>> a gangster hideout... >> ma barker had her tommy gun and shot out this window? >> right. [ gunfire ] >> ...an epic gunfight... >> it went on for about four hours. it's the longest in fbi history. >> digging up some bullets fired from that window. >> ...haunting history... >> you'd hear, often, footsteps up and down the stairs, just in the middle of the night. >> ...set for sail. >> this is a lot bigger than any of us realize. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, headed into the town of ocklawaha, florida, 60 miles northwest of orlando,

and i'm on my way to meet a man who inherited a house riddled with gangster history. >> my name is carson good. for more than a century, my family has owned this property here on lake weir, a place for peace and quiet, except for one very loud, bloody day in 1935. >> carson, hi. i'm jamie. >> hey, jamie, how are you? >> carson invites me into his strange inheritance, and the minute you take a look around, you can tell it's just frozen in time. he says everything is exactly as it was back in january 1935, when the fbi surrounded the lake house, with warrants for the arrest of gangsters ma barker and her son fred. >> this is the original fbi picture. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. that's this lamp? >> that's the same lamp, yes. >> and that's that lamp. >> right. >> that's the table that's here. that's still there. oh, my goodness. >> right. >> and it's an exact match.

>> right. >> now, what the heck were two infamous gangsters doing in carson's great- grandfather's lake house? we'll get to that. but first, a little gangster history. >> the 1920s and '30s becomes known as the "gangster era" in america. >> mob historian and author scott deitche. >> you of course had the great depression. you also had prohibition, so you had kind of this perfect storm of socioeconomic factors that led to this sudden increase in violent crime. >> bank robberies, kidnappings, and murders are causing havoc around the country, with big-name criminals grabbing headlines. >> you had machine gun kelly, "pretty boy" floyd, john dillinger, bonnie and clyde. they had these catchy names that people gravitated towards. >> another name on that list -- the barker-karpis gang. >> ma barker was born in missouri to a pretty poor family at the time. she married her husband,

george barker, in 1892. they had four sons. they were living in poverty for most of that time. >> as the barker boys come of age, they take to a criminal lifestyle -- getting into fights, stealing cars, committing robberies. but in their mother's eyes, they can do no wrong. do you think they were just doing what they wanted to do without her knowing? >> i think the boys got in trouble, as a lot of boys do, and, rather than disciplining them, she was constantly covering up, trying to help them out, always defending them. >> they eventually gravitated into larger robberies, into kidnappings for ransom, and other crimes. >> ma's youngest son, fred, is nabbed and sent to a kansas state prison in 1927. while there, fred befriends fellow inmate alvin karpis. when the two are paroled in 1931, they head to tulsa, oklahoma, where ma welcomes her son and his buddy alvin with open arms. >> they form a gang and go on

a crime spree, hitting an oklahoma jewelry store for 5 grand and a minnesota bank for a whopping 250k in cash and bonds. they shoot and kill a security guard in missouri during a car heist and murder a deputy sheriff in arkansas. >> then j. edgar hoover announces open season on gangsters. in the summer and fall of 1934, his g-men shoot and kill some famous crooks -- "pretty boy" floyd, john dillinger, and "baby face" nelson. >> it certainly seemed that the bureau was more than willing to use deadly force when necessary. >> feeling the heat, ma and a few gang members flee the midwest... and head south under the last name blackburn, landing in central florida, in the town of ocklawaha, on lake weir. the area has long been a summer escape for snowbirds and

outdoorsmen, including carson good's family. in 1930, his great-grandfather carson bradford builds this 2,000-square-foot lake house. it's more than just a fish camp for him and his boys. it's furnished to suit his wife, marion. >> this was her house, and she was apparently very particular about it. >> wipe your feet? >> you had to wipe your feet here. you couldn't come into the living room, if you were a kid, except certain times. >> unlike their neighbors, the bradfords don't rent out their lake house during the winter. but in november 1934, a local real-estate agent presents carson's great-grandfather with a very generous offer. >> so, the broker said there's this nice lady and her sons coming down from up north. they wanted to kind of get away from it all for the wintertime. and they were offering a sizable amount of money. and he said the house wasn't for rent. and then the amount of money kept going up and up, and... >> really? >> ...so, finally, he rented the house. >> and so the blackburns -- in reality, the barkers -- move in to the neighborhood.

