i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance," and remember -- you can't take it with you. ♪ >> a crime ring -- family-style. [ gunfire ] she's the niece of the notorious bonnie parker. >> my aunt was known as that cute, little blonde bonnie. then she connected with clyde. >> clyde barrow was his uncle. >> once clyde had been accused of murder, he didn't turn back. >> their grandfather was a lawman who hunted them. >> two of the south's worst killers. >> your grandfather was the sheriff. >> killing bonnie and clyde was the ultimate. >> grim souvenirs, one strange inheritance. >> it was just like finding treasure after treasure. >> bonnie parker's three-headed snake ring. >> sitting there... >> right. >> ...all along? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ]

[ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby in boston today, about to meet a family who have traveled up here from houston to put their strange and historic inheritance on the auction block. >> my name's debbie wollebak-daily. my siblings and i grew up hearing fabulous tales about our grandpa, a texas lawman whose claim to fame is that he came this close to nabbing bonnie and clyde. >> ladies, i'm jamie. >> hey, jamie. so nice to meet you. this is my sister, debbie. >> i am so excited to be here in boston with you and your family for this upcoming auction. diana and debbie show me photos of their grandpa, a larger-than-life texas lawman. in 1933, he led a posse that ambushed that infamous outlaw couple, bonnie parker and

clyde barrow, and nearly caught them. as kids, diana, debbie, and their brother, steve, are fascinated by grandpa's 8-inch-thick scrapbook, full of vivid crime-scene photos. wasn't that creepy? >> very, very creepy. >> we thought it was the greatest thing ever. >> there are original mug shots of bonnie and clyde and news clippings about grandpa smoot's failed ambush in sowers, texas. you think he regretted the fact that he didn't get them the first time? >> i'm sure he was probably disappointed that attempt did not work out, but he was a legendary hero after that. >> so, who was this legendary lawman? richard allen "smoot" schmid, born near garland, texas, in 1897, soon becomes the image of a long, tall texan. how did smoot get the name "smoot"? >> in high school, he was 6'4" and wore a 14-size shoe.

i don't know what smoot has to do with that. >> smoot studies law in college but never goes on to practice. instead, he opens a bike shop in dallas. >> he had some motorcycles, also, and he apparently was a daredevil on those. >> a regular evel knievel. >> that's right! >> maybe it's smoot's flamboyant antics that catch the eye of a dallas widow, named cookie wollebak. >> that was cookie, and we called smoot "pa." >> 1931. cookie has two boys, 5-year-old david and 3-year-old bob, debbie and diana's dad. smoot raises the boys as his own. then, out of the blue, smoot decides to run for dallas county sheriff. well, how do you go from that to being the lawman in town? >> there was some upheaval in the sheriff's department, and he was asked if he would like to run for sheriff. and he said, "okay." >> turns out voters in 1933 are

charmed by big smoot. he takes office just as depression-era gangsters, like john dillinger and "pretty boy" floyd capture the country's imagination. the most notorious of all -- dallas' very own bonnie and clyde, who'd met as teens. >> clyde offered her a cup of hot chocolate, and it was love from then on. >> we get the scoop straight from the family. buddy barrow is clyde barrow's nephew, and rhea leen linder is bonnie parker's niece. >> she was well-known as that cute, little blonde bonnie. but then she connected with clyde, and all of her ambitions seemed to just revolve around him. >> a few months into their courtship, clyde's convicted of burglary and sentenced to 14 years' hard labor. when he's granted early parole, what's the first thing he does? hook up with bonnie, of course. >> her choice was to go with

clyde, and, unfortunately, they took the wrong road. >> the two set out on a vicious crime spree, first stealing a ford v-8, then kidnapping an officer in carlsbad, new mexico, then come armed robberies and gunfights with law enforcement in texas, missouri, and iowa. it's one thing to be in love. it's another to criss-cross the country on a crime spree. buddy, what was up with these two? >> once clyde had been accused of murder, he knew that he was gonna go to the chair. and he tried to get bonnie to leave many times, and she wouldn't do it. >> along the way, it's believed they kill more than a dozen people. >> it's like a soap opera. the general public had something to look forward to the next day. >> in november 1933, grandpa smoot receives two arrest warrants from the state of texas. "clyde barrow charged with the offense of murder." >> right -- 14 times.

