 00:10:40,967 to Pizarro, but he doesn’t realize 203 00:10:41,057 --> 00:10:43,177 this new destination is just as treacherous. 204 00:10:43,309 --> 00:10:46,189 According to his sources, El Dorado sits on the shores 205 00:10:46,271 --> 00:10:49,521 of a river deep in the Amazon rainforest. 206 00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:53,737 ♪ ♪ 207 00:10:53,862 --> 00:10:57,702 LAURENCE: In February, 1541, the two men leave Quito 208 00:10:57,782 --> 00:11:03,452 with 340 Spaniards and some 4,000 indigenous people. 209 00:11:03,538 --> 00:11:06,038 They head due east across the Andes, 210 00:11:06,124 --> 00:11:09,844 then down into the lowlands, then toward the far southeast 211 00:11:09,919 --> 00:11:12,669 of Ecuador, where the Amazon rainforest begins. 212 00:11:12,755 --> 00:11:16,295 They end up being some of the first Europeans 213 00:11:16,384 --> 00:11:18,724 to explore the Amazon jungle, 214 00:11:18,803 --> 00:11:21,813 but they are not remotely ready for it. 215 00:11:21,890 --> 00:11:26,890 It’s hot, it’s humid, and the growth is so dense 216 00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:28,690 that they have to use their swords 217 00:11:28,771 --> 00:11:30,521 to hack their way through it. 218 00:11:30,607 --> 00:11:33,567 They have natives with them that they’ve brought, 219 00:11:33,693 --> 00:11:35,403 but the natives are from the mountain region, 220 00:11:35,486 --> 00:11:39,566 so they are also unprepared for this sort of climate. 221 00:11:39,699 --> 00:11:43,739 And as time goes on and they struggle more and more, 222 00:11:43,828 --> 00:11:45,538 they begin to be hungry. 223 00:11:45,622 --> 00:11:48,042 People begin to get sick, some of them begin to die. 224 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,130 LAURENCE: But Pizarro remains undeterred. 225 00:11:52,253 --> 00:11:55,093 It’s almost like the harder the trek becomes, 226 00:11:55,215 --> 00:11:57,805 the more convinced Pizarro is that El Dorado 227 00:11:57,926 --> 00:11:59,586 is just around the corner. 228 00:11:59,719 --> 00:12:02,389 He becomes consumed with finding this city. 229 00:12:02,472 --> 00:12:04,102 Nothing else seems to matter. 230 00:12:04,182 --> 00:12:07,392 He drives these suffering men further southeast, 231 00:12:07,477 --> 00:12:11,267 looking for this river that’ll ultimately lead him to gold. 232 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,940 Every time the Spanish encounter any indigenous in the jungle, 233 00:12:15,026 --> 00:12:17,446 Pizarro questions them where this city of gold is, 234 00:12:17,528 --> 00:12:18,988 and they always tell him, 235 00:12:19,113 --> 00:12:20,743 "Keep going, you’ll encounter it eventually." 236 00:12:21,824 --> 00:12:24,624 LAURENCE: After eleven months, the crew has traveled 237 00:12:24,702 --> 00:12:29,372 nearly 200 miles with nothing to show for it. 238 00:12:29,457 --> 00:12:31,207 By the time Pizarro’s company gets to the banks 239 00:12:31,292 --> 00:12:33,292 of the Coca River, most of his men 240 00:12:33,419 --> 00:12:37,209 are either dead, dying or very sick. 241 00:12:37,298 --> 00:12:42,088 They’ve lost 3,000 natives and 140 conquistadors. 242 00:12:42,178 --> 00:12:46,058 They’ve run out of food, eating their horses to stay alive. 243 00:12:46,140 --> 00:12:50,640 It’s less a quest for gold and more a fight for survival. 244 00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:53,230 The expedition is on the verge of mutiny, 245 00:12:53,314 --> 00:12:56,444 and so they make a plan to build a boat 246 00:12:56,526 --> 00:12:58,486 to travel down the river. 247 00:12:59,112 --> 00:13:03,492 On December 26th, 1541, Pizarro tells his partner, Orellana, 248 00:13:03,574 --> 00:13:06,414 to take 50 men in the boat down the river 249 00:13:06,494 --> 00:13:09,374 to find food and bring it back to the rest of the team. 250 00:13:09,497 --> 00:13:11,287 The current of the river is strong, 251 00:13:11,374 --> 00:13:13,794 so Orellana makes very good time. 252 00:13:13,876 --> 00:13:16,996 Unfortunately, it’s 14 days before they find any food, 253 00:13:17,130 --> 00:13:19,510 and because of the current, they realize 254 00:13:19,590 --> 00:13:22,180 there’s no way to turn around and go back, 255 00:13:22,302 --> 00:13:24,682 so they decide to just keep going forward. 256 00:13:25,638 --> 00:13:28,848 Orellana has all the men sign a document 257 00:13:28,975 --> 00:13:30,685 saying that they understand 258 00:13:30,768 --> 00:13:33,098 what they’re doing, but they had no other choice. 259 00:13:33,187 --> 00:13:36,977 Orellana knows this may end up being useful later 260 00:13:37,066 --> 00:13:40,356 because they may be considered traitors 261 00:13:40,445 --> 00:13:42,285 and sentenced to be executed. 262 00:13:43,531 --> 00:13:46,621 LAURENCE: After one month, Pizarro realizes 263 00:13:46,701 --> 00:13:50,371 his old friend is not coming back. 264 00:13:50,455 --> 00:13:53,965 Pizarro thinks maybe they were attacked by a hostile tribe. 265 00:13:54,042 --> 00:13:55,382 But he also starts to wonder 266 00:13:55,460 --> 00:13:57,340 if maybe his cousin had betrayed him. 267 00:13:57,420 --> 00:14:02,970 He thinks, "If I had found El Dorado, would I come back?" 268 00:14:03,051 --> 00:14:06,101 Gonzalo Pizarro takes the remnant men who were 269 00:14:06,220 --> 00:14:09,060 stranded on the side of the river and arrives back 270 00:14:09,140 --> 00:14:12,810 in Quito literally shoeless and in rags, 271 00:14:12,894 --> 00:14:16,064 and he vows that if he ever sees Orellana again, 272 00:14:16,189 --> 00:14:18,019 he’s going to kill him. 273 00:14:18,566 --> 00:14:22,066 LAURENCE: Meanwhile, Orellana continues his journey. 274 00:14:22,153 --> 00:14:25,203 The swift current has carried Orellana’s team even farther, 275 00:14:25,281 --> 00:14:28,121 and they still haven’t seen any trace of a city of gold. 276 00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:31,452 Eventually, they meet up with the much larger Amazon River. 