george albright, a lifelong lake weir resident, remembers the stories his grandfather told about the tiny town's newest residents. >> the blackburns immersed themselves into the community very quickly. they got to know people around town. she went to church here, apparently gave very generously, so the locals embraced 'em. >> but two months after their arrival, up in chicago, on january 8, 1935, the g-men get a bead on ma's whereabouts when they arrest her older son and fellow gang member arthur "doc" barker and search his apartment. >> they actually found a map that had ocklawaha, florida, in it, and they determined that that's where ma barker and fred barker were holing up. ♪ >> eight days later, january 16th. 15 armed fbi agents surround the lake house. what are they prepared to do? >> they were prepared to take

the whole gang at once. >> but ma has something to say about that. you're telling me that ma barker was shooting right out that window? >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. who was j. edgar hoover's original public enemy number one? the answer after the break.

♪

>> so, who was j. edgar hoover's original public enemy number one? it's john dillinger. g-men shot and killed the bank robber in 1934 outside chicago's biograph movie theater. >> it's january 1935, and fbi agents have tracked infamous gangster ma barker and her gang to this house on lake weir in central florida. it's owned by carson good's great-grandfather, who has unwittingly rented it to the notorious gangsters. around 6:00 a.m., 15 agents surround the house. then they call for those inside to surrender. >> and a woman's voice -- it was ma -- yelled, "who is it?!" >> i'm on the edge of my seat. >> and they said, "we have a warrant for your arrest, and please come out," and she said, "hold on a minute. let me see what son says." and then the firing began.

[ gunfire ] >> now, law enforcement has no idea who's in the house. there are shots coming from upstairs, downstairs. they think it might be multiple people. they're not sure. it becomes kind of this free-for-all. >> wielding a thompson submachine gun with a 100-round drum, ma barker fires from one bedroom window while son fred fires from another. [ gunfire ] >> everybody wanted to come and see what was happening. in one of the pictures that the fbi took that day, you can see there are several dozen people right on the fence line of the house. >> then, around 11:30 a.m., silence. afraid that they might be walking into a trap, the g-men send the house's caretaker, willie woodberry, inside. >> willie told me he came in the door, saw the house just torn to pieces, yelled out for them. and there was a pool of blood right here, a big pool of blood,

and he said he saw it led right up the stairs. you can see the bullet holes here, bullet hole here, here, here, bullet hole here, bullet holes there. >> wow, big bullet holes. what a scene! he was pretty brave to come in the house at all. >> he said he was a little bit scared. >> i am, too. willie follows the blood trail to this bedroom. >> he said he came right in this door. as he pushed the door open, he found the bodies right there. fred had taken seven bullet holes in the chest, and she had one shot in the head. >> bullet holes in the wall, bullet holes in the door, bullet holes in that chair? >> right. >> wow. i'll tell you, bullet holes, blood and bodies -- i think i've seen enough for now. all 15 fbi agents walk away unscathed. nearly 2,000 shots were fired over four hours that day. >> this is a 100-shot machine gun used by ma barker. >> it remains the longest shootout in fbi history. >> whether they like it or not,

carson and marion bradford's lake house becomes known as "the ma barker house." >> the family wasn't really that talkative about it, but, as a kid, i would hear the story. i remember being, you know, really young and being intrigued with the story. >> adding to the intrigue, some people swear the place is now haunted. >> you'd hear, often, footsteps up and down the stairs, just in the middle of the night. >> elizabeth cockrell is carson's younger sister. >> i was always told of how ma barker and her sons -- they'd all play poker at the dining-room table. in the middle of the night, there'd be these sounds of people playing poker and the glasses chinking and people, you know, yelling at each other and laughing. >> even if you don't believe in ghosts, you won't be surprised ma barker at least lives on in popular culture. a tommy-gun-toting mom is irresistible to hollywood, which has told her story again and again. >> she's in television shows and movies, most notably the great low-budget cult movie

