i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> a mysterious death. >> the story of my strange inheritance occurred when they fished my cousin's body out of the gowanus canal. >> a flood of questions. >> you think it's something sinister? >> i do think there's something going on. >> are the answers locked in storage? >> i just shook my head and i go, "oh, my god, this is a nightmare." >> he was, one might say, an idiot savant. nobody has what he had. howie frank had the best. >> he was sitting on a photo collection potentially worth $10 million. >> they dubbed him the "million dollar beggar." is it worth a million dollars? >> don't change that channel. it's a made-for-tv "strange inheritance." >> dy-no-mite! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ]

[ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in brooklyn, new york, on my way to meet three brothers at a self-storage joint in historic coney island. that's where they found their strange inheritance, left to them by a homeless relative with a big surprise under lock and key. >> my name's seth lerner. our second cousin, howard frank, died mysteriously in 2012. that's when my brothers and i found out that we inherited the contents of his five storage units. we were shocked the first time we rolled up those doors. >> hi, guys. i'm jamie. >> i'm ian. >> good to meet you. >> hi. i'm seth. >> nice to meet you both. you wrote me about a wild story about a cousin and that he left all his belongings here? >> his whole life is here in this storage bin. >> howard rented five of these

10x15-foot units. >> when we opened up the lockers, we actually found a place where he might have been sleeping. >> wow. >> we didn't really know until we found this place. he never really told us. >> they did not need to be told back in the spring of 2012 that their 55-year-old cousin's life was unraveling. >> he always looked very disheveled. wore the same clothes over and over again, did not bathe. >> didn't bathe? >> did not bathe. was afraid of water. >> the lerner brothers do what they can to help. seth is a successful art director. todd and ian are dentists. >> i felt bad for him, and if there was something i could do, i would, whether it's doing dental work for him, giving him a little money to eat. >> but they don't know that howard, who once had a thriving business, is now begging for money on the streets -- a familiar figure outside several brooklyn synagogues. you seem to have sadness. >> it's sad.

you know, the whole thing is sad. the best way to describe howard is he was a lost soul. >> was he mentally ill? >> i would say there was a certain amount of mental illness, but not anything that was dangerous to other people. >> then seth gets a distressing call from cousin howard. >> it was an odd conversation. he wanted to remind me that he wanted to be buried near his parents, and i said, "howard, you're a young man. why worry about these things?" and he says, "well, i have to worry about them." >> on june 28th, howard frank's body is found floating in brooklyn's gowanus canal. police suspect it's a suicide. do you believe that he committed suicide, seth? >> no, i don't think so. >> you think it's something sinister? >> i can't put my finger on it, but i do think there was some type of cover-up or conspiracy. >> this much is true. it's, as they used to say on television, one of those 8 million stories in the naked

city that make great tabloid copy. i wanted to read you a section that i found curious. "the city medical examiner's office says the cause of death has yet to be determined but did not conduct an autopsy, at the family's request." is that true? >> no, that's not true. we were never contacted by the medical examiner's office. >> there was no autopsy. >> no. >> no. >> who said "no autopsy," then, if it wasn't you? >> somebody from the jewish community came down there and told the medical examiner that howard had no family, no living relatives, that there should be no autopsy. >> howard's death draws media attention -- not only for its mysterious circumstances, but also because of what his cousins find hidden away inside his five storage units in coney island. >> howard frank used to beg for money, even though he was sitting on a photo collection potentially worth $10 million.

>> he saved everything. >> what the hell is that? >> is howard really a millionaire beggar? i take the deep dive into this strange inheritance next. >> but first, our quiz question. the answer after the break. what i'm worried about is that if you're not expecting the shock, and the markets fall dramatically, you might panic. and in the midst of that panic, you might sell and run to cash. at the very moment, you shouldn't. at the very moment, prices are at their low. that's my fear. i'm not worried about the country. i'm not worried about the financial markets, because in the long run, i know they'll be fine. i'm worried about you. i'm worried about how you will personally respond to this crisis. and even if you don't panic, you may...

