"strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. >> after years of scouring the ocean floor, a treasure hunter with a simple motto... >> today is the day. >> today is the day. >> today is the day. >> ...hits the mother lode. >> ...a shipwreck, which had 40 tons of gold and silver and copper on board. >> when his heirs cash in, collectors grab a piece of the action. >> a gold chalice. $100,000 to open the bid. >> but this treasure hunt is far from over. >> is it true that there's a 40-pound bag of emeralds down there? >> it's 70 pounds of emeralds. >> could you look harder?

i'm jamie colby, and, today, i'm driving into key west, florida, in search of treasure. you know, years ago, spanish galleons and pirate ships sailed upon and sank in these waters. more recently, the island's been home to the heirs of a man who became rich and famous searching for the treasure left behind. >> my name is taffi fisher abt, and i inherited a wreck. i mean literally a wreck, a spanish shipwreck. it's an incredible archeological find, and we keep bringing up more treasure all the time. >> you must be taffi. >> welcome to the mel fisher maritime heritage society. >> taffi's father, mel fisher, salvaged tons of treasure from the sea. oh, yeah. solid gold. >> this is an emerald cross and ring that was found in 1982. >> some of his most precious

artifacts are in the museum he founded here in key west. he must have loved the adventure. >> he did. he was an awful lot like tom sawyer. >> tom sawyer had the mississippi. indiana native mel fisher dreams up his childhood adventures on lake michigan. >> he would go to the lake, and he made a dive helmet out of a bucket. >> how did that work out? >> he said that it didn't work at all. >> in world war ii, mel joins the army corps of engineers. >> over in europe, one of his jobs was building latrines. >> but after the war, this hoosier is fated for a higher -- or maybe lower -- calling. >> he'd met some gentlemen who were spearfishing in tampa, and he was amazed that they could go down and stay underwater. >> they're scuba diving. mel falls in love with the new sport. he follows his parents to california, where they buy a chicken ranch.

a lot of clucking and feathers, but he's moving closer to his dream. >> he bought a compressor and started filling his own tanks. >> in 1952, a beautiful local girl named deo horton walks in and steps out with mel. >> he taught her how to scuba dive, and they decided that they were gonna open a dive shop. >> together, they lead dive charters to explore shipwrecks off the california coast. >> treasure hunting was really a passion for my father. it was full of romance and adventure. >> soon, mel and deo have a thriving business in redondo beach and three boys -- kane, kim and dirk. >> my mother was trying to get other women to go diving, so she decided she was gonna set the world's record for staying underwater. >> and she did -- 55 hours and 37 minutes. as deo put it, "worst case of dishpan hands in histo

ffi. bwi wui i borebfeet. [ both laugh ] >> eyeing bigger fish to fry, mel sells the dive shop and moves his family to the florida coast to become a full-time treasure hunter. he sets his sights on one particular prize. >> he read about a shipwreck, which had 40 tons of gold and silver and copper on board. >> her name is nuestra señora de atocha. in september 1622, the spanish galleon leaves havana, bound for seville. she's loaded with treasure from spain's central and south american colonies -- gold bars, finely worked religious articles, and gold chains that some spanish officials are trying to smuggle home in their baggage. [ thunder crashes ] but a caribbean storm sends the atocha to the bottom. finding her wreck becomes

mel fisher's obsession. every morning, he rousts his crew with a simple statement -- "today is the day." >> and, of course, every day, my father is saying, "today is the day. we're gonna hit it. we're almost there. it'll only take a few more months, and we'll have it all." >> finally, mel's search turns up a couple of musket balls from the atocha, plus some coins, a gold chain, and an anchor, then three silver bars -- 76 pounds each. he's getting warmer. >> but then it would kind of piddle off, and he'd say, "that's all right. we'll find it tomorrow." and the next day, "today is the day." >> mel and deo's son dirk and dirk's wife, angel, pitch in to run the northwind, one of their salvage boats. >> they found nine bronze cannons, and that was major, but there was nothing much around those cannons. >> what are the next five years like? >> mostly just empty holes. digging hundreds of thousands of empty holes. >> mel is out of money, living