277 00:14:31,579 --> 00:14:33,829 He figures this is the sacred body of water 278 00:14:33,915 --> 00:14:36,335 that will eventually lead to El Dorado. 279 00:14:36,417 --> 00:14:38,787 At first, it seems he might be right. 280 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,590 As they get further into the Amazon basin, 281 00:14:41,672 --> 00:14:43,882 they start to see these great settlements, 282 00:14:43,966 --> 00:14:47,596 thriving cities with people all adorned in gold. 283 00:14:47,678 --> 00:14:49,758 These locals feed the Spanish, 284 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:51,679 and even teach them some of their language. 285 00:14:51,766 --> 00:14:53,476 As the Spanish keep going, 286 00:14:53,601 --> 00:14:56,521 they hear stories of even bigger, more opulent cities 287 00:14:56,604 --> 00:14:57,944 deeper in the jungle. 288 00:14:58,940 --> 00:15:01,530 But the farther they travel, 289 00:15:01,609 --> 00:15:04,239 the less friendly those encounters get. 290 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,110 They start running into native groups 291 00:15:07,198 --> 00:15:10,118 that are defensive and then native groups 292 00:15:10,201 --> 00:15:12,451 that are attacking them and keeping them 293 00:15:12,578 --> 00:15:14,708 from being able to land anywhere on shore. 294 00:15:14,789 --> 00:15:17,079 One of these attacks actually leads 295 00:15:17,166 --> 00:15:18,746 to the naming of the Amazon River. 296 00:15:18,835 --> 00:15:22,555 It doesn’t have a name until June 24th, 1542, 297 00:15:22,630 --> 00:15:25,380 when Orellana and his men are attacked by a local tribe 298 00:15:25,466 --> 00:15:27,716 where the women fight right alongside the men. 299 00:15:27,802 --> 00:15:30,642 He refers to these women as Amazonas, 300 00:15:30,763 --> 00:15:32,683 based on the mythical Greek women warriors 301 00:15:32,807 --> 00:15:34,427 described by Herodotus. 302 00:15:34,517 --> 00:15:36,097 Orellana starts calling the area 303 00:15:36,185 --> 00:15:40,145 The River of the Amazons, and the name sticks. 304 00:15:40,231 --> 00:15:41,611 ♪ ♪ 305 00:15:41,691 --> 00:15:42,981 LAURENCE: Finally, after eight months 306 00:15:43,067 --> 00:15:45,277 and over 3,000 miles, 307 00:15:45,361 --> 00:15:49,701 Orellana and his crew reach the Atlantic Ocean. 308 00:15:49,824 --> 00:15:52,414 Even though he doesn’t know it yet, Orellana has just 309 00:15:52,493 --> 00:15:55,503 successfully traveled the entire length of the world’s 310 00:15:55,580 --> 00:15:59,250 longest river, and he’s the first European to do so. 311 00:15:59,333 --> 00:16:03,593 But, unfortunately, he does it without reaching El Dorado. 312 00:16:03,671 --> 00:16:05,671 LAURENCE: Word of Orellana’s voyage 313 00:16:05,756 --> 00:16:08,466 reaches Quito and eventually Spain. 314 00:16:08,551 --> 00:16:11,471 Pizarro hears the news, and he accuses his cousin 315 00:16:11,554 --> 00:16:13,854 of treason, hoping to get him hanged. 316 00:16:13,931 --> 00:16:16,231 But, in the end, because of the document 317 00:16:16,350 --> 00:16:19,100 that the entire crew signed and that detailed log 318 00:16:19,187 --> 00:16:22,107 that they kept, Orellana is found not guilty 319 00:16:22,190 --> 00:16:24,820 and he returns safely to Spain, where he’s welcomed 320 00:16:24,901 --> 00:16:27,901 by King Charles I as sort of a celebrity. 321 00:16:29,113 --> 00:16:33,033 Once Orellana is back in Spain, he has pretty much one goal, 322 00:16:33,117 --> 00:16:35,827 and that is to get back to South America. 323 00:16:35,912 --> 00:16:41,292 He is convinced that he came so close 324 00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:43,665 to finding the real El Dorado, 325 00:16:43,753 --> 00:16:49,133 he basically makes the pitch to everyone that he can do this, 326 00:16:49,217 --> 00:16:51,677 that he will find the city of gold, that if he gets 327 00:16:51,761 --> 00:16:55,391 the supplies and the funding and the crew that he needs, 328 00:16:55,473 --> 00:16:59,643 he will be able to go straight to El Dorado itself. 329 00:16:59,727 --> 00:17:02,057 LAURENCE: His pitch works. 330 00:17:02,146 --> 00:17:06,026 In May of 1545, Francisco de Orellana 331 00:17:06,108 --> 00:17:08,738 heads back into the Amazon. 332 00:17:08,861 --> 00:17:11,411 It’s his second expedition to find El Dorado, 333 00:17:11,489 --> 00:17:14,869 but this time, he knows exactly where he needs to go 334 00:17:14,951 --> 00:17:17,411 and he’s completely confident that he’s gonna get there. 335 00:17:23,501 --> 00:17:26,841 LAURENCE: Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana’s 336 00:17:26,921 --> 00:17:30,261 first attempt to find El Dorado has failed. 337 00:17:30,341 --> 00:17:35,681 But, in 1545, he’s ready to try again. 338 00:17:35,763 --> 00:17:38,473 His previous expedition operated under the assumption 339 00:17:38,599 --> 00:17:40,769 that El Dorado is in the far western region 340 00:17:40,851 --> 00:17:44,351 of the Amazon rainforest, in what’s now Ecuador. 341 00:17:44,438 --> 00:17:47,268 After a disastrous attempt, they couldn’t find it there. 342 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,190 But as Orellana traveled east along the Amazon River 343 00:17:50,278 --> 00:17:53,278 in what’s now Brazil, he saw larger cities 344 00:17:53,364 --> 00:17:55,664 with indigenous there adorned in gold. 345 00:17:55,783 --> 00:17:57,953 And it’s in that area in which he believes 346 00:17:58,035 --> 00:17:59,945 he will find El Dorado. 347 00:18:00,037 --> 00:18:02,407 ♪ ♪ 348 00:18:02,498 --> 00:18:05,378 Last time, after attacks by native peoples, 349 00:18:05,459 --> 00:18:08,299 Orellana wasn’t really able to get very far from shore 350 00:18:08,379 --> 00:18:11,469 and really explore these cities or what lies beyond. 351 00:18:11,549 --> 00:18:13,799 So that’s what he’s going to do this time. 352 00:18:13,884 --> 00:18:18,934 LAURENCE: On May 11th, 1545 Orellana departs from Spain. 