"bloody mama," with shelley winters playing ma barker. the mythical figure of ma barker has definitely -- definitely survived the decades. >> each flick, of course, climaxes with the epic shootout at the bradford lake house, which, in real life, is handed down from one generation to the next for the following 50 years. but, as time goes by, it's getting less and less use. was there a family meeting at this point to decide what to do? >> yes. we struggled over what exactly to do with the house and the property between those of us that wanted to keep it in the family forever and those that just wanted to get cash and wanted to sell. >> eventually, carson and his relatives agree it's time to cash out. but first they want to explore if there's a way to somehow preserve the house because of its historical significance. lucky for carson, he has an old friend with lots of connections -- longtime lake weir resident and former

florida house of representatives member george albright. >> so, he came up with the idea of going to the state of florida, getting them to buy the property, and keep it as a park and a museum. >> there was a little bit of pushback that we were honoring thugs. we, in no way, are honoring these people. these are cold-blooded murderers. what we are honoring is the success of the fbi, of removing the gangster movement that had run rampant in america. >> george is able to get $230,000 for the house into the proposed 2015 state budget. that's not enough to buy it, but it would go a long way to turning it into a museum. how'd that go? >> it was vetoed. a whole bill that was giving money for these kind of parks got vetoed by governor scott, so that killed that idea. >> but our heirs aren't ready to surrender. coming up, a discovery in the

sand... >> looky there -- .38-caliber casing. very cool. >> ...and a groundswell of support. >> 1,000 people showed up. everybody was blown away. this is a lot bigger than any of us realize. >> here's another quiz question. oscar winner shelley winters spoofed ma barker in the television series "batman." what was her character's name in the episode? the answer when we return.

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this tech stuff is easy. [ whirring sound ] you want a cookie? it's a drone! i know. find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. ♪ >> so, what was shelley winters' character's name in the "batman" tv series episode about ma and her gang? it's "b." the 1966 episode, called "the

greatest mother of them all," features winters as ma parker. >> back in 1935, this lake house in central florida was the scene of the fbi's infamous shootout with ma barker and her son that left both gangsters dead. now carson good and his relatives are looking to sell the home and surrounding property that's been in their family for more than 80 years. but there's one condition -- they want to see their strange inheritance preserved because of its historical significance. after the governor denied a $230,000 proposal to turn it into a museum, the family is scrambling to figure out what to do. then a neighbor stops by. >> a next-door neighbor came to us, and he made the offer to buy the property at $750,000. >> just the property, or the house? >> he came, and he wanted to buy the house and the property. >> the buyer isn't as committed

as carson is to preserving the ma barker hideout as a landmark but will allow it to be moved to another location. sounds good to carson, but where do you put it and how do you get it there? local politician george albright has an idea. he arranges for an open house here at ma barker's old hideout and makes sure bigwigs in the county government are there. >> 1,000 people showed up. everybody was blown away. and i think that cemented the situation where the county said, "you know what? i think this is a lot bigger than any of us realize." >> marion county officials set aside 235,000 bucks to move the house across lake weir to a conservation area. as part of the deal, carson and his family agree to donate the house in exchange for its preservation as an historical site. but you got to remove the house. it's not an easy thing to do.

you don't just, like, put wings on. >> right. >> what do you do? >> carson said, "well, why don't we just put it on a barge and float it across the lake?" i said, "you're out of your mind." >> and then another surprise. >> we knew that the pinky rings were what the gangsters wore. you see that in the movies. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> it's 2016, and carson good's strange inheritance, this central florida lake house, the site of a bloody shootout in 1935 between the fbi and infamous gangsters ma and fred barker, is getting ready to be moved to a new location. after selling the 9-acre tract of land for three-quarters of a million dollars, carson and his family agree to donate the house itself to the county.

still, there's one small detail to be worked out. they need to find a way to move the house to a county park on the other side of lake weir. >> carson said, "well, why don't we just put it on a barge and float it across the lake?" i said, "you're out of your mind." >> a house on the lake, really? >> right. so that's what they decided to do. >> the decision means the notorious ma barker's final hideout will be preserved, though the plot on which that epic shootout occurred will be redeveloped... which raises the question, is there anything on this land also worth preserving? one group of floridians suspect there is, and they call carson about it. >> those types of locations are the types of places where the history causes all of us to want to go hunt. >> alan james is a member of the central florida metal detecting club, and they offer carson a deal -- let them search his land

for artifacts, and they'll give any they find to the future ma barker museum. they shoot this video as they canvass the area. >> looky there -- .38-caliber casing. very cool. and they were shooting from here to that corner window. >> moments later, there's more. >> digging up some bullets, the actual bullets themselves they fired from that window, fired from the barkers. >> but the biggest surprise comes when alan gets a hit about 50 feet from the front door. >> i ran my detector coil over a real scratchy signal, and i popped out a little 10-karat gold ring. it took a little while before we realized what that ring was. >> the ring's engraved with the initials f.g.b. those initials belong to fredrick george barker, the infamous gangster who was killed, along with his mother, in the shootout.