on a rundown houseboat. then, in july 1975, a faulty valve on the northwind leads to tragedy. what happened? >> my brother dirk and his wife, angel, and a good friend, rick gage, were killed one night when the boat capsized at sea. >> and that tragedy on the water didn't deter dad from wanting to be on the water? >> i think if there was one time ever that my parents considered not continuing, that was it. >> tell me about your brother dirk. >> we were all very depressed about it, but we decided that dirk would want us to continue. and, so, it actually increased our determination. we were gonna find it for dirk. >> so mel returns to the trail of scattered pieces of the atocha's cargo, knowing each

tiny find is a data point that inches him closer to the wreck site. >> we'd find a nail, maybe, a ballast stone, just little teases. >> "teases" that tell mel he must be closing in. others sense it, too, including the government, which wants a cut. in 1977, the federal government and the state of florida claim they own everything salvaged from the atocha. mel fights back. >> he found a lawyer who was in admiralty law, and they arrested a piece of the shipwreck and put it in my father's custody. >> "arresting the wreck" is the legal action a marine-salvage operator files when he's found an abandoned shipwreck. the law wants to create an incentive for people like mel to find valuables lost at sea. that's just the start of his battle with the government. it takes seven years, 151 trials and hearings, $1.2 million in

legal fees, and a trip to the u.s. supreme court. but, finally, mel fisher prevails. no one else can own it. >> nope. it's ours. >> no wonder you're smiling all the time. >> [ laughs ] >> after he beat the government in court, he said, "america has one of the best governments in the world, because a little guy like me can fight and win." >> mel fisher may own the atocha, but the main cargo hold is still out there somewhere. then, on july 20, 1985, after almost 17 years of scouring the sea, the radio at mel's key west office crackles to life. it's his son kane. >> my brother called in and said, "you know, get dad on the radio. i got some important news to tell him." >> what was the news? >> the news was that we had found the main pile of the atocha. it was an 80-foot-long pile of

silver bars and coin chests and jewelry. it was just there sticking up out of the mud. >> is today the day? find out next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. how many sunken spanish treasure ships lie undiscovered off the florida coast? the answer when we return.

>> the answer is "b." the 40 to 50 wrecks likely contain billions of dollars in precious metal and jewels. >> july 20, 1985. yes, this really is the day for mel fisher. after almost 17 years of searching, the treasure hunter finally discovers the main cargo hold of the atocha, a spanish galleon that sank off key west in 1622. >> 55 five feet down from us, there was this big pile of silver bars about 80 feet long, and then money chains, gold chains, about 6 pounds of emeralds. >> 6 pounds of emeralds. he's lived nearly two decades on the financial edge, been written off as a kook and a charlatan, and rededicated himself to his goal after losing a son and daughter-in-law to the sea.

but now mel fisher has accomplished his mission. >> the value of what we found, at that time, was about $400 million. >> there were so many people who were doubters, but at this point, every magazine in the world came and wanted dad on the cover. >> mel even gets on "the tonight show" and impresses johnny carson with his favorite treasure -- a 6-foot-long gold chain, which he likes to wear around key west and show to kids. >> do you have a favorite piece so far? >> yeah, my favorite piece is a poison cup. it's a solid-gold cup and it has very beautiful engraving. and in the bottom of the cup is a mount for a stone. and if anything with poison was poured in the cup, the stone would change colors. >> is that what you like about it? the story? >> well, that, plus i found it myself. [ laughs ] >> mel's daughter, taffi, oversees archiving the artifacts his divers bring up. so, the fine jewelry, obviously,

is right up my alley. this rosary is unbelievable. >> yes, this a gold rosary with ebony inlay. >> oh! mel salvaged thousands of spanish coins like this one. >> the cross represented the ten commandments. you know the ten commandments, don't you? >> yes. >> well, if you never broke any, i'll let you have that. [ both laugh ] >> mel shares a big chunk of the treasure with his crew. how much is a secret. but suffice it to say there were a bunch of new millionaires in key west. >> did your folks' and your life change? did they live bigger? what'd they do? >> well, a little bit. it was nice not to have to worry about money anymore. but, you know, they stayed in the same house. after the atocha, it became more like a hobby, 'cause he didn't have to work anymore. but he loved it. he loves the search and the thrill of finding it. >> my father said, "taffi, remember, we're only temporary custodians of all of this treasure. hundreds of years ago, it all