353 00:18:19,015 --> 00:18:22,235 The disaster of his previous expedition 354 00:18:22,310 --> 00:18:26,610 is fresh in his mind, so he is attempting to be 355 00:18:26,689 --> 00:18:29,649 more than prepared this time around. 356 00:18:29,734 --> 00:18:33,784 He brings four ships, more than 300 men and supplies 357 00:18:33,863 --> 00:18:36,123 to build an additional two ships when they get to the mouth 358 00:18:36,198 --> 00:18:38,948 of the Amazon to help them navigate up the river. 359 00:18:39,035 --> 00:18:40,665 He has everything he needs. 360 00:18:40,745 --> 00:18:45,545 He knows the way. This time, he can’t fail. 361 00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:47,456 They sail first to the Spanish-controlled 362 00:18:47,543 --> 00:18:50,673 Canary Islands, where they spend the first couple of months 363 00:18:50,755 --> 00:18:52,805 loading supplies, getting the ships ready 364 00:18:52,882 --> 00:18:55,262 for the open seas, and recruiting more men. 365 00:18:55,885 --> 00:18:59,725 LAURENCE: The next planned stop is the Cape Verde Islands, 366 00:18:59,847 --> 00:19:04,687 off the west coast of Africa, which the Spanish also control. 367 00:19:04,769 --> 00:19:07,019 It’s here where Orellana’s expedition 368 00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:09,016 starts to really unravel. 369 00:19:09,148 --> 00:19:11,728 There’s an epidemic that kills 98 of his men 370 00:19:11,859 --> 00:19:14,029 and then another 60 of them desert. 371 00:19:14,153 --> 00:19:16,163 He’s downed so many sailors that he decides 372 00:19:16,238 --> 00:19:18,568 to abandon one of his ships entirely 373 00:19:18,699 --> 00:19:21,739 and cross the Atlantic with just the remaining three ships. 374 00:19:22,662 --> 00:19:26,042 The Atlantic crossing is a disaster from the outset. 375 00:19:27,208 --> 00:19:28,628 One of his ships is blown off course 376 00:19:28,709 --> 00:19:30,539 and he never sees it again. 377 00:19:30,628 --> 00:19:34,298 This costs Orellana an additional 77 men, 378 00:19:34,382 --> 00:19:36,972 more supplies and all of the material 379 00:19:37,051 --> 00:19:39,011 that they were gonna use to build those additional 380 00:19:39,095 --> 00:19:41,565 two ships to navigate up the Amazon. 381 00:19:42,348 --> 00:19:47,268 LAURENCE: In spite of that, on December 20th, 1545, 382 00:19:47,395 --> 00:19:51,195 Orellana arrives on the east coast of Brazil. 383 00:19:51,273 --> 00:19:54,363 When he arrives, he has only two ships 384 00:19:54,443 --> 00:19:56,993 and fewer than 100 men. 385 00:19:57,071 --> 00:20:01,871 This is not a promising start to what he knows 386 00:20:01,951 --> 00:20:05,251 is going to be a difficult expedition. 387 00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:08,581 Thankfully, there’s a lot of food where they land, 388 00:20:08,666 --> 00:20:10,416 and the natives are friendly. 389 00:20:10,501 --> 00:20:12,751 So Orellana’s men suggest that they just 390 00:20:12,837 --> 00:20:15,877 make camp and regroup for a little while. 391 00:20:15,965 --> 00:20:20,645 But Orellana is so eager to find El Dorado that he says, 392 00:20:20,761 --> 00:20:23,261 "No. On we go." 393 00:20:23,389 --> 00:20:25,599 Orellana may have been here before, 394 00:20:25,725 --> 00:20:27,565 but this time he gets lost. 395 00:20:27,643 --> 00:20:31,613 The mouth of the Amazon is a wild tangle of tributaries. 396 00:20:31,731 --> 00:20:33,941 The group travels over 300 miles, 397 00:20:34,024 --> 00:20:36,744 trying to find the entrance of the Amazon River. 398 00:20:36,819 --> 00:20:38,779 The journey is over before it’s begun. 399 00:20:38,904 --> 00:20:41,624 They never even got anywhere near El Dorado. 400 00:20:41,741 --> 00:20:43,121 In fact, they never even got 401 00:20:43,242 --> 00:20:45,492 into the main Amazon River itself. 402 00:20:45,619 --> 00:20:49,369 And if El Dorado is hiding deep in Brazil, they’ll never know. 403 00:20:49,457 --> 00:20:53,747 In the end, less than 40 of the original 300 men survive 404 00:20:53,836 --> 00:20:56,416 by making it back to the island of Margarita, 405 00:20:56,505 --> 00:20:58,625 just west of Trinidad. 406 00:20:59,633 --> 00:21:01,933 After the collapse of Orellana’s expedition, 407 00:21:02,011 --> 00:21:04,141 he’s basically branded a liar. 408 00:21:04,221 --> 00:21:07,561 People begin to suspect that he made the whole thing up 409 00:21:07,641 --> 00:21:10,271 or maybe that he was just covering up 410 00:21:10,352 --> 00:21:13,652 for having abandoned Pizarro or that he just wanted 411 00:21:13,731 --> 00:21:16,571 to secure funding for his next expedition. 412 00:21:16,650 --> 00:21:19,150 But the rumors of El Dorado sitting somewhere along 413 00:21:19,236 --> 00:21:23,316 the Amazon persist, and over the next hundred years, 414 00:21:23,449 --> 00:21:26,449 a handful of other expeditions to Brazil are launched, 415 00:21:26,535 --> 00:21:28,865 all of which turn up nothing. 416 00:21:28,996 --> 00:21:30,496 ♪ ♪ 417 00:21:30,623 --> 00:21:33,423 LAURENCE: Eventually, the search for El Dorado 418 00:21:33,501 --> 00:21:37,421 in the Amazon appears to die out. 419 00:21:37,505 --> 00:21:39,385 Then, in December, 2020, 420 00:21:39,507 --> 00:21:42,427 astronauts on board the International Space Station 421 00:21:42,510 --> 00:21:46,260 spot something peculiar near Bolivia. 422 00:21:46,347 --> 00:21:49,137 Pictures from space show what appears to be 423 00:21:49,225 --> 00:21:51,895 rivers of gold weaving through the area. 424 00:21:52,019 --> 00:21:54,769 They turn out to be illegal gold mining operations 425 00:21:54,855 --> 00:21:57,315 and they are huge, which is obvious, 426 00:21:57,399 --> 00:21:59,279 if you can see them from space. 