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>> the answer is "b," fort lauderdale. while self-storage facilities date back to ancient china, the first u.s.-based operation, lauderdale storage, opened in 1958. >> todd, ian, and seth lerner inherit the contents of five storage lockers in coney island, new york, from their second cousin howard frank, who dies mysteriously in june 2012. what they find inside has some in the press speculating that howard had locked away a fortune worth anywhere from $1 million to $10 million. >> it's a mystery that's still unfolding -- a collection vast enough that howard frank needed storage space. >> you wrote me to come take a look at it. >> i did, yes.

>> well, i'm ready to take a look. >> great. >> really? open sesame! is this howard frank's version of aladdin's cave? piled to the ceiling -- photographs of classic tv stars, boxes and file cabinets full of them, going back to the 1950s. captain's log! there are hundreds of "star trek" photos. and from "the flying nun," more than 10,000. and "a horse, of course." it's "mr. ed." lucy? >> yeah. he had a fondness for lucy. >> who doesn't? look at these pictures. oh, my goodness. this is iconic stuff. >> yeah. >> "batman"? >> mm-hmm. >> "happy days." >> "happy days." >> these are some of the greatest shows. look how young they are! and now that you've been in the storage lockers, how many are in there? >> it's probably close to 2 million. it's just an incredible amount

of media. >> so how, and why, did their cousin get it all? that's a real brooklyn tale. it begins in 1956, when howard frank is born in bensonhurst, the second of two sons. >> i know there was a lot of family problems. >> what kind of problems? >> i think there's some type of mental instability. it was a very difficult family to be raised in. >> many of us have been there. thank goodness for tv. howard's a fan of hit shows of the era, like "leave it to beaver" and reruns of one of his favorites, the popular western "the lone ranger." in his teens, howard begins writing to tv studios, requesting photos of his favorite stars. his early collection includes these "i love lucy" photos, behind-the-scenes shots from "batman," and autographed pictures of his hero, clayton moore. >> howie lived and breathed

photos. >> fred westbrook, now a hollywood talent agent, met howard frank when they were both teenagers, prowling around photo shows in manhattan in the 1970s. >> he was, one might say, an idiot savant. he was a walking encyclopedia on the history of television. >> the two become fast friends, despite howard's quirks. >> as much as howie loved photos, he hated water. he didn't go swimming -- deathly afraid of water. so that means he didn't shower that much. >> howard is especially close to his father, alex, a disabled accountant confined to a wheelchair who works from home. >> howie and his father were very, very close. and they supported each other. >> with that support, howard takes his photo hobby to the next level. he drops out of middle school and begins selling his prints at flea markets. then, in 1974, howard's dad

injects the capital to expand his son's enterprise. >> he uses $12,000 from an inheritance to buy out a well-known celebrity photo shop in manhattan. why do you think his dad put him into this business? >> from alex's point of view, he probably knew somewhere down the line that he wasn't gonna be around forever, and he wanted to give him a chance. >> i also think it was something that alex and he could do together. >> in the buyout, howard snaps up photos from game shows, including "family feud" and "the dating game" -- also, sitcoms like "the munsters" and "laverne and shirley." >> there was about 200,000 photos and books in that collection, and suddenly, howard was in business. >> at just 18, howard officially launches his own company, called personality photos, and sets up shop inside the family home. >> the pictures were

everywhere -- on the bed, under the bed, turn the oven off, put them in the oven. but, boy, what a treasure trove. >> after howard's mother dies in 1978, father and son become inseparable. who was taking care of who? >> i think it was mutual. howard was basically alex's legs, and alex was the business guy. >> in the days before the internet, newspapers, magazines, and tv stations rely on independent dealers like howard to provide them with photos. and howard builds an impressive client list. >> howie would physically walk to the major publications and meet the editors and say, "hey, i have all these archives." 'cause nobody had what he had. >> picture an editor on deadline who needs a shot of fred gwynne or one of adam west without his batman cowl. fastest way to get it -- call howard, who locates the physical photo in a cabinet, box, that oven, or even in this messy

stack next to the sink, then mails the print, with an invoice of 75 bucks an image. >> we found loads of tv guides that he sold photos to, and we found evidence that he supplied photos for the franklin mint for their plates and things like that, for john wayne, lucille ball, elvis presley. >> did he own them? >> no, he didn't own them, but studios sent out press photos for years and years, and they were handed out for promotion. so he had just as much right to them as anyone else. >> by the early 1990s, howard and his dad are raking in more than $200,000 a year. things are looking good. howard next surprises both friends and family with some big news. >> i get a call from howie, and he says he's gonna get married. i was the best man. i was happy for him and shocked. >> but the honeymoon is short-lived. howard gets divorced less than a year later.