belonged to someone else, and then it was lost. and then we found it, and we've been custodians for a while. and hundreds of years from now, someone else will have it." >> words of a man who relishes the hunt for treasure more than possessing it. in 1994, mel fisher begins a battle with lymphatic cancer. he continues to search for treasure almost to his last days. he dies at age 76, in 1998. what was it like when dad passed? >> we had a big celebration of his life. we took his ashes out and put them over the atocha site on father's day the following year. >> in 2009, mel's widow, deo, passes away, too, leaving the treasure of the atocha to her children. what is like to inherit something that was underwater for 400 years? that's pretty strange. >> yeah, it's a very strange inheritance and very exciting at

the same time. >> exciting, in part, because before deo dies, she tells her children it's time to begin selling off the atocha treasure. >> selling once. selling twice. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. according to legend, a 17th century ghost ship called the flying dutchman is cursed in which way? the answer when we return. ♪

♪ he has a sharp wit. a winning smile.

and no chance of getting an athletic scholarship. and that is why you invest. the best returns aren't just measured in dollars. >> the answer is "a." for hundreds of years, sailors reported seeing the phantom ship

aimlessly wandering the seas. >> for almost two decades, as he searched for the atocha, mel fisher confronted doubt, suspicion, financial risk, and personal tragedy, yet he never gave up. when he dies, in 1998, his heirs inherit the full-time job of running the salvage business and managing the fortune in treasure he left them. and in august 2015, in new york city, they're in the midst of a major piece of business -- auctioning off a big chunk of the gold, silver, and jewels from the atocha. >> these objects have an intrinsic value, but it goes way beyond that because of the history of how they were discovered. >> arlan ettinger, the founder of guernsey's auction house, has sold everything from soviet art to jerry garcia's guitar. >> we'll begin tonight with lot number 1, the three silver coins.

and $2,000 for them. >> mel fisher's daughter, taffi, has spent months preparing for this day. >> it's exciting and a little nerve-racking. >> part of the proceeds will be donated to a foundation taffi and her husband established in memory of their 12-year-old son, michael, who died in 2006 of sudden cardiac arrest. >> lot number 11. fair warning at $750. >> so, we're just hoping that it's appreciated and loved and people bid high. >> the fisher family decides this auction will have no reserve, or minimum bid, for most of the objects. >> lot number 83, the silver coin. $950. $1,000 is bid. $1,100. $1,100 is bid. $1,200. $3,500. and now $3,750. any more beyond -- >> yes. >> $3,750. sold here for $3,750. >> the smuggler's silver coin. $18,000 is the bid. $19,000 is bid. and now $20,000. fair warning at $30,000.

last chance. $30,000 for bidder number 607. >> and what about mel's favorite? the gold chain he wore on "the tonight show" just after discovering the mother lode. >> selling once. selling twice. sold to the telephone for $60,000. okay, lot number 51, the gold bar. $55,000 is bid. and now $60,000. >> you marvel at their brilliance. how is it possible that these were under the water, in turbulent conditions, for 400 years and look like they were crafted yesterday? >> $60,000. $65,000. $70,000. and $75,000 next. >> yes! >> $75,000. sold for $75,000. a fabulous emerald cross. $85,000 is bid. and now $90,000. $90,000 is bid. and now $95,000. sold for $95,000. now lot number 53, the gold

disk. $60,000 is bid. and now $65,000. $80,000. and now $85,000. and $90,000 is bid. and now $95,000 on the phone. selling once. selling twice. sold for $110,000. the gold chalice. $350,000. and $375,000 next. sold here for $350,000. aggregate >> some buyers get bargains, but the final tally of just over $2 million is a tidy sum for both the fisher family and taffi's foundation. >> some of the bids were very high. some of the bids were very low. but, you know, everything sold, so i don't have to carry anything home. maybe can save some lives. and maybe we'll just go out and find a whole bunch of more treasure. >> a whole bunch more treasure, because wait till you hear how much atocha booty remains beneath the sea. excuse me? that's next.