427 00:21:59,819 --> 00:22:03,029 LAURENCE: This evidence reignites a modern-day hunt 428 00:22:03,113 --> 00:22:07,373 for El Dorado, this time in a whole new area. 429 00:22:07,451 --> 00:22:10,871 ♪ ♪ 430 00:22:10,996 --> 00:22:14,496 In 2022, a team of researchers led 431 00:22:14,583 --> 00:22:16,003 by Heiko Prumers 432 00:22:16,085 --> 00:22:18,385 from the German Archaeological Institute 433 00:22:18,462 --> 00:22:21,012 head to the Bolivian rainforest 434 00:22:21,090 --> 00:22:26,600 to do 3D scanning of the landscape from the air. 435 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,470 MARTIN: And what these researchers discover 436 00:22:28,556 --> 00:22:31,216 is absolutely amazing. 437 00:22:31,308 --> 00:22:33,058 It appears to be an ancient civilization 438 00:22:33,143 --> 00:22:35,233 that’s been lost for centuries. 439 00:22:35,354 --> 00:22:37,904 There are pyramids, 60 feet high, 440 00:22:37,982 --> 00:22:40,982 rectangular structures, paths and roads. 441 00:22:41,068 --> 00:22:44,738 It’s like a city hidden inside the rainforest. 442 00:22:45,573 --> 00:22:47,573 LAURENCE: The team estimates 443 00:22:47,658 --> 00:22:51,908 this settlement was abandoned nearly 500 years ago, 444 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:55,416 around the same time the conquistadors arrived. 445 00:22:55,499 --> 00:22:58,669 Prumers estimates that it might have taken 446 00:22:58,752 --> 00:23:03,672 researchers centuries to find these cities in the jungle, 447 00:23:03,757 --> 00:23:05,837 but the LIDAR technology allowed them 448 00:23:05,926 --> 00:23:08,676 to find it in a matter of days. 449 00:23:08,762 --> 00:23:10,682 So the media seizes on this story. 450 00:23:10,764 --> 00:23:12,564 I mean, who doesn’t love a treasure hunt? 451 00:23:12,641 --> 00:23:14,811 And the myth of El Dorado has been going on 452 00:23:14,935 --> 00:23:17,055 for hundreds of years, and now we have these images 453 00:23:17,146 --> 00:23:20,856 that suggest there could be a lost golden city 454 00:23:20,941 --> 00:23:23,031 right there under the rainforest canopy. 455 00:23:23,527 --> 00:23:25,197 MARTIN: Further aerial investigations 456 00:23:25,279 --> 00:23:27,779 have turned up geoglyphs and massive roads 457 00:23:27,865 --> 00:23:29,325 the size of highways. 458 00:23:29,450 --> 00:23:31,160 All of this leads us to believe that Orellana 459 00:23:31,285 --> 00:23:34,005 was telling the truth about the cities that he saw. 460 00:23:34,121 --> 00:23:38,581 LAURENCE: Unfortunately, a full expedition proves too difficult. 461 00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:41,287 The Amazon basin itself is enormous. 462 00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:44,920 It’s more than 2.7 million square miles, 463 00:23:45,007 --> 00:23:47,377 and about two million of those square miles 464 00:23:47,468 --> 00:23:49,638 have never really been explored or studied. 465 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,600 It’s an area the size of India. 466 00:23:52,681 --> 00:23:54,311 There’s a lot we still don’t know 467 00:23:54,433 --> 00:23:56,983 about the interior of the Amazon. 468 00:23:57,061 --> 00:23:59,601 It’s just so overgrown and impenetrable. 469 00:23:59,688 --> 00:24:01,188 The access is difficult. 470 00:24:01,315 --> 00:24:03,285 The terrain is difficult. 471 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:04,779 The weather conditions are difficult. 472 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:07,240 There’s no way to get in equipment. 473 00:24:07,321 --> 00:24:10,491 For now, aerial studies are our best bet 474 00:24:10,574 --> 00:24:12,034 for finding any answers. 475 00:24:12,159 --> 00:24:15,329 So it seems that Orellana wasn’t lying, 476 00:24:15,412 --> 00:24:18,832 that he was telling the truth, at least about the cities. 477 00:24:18,916 --> 00:24:21,746 We can’t be totally sure about the gold. 478 00:24:21,835 --> 00:24:23,335 ♪ ♪ 479 00:24:27,216 --> 00:24:28,926 The lure of El Dorado, 480 00:24:29,009 --> 00:24:30,719 the lost city of gold, has captured the imagination 481 00:24:30,844 --> 00:24:33,854 of generations of treasure-seekers. 482 00:24:33,931 --> 00:24:37,891 But perhaps none are more renowned or more determined 483 00:24:38,018 --> 00:24:40,808 than a world famous British explorer 484 00:24:40,896 --> 00:24:44,476 who takes on the search in the late 1500s. 485 00:24:46,527 --> 00:24:50,567 In 1585, England and Spain are engaged 486 00:24:50,698 --> 00:24:52,908 in a long running conflict. 487 00:24:53,033 --> 00:24:56,703 So you’ve probably heard of the Spanish Armada. 488 00:24:56,787 --> 00:25:01,117 That’s just a part of a 19-year long war 489 00:25:01,208 --> 00:25:03,538 called the Anglo-Spanish War. 490 00:25:03,669 --> 00:25:06,129 While that war was fought officially between 491 00:25:06,213 --> 00:25:08,013 these two countries, there was also 492 00:25:08,090 --> 00:25:11,380 a very large amount of guerrilla warfare. 493 00:25:11,468 --> 00:25:14,598 The English were sponsoring piracy, 494 00:25:14,722 --> 00:25:18,982 what they called privateers, sending ships out 495 00:25:19,059 --> 00:25:22,149 to basically attack the Spanish ships 496 00:25:22,229 --> 00:25:25,609 that were attempting the conquest of the New World. 497 00:25:25,733 --> 00:25:27,573 One of the top English privateers 498 00:25:27,693 --> 00:25:30,113 is Sir Walter Raleigh, who’s already famous 499 00:25:30,237 --> 00:25:32,107 as an explorer and a statesman. 500 00:25:32,239 --> 00:25:34,659 And he’s a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. 501 00:25:34,742 --> 00:25:37,792 While he’s off raiding Spanish ships, 502 00:25:37,911 --> 00:25:39,451 he hears a lot about what they’ve been up to 503 00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:41,620 in South America. 504 00:25:41,749 --> 00:25:46,379 LAURENCE: Including their search for El Dorado. 505 00:25:46,462 --> 00:25:51,012 At some point in the 1590s, Raleigh hears the story 506 00:25:51,091 --> 00:25:53,641 of Juan Martinez, a conquistador who had explored 507 00:25:53,761 --> 00:25:59,061 the Orinoco river area 20 years earlier in the 1570s. 508 00:25:59,141 --> 00:26:02,231 According to Martinez, when his expedition fails, 509 00:26:02,311 --> 00:26:06,111 he’s blindfolded by the natives and taken to a city of gold. 510 00:26:07,107 --> 00:26:10,647 Raleigh speaks to other Spanish conquistadors, and they tell him 511 00:26:10,778 --> 00:26:13,858 that the golden city he’s looking for is called Manoa. 