>> sheriff smoot schmid is on the hunt, which leads eventually to diana and debbie's strange inheritance. and your dad had this, and he never told you? >> no. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. which texas beauty made her film debut as a stand-in for faye dunaway in the movie "bonnie and clyde"? the answer after the break.

♪ >> so, which texas beauty made her film debut as a stand-in for faye dunaway in the movie "bonnie and clyde"? ...who was 16 at the time. unfortunately, her footage ended up on the cutting-room floor. >> we pick up this "strange inheritance" tale in 1933, when bonnie and clyde are wanted for multiple murders. >> these are death warrants for bonnie... >> oh, my. >> ...and here's another death warrant that we found in the scrapbook for clyde. >> in november '33, our heirs' grandpa, sheriff smoot schmid, gets a tip. bonnie and clyde will be attending a barrow family gathering on the outskirts of dallas, in sowers, texas. >> smoot schmid, his officers had found out about this from someone real close to his family

the night before. >> a leak. smoot and his posse stage an ambush on the road to the picnic site. bonnie and clyde roll up in a stolen ford v-8. the lawmen are lying in wait, hiding in a ditch. clyde senses trouble, but before he can hit the gas, the lawmen open fire. >> clyde and bonnie were both hit, shot in the legs and everything, and they were bleeding pretty good. they drove the car several miles on flat tires and wheels to get away. the officers had parked far enough away. they couldn't get to their cars very quick, so clyde had ample time to get as far as he could. >> a few miles away, clyde dumps the bullet-ridden ford and hijacks another getaway car. pretty tough to outrun and outshoot bonnie and clyde. >> yeah. he was probably the most elusive outlaw of all the depression outlaws. >> while smoot and his posse fail to nab the infamous couple, they discover a cache of bonnie

and clyde's personal effects inside the abandoned ford. >> these officers knew that somewhere down the line, these will be worth money. >> so, they keep them for themselves. six months later, in may 1934, bonnie and clyde are ambushed by another group of lawmen on a rural road in louisiana. this time, they don't get away. ♪ >> clyde barrow and bonnie parker... >> smoot shares the news with dallas. >> ...two of the south's worst killers. this was terminated in their apprehension day before yesterday in the state of louisiana. >> the couple's funerals attract huge crowds in their hometown. the mug shots, arrest warrants, photos, and other artifacts, documenting sheriff smoot's pursuit of the barrow gang, are pasted into a family scrapbook. smoot serves as dallas county sheriff until 1947. his stepson bob grows up and

starts a family of his own, including children debbie, diana, and steve. did dad show this material off to friends? was he proud of it? >> he just never pulled it out. >> grandpa smoot passes away in 1963. half a century later, in 2013, when his son bob dies, bob's kids and their spouses are cleaning out the family home. they rediscover that old scrapbook. >> we all started, like, looking at it again and saying, "wow, this is amazing stuff." >> and there's a lot more squirreled away in dad's house, north of houston -- relics they hadn't even known existed. there's grandpa smoot's monogrammed cowboy boots, his service revolver, and this 4-page letter, handwritten by bonnie and signed by clyde. that's his signature? >> that's his signature. >> there's more. the siblings find a ledger, written by their father. >> in his handwriting, the

contents of what was in the box. >> this is what we found that was so interesting -- bonnie parker's ring. >> oh, my. in small print -- "three silver snakes with tiny jewels." bonnie parker's ring? >> we all went, "oh, my god. where is that?" >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return.