then, in 2001, another loss -- howard's father passes away. >> he was the rock that i think kept howard together in terms of having a connection to somebody, and i think it was kind of devastating for him. >> he started to spiral, he started to lose focus. >> at the same time, howard's business becomes one of the many wiped out by the internet. when you need that picture of gary coleman or david hasselhoff fast, why call howie from brooklyn when you can instantly download your choice of shots from an online catalog? for the next several years, howard lives off his savings, but eventually lands on the street, moving his trove of pictures to those five storage units in coney island. >> he loved the pictures so much, he would go without eating. it was his life and made him who he was. >> then in the spring of 2012, howard tells his cousins he

fears for his life. he even makes a fatalistic request, in connection with his favorite show, "the lone ranger." >> somehow, he identified with that character. he told me at the time we make his tombstone, he wanted the word "lone ranger" somehow brought onto that. >> howard's cousins just don't know what to make of his ramblings about an overdue loan, money he says he borrowed from a business associate to cover the rent on his storage lockers. was he paranoid or did he have a legitimate reason to be concerned? >> i think he had a legitimate reason to be concerned. he may have pushed the wrong people. >> whether murder, suicide, or accident, on june 28, 2012, the body of howard frank is found floating in the gowanus canal. >> howard frank was last seen alive the night of june 27th, begging for assistance at one of his usual spots. >> no one in howard's family, including his estranged older

brother, is contacted to approve an autopsy. the d.a. opens an investigation, but with a lack of evidence, soon closes the case. and for years, that's where everything sits, until the heirs call in "strange inheritance." we can tell their story, but can we help? well, turns out i know a guy. what are some of the valuable things that you did stumble across? >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer when we return. geico's been helping people save money for over 75 years.

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>> so, which actress was originally offered elizabeth montgomery's role of samantha stephens in "bewitched"? it's tammy grimes. the two-time tony award winner didn't like the premise of the show and wanted to know why samantha wouldn't use her magical powers to stop wars or untangle l.a. traffic jams. >> after their second cousin howard frank dies a mysterious death in 2012, brothers todd, ian, and seth lerner are the sole heirs to howard's nearly 2 million entertainment photos. media reports speculate the inventory of howard's defunct business could still be worth a fortune. could that be true? auction house executive bobby livingston volunteers to help sort things out. so, this is just one of the lockers you looked at. >> that's right. >> so, did howard know what he was doing? >> i think howard knew what he was doing for his time.

he's got every television show. he was obsessed with getting one of everything. >> so, rummaging through the unit is like a flashback to our childhoods. "good times"! >> these were publicity photos. you would have to get someone like howard to find you a picture of "good times." if people magazine, for instance, was doing an article on "good times," they would call howard. >> and then he would give it to them for a fee. >> that's right. but those days are long gone, and so, unfortunately, the value of these prints have gone down considerably. >> well, one thing that is never gonna be gone -- "dy-no-mite!" i love this guy. oh, my god -- j.j. bobby tells me you could sell these prints on ebay for a few dollars apiece -- and the signed ones, more like 10 bucks. >> it's fantastic, right? neat. >> but bobby does find, among the dime-a-dozen don johnsons, alfs, and mr. t's, some real gems. what do you have? >> well, you know, one of the coolest things i found, which is

an original elizabeth montgomery "bewitched" photo. >> i love elizabeth montgomery. >> well, these are original "bewitched" test shots, and you can see she went through herself and put "kill" on them -- she didn't like it -- and she put a question mark on that one, which was kind of neat. >> "i look like i should be sitting in the dentist chair. kill." well, for elizabeth montgomery, someone that's a big fan of hers, this has value? >> yeah, absolutely. probably these are worth $100, $200 each. >> what if there are more like these filed away in these cabinets? here's my bottom-line question about all this. is it worth a million dollars? 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.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> after inheriting their cousin's trove of nearly 2 million entertainment photos, the lerner brothers are trying