512 00:26:13,947 --> 00:26:16,907 And they tell him that it is the imperial city 513 00:26:16,992 --> 00:26:20,292 of this region, which at the time is called Guyana. 514 00:26:20,370 --> 00:26:24,080 ♪ ♪ 515 00:26:24,166 --> 00:26:27,166 It’s located near a lake called Parime. 516 00:26:27,294 --> 00:26:30,214 It’s supposedly a saltwater lake that’s massive. 517 00:26:30,297 --> 00:26:32,007 It’s 600 miles across. 518 00:26:32,132 --> 00:26:35,592 Raleigh is told that the natives get all their gold 519 00:26:35,677 --> 00:26:39,307 from the lake itself, that it flows down the river 520 00:26:39,389 --> 00:26:43,019 and tumbles into the lake, where they can find it. 521 00:26:43,143 --> 00:26:49,023 LAURENCE: In April, 1595, Raleigh arrives in South America 522 00:26:49,149 --> 00:26:51,279 with four ships and 100 men. 523 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,780 So after landing near present-day Guyana, 524 00:26:54,863 --> 00:26:57,573 Raleigh and his men take five small boats 525 00:26:57,658 --> 00:26:58,868 up the Orinoco River. 526 00:26:58,992 --> 00:27:01,332 It’s a long and arduous process 527 00:27:01,411 --> 00:27:03,291 because they’re going against the current, 528 00:27:03,372 --> 00:27:06,672 and his men are not used to all this heat and humidity. 529 00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:09,040 After a month, they’ve gone a little over 200 miles, 530 00:27:09,169 --> 00:27:10,549 and they’re exhausted. 531 00:27:10,671 --> 00:27:12,381 So they decide to pull off the river, 532 00:27:12,506 --> 00:27:14,796 take a break, and recover. 533 00:27:14,883 --> 00:27:17,683 When they come ashore, Raleigh and his compatriots 534 00:27:17,803 --> 00:27:20,393 make contact with a native tribe 535 00:27:20,514 --> 00:27:25,024 who’s friendly to them and who’s also adorned in gold. 536 00:27:25,102 --> 00:27:27,522 At this point, there are literally 537 00:27:27,646 --> 00:27:31,436 just nuggets of gold lying on the banks of the river. 538 00:27:31,525 --> 00:27:34,325 Raleigh ends up befriending the chief of this tribe. 539 00:27:34,403 --> 00:27:37,823 His name is Topiawari, and he tells Raleigh 540 00:27:37,906 --> 00:27:42,196 of a giant lake full of gold just nearby, 541 00:27:42,327 --> 00:27:45,787 and Raleigh, of course, assumes this must be Parime. 542 00:27:45,873 --> 00:27:48,083 This is the lake he’s looking for. 543 00:27:48,208 --> 00:27:51,088 LAURENCE: Raleigh spends the next three months 544 00:27:51,211 --> 00:27:53,671 desperately searching for El Dorado. 545 00:27:53,755 --> 00:27:56,335 All of his men are exhausted. 546 00:27:56,425 --> 00:27:58,595 They’re in no condition to keep going, 547 00:27:58,719 --> 00:28:01,969 so he decides that he’s going to turn back, 548 00:28:02,055 --> 00:28:05,095 and when everyone is refreshed again, they will start over, 549 00:28:05,225 --> 00:28:07,975 and they’ll come back and find it. 550 00:28:09,021 --> 00:28:11,151 LAURENCE: When he arrives back in England 551 00:28:11,231 --> 00:28:13,611 at the end of August, 1595, 552 00:28:13,734 --> 00:28:17,904 Raleigh expects a hero’s welcome. 553 00:28:17,988 --> 00:28:19,988 He’s certain he’ll be celebrated and will have 554 00:28:20,073 --> 00:28:22,663 no issues raising funds for a new expedition, 555 00:28:22,743 --> 00:28:24,913 but that’s not what happens, because he doesn’t bring back 556 00:28:24,995 --> 00:28:27,375 any gold, there’s no return on investments, 557 00:28:27,456 --> 00:28:31,126 and so nobody wants to fund another expedition. 558 00:28:31,251 --> 00:28:36,591 LAURENCE: Ultimately, Raleigh waits another 22 years. 559 00:28:36,715 --> 00:28:40,135 Queen Elizabeth I dies on March, 24th, 1603, 560 00:28:40,260 --> 00:28:41,850 and she was his main patron. 561 00:28:41,929 --> 00:28:44,599 So after her death, Raleigh decides to support 562 00:28:44,681 --> 00:28:48,771 a rival for the Crown instead of the rightful heir, James I. 563 00:28:48,894 --> 00:28:51,194 LAURENCE: But James becomes King, 564 00:28:51,271 --> 00:28:53,151 and Raleigh is immediately imprisoned 565 00:28:53,273 --> 00:28:58,783 in the Tower of London, where he remains until 1616. 566 00:28:58,862 --> 00:29:01,872 Even languishing in prison, Raleigh never gives up 567 00:29:01,949 --> 00:29:03,909 on his dream of finding El Dorado. 568 00:29:03,992 --> 00:29:07,792 And in 1617, he’s pardoned by King James 569 00:29:07,871 --> 00:29:10,621 and finally given permission for a second expedition 570 00:29:10,707 --> 00:29:13,247 to South America under one condition. 571 00:29:13,335 --> 00:29:15,965 The King knows how much Raleigh hates the Spanish, 572 00:29:16,046 --> 00:29:18,876 but there’s finally peace between the two countries. 573 00:29:18,966 --> 00:29:21,796 So he makes Raleigh promise that he’s not gonna do 574 00:29:21,927 --> 00:29:24,427 anything to disrupt this delicate truce 575 00:29:24,513 --> 00:29:26,013 that the countries have. 576 00:29:26,139 --> 00:29:28,599 Reluctantly, Raleigh agrees. 577 00:29:29,977 --> 00:29:32,097 LAURENCE: Raleigh departs England for a second attempt 578 00:29:32,187 --> 00:29:34,397 in 1617. 579 00:29:34,481 --> 00:29:38,441 This time, he brings along his son Wat. 580 00:29:38,527 --> 00:29:41,067 When they reach the mouth of the Orinoco River this time, 581 00:29:41,154 --> 00:29:44,574 Raleigh, who’s now an old man, sends his son Wat 582 00:29:44,658 --> 00:29:46,578 to lead a search party, while he stays 583 00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:48,500 back on board the ship. 584 00:29:48,620 --> 00:29:52,460 Within days, his men did exactly what they were told not to do. 585 00:29:52,541 --> 00:29:56,211 They went into Spanish territory and started a fight. 