then, on october 27, 2016, the 86-year-old structure is lifted from the ground. oh, my goodness. that sounds treacherous. >> they took tracks from the beach all the way up to underneath the house and then rolled the house down the tracks, right onto the barge. >> it's one thing to put a house on a barge that's grounded. it's another thing to move it. by the grace of god, it didn't fall over, and the whole time, i was sitting there thinking, "lord, please don't let this house fall over." >> and that calm morning, the old house makes its 3-mile journey across lake weir and onto this bluff. >> it really works out great. it's gonna stay in its same state, on the same lake, on similar land. i mean, this is the best. >> now the infamous ma barker house is almost ready for visitors. >> we look forward to the public enjoying this house. there's been a constant interest in the ma barker story and for it not to die, and i think this

is going to become a real destination for a lot of people. >> do you ever think about what your parents, your grandparents would think about what you've accomplished? >> i think they'd be very happy. it's very important for our family to preserve the history of the house. >> remember those old stories about the lake house being haunted by the spirits of ma and fred barker? well, since the county took possession of the home in 2016, they've received dozens of requests from ghost hunters looking to test it for paranormal activity. they're all excited about this photo of the ma barker house published in a tampa newspaper which true believers say shows the ghost of ma barker. now, look closely at the front door. some say that shadowy figure is ma holding her trusty machine gun. funny how these paranormal photos are always just a little too fuzzy and out of focus. i'm jamie colby.

thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ gunfire ] >> a freaky forest that scrapes the sky. >> that's a redwood? >> it's several redwood trees. >> mysterious, incredible. believe it or not. >> you might see something like this in "lord of the rings" or "game of thrones." >> this is natural? >> of course. mother nature can only do this. >> but when life and limb's at risk...omeone could have gotten hurt.verybody in it. >> ...can they work without a net? >> that gives you the direction of where it's gonna fall... hopefully. >> the stress that you go through, the mayhem, the sleepless nights -- we have to do it. that's part of the fun. ♪ [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby on the pacific coast highway in northern california, just south of the oregon border. i'm here to meet a man whose strange inheritance has deep roots and came with a towering dilemma. >> my name is john thompson. i inherited a place of unique natural beauty. next thing i knew, it threatened to come crashing down on me. >> i'm jamie. >> welcome to the trees of mystery. >> john leads me past a giant statue of paul bunyan and into a stunning rainforest, which looks like something out of a tall tale. it's filled with sky-high coast redwoods, spruces and firs some 20 feet wide and 300 feet tall. >> nearly as tall as the statue of liberty. >> like a skyscraper. redwoods like these are among the oldest living things on earth. >> as much as 3,000 years old. >> it takes my breath away.

but take a closer look. there's something bizarre about these ancient giants. on the base of this one is a mangled mess the size of a bus. what's going on here? >> the spruce trees are growing over a log that fell 1,000 years >> s ago.us in the tangled tree. whatever it is, it's weird. >> and if we stand here too long, they will grow on us, too, so we need to keep moving. >> [ laughs ] further down is another contorted oddity -- the elephant tree, and then the upside-down tree, which grows horizontally before shooting up to the sky. everywhere you look, there's something amazing to see on this trail.his freakish root structure of the fallen giant, a redwood that toppled over more than a millennium ago. they are mysterious. let's find more. >> okay. >> john says the seed of this family-owned attraction was planted during world war ii when