to figure out what to do with it. do you have a plan? >> we pretty much don't know what we're gonna do with it. it's too big for us to do anything with. >> to help them weigh their options, i've invited auction house executive bobby livingston to meet us here at the storage lockers, where he's taken a deep dive into the photo hoard. what kind of condition is it in? >> it's in all kinds of condition. your cousin just didn't really care too much about condition. he cared about quantity. >> so, based on your analysis, do you have good news or not-so-good news? >> well, it's a very difficult thing to be able to give you a value, 'cause i didn't get to go through everything. but i think you could probably look at maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars. [ cash register dings ] >> so, call him the "quarter million dollar beggar." maybe. because, as bobby livingston explains, his estimate can only be realized by scanning, listing, and selling the photos individually. >> well, you have to inventory it because there are some really

great things in there, and then there's a lot of things that aren't so cool. but if you really want to understand its value, that's something you're gonna have to do. >> but think about that. if you spent just two minutes on each image, it would take nearly eight years working around the clock to get through howard's 2 million pictures. so, do you have the time to do these individually? >> no, we don't. >> because you guys have day jobs. >> yes, real jobs. >> and it's costing you a pretty penny to keep them stored up. >> we've probably spent, in storage fees, about $6,000 a year. >> so, what do you think you'll do? >> i think if a person came along and said, "we'll give you a couple hundred thousand dollars for it," i would say, "here. take the whole thing. bye. see ya." >> would it be a relief? >> it would be a big relief. >> what would really ease their minds would be to finally answer the questions they continue to have about howard's death. did it somehow stem from a dispute over those 2 million pictures? they still think so but have

found no proof. and listening to cousin todd talk about his strange inheritance, i can't help but think this is just not the way a made-for-tv story is supposed to end. >> you know, i think when people leave you something, you hope that there's some legacy to it, but in this case, when you have to go through somebody's life and clean it up, it's like somebody leaving you somethingl' >> so, unlike the tv shows that howard frank cherished, where all plot points get resolved before the credits roll, he mostly left his cousins nagging questions, still locked up among 2 million pictures. the lerner brothers recall their cousin's request that when he died, he wanted the name of his favorite tv show, "the lone ranger," inscribed on his gravestone. the brothers plan to honor his wish with a stone that quotes from the show -- "ride on, lone ranger. ride on forever."

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> indian drawings 1,000 years old. >> we never even took time to look at them. >> what they discover rocks their world. >> there's one there, one there, one there. and look at that panel over there. >> we were blown away. >> they said, "we don't think you have a clue what you have here." >> they're betting the ranch on their strange inheritance. >> we've actually hung from a thread for a long time. >> the rock art's very, very valuable. >> but does it pay to own a national treasure? >> what does it feel like to have this wall in your family? ♪ ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and, today, i am in big sky country, 100 miles north of billings, montana. i'm here to meet a family who have lived here for nearly a century but only recently learned that an archeological wonder was staring them right in the face. >> my name is macie ahlgren. in 2000, my father died and left me this ranch. he also left me with the steep challenge of figuring out how to keep the family on the land. >> hi, macie. i'm jamie. >> hi. welcome to bear gulch. >> thanks for writing. and you said you had something extraordinary to show me. does it include bears? >> i have something much better. >> let's go. i'd love to see. bear gulch ranch, named after the creek that winds through the property, is the kind of place you envision when singing "america the beautiful." purple mountain majesty and all that. how many years has it been in

your family? >> since 1919. my grandfather came from minnesota. he and my grandmother and their two daughters moved here and decided to purchase this ranch. >> in the 1950s, macie's parents, james and ida, take over the 2,000-acre homestead. they raise cattle and pigs, farm wheat and hay. doesn't pay much, but it's enough to put food on the table for their three kids. when you're growing up on the ranch, what were your chores? >> you milk the cows. you feed the pigs. you learn to drive a tractor at an early age. >> but it's not all hard work. there are plenty of wide-open spaces for young macie to explore. she and her siblings especially like playing here -- a half-mile-long limestone cliff soaring 100 feet into the air. what did it look like to you as a kid? >> it was just a large canyon wall, but it had specific painted designs on it. as my dad so aptly put it,