586 00:29:57,170 --> 00:30:00,760 Wat Raleigh is shot through the neck with a musket and dies. 587 00:30:00,841 --> 00:30:02,881 When the rest of the party returns to the ship, 588 00:30:03,010 --> 00:30:05,220 the second in command commits suicide. 589 00:30:06,138 --> 00:30:08,888 Raleigh is distraught. Their mission is over. 590 00:30:09,016 --> 00:30:10,306 He’s lost his son. 591 00:30:10,392 --> 00:30:12,022 He’s disobeyed the King, 592 00:30:12,102 --> 00:30:14,402 and he has no gold to show for it. 593 00:30:14,521 --> 00:30:16,821 He decides to turn around and head back home, 594 00:30:16,898 --> 00:30:19,818 knowing full well the fate that he’s about to face. 595 00:30:19,901 --> 00:30:23,701 Upon his return to England, Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded 596 00:30:23,822 --> 00:30:25,822 by order of King James I, 597 00:30:25,907 --> 00:30:29,367 accused of deliberately inciting war 598 00:30:29,453 --> 00:30:31,873 between England and Spain. 599 00:30:31,997 --> 00:30:35,207 It’s another tragic end in the search for El Dorado. 600 00:30:35,292 --> 00:30:38,382 It seems to be a curse for anybody trying to find it. 601 00:30:38,503 --> 00:30:40,133 ♪ ♪ 602 00:30:40,213 --> 00:30:42,133 LAURENCE: And there’s a further ironic twist. 603 00:30:42,215 --> 00:30:46,755 Centuries later, in 1871, a gold mine is opened 604 00:30:46,887 --> 00:30:48,637 in El Callao, Venezuela, 605 00:30:48,722 --> 00:30:51,352 very close to the location where Raleigh stopped 606 00:30:51,433 --> 00:30:54,023 with his men and met the natives adorned with gold. 607 00:30:54,102 --> 00:30:56,192 It turns into one of the richest mines 608 00:30:56,271 --> 00:30:58,401 in the world at the time, exporting more 609 00:30:58,482 --> 00:31:01,482 than a million ounces of gold in a 20 year period. 610 00:31:01,568 --> 00:31:03,568 The mine is still active today. 611 00:31:04,738 --> 00:31:09,908 There is potentially $2 trillion worth of materials 612 00:31:09,993 --> 00:31:12,043 in the ground right beneath 613 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,790 where Raleigh and his company had stopped. 614 00:31:14,915 --> 00:31:16,375 He just missed it. 615 00:31:20,420 --> 00:31:22,420 LAURENCE: Conquistador Gonzalo De Quesada 616 00:31:22,506 --> 00:31:25,716 spreads the story of El Dorado in 1537, 617 00:31:25,801 --> 00:31:28,301 but his is not the first Spanish take 618 00:31:28,428 --> 00:31:30,678 on this legendary city. 619 00:31:30,764 --> 00:31:34,064 In fact, ten years earlier, a group of Spanish explorers 620 00:31:34,142 --> 00:31:36,102 have an incredible experience of their own. 621 00:31:36,186 --> 00:31:37,936 It’s a story so unbelievable, 622 00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:40,191 it becomes famous throughout Spain. 623 00:31:40,607 --> 00:31:46,107 LAURENCE: In 1527, conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez 624 00:31:46,196 --> 00:31:48,906 departs for the New World with 600 men. 625 00:31:48,990 --> 00:31:51,780 His mission, to explore and colonize 626 00:31:51,868 --> 00:31:54,908 what is now the Gulf Coast of America. 627 00:31:54,996 --> 00:31:59,036 Narvaez visits and maps what are now Hispaniola, 628 00:31:59,126 --> 00:32:00,536 Cuba and Florida, 629 00:32:00,627 --> 00:32:03,207 but like many expeditions at the time, 630 00:32:03,296 --> 00:32:04,876 it had its struggles. 631 00:32:04,965 --> 00:32:07,765 Narvaez himself dies within the first year, 632 00:32:07,843 --> 00:32:10,933 and ships and supplies are lost to hurricanes. 633 00:32:11,012 --> 00:32:16,682 By 1532, only four of the original 600 men remain. 634 00:32:16,810 --> 00:32:19,600 Eventually, they cross the Gulf of Mexico 635 00:32:19,688 --> 00:32:21,648 and land in what is now Texas, 636 00:32:21,731 --> 00:32:25,151 becoming the first Europeans to cross the Gulf. 637 00:32:25,277 --> 00:32:27,237 They need to get back to a Spanish outpost, 638 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,240 the closest being in Mexico, 639 00:32:29,322 --> 00:32:33,332 so they start walking through today’s American Southwest. 640 00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:36,502 After a few years, in 1536, they’re able 641 00:32:36,621 --> 00:32:39,501 to get back to Mexico City, where they tell their tale 642 00:32:39,624 --> 00:32:42,214 of survival, which is incredible in its own right. 643 00:32:42,335 --> 00:32:45,335 But even more incredible is something they heard about 644 00:32:45,422 --> 00:32:49,012 along the way, seven different cities of gold. 645 00:32:49,926 --> 00:32:52,756 And just as the Narvaez crew comes back 646 00:32:52,846 --> 00:32:54,966 with their stories of cities of gold, 647 00:32:55,056 --> 00:32:59,096 Quesada is hearing stories of a golden city in Colombia. 648 00:32:59,186 --> 00:33:01,596 At this point, many of the Spanish begin to believe 649 00:33:01,688 --> 00:33:03,018 it’s all connected. 650 00:33:03,148 --> 00:33:04,978 There’s not just one golden city. 651 00:33:05,066 --> 00:33:09,146 There’s a gold-rich civilization spread through the Americas 652 00:33:09,237 --> 00:33:11,107 with multiple golden cities, 653 00:33:11,198 --> 00:33:12,948 and El Dorado is just one of them. 654 00:33:13,033 --> 00:33:16,873 ♪ ♪ 655 00:33:16,995 --> 00:33:19,705 LAURENCE: In 1539, Mexican Governor 656 00:33:19,831 --> 00:33:24,341 Vasquez de Coronado decides to investigate. 657 00:33:24,419 --> 00:33:27,709 Coronado sends up Franciscan Friar Marcos De Niza, and one 658 00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:30,337 of the original survivors from the first expedition 659 00:33:30,425 --> 00:33:33,335 to bring back evidence of the seven cities of gold. 660 00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:37,312 LAURENCE: When the friar returns five months later, he shares 661 00:33:37,390 --> 00:33:42,310 stories of a fantastical pueblo he calls Cibola. 