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role of clyde? ...the musician and composer who resembled the actual clyde barrow. >> the descendants of a renowned texas lawman are on the hunt for a very personal relic connected to the infamous outlaw lovers, bonnie and clyde. they have only one clue -- a note written by their father on an inventory list. >> "bonnie parker ring -- three silver snakes with tiny jewels." >> that's the first we have ever seen or heard anything about the ring. dad never mentioned it. we had to search for it. >> they spend hours rummaging through their dad's house, near houston, looking for the ring that belonged to bonnie parker. days pass, and they still come up empty. then, in the back of a closet, debbie comes across a plastic bag filled with old costume jewelry. >> we poured it out on the

floor. there were three of us sitting around, going through this jewelry. >> it's like panning for gold. >> it was! >> finally, diana spies a small black box. >> it was a little box. opened it up. it was bonnie parker's ring. wow! >> along with the ring, there are other rare mementos, like original photos of the outlaws' death car and signed letters from fbi director j. edgar hoover. >> it was just like finding treasure after treasure. >> debbie takes everything home and tucks it under a bed for safekeeping. in 2016, a few years after their father dies, they decide it's time to sell their strange inheritance. >> we just thought, "maybe we should do something with this collection." >> they learn that in 2015, as you may have seen on a previous episode of this show, rr auction, based in new hampshire, sold two guns attributed to the barrow gang for nearly $500,000. i pay a visit to the

auction-house office here in boston. >> when i heard it was the famous sheriff smoot schmid, i got on the first plane to dallas. >> what's the timeliness of selling bonnie and clyde memorabilia? >> they were very famous in 1934 because they left behind these incredible photographs of themselves. then, in 1967, the movie with faye dunaway and warren beatty kept the legend of bonnie and clyde alive. >> we check out grandpa smoot's old scrapbook. i'm afraid to turn the page. it's pretty fragile. >> turn it. but this page here -- when i saw this, jamie, i was so excited. these are the original arrest warrants for murder issued in november 1933 by the state of texas. and i wouldn't be surprised goes for $20,000. >> and what's this? >> we've got his sheriff's badge. it's solid gold. >> twinkling. >> it's got a real diamond in it. >> only in texas. what do you think, bobby? >> it looks good on you. you should bid! >> how much? >> i would think that's gonna go for $10,000.

>> and more items for collectors to drool over, including that letter to a captured ex-gang member named ray hamilton, written by bonnie and signed by clyde. >> that's a letter sent to a gang member they felt was a rat. >> so, they're writing hamilton to send him a warning? like, "we're on to you"? here he says, "if i had found you, you wouldn't have had a chance to give up." yikes! >> clyde barrow furious enough that he was gonna kill raymond. that in itself is probably worth $40,000. >> and then, there's that three-headed snake ring. >> if that ring was given to bonnie parker, then that ring is the closest thing there is to a wedding ring between bonnie and clyde. >> but i thought they weren't married. >> bonnie and clyde were never married. bonnie parker was married to someone else when she was killed. in fact, was wearing her wedding ring. >> wow! so, the whole time bonnie and clyde were an item, she was still legally married to some other guy and wearing his ring? then clyde, bobby believes,

gives her this one. why wasn't she wearing it? >> i don't know why bonnie wasn't wearing it when they had the shootout in sowers in november 1933 when smoot had the shootout. but i do know he lifted all these things out of the car. >> could bobby be right? clyde's nephew buddy believes so. in fact, he thinks his uncle could have actually made the ring himself when he was in huntsville prison. >> clyde made jewelry in huntsville, and i've got a belt buckle he made while he was incarcerated. >> wow! with a "b"? for barrow? >> for barrow. >> as for the strange ring, buddy totally can see clyde making it for bonnie. >> clyde was sort of a mythical guy. the snake is a symbol of eternal love. it looked like something he could possibly design. >> next step? bring in a jewelry expert. david bellman wonders if the insignia inside bonnie's ring is another clue pointing to clyde. it's hard to make out, but he says it might be a music note pierced with an arrow.