what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. my school could be bad.ing fast. could be a blast. can't find a single thing to wear. will they be looking at my hair? won't be the same without you bro.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> their auction has just raked in more than $2 million, but mel fisher's heirs are not done searching for treasure. you see, they not only inherited the fortune that's already been salvaged from the atocha, but the rights to anything else from the wreck site. how much is left down there? >> 250 million. >> what? >> dollars worth of treasure. >> excuse me? >> $250 million worth of treasure. >> mel used to say, "today's the day." his kids predict there will be more "days" ahead. >> i saw the sunset last night, and there was a green flash. that means we're gonna find a big pile today.

we'll find the stern-castle of the atocha that's been so elusive very soon, maybe tomorrow. >> okay. >> have you ever had a real job? >> you mean besides treasure hunting? no. >> the fisher family spreads their love of treasure hunting around. several times a year, they run cruises to the site of the atocha. it's a chance for even non-divers to search for treasure without getting their feet wet. >> today's the day. >> using a system called an airlift, divers suck up sediment from the ocean floor right into these troughs on deck. >> when you see a green emerald with that white sediment, you can't miss it. >> well, i was digging through the sand. a green emerald popped right out at me. i couldn't believe it. >> great start for the day. >> is it true that there's a 40-pound bag of emeralds down there? and are you looking for it?

>> actually, it's 70 pounds of emeralds. >> should i tell you green's my favorite color? [ thunder crashes ] four centuries ago, nature intervened, and the treasure of nuestra señora de atocha never arrived at its original destination, but through the labors of one dedicated -- and slightly obsessive -- man, it was not lost forever. now it will be scattered across the world -- to collectors, museums, and churches. after that, who knows? as mel fisher said, nobody holds on to this treasure for long. mel fisher's heirs clearly inherited their father's undying fascination with shipwrecks. taffi told me, "once you've seen the ocean paved with gold, it's hard to quit." or, as mel used to say, "it's not the find. it's the hunt." and, kim, if you do come up across that big old bag of emeralds, please give your pal, jamie colby, a call.

i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and, remember, you can't take it with you. >> majestic trees thousands of years old... >> these are the biggest trees i've ever seen, and they're beautiful. >> the redwood forest has been on the planet since the dinosaurs. >> then the ax men cometh. one makes a redwood his ultimate log cabin... >> what? >> ...a log-rolling attraction. it's her strange inheritance. >> i was the only child, so i knew i was always gonna get the log. >> but the road takes its toll. >> it's hard to be the log lady and have a life and be the truck driver and the repair person and do it all. >> she's got a big decision to make. >> she sure does, jamie. she sure does. >> and what happens when it's time for the log to be inherited from you? [ suspenseful music plays ]

[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] [ mid-tempo music plays ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm heading to the annual blueberry festival in plymouth, indiana. it's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to see a massive california redwood, but this tree rocks because it rolls. >> my name is jamie allen, and, in 1985, when i was 23, my father passed away, and he left me something that his father left him, and it's kept me on the road all my life. >> jamie? >> jamie? >> [ chuckles ] how are you? it's really great to meet you. and how funny we have the same name. let's get started, then. >> all right, here we go. >> this is one serious tree trunk. [ mid-tempo folk music plays ] and the "root" of the story, according to jamie, is in the late 1930s...

when her grandfather, james allen, is a lumberjack in northern california. james, a widower with a son in the army, sees redwood trees so massive that several men can easily fit inside the hollowed trunks. one day, during a sudden rain squall, he seeks shelter in the trunk of a giant redwood. that's when it occurs to james that he could actually make a home out of one. >> it was the tail end of the depression. he couldn't afford to buy a regular house. my grandma had already passed away. >> so james allen combs the forest for a suitable tree. he finally discovers the perfect one on the property of the georgia-pacific lumber company, near eureka, california. >> he traded the lumber company for that section of log for work. and then it took him four months to burrow out all the wood and a year and a half to complete the house.

it was all done by hand. >> today, most of those lumber mills are gone. what was once called the "redwood empire" is now a state park. >> welcome to humboldt redwoods state park. >> oh, my gosh. these trees are so beautiful. >> and they're the tallest trees on the planet. let's go. >> emily burns, a tree scientist with the save the redwoods league, says there is a reason this part of the country grows such towering trees. >> the fog rolls in to the coast redwood forest from the pacific ocean, and these trees collect it, and they take in that water directly into their leaves, and they also rain it down to the forest floor, helping all the other plants and animals. come check out this tree over here. what you're looking at is a history of fire, really. this burned-out cave is called a "goose pen." >> oh, my gosh. go inside? >> go inside, yeah. >> and it could survive this? >> actually, this tree is fine. it's still growing well. and it's created an amazing habitat for species like bats.