662 00:33:43,438 --> 00:33:47,648 It is just full of wealth, as though it is made of gold. 663 00:33:47,734 --> 00:33:50,194 The area that the friar describes 664 00:33:50,278 --> 00:33:51,698 is in present-day New Mexico, 665 00:33:51,780 --> 00:33:54,490 and the region of the Zuni people. 666 00:33:54,574 --> 00:33:57,914 Coronado mounts an even larger expedition, 667 00:33:58,036 --> 00:34:01,746 convinced that the Cibola described 668 00:34:01,831 --> 00:34:06,211 by Marcos de Niza is in fact El Dorado, 669 00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:08,714 one of the famous golden cities. 670 00:34:08,797 --> 00:34:11,917 LAURENCE: On April 22nd, 1540, 671 00:34:12,008 --> 00:34:15,218 Coronado’s team departs from Culiacan. 672 00:34:15,303 --> 00:34:18,063 Coronado dispatches 400 conquistadors 673 00:34:18,139 --> 00:34:20,519 and 2,000 indigenous peoples. 674 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,600 What they find is small outposts dwellings 675 00:34:23,728 --> 00:34:25,688 that looked like pueblos. 676 00:34:25,772 --> 00:34:28,782 There are seven cities in the area, 677 00:34:28,858 --> 00:34:31,398 but they’re all very similar to the first. 678 00:34:31,486 --> 00:34:34,816 They’re very small, no evidence of gold. 679 00:34:34,948 --> 00:34:37,278 It seems, in fact, that Coronado 680 00:34:37,367 --> 00:34:39,867 had been duped by the friar. 681 00:34:40,787 --> 00:34:42,707 LAURENCE: But Coronado is convinced 682 00:34:42,789 --> 00:34:46,379 the stories of El Dorado are still true. 683 00:34:46,459 --> 00:34:48,959 The peoples of these pueblos tell Coronado 684 00:34:49,045 --> 00:34:51,375 that there are cities of gold, but they’re farther 685 00:34:51,464 --> 00:34:53,174 to the north, and they should keep marching. 686 00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:56,800 And Coronado and his men, believing that they haven’t 687 00:34:56,928 --> 00:35:00,218 reached it yet, keep marching for months and months 688 00:35:00,307 --> 00:35:02,137 and hundreds and hundreds of miles. 689 00:35:02,684 --> 00:35:08,364 By 1541, they’ve journeyed as far north as modern Kansas. 690 00:35:08,481 --> 00:35:11,901 They don’t discover El Dorado, but they are the first Europeans 691 00:35:11,985 --> 00:35:15,535 to see the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. 692 00:35:15,655 --> 00:35:20,155 Coronado eventually returns to Mexico City in 1542. 693 00:35:20,285 --> 00:35:23,125 It was a long, disastrous journey 694 00:35:23,204 --> 00:35:27,754 that did not result in finding a fantastic city of gold. 695 00:35:27,834 --> 00:35:31,844 Coronado ends up bankrupt and dies a few years later, 696 00:35:31,963 --> 00:35:37,393 yet one more life ruined by the search for unending wealth. 697 00:35:38,386 --> 00:35:40,806 What’s ironic about all of this is that years later, 698 00:35:40,889 --> 00:35:44,099 those same small pueblos would turn out to be rich 699 00:35:44,184 --> 00:35:47,774 in ores like silver, copper, and turquoise. 700 00:35:47,854 --> 00:35:51,194 If the Spanish hadn’t been so focused on finding 701 00:35:51,274 --> 00:35:54,284 the golden city of El Dorado, they might have discovered 702 00:35:54,361 --> 00:35:57,031 the riches that were there all along. 703 00:36:00,909 --> 00:36:02,989 LAURENCE: Explorers have searched for the famed city 704 00:36:03,078 --> 00:36:05,658 of El Dorado for five centuries 705 00:36:05,747 --> 00:36:09,327 across both north and South America. 706 00:36:09,417 --> 00:36:11,627 No one has found it. 707 00:36:11,711 --> 00:36:14,961 There’s certainly been no shortage of people looking 708 00:36:15,048 --> 00:36:18,468 for El Dorado, especially among the Spanish conquistadors. 709 00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:21,681 And some theories suggest that there might be 710 00:36:21,763 --> 00:36:23,513 a pretty good reason for that, 711 00:36:23,598 --> 00:36:27,728 which is that El Dorado as a city was simply made up. 712 00:36:27,852 --> 00:36:31,562 ♪ ♪ 713 00:36:31,648 --> 00:36:33,398 Based on the artifacts that we’ve found, 714 00:36:33,483 --> 00:36:36,033 we know that some indigenous communities 715 00:36:36,111 --> 00:36:37,861 in Central and South America 716 00:36:37,946 --> 00:36:40,816 used gold for decoration and religious purposes. 717 00:36:40,907 --> 00:36:43,237 But that’s it. That’s all we know. 718 00:36:43,326 --> 00:36:46,246 We have no proof of an actual golden city, 719 00:36:46,371 --> 00:36:48,331 apart from the fact that the Spanish were 720 00:36:48,415 --> 00:36:50,215 told stories about it 721 00:36:50,291 --> 00:36:52,171 and were obsessed with finding it. 722 00:36:52,252 --> 00:36:55,092 So one school of thought is that the natives were telling 723 00:36:55,213 --> 00:36:57,513 the Spanish the truth, that there was a city of gold, 724 00:36:57,590 --> 00:36:59,090 but what if they lied? 725 00:36:59,634 --> 00:37:03,104 The indigenous people of the New World aren’t stupid. 726 00:37:03,221 --> 00:37:05,851 They were understandably confused 727 00:37:05,932 --> 00:37:09,062 by the Spanish desire for gold. 728 00:37:09,144 --> 00:37:10,604 They did not value it 729 00:37:10,687 --> 00:37:12,437 in the same way that the Spanish did. 730 00:37:12,522 --> 00:37:15,022 They used it for decoration, for religious purposes, 731 00:37:15,108 --> 00:37:17,238 but not for monetary value. 732 00:37:17,318 --> 00:37:20,448 But they could clearly see the obsession 733 00:37:20,572 --> 00:37:25,912 that the conquistadors had with getting more gold. 734 00:37:25,994 --> 00:37:29,254 The Spanish come in with threats and attacks. 735 00:37:29,330 --> 00:37:33,630 They’ll do anything to get this gold, even kill for it. 736 00:37:33,710 --> 00:37:36,460 LAURENCE: Many South American historians believe 737 00:37:36,588 --> 00:37:39,878 this inspires the natives to lie. 738 00:37:39,966 --> 00:37:41,796 When the Spanish come looking for gold, 739 00:37:41,926 --> 00:37:44,346 the indigenous people just want to survive. 