his father, ray thompson, is serving with the snoopers, a special squadron of secret, radar-equipped b-24 bombers. >> he hopped all over the south pacific. they were extremely effective at night attacks on japaneseipping. >> at the end of the war, ray returns home to his wife and young son in san francisco. >> when he came back, he wanted to get away from everything. >> did he have a bad experience that left him shell-shocked? >> i really believe so. it certainly affected him when he came back. >> ray sees a newspaper ad offering that much-desired change of scenery -- a remote forest called trees of mystery is for sale way up north in the redwoods near klamath. ray visits and hikes down a trail called the kingdom of trees. he's mesmerized by the unusual growth, like this one that looks like a giant candelabra. that's a redwood? >> it's several redwood trees. this is this arrival mechanism

in this tree, and it fell down, and then its limbs turned into trees. >> wait.so, you're saying that t of a tree comes down, it reinvents itself as a tree? >> yes. isn't that amazing? >> it is amazing. >> these trees are very hard to kill. >> it's really spectacular. then there's this anomaly -- three giant redwoods reaching up to the sky in perfect symmetry, called the trinity tree. >> and this is where you get to hug the tree, and take a look up this tree because it goes all the way to heaven. >> hi, tree. >> they do.o be hugged. >> further down is the cathedral tree, made up of nine towering redwoods. >> maybe 800 years ago, a very large tree stood in the middle here. and it fell down, and the burls around the stump sprouted and grew into trees, forming a natural cathedral. >> this is natural?urse. mother nature can only do this. >> she can also do this -- the towering inferno, a redwood

from the inside by fire. ray's most awed by the aptly named family tree. the 400-year-old sitka spruce is actually multiple living trees in one. somehow, some way, several branches have sprouted into whole trees. >> a huge, beautiful structure, almost unique in the world. it's certainly the largest in the world. ray and his wife, ma, think the freaky forest would make a great roadside attraction, so they buy the property and move to the middle-of-nowhere northern california to run the odd business. but it won't be easy getting money to grow on these trees. >> someone could have gotten hurt. >> oh, totally. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer after the break.

♪ >> so, coast redwoods belong to the species sempervirens, which is latin for what? it's c -- "always living." redwoods are known for their incredible ability to adapt and survive, sometimes in bizarre fashion. ♪ >> in 1946, ray and mary lee thompson open a natural roadside

attraction filled with corkscrew tree roots and branchy abnormalities called trees of mystery along highway 101 in northern california. even ripley's believe it or not is awed by the park's bizarre redwoods, like the stunning and freakish fallen giant and upside down trees. >> it has a very mystical, spiritual feeling, and you might see something like this in "lord of the rings" or "game of thrones." it just transports you to another world. >> at the time, millions of road trippers cruise up and down the pacific coast highway each year. the trick -- getting them to pull over. so, the couple goes all out with a big purchase, says their son, john -- a 12-foot paul bunyan statue. >> but he only lasted one season... >> oh. what happened? >> ...'cause he was made out of paper-mache and he melted. >> they build a second bunyan, this time 24 feet tall and made from wood and cement.

>> kids are going to start screaming from the back seat if they see a giant paul bunyan along the highway, so this was a great kid magnet. >> they figure a bigger bunyan will get even more kids to scream, so in the early '60s, ray and mary lee double up. paul number three is 49 feet tall with 10-foot high boots and a 52-foot waist. he even waves, winks, and makes >> welcome to trees of mystery. >> how you doing, paul? >> well, i'm doing great. how could you not on a day like today? couple also create a trail of tall tales attraction, featuring 80 wood sculptures from milled-redwood timbers. john grows up right here on site during this golden era of the park. >> when i was about 8 years old, brush around the trail and pick up the flashbulbs people threw out after taking pictures. >> but it's not all happy memories. in the mid-'60s, john's parents

divorce. his dad, ray, leaves the family and the park forever, seeking out a new escape. >> where did dad go? >> he went sailing. [ laughs ] >> so, mom stayed here, and dad wasn't here. >> yeah. mom bought dad out. i think mom had a lot more satisfaction from the place than dad did. >> a few years later, john leaves home himself, moving to seattle and becoming a successful engineer. but times are changing at trees of mystery. between a new interstate routing traffic inland and an oil crisis, the roadside attraction is fighting to survive. >> traffic becomes, like, half of what it used to be. mom was hemorrhaging money like crazy. >> so john uproots his life and moves back home to help mom with the family business. what is it about this place that would make you, being so successful with your own life in seattle, want to come back? >> [ chuckles ] well, a little insanity helps. >> [ laughs ] i bet.