do you like bats? >> not really. are they in here? >> they might be. they might be right up above you. >> oh, well, it was nice to see it. >> [ laughs ] [ soft music plays ] >> chopping down a tree so old is hard to fathom now, but, beginning with the 1849 gold rush, these behemoths supply a lot of lumber needed to settle northern california. >> as the miners were looking for gold, the redwoods started to be cut down to build cities like san francisco. >> even into the 1930s and '40s, redwood trees were still cut down by hand axes and whipsaws. it could take days for a 2-man team to fell a 12-foot-diameter tree. a log could easily weigh 50 tons. >> we've lost 95% of ancient forests like this one to harvest. this is one forest you won't find any other place on the planet. >> so, if this is it and i am

here, can i hug a tree? >> i hope you will. the tree is ready. >> you're calling out to me. give me a squeeze! ah! it's not hard to grasp why americans love their redwoods -- a must-stop on many a family car trip since before the interstate. maybe even you have gassed up at this filling station built entirely out of three redwood tree trunks or driven through this famous arch. used to cost a quarter. today, it's five bucks. but remember, back in 1939, jamie's grandfather isn't looking to create a roadside attraction. he simply wanted a place to hang his hat. [ mid-tempo march plays ] that tree he picked out was 1,900 years old. think about that. when it was just a seed, the roman empire was at its height. as it grew, rome fell... islam rose...

columbus sailed... the colonies rebelled... napoleon won -- and lost... and the wright brothers flew. >> he built the log and lived in it for seven years. >> right there in the forest -- until word gets out of the old fella living in a log. >> people would come and knock on the door and say, "what's in there?" so he used to take the log to schools. >> just load it on a trailer. presto -- a mobile home. in the late 1950s, james sr. passes away, leaving his only son, world war ii vet and traveling salesman james elwin allen, his unusual home. so the son of a lumberjack decides to take it cross-country, maybe make a buck while sharing his strange inheritance with the world. he sets off for parts unknown. his travels eventually lead him to canada and a rodeo show

called the calgary stampede. there he meets 18-year-old iris keiver. they're both smitten and soon get married. what do you think your mother thought about her husband driving around the country with a log house? >> i think it must've been very intriguing because my mother married my father, and that was a very unusual lifestyle. >> when baby jamie is born in 1961, james allen jr. packs up his young wife and daughter and heads right back out on the circuit, traveling the u.s. to fairs, carnivals, and exhibitions. >> i grew up in a family atmosphere of traveling people, and we just happened to have a log. >> step right up, put a nickel in the donation box, and see james allen's incredible cabin made from a genuine california redwood. your dad was able to support the family off of change donations? >> we had the log, a fudge

business, and he sold a lot of different types of products. >> so he was really a pro at this traveling business. >> he had his hands in so many pies it wasn't even funny. >> and it's not every day you get to walk through a tree. now that i heard your story, i've got to go inside. >> please go right in and see how beautiful it really is. >> that's next. what? >> but first -- our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer when we return. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪

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>> so, what is america's most visited national park? it's "a," the great smoky mountains in tennessee -- gets about 10 million visitors a year. >> it's not often you get the chance to walk through a 1,900-year-old redwood tree. i'll be out of the other side, i assume. >> i'll meet you at the other end. [ upbeat music plays ] >> welcome inside jamie allen's strange inheritance. what? [ chuckling ] oh, my god. look at this kitchen! the kitchen boasts a vintage hotplate and a sanitary brand refrigerator from the 1940s.