740 00:37:44,471 --> 00:37:48,141 They want to get the Spanish out of there as fast as possible. 741 00:37:48,224 --> 00:37:52,144 So they tell them, "Yes, there is the gold you’re looking for. 742 00:37:52,228 --> 00:37:55,978 "It’s just over those mountains, just down that river, 743 00:37:56,065 --> 00:37:58,645 just on the other side of this forest." 744 00:37:58,735 --> 00:38:02,415 And the Spanish take the bait every time 745 00:38:02,489 --> 00:38:05,409 and move on looking for that gold. 746 00:38:06,618 --> 00:38:08,658 So one of the best examples of this is what happens 747 00:38:08,745 --> 00:38:10,795 to Coronado when he’s marching through 748 00:38:10,872 --> 00:38:13,502 the Southwestern desert looking for El Dorado. 749 00:38:13,583 --> 00:38:16,093 Every pueblo he stops at tells him that this city 750 00:38:16,169 --> 00:38:18,379 is a little more north, until he ends up 751 00:38:18,505 --> 00:38:20,975 all the way up in Kansas. 752 00:38:21,049 --> 00:38:23,429 LAURENCE: It’s not just the natives who benefit. 753 00:38:23,510 --> 00:38:26,180 The Europeans use it to their own advantage. 754 00:38:26,304 --> 00:38:28,974 They embellish claims of El Dorado 755 00:38:29,057 --> 00:38:30,927 and its riches in order to attract crew 756 00:38:31,017 --> 00:38:33,517 and financial backing for their expeditions. 757 00:38:34,020 --> 00:38:37,820 When Francisco de Orellana goes back to Spain, 758 00:38:37,899 --> 00:38:40,689 he has no gold to show for his efforts, 759 00:38:40,819 --> 00:38:42,739 but what he does have is stories. 760 00:38:42,862 --> 00:38:47,202 And when he tells the King what he heard 761 00:38:47,283 --> 00:38:51,583 about the golden city of El Dorado, it works. 762 00:38:51,704 --> 00:38:54,174 He gets his next expedition funded. 763 00:38:55,208 --> 00:38:58,538 There’s one more convenient use for the El Dorado lie. 764 00:38:58,670 --> 00:39:01,710 As the colonial conquest of South America ends, 765 00:39:01,798 --> 00:39:03,548 the Spanish have an issue. 766 00:39:03,675 --> 00:39:07,015 They have hundreds, maybe thousands of conquistadors 767 00:39:07,095 --> 00:39:09,065 with nothing to do. 768 00:39:09,138 --> 00:39:12,308 There’s no one left to conquer. There’s no more gold to steal. 769 00:39:12,392 --> 00:39:15,812 They’re sitting around getting drunk, causing problems. 770 00:39:15,895 --> 00:39:19,435 LAURENCE: Until they’re given a new purpose. 771 00:39:19,566 --> 00:39:22,316 The actual Spanish government comes up with a plan 772 00:39:22,402 --> 00:39:24,572 to send these idle soldiers off 773 00:39:24,696 --> 00:39:28,066 on hunts to look for El Dorado, which, by this point, 774 00:39:28,157 --> 00:39:30,577 they assume will be wild goose chases. 775 00:39:30,702 --> 00:39:32,122 Not only does it keep them occupied, 776 00:39:32,245 --> 00:39:34,085 but it gets them out of the cities 777 00:39:34,163 --> 00:39:38,423 and into the jungles for weeks, months, maybe even years, 778 00:39:38,501 --> 00:39:40,041 with a chance that they won’t come back. 779 00:39:40,128 --> 00:39:41,918 At this point, the search for El Dorado 780 00:39:42,046 --> 00:39:43,586 isn’t about finding gold. 781 00:39:43,715 --> 00:39:45,515 It’s actually about getting rid of problems. 782 00:39:45,967 --> 00:39:51,097 LAURENCE: One such documented expedition takes place in 1560. 783 00:39:51,222 --> 00:39:55,602 That year, the Spanish send 300 conquistadors 784 00:39:55,685 --> 00:40:01,735 on a search for El Dorado, led by Pedro de Ursua. 785 00:40:01,816 --> 00:40:04,856 Ursua is asked to bring along a particularly troublesome group 786 00:40:04,944 --> 00:40:07,784 of soldiers, led by Lope de Aguirre, 787 00:40:07,864 --> 00:40:10,124 to essentially get rid of him for a while. 788 00:40:10,199 --> 00:40:13,409 But Aguirre murders Ursua, and he and his soldiers 789 00:40:13,494 --> 00:40:15,254 go on a marauding expedition, 790 00:40:15,330 --> 00:40:18,040 leaving a trail of death and destruction. 791 00:40:18,124 --> 00:40:20,964 Most of the 300 die along the way. 792 00:40:21,044 --> 00:40:23,464 It’s an awful scene, but it also shows 793 00:40:23,588 --> 00:40:26,168 that the Spanish government, by 1560, 794 00:40:26,299 --> 00:40:29,299 they no longer even believe that El Dorado exists 795 00:40:29,385 --> 00:40:31,545 or is worth looking for. 796 00:40:31,638 --> 00:40:34,768 It’s just a convenient way to get rid of troublemakers. 797 00:40:34,849 --> 00:40:37,769 Ursua says so himself in his letters. 798 00:40:37,852 --> 00:40:41,522 He was just trying to occupy Aguirre and these idle veterans, 799 00:40:41,648 --> 00:40:44,148 and he got himself killed in the process. 800 00:40:45,151 --> 00:40:47,451 But thanks to the Spanish explorers 801 00:40:47,528 --> 00:40:51,318 and modern-day excavations, we know that South America 802 00:40:51,407 --> 00:40:55,327 had and still has tons of gold. 803 00:40:55,411 --> 00:40:59,081 It’s just not all piled up in one city, 804 00:40:59,165 --> 00:41:00,665 like the story said. 805 00:41:00,750 --> 00:41:03,090 And, in that sense, the legend is real. 806 00:41:03,169 --> 00:41:05,129 It’s not like these stories 807 00:41:05,213 --> 00:41:07,553 are promising gold where none exists. 808 00:41:07,674 --> 00:41:13,184 It does, and man’s imagination and greed filled in the rest. 809 00:41:15,431 --> 00:41:17,681 Archaeologists continue to search 810 00:41:17,850 --> 00:41:20,810 for lost ancient cities throughout South America, 811 00:41:20,937 --> 00:41:23,937 and have found nearly a dozen in the past decade alone. 812 00:41:24,023 --> 00:41:26,363 But none matches the allure 813 00:41:26,526 --> 00:41:30,196 of the tantalizing lost city of gold. 814 00:41:30,363 --> 00:41:34,993 Perhaps one day, El Dorado will be finally uncovered. 815 00:41:35,118 --> 00:41:36,868 I’m Laurence Fishburne. 816 00:41:36,995 --> 00:41:41,125 Thank you for watching "History’s Greatest Mysteries." 817 00:41:41,207 --> 00:41:44,377 ♪ ♪