>> it's because i love the place. >> in time, john becomes general manager, running the park on a day-to-day basis. he has two daughters from two marriages. his youngest, hannah, spends her early childhood living in the on-site family home just like her dad. >> what do you remember most about growing up here? >> playing in the woods was a big part of my childhood.limb t. we would throw rocks. i would make a vine-rope swing out of the ivy that grows around here. >> it sounds like it was a wonderful childhood. >> it was. >> over the years, john and his mother attempt to reinvigorate trees of mystery. they add a restaurant and native american museum, then take out a big loan for the construction of a $1-million sky trail gondola. you really modernized the whole experience.>> it's about the tre unique perspective that we get of them up here, you can't really see them any other way without being a bird. >> the gamble pays off.

big attraction? >> big attraction. people absolutely love it, doubled our business. >> attendance climbs to 400,000 visitors a year, but in 2015, some bad breaks. first, there's trouble with the family tree, that 200-foot-tall, centuries-old sitka spruce with numerous trees sprouting from its branches. in the middle of the night, a loud crack precedes and even louder crash. >> one of those giant tree limbs broke off, hit paul's arm, and broke it off at the shoulder. >> that big branch from the 150-ton tree comes crashing down from 40 feet. old paul got off easy, no bull. someone could've gotten hurt. oh, totally.if it ever fell on p and it was full of people, it would kill everybody in it.ew m, john's mother, mary lee, passes away at age 94. john inherits trees of mystery,

knowing a colossal safety problem is now hanging over his head alone. did you feel prepared to run the place? >> oh, gosh. >> here's another quiz question. the answer when we return. insurance that won't replace the full value of your new car? you're better off throwing your money right into the harbor. i'm gonna regret that. with new car replacement, if your brand new car gets totaled, liberty mutual

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♪ >> so according to folklore, which was created by paul bunyan? it's b, the great lakes. legend has it that when paul couldn't find a suitable watering hole for his blue ox, babe, he dug five of his own. >> john thompson inherits

trees of mystery, a roadside attraction along the pacific in northern california. it comes with a gigantic problem. a couple months before, a massive branch broke off the park's hallmark attraction, a 450-year-old sitka spruce called the family tree, and crashed down 40 feet, ripping off the right arm of the huge paul bunyan statue. it could've taken out the entire gift shop and lord knows how many customers with it, but that's not the worst news. an inspection of the tree reveals a rotted, dying trunk. what caused it, and what can be done about it? were you worried that it could spread?sease. it's very typical for spruce trees to do that at a certain point in their age. >> so, what do you do? >> i fretted about it for some time. >> since nobody knows when the next limb will drop, it's time john really doesn't have.

while he explores if he can somehow shore up the iconic behemoth, workers patch up the giant lumberjack's rotator cuff. >> it took us about 6 months and $100,000 to repair it. >> now the harsh realities of running the family business himself are really weighing heavy on our heir. >> we work very, very hard, sometimes 100 hours a week. >> you get vacations here? >> no, we don't. i work every day. >> what is your daily life like? >> typically, we come in, make sure the place opens up on time, and then you wait for the shoe to fall -- quasi emergencies, fires to put out, besides what you have in mind that you want to accomplish. >> maybe the time has finally come to sell off trees of mystery and its valuable coastal land, especially after a $4-million real-estate appraisal. $4 million you're sitting on? and you're not tempted to sell? >> well, there are a lot easier. but, really, to us, it's priceless.

>> so, are you doing it because it's your legacy? >> it's because i love it. and the reward is people coming back and bringing their children to see this place that they enjoyed. >> john also comes to another realization about the fate of the family tree. there's no way around it. it must come down. could you have let it fall and die naturally? >> a random falling of 150-ton no. no, it was too dangerous. the potential for death was too >> what does it mean to your family when such an integral part of it, the family tree... >> mm-hmm. >> ...in all its beauty, won't be with you anymore? and on top of that, your mom is gone. two big empty spots in our lives, isn't it? it was very painful for me. >> in november 2015, the parks closed while ax-man erik tjossem works up a strategy to fell the tree. >> i was a little bit nervous there's usually collateral damage for such a big tree. >> the job is even more daunting than imagined.