i did not expect this -- full kitchen, original kitchen, all-wood cabinets? in fact, every built-in facet of the log's interior is made entirely of redwood, hand-sanded, varnished, and polished to a glossy finish. to keep it that way, jamie tells me she polishes the entire interior from floor to ceiling every night. huh. look at that. that's how it was made. the pictures hanging in this gallery are jamie's only remaining photos of her grandpa. they chronicle his amazing endeavor -- the cutting of a tree 1,900 years old, the stump cut 14 feet in diameter. amazing. i'm imagining the four months it took for her grandpa to hollow out this log and then 18 months to painstakingly hand-build this redwood interior -- just tall enough to accommodate his 6-foot

frame and everything else he needed. it's a whole home -- couch, living room, dining room. bedroom? unbelievable. oh. this is beautiful! wow, jamie. it's like an elegant home inside. >> it's beautiful, isn't it? [ upbeat music plays ] >> and it's been home to jamie allen her whole life. >> i can't ever remember not living with a log. when i was a baby, my mother put me in a cardboard box because they didn't have a big crib to take with them. you can't carry a big crib in a log. [ country western music plays ] >> but when jamie turns five, her parents divorce. five years old? >> they just couldn't live together, you know? in the wintertime, my dad would come to town where i was going to school. he would come and stay at the apartment we lived in. >> and every summer, she joins her father on the road.

>> my dad always had me in the log. he'd give me 15 minutes at lunch, a half an hour at dinner, and 15 minutes at around 9:00. my father always knew where i was when i was a teenager. >> and it sounds like you loved it and you loved him. >> oh, a lot. >> when jamie turns 16, she goes full time on the fair-and-festival circuit, traveling with her dad. it's big-time bonding for father and daughter, but does he really want this life for his girl? coming up... >> i looked at my father like, "what, are you out of your mind?" >> but first... >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return.

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so, what city lays claim to the oldest state fair? it's "a." the new york state fair began in syracuse in 1841 and remains one of the largest in the u.s. >> happy blueberry festival to you. i'm at the indiana blueberry festival with jamie allen and her strange inheritance -- a cabin her grandfather carved out of a 1,900-year-old redwood. how many people do you think you meet a year as a result of traveling with a log? >> millions. [ chuckles ] literally, millions of people. >> she's been at it since she was a kid. for years, she crisscrossed the country with her dad. what's here? >> this is my friend mike mcneil, and he was a good friend of my father's, as well, so i thought he was somebody you might like to meet. >> oh, you mean you didn't just bring me over here to have something with sprinkles? >> [ laughs ] >> mike mcneil has run a

traveling concession stand like this one for 40 years. he and jamie's father crossed paths many times. >> jamie's dad was a good businessman, and he had a good heart, too, which is what you want people to say about you. >> okay... what i want is to see if mike's cheesecake is any good. >> wait a minute. >> ooh! they have everything inside. >> there you go. >> uh-huh. is this new york cheesecake? >> no, it's better. this is philadelphia. >> nothing is better -- oh, philadelphia? >> you haven't tried this. >> okay, so, what's the first step? >> dip it in the chocolate and pull it out. >> nice! >> pull it way up. >> okay, i would like sprinkles. >> sprinkles? right there. >> may i? >> go ahead. please do. >> i think i have to. >> you're gonna like that. >> mmm. >> there you go. >> give me a minute. give me a minute. wow! >> i told you that you would like that. [ laughs ]

>> the thing is, cheesecake on a stick is heavenly -- on that one weekend a year the fair comes to town... not so much when every weekend's the fair and every weekday's to the next venue. but this was the life of james allen and the life he saw his daught >> i was the only child, so i knew i was always gonna get the log. >> all parents hope their kids have options, and, in 1978, when jamie is 17 years old, a stranger stops by the cabin and offers one. >> my dad approached me, and he said, "a man's very interested in buying the log. would you be interested in selling?" >> but i looked at my father like, "what, are you out of your mind? no, i don't want the money. i want the log." >> was not continuing what he did with the log ever an option for you? >> oh, no. when i was little and they asked me, "what are you gonna be when you grow up?" i'd say, "just like my dad." [ folk music plays ]

>> seven years later, in 1985, her dad dies of cancer. jamie, only 23, receives her strange inheritance, and, for the next 30 years, she's indeed just like her dad. any regrets that your dad didn't take that offer? >> no, it's a labor of love for me. >> you have any children? >> nope, just three dogs and a cat. >> and a boyfriend, buddy, who travels with her on the circuit. how much time do you spend with this log of yours? >> oh, i spend a lot of time with my log -- 14, 16 hours a day when we're showing, probably 4 to 6 months a year. >> and you make a living doing this? >> i try. it's not as lucrative as it used to be. it's taking its toll on me and the log. the roads are rough on it. we only get to go 56 miles an hour because you can't move it very quickly. i get four miles to the gallon.