"indian signs on it." >> indian signs like these. the rock walls are covered with them. but that doesn't strike macie or her family as all that remarkable. in this area, how unusual is it to find relics on your land? >> everybody has some sort of a unique thing on their ranch. people just didn't pay attention to it. we never even took time to hardly look at them. >> and macie doesn't think she'll look back when, after high school, she leaves the ranch for greener pastures. >> i ran away. [ laughs ] and i ended up marrying a guy from california, and we moved to california. >> california isn't exactly the promised land. after three kids and two marriages, macie finds herself as a working single mom. but by her late 30s, she's built up a good life for herself and her children. things aren't going as well for macie's father. >> my dad was an avid smoker all

his life, as most cowboys are, and he ended up with emphysema really bad. >> his illness makes it near impossible to work the ranch. making matters worse, cattle prices plummet in the late 1980s. >> the local loan agency called on the cattle loan, and they had to sell the cattle off. so it caused them to not have an income. >> after months of overdue loan payments, the bank seizes 1,800 of the ranch's 2,000 acres. the family's down to 10% of what they started with. it's not hard to see the writing on the wall. >> they were brokenhearted, but they didn't really know any other life, and it was home. >> and, at that point, it occurs to macie that it's still her home, too. she decides she must return to the ranch to help her parents out. in 1989, she gives up her high-paying job and moves her family to bear gulch.

>> so, we all gave up the finer things that we had. there was a lot of vacations cancelled. i mean, you just stayed at home and made life happen. >> easy adjustment for a kid? >> no. especially my ray. >> when i first moved here from the big city, i hated it. i absolutely despised it. >> why not just sell it all and get out? >> besides being home, it's beautiful. it's memories. you can't find it anywhere else. >> macie tells her parents she'll run the ranch and resolves to do whatever it takes to keep her family from losing the rest of their land. were the 200 hundred acres still a lot of work? >> oh, yes. it was a challenge, and i took it on. >> you must have really loved your parents. >> absolutely. >> there were times where mom worked three, four jobs just to make sure that we had a roof over our head and food to eat. >> did you ever say to yourself, "this stress is too much?" >> many times, but i just made

things work. >> while macie struggles to "make things work," the ranch gets a visit from an out-of-town couple, john and mavis greer. the greers introduce themselves as archaeologists. their speciality -- indian rock art. they've heard tales about the ranch's limestone cliffs and ask if they can take a look. the year is 1999. as an archaeologist, how many different sites had you been to in your career before you came here? >> oh, i've probably been to 1,000 before arriving here. >> so this wasn't on your, necessarily, like top-five places in the world you wanted to see? >> it was not. >> macie shrugs, then walks the greers the half-mile from the house to the wall. what was their reaction? >> they look at me in bewilderment and they said, "we don't think you have a clue what you have here." >> so, what do they have here? that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz

question. montana is america's fourth-largest state, behind alaska, texas, and california. so, what's the fifth-largest? the answer when we return. what i'm worried about is that if you're not expecting the shock, and the markets fall dramatically, you might panic. and in the midst of that panic, you might sell and run to cash. at the very moment, you shouldn't. at the very moment prices...

>> it's "b," new mexico.

it's also one of the driest, averaging less than 14 inches of precipitation per year. ♪ >> macie ahlgren is a third-generation rancher here at bear gulch, a montana homestead that includes a half-mile-long, 100-foot-high limestone cliff, covered in unusual native american paintings and etchings. did you ever have it studied? >> not at all. >> just a regular part of life. >> it was, yes. >> that is, until a visit from archaeologist mavis greer, along with her husband, john, in 1999. so, you came here to this spot the first time? >> we did, bushwhacking up through the weeds and up to here. >> how far up here did you have to come before you had an initial reaction? >> this is as far as we needed to go. we were blown away already by the variety of figures.