arrow, barrow -- get it? and that's not all. >> come to find out that he was actually a self-taught musician. taught himself how to play the saxophone. >> in fact, clyde was famously toting his sax in the car when he and bonnie were killed. quite a tale. do you buy it? will the bidders, or is the auction house shooting too high? >> $6,000, now $6,500. looking for $6,500. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. hi guys. this is the chevy silverado

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he's especially excited about bonnie parker's snake-head ring. >> that ring is the closest thing there is to a wedding ring between these two lovers. i wouldn't be surprised if that goes for well over $40,000, $50,000. we'll see. >> then, david bellman, bobby's jewelry expert, gets a new tip on that insignia in the band of bonnie's ring. tell me what you have discovered. >> it turned out that the hallmark inside that looked like a musical note was actually a shape of a "u" with an arrow that was a mark for a company out of rhode island that was actually manufacturing rings like this. >> i didn't get the slam-dunk answer i was looking for. >> you do still believe it was bonnie's. >> yes. the great news is, it was found in the car in sowers and belonged to smoot schmid, and he attributed it to bonnie. >> still, it's now doubtful the ring will go for the 50k bobby had estimated. what about the other items? ♪ first up on the auction block... >> sheriff smoot schmid's

service revolver. i have $3,250 bid. make it $3,500. yes, $3,500. fair warning. sold, $3,500. [ cash register dings ] >> next, smoot's diamond-studded sheriff's badge. >> number 2016. >> it starts with an absentee bid of 4,700 bucks and quickly soars. >> now $5,000 here. and now would you give $5,500? >> yes. >> okay. $6,000 here? >> and... >> i have $7,000. make it $7,500. $7,500. now, $8,000 with me? and this one is...sold, $8,000. >> whoo! >> south of the 10k estimate, but the heirs are still happy. now, those original bonnie and clyde arrest warrants. estimated price? 20k. >> starting bid -- $5,000. looking for $5,500. $5,500! and now looking for $6,000. $6,000. now $6,500. looking for $6,500.

and that is sold, $6,500. >> bidders get an even bigger bargain on that angry letter written by bonnie and signed by clyde. bobby guessed $40,000. >> bonnie parker/clyde barrow autographed letter, signed. >> it starts with a phone bid for $12,000. >> now $13,000. $13,000 i have now. make it $14,000. that is $13,000. [ cash register dings ] >> finally, bonnie parker's snake-head ring comes up, but with a disclaimer. >> this was found in the car. it belonged to bonnie parker. we no longer believe it was made by clyde barrow. >> but some bidders are still interested. >> and i have $14,000 bid. make it $15,000. we have an absentee bid of $20,000 on this. i'm looking now for $22,000. gonna sell it at $20,000. sold -- $20,000.

>> the final tally on the famous texas lawman's collection? just under $100,000, below bobby's estimate but still pretty good for a bunch of stuff found in grandpa's closet. the family's not complaining. >> very exciting. rr did a great job. >> the barrow family, meantime, predicts there could be more valuable relics on their way to the auction block in the years to come. among the items found in bonnie and clyde's death car -- clyde's treasured saxophone. it was returned to his mother and passed down in the family. then, it went missing. or, at least, no one's owning up to the fact that they might be hiding the old sax in a closet somewhere. buddy barrow isn't saying he knows what happened to the sax but that he and other family members do have their own stash of clyde mementos that they're thinking of selling one day. i reminded buddy, "you can't

take it with you." i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." >> 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 struck by lightning and consumed

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.

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go to vettix.org. ♪ >> 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.

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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.

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that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic. >> 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. lou: good evening, everybody. today has been a day the likes of which are rare in our nation's history and perhaps unprecedented. first on wall street, a major sell-off. the dow jones industrials losing more than 2%. the s & p down almost pass much. on capitol hill republicans voting to block witnesses in the radical dimms' impeachment trial. >> are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change his or her vote? if