bungees, buddy. >> are you losing money on this proposition? >> i think i'm breaking even. you know, i'm just floating along. >> how much money did you make off this venture last year? >> i think we took in maybe about $20,000. >> do you think about what will happen when you can't drive a rig anymore? >> well, the show's got to go on. we don't have a choice. >> or does she? [ upbeat music plays ] she's got a big decision to make. >> she sure does, jamie. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

when you think what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a.

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in less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. and if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. ♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> for 30 years, jamie allen has been the sole proprietor of allen's original redwood log house. what was once a home for her

lumberjack grandpa is now a traveling tourist attraction -- her strange inheritance. do people look at you on the road like, "wait -- what"? "that lady's driving a tree." >> you can see the passenger tell the driver, "look, there's a girl driving that thing." >> her policy of admission by donation, plus the revenue from souvenirs, once provided a decent living, but it's tougher with each passing year. >> it's hard to be the log lady and have a life and be the bookkeeper and the truck driver and the repair person and do it all. >> those worries are building in the fall of 2014, when jamie is exhibiting the log house at the pittsburgh home & garden show. a few exhibits away is an antiques appraiser named lori verderame. jamie invites her to check out her cabin. what was your first impression when you saw this log cabin? >> oh, i thought it was very unusual. i didn't realize that it was a

house inside until i went inside. >> the women begin brainstorming. is there anything jamie can do to make her business more lucrative, her future more secure? is her strange inheritance a "sell" or a "hold"? so we invited dr. lori to join us here at the blueberry festival to hear her advice. >> i have to look at it and evaluate it as a public attraction for its history. i have to look at it as a redwood log, a piece of a natural historical object. >> who buys a log? >> the people who say, "i'm a museum, i'm a conservation park, and i want to use it as an attraction to bring more awareness of my business." so the log really can stir an awful lot of interest. the other thing which impacts its value -- the log also generates money. >> well, jamie's told me she's just about breaking even. she's getting four miles to the gallon.

>> well, she's moving it. that doesn't mean that, if it were staying still, that she couldn't generate more money. >> it's a lot to take in. i don't really want the log to just stay in one place. >> did you choose this life on the road, or did it choose you? >> i think that it's a little bit of both. >> you're doing this since you're 23 years old. do you start to think, "maybe i ought to sell"? >> a lot of people ask me do i want to sell, and i tell them, "well, you never sell your family tree." [ upbeat music plays ] >> a family tree for sure. at the end of the great depression, an old lumberjack fells the 1,900-year-old redwood and makes a cabin from a section of the trunk. it starts out as his home, turns into a roadside attraction, and becomes a living for his son and then his granddaughter. and what happens when it's time for the log to be inherited from you? you don't have children. >> no, but i have several

godchildren that are very interested in the log. so we'll see who shows the most potential of making sure that it keeps traveling. >> words of a woman who knows she's approaching a crossroads but is not there yet. >> i've been doing what i've been doing for a long time, and i want my log to keep doing what it's doing. >> so your life's gonna be on the road for awhile. >> well, i'm pretty sure it probably will be. >> it's what you do. >> it's who i am. >> no doubt jamie allen's redwood cabin is a strange inheritance from a different era. consider this. the tree now believed to be the tallest in the world was discovered in this state park in 2006. far from turning it into an attraction, officials have kept its location secret. why? because if its location were known, they say, so many people would race off to see it that the tree's life would be in danger.

i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember, you can't take it with you. >> announcer: the heroes of the space race capture the imagination of a young boy. >> we choose to go to the moon. >> the world was fascinated. the astronauts were superstars. >> these are the nation's mercury astronauts. [ applause ] >> announcer: it inspires him to collect all kinds of nasa artifacts. >> that's one small step for man... >> it's one of america's greatest achievements, and i think it's something which will continue to inspire. >> announcer: but when he dies too young... >> i thought, "this can't be happening." >> announcer: ...he leaves his widow an inheritance that's out of this world. ♪