>> while many sites require hours of searching to find even a few scattered traces of rock art, the wall at bear gulch is covered in it. there's one there, one there, one there. and look at that panel over there. they're one after another. >> and more as we go down the wall. >> the greers have never seen so many different types of native american rock art all in one place. they tell macie the site deserves an extensive evaluation. did you know, at that point, "i maybe have something very, very special"? >> the thought went through my mind that, "wow. maybe it is more than just a few drawings." >> but it's just a passing thought. the struggle to keep the ranch operating doesn't allow her much more than that. she also watches her kids flee, just as she did, right after high school. ray, for one, doesn't fare so

well. >> i wanted nothing more than to get out of here. and i bounced around from state to state. i was headed down a pretty, pretty dark road for a while. >> and then, in march 2000, just a few months after the greers' visit, macie's father, james, passes away at age 77, leaving macie bear gulch ranch. her inheritance includes that cliff and its strange markings. >> he asked me to please take care of mom and to take care of the place and not just sell it off. it had ended up in my hands and it was my responsibility to take care of it. >> meantime, the greers spend a half-decade trying to raise cash and assemble the right team to do their study. in 2005, they finally return to bear gulch. >> they organized a group to come and record every drawing at the site. it was a two-week venture.

>> the drawings and engravings, referred to as pictographs and petroglyphs, range from the size of a pen cap to a scene 23 feet long. take a look. there are handprints... animals... hoof prints... and even a rare childbirth scene. >> it's the only one on the northern plains. there are other scenes that show pregnancy, but this is the most explicit birthing scene. >> that looks explicit. she's giving birth. and this? >> over here, we have her spouse, who is simulating the birth in order to draw the evil spirits toward him and away from the baby. >> is that in lieu of an epidural? >> i think that it wouldn't probably help the wife all that much. [ laughs ] >> the greers are most amazed by the vast number of works that depict warriors carrying giant shields. there are so many that all of the other rock-art sites in the northern plains together don't have as many shield-bearing

warriors as bear gulch. and why warriors? >> this place appears to have been a location that people came to prior to going to war. and they drew their shields with the design that they hoped was going to bring them power and was going to bring them victory. >> the shields show a variety of battle designs, including bears, bison, and deer. other shields depict the extended hand of a supernatural hero, reaching out from the heavens to protect the warrior. they sound sacred then. >> they are. and they're definitely sacred today. >> in total, the greers and their team identify 3,000 individual pieces of rock art, making bear gulch one of america's largest indian rock-art sites and also one of its best-preserved. >> the painted parts of the rock art here are made from red ochre. and it will bind to the rock and

actually become part of it, so that's why it lasts so long. >> how long? macie is thunderstruck when she learns the age of the relics. like hundreds of years old? >> way more than that. thousands of years old. >> it's an unparalleled glimpse into the past, a national treasure, and macie owns it. so, can she cash in on her strange inheritance and save her home on the range? were people banging down your door? that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer when we return. i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car

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>> it's "d," new york. the largest city in the country also has the largest indigenous population, with more than 100,000 native americans. >> macie ahlgren is desperately trying to save her family's montana ranch, but the debts are mounting. she hopes to capitalize on her strange inheritance -- this giant cliff, which, she's just learned, is one of the country's leading sites for native american rock art. so macie starts a home business, figuring people will pay to see the pictographs. were people banging down your door? >> no. i had like three people the first year. >> the first year? >> the first year, the first summer. >> the site's remote location, far from any major city or interstate, doesn't help. macie creates a website and does some advertising. word starts to spread...slowly.

by 2012, she's getting 100 tourists a year -- not exactly a thriving enterprise. >> it took a lot of patience and hard work. it took a lot of being there every day at 10:00. >> one thing macie knows would really put bear gulch on the tourist map -- if the greers would hurry up and publish their findings. then macie's mother, ida, falls seriously ill and is put in a nursing home. bills pile up. ida knows full well she's added to her daughter's crushing debt burden. how'd she react? >> she was heartbroken, but at the same time, i convinced her that it was okay. >> at long last, in spring 2012, the greers finally release their study. why did it take seven years to publish that book? >> the book is this thick with 3,000 individual figures, and each one's described in there. just is very time-consuming. >> news of bear gulch and its staggering number of artworks