>> if we kind of misjudged exactly the way that we were cutting it, it would be total destruction, really. >> timber! what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> trees of mystery roadside attraction owner john thompson is attempting to take down a dying, 450-year-old, 200-foot-high, 150-ton sitka spruce. with limbs falling, it's already caused $100,000 in damage. it has to come down now before things get worse or someone is killed. arborist erik tjossem has been brought in to oversee the treacherous assignment. he maps out a strategy. step one -- cut the limbs hanging over the gift shop.

>> we had to climb up to the top. it can definitely be dangerous. i mean, we're talking about being hundreds of feet off the ground, and we're just attached by ropes. >> with the hazardous limbs shaved off, the crew makes a pie-wedge-shaped cut into the face of the tree. >> that gives you the direction of where it's gonna fall... hopefully. >> the next step is to make a horizontal cut on the backside, but not all the way through. a piece of the middle, called the holding wood, remains intact, acting as a hinge to help guide the tree down in the desired direction. at least in a healthy tree, it works that way, but the inside of this one is full of rot. erik is not sure the holding wood will, in fact, hold, meaning the tree could fall in any direction -- on paul, the

gift shop, or into the forest where it could take out some other of the park's iconic treasures. >> if we kind of misjudge exactly the way that we were cutting it, it could be catastrophic. it would be total destruction, really. >> that's not the only thing that can go wrong. the tree could also barber-chair. >> which means split in two and one part goes off the back and then one part goes the other way and there's a person strapped to the tree right there, so it could be deadly. >> erik nervously makes his back cut as two vehicles help guide the 212-foot giant safely to the ground -- or so they hope. >> it's always a little bit nerve-wracking when it starts going over. [ wood cracking ] [ dramatic music playing ] the whole thing kind of

explodes, and it's sawdust and tree parts everywhere, but we got the tree down where we wanted it to go. >> it takes an entire year to chip up the 150-ton tree. most of the remains are unusable. >> the cross sections of the trunk showed like 75% solid rot. there was just a rind of wood around a rotten center. >> the salvageable wood is used to create benches along the trails here at trees of mystery. john has survived his first major test as owner, but the ordeal has the 66-year-old thinking, what will become of the park when he's gone? do you have any idea if anyone in your family would be willing to do the same thing when you're ready to retire? >> well, i have hoped for 40 years that my children would come back. >> but you may be setting them up for disaster. at the time, both of john's daughters are enjoying

successful careers, so it shocks everyone when youngest, hannah, uproots her life to move back to trees of mystery. how big a decision was it for you to decide to do this? >> i mean, to give up everything and come here is a big thing. so, there's a lot of love, and there's really no desire to sell, ever. >> you could've stayed at your job and hired somebody to run this place. why'd you have to do it >> we have to do it. that's part of the fun. the creativity that you get to do here, the stress that you go through, the mayhem, the sleepless nights, this is a part of me. >> just like her father decades ago, hannah preps to one day take over the roadside attraction. >> it's just a juggle every day, but it's also wonderful and liberating. >> you ever rethink your >> honestly? of course, but this place is

important. it feels like it's in my genetics. it's the family business. >> you know, i'm thinking there are similarities between the thompson family and these magnificent trees. >> they are strong, and they're and to last for thousands of years -- yeah, i don't think we're quite that strong, but it takes -- >> you got a lot of generations to come. but it takes a certain inner strength to run any business, really.have to be a little stro. >> the family tree may be gone, but john and hannah are constantly coming up with new attraction ideas to fill its void. say, for example, you want to spend the night camping in the giant redwoods. the family is looking into building really cool tree houses, like this one hovering over the forest floor. word of caution -- you may have to share the space with a few birds and squirrels. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance."

and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you know sasquatch? >> well, of course. he plays cards here every tuesday night. >> i am announcing today that the united states will withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. we will be instituting the highest level of economic sanctions. trying to break in this morning, president trump keeps his promise that rips at the iran nuclear deal. gerri: big headlines and news once again pushing oil prices sharply higher overnight, back above $7 a barrel. the impact on gas prices. trade to the dow down 150 points. it was h