spreads like a prairie fire. folks from around the world are suddenly booking tours. >> and once people started coming, pretty soon, the newspapers started coming along. >> how many people do you estimate come there every summer? >> every year, it seems to be more and more. last year was roughly 1,500. >> is it generating any revenue? >> oh, yes. absolutely. >> about $10,000 a year. hardly a windfall, but the supplemental income, along with grazing fees and a limestone quarry, are enough to stabilize the ranch's finances and keep the land in the family. but macie can still use more money. if you could come up with a dollar amount that it would take to make all your dreams come true for this property and to pay off the loans, what is that number? >> it would have to be somewhere around $200,000. >> she definitely needs more help, too. while you still have the vim and vigor to do this, there will come a day where someone else

will have to take this over. that "someone" rides to the rescue, while macie finds out what the ancient drawings might really be worth. >> the rock art's very, very valuable. this should be preserved and protected and made available for more people to view. >> 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. my age-related macular degeneration could lead to vision loss.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." ♪ >> bear gulch pictographs, run by macie ahlgren, is the newest tourist attraction in central montana. >> it feels really great, and i hope that we can find a way to share it with anybody that wants to come. >> one of those eager to come is brad hamlett, a collector of native american relics.

>> this is something that was done probably thousands of years ago, and it speaks to us today. it's truly american history. >> hamlett's also a montana state senator. >> this site needs to be part of a public park system, preserved and protected, researched, and made available for more people to view. >> if so, you'd think senator hamlett would lead the effort to find public money to help macie, but that's a hard sell, he says. >> the problem the state has is -- they don't have a lot of money to do things with. everybody's got the things that they think are the most important, and the sad thing is -- you can't fund them all. >> he wonders, however, if macie might be able to find a philanthropist who would pay her to put a conservation easement on the property, preserving the site for posterity. hamlett thinks such a deal could net the family at least $1 million, giving them the

funds to build out a first-class tourist destination. >> the trails need to be widened out. we need to have a visitors center. there's just a lot of things that we absolutely can't afford to do it. >> wait. did he say, "we"? yep. turns out macie's son ray, who, like his mom, left the ranch as soon as he finished high school, is drawn back to the place. >> i remember, the last words my grandfather ever spoke to me -- he told me to take care of my mom. and i feel that that's what i've been doing. right here is the nose of the bear. >> and he's found a new calling as the lead tour guide. >> giving these tours has definitely changed my life for the better. i have never been doing as well as i am now. >> he's even come up with his own theories about some of the ancient native american figures and symbols. >> go ahead and turn around and put your back right here.

>> okay. >> now spread your arms out. perfect. directly above your head is a headdress drawn in the wall. just to the right of that is a bison. now, on december 21st, when the sun rises, it will actually rise in a direct straight line in front of you. i believe that is when they would actually pray for hunting or good crops. so, having all of these little bits and pieces all come together like a puzzle -- it just made sense. >> talk about coming together like a puzzle. a sacred wall native americans used to record their tales of war, family, nature, and the supernatural. a millennia of moons later, it's entrusted to a montana family who come to appreciate anew that there's something magical about

bear gulch. is it fair to say that rock art saved your ranch? >> yes. >> it's done something else that's made macie ever-grateful. it's drawn together her family's generations, too. >> i think grandma and grandpa look down on us every day with smiles on their face. >> what does it feel like to have this wall in your family? >> lately, a dream come true. >> native americans are not the only ones who wanted to tell their stories on these walls. in the late 1800s, a wagon trail ran right by these cliffs, a good place to stop and water the horses and mark your arrival on the western frontier. as you can see, the graffiti date all the way back and include dozens of names. so thousands of years from now, it may be some other archaeologist's turn to look at these scratchy letters and wonder, "who the heck wrote this stuff? and what on earth were they thinking?"

i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. ♪ >> good mongdz morning everybody thanks so much for joining us happy monday i'm maria bartiromo and it is monday july 20th. your top stories right now, 6 a.m. on the button on east coast. congress returning today at the top of the agenda, additional coronavirus relief. leaders meeting at the white house to discuss a plan on the table payroll tax relief. additional money back into american pockets. and to put back to work. unrest in america riots in portland violence protest in seattle. port land mayor demanding federal troops leave despite the violence. this is called to defund police continue as crime continues to rise in major cities across the country. coronavirus fights in hot spots an