00:00This is Tim Wasper from Festtrek Concert TV.
00:28I'm here at the Regal Cinema's Union Square in New York City for Dances with Films New York.
00:33The conceit behind that is exactly that, you know, to follow a family story as it relates to an item.
00:41Because a lot of times that really becomes sort of the anchor or sort of that piece that can inspire somebody to take interest in something historical.
00:52Because that's a big part of what we're interested in, is getting people to sort of kind of reconnect with some of their story, their history, and general history.
01:01But yeah, to follow a family story is kind of a rare thing.
01:05A lot of people don't have a ton of their records or they don't know.
01:09And so I think it's something worth holding on to.
01:12And I feel like it's something worth protecting and reminding your kids, even when they're young, like, hey, one day you'll care about this.
01:18You may not right now, but that's a part of what family heirlooms are all about, is to have some keepsake or something that connects you to your own lineage and to your own past.
01:27And I think that's important.
01:28Today on Roots and Relics, we follow the incredible journey of Tag Riddle, the man who found this.
01:34Grandpa found this discolored rock and he could tell it had been carved on.
01:37Tag found that and he realized that he had an artifact.
01:40So that kind of led to the finding of the cave.
01:42The cave of secrets.
01:44This is an altar.
01:44My family was here 60 years and they had no idea this was under their feet.
01:48We're here standing in the same spot cavemen were.
01:50Can we take a closer look?
01:52Yeah, let's go take a look.
01:52All right.
01:53Roots and Relics.
01:54Stories we never knew.
01:56Until now.
01:57Yeah, so for many years we visited and went to guest ranches and dude ranches.
02:03There's a lot of them all over the country.
02:05And a lot of these are places that started out as just cattle operations back in the day.
02:09You know, the whole, you know, industry of dude ranching kind of stemmed from, you know, all those years ago.
02:18People were out west and they were doing this cowboy life and people back home or back east were like, hey, we want to come, you know, ride horses for a few weeks or something.
02:26And so they would have people out and then eventually they were like, let's just make this an industry because people love this.
02:31And so I got a chance to meet a lot of different people.
02:33And this was one of those families that we met along the way.
02:37And so and just they tend to be tremendous storytellers because they're used to telling the story over and over and over again.
02:43And so they kind of have it down pat.
02:45And so when I met specifically Will Riddle and Sandra Renner, who were the two people that run the show, run the ranch now.
02:54Yeah, we did.
02:55Yeah, they had us out for a few days.
02:57And, you know, it was just one of the which is, you know, the whole fun of going to these places to go and stay there and ride horse and they feed you and they put you up.
03:07And because you're out in the middle of nowhere, these places are in the middle of nowhere.
03:10And so, you know, the first time I met them, this wasn't even really a part of what we were there to do.
03:16It was sort of separate.
03:18And they were like, oh, by the way, we also have this museum packed to the gills with all this stuff.
03:22And so I went in there and was like, what is going on in here?
03:25You know, and so Will started regaling me with the stories.
03:29And he was like, yeah, there's a cave.
03:30And I was like, why aren't we going to this?
03:33You know, so I said, man, one day I want to come back here and I really want to dig into your back story.
03:39And they were like, sure, of course.
03:41And so when I finally decided I was going to do it, I reached out to them and they were like, yeah, of course, come on out.
03:48As we enter the Blacktail Cave, the air grows still and heavy with silence.
03:54History doesn't just linger here.
03:56It breathes.
03:57Going back a few thousand years here.
03:59Even right here at the entrance, you can feel the temperature change.
04:03How does something like this get formed?
04:05When the glaciers were over this country, they were so big and thick that the friction underneath would cause the water to melt and rush through here.
04:11So you think about the volume of water it took to carve out this limestone.
04:16And even right now, as we're standing here, there's water underneath of us.
04:19And depending on the temperature outside and how wet it is, that water level will rise or lower.
04:23Yeah, so one of the unique parts of this is having the reenactments that we're doing.
04:28And so for a producer, you know, we have to that's a little more robust than just a docu telling, you know, just interviewing people is a lot easier than reenacting something.
04:37So that's been the fun part is being able to kind of put on the narrative hat for those and, you know, get the logistics of do we need hair and makeup?
04:45What costumes do we need?
04:47What props do we need?
04:47All of that organization.
04:49So that was really fun on that part.
04:50And we actually shot that.
04:51We're from Nashville.
04:52So that portion was shot in Nashville with our host because he lives there, too.
04:57So we didn't have to do an extra day on set out in Montana for that.
05:01We were able to just find a location that could look enough like Montana.
05:04Separate from that, you know, since the nice part of it being on a ranch like that is that, you know, we were able to, you know, be there, be on site.
05:13I didn't actually go to the shoot, but, you know, we didn't have to worry about hotels and things like that.
05:17And so, so it was much easier logistically to have something where you're on property with the family.
05:24And then that also makes the storytelling richer because you're getting to know them better.
05:27And he already knew them, but still getting to know them better.
05:30In the 70s, they had a drought for a few years.
05:32So it dropped the water level in here about eight feet.
05:34And then they could get into different areas and explore more.
05:37And that's where they found that muskox skull and the different Ice Age bear skulls.
05:40With the glaciers receding, that's what allowed the animals to get in here and the people followed them.
05:44With this being an open area, we were hunting them, living nomadically, following the animals, and then using this as their home base.
05:51Yeah, and like to that point about having a host and sort of that structure, that was a big part of it.
05:56You know, I was a huge fan of Ken Burns growing up.
05:59So was my dad.
06:00And we watched all the many hours of a lot of his stuff.
06:04But I felt like I was unique because my other kids my age didn't watch that sort of thing.
06:08It was too dull.
06:09It was too boring.
06:10They're like, why would I want to watch 10 hours about the Civil War?
06:12But I loved it.
06:13And I appreciate the idea of having a host and having almost a youthful appeal.
06:20Like I've said before, it's not a kid show.
06:22But part of me sometimes thinks that it somewhat is.
06:24It's like, how can we make this interesting and unique and punchy, you know, where we're not dragging them through every detail of history.
06:33We're just kind of whetting the appetite for it.
06:35He was brave.
06:36But finding the courage to go deeper would take a little help from his friends.
06:40They would tease tags.
06:42They go in there and dig out that cave.
06:44Go in there and dig out that cave.
06:45And so he did.
06:46He got together with some of the neighborhood boys, excavating, if I can use that term.
06:51They were so excited.
06:52And they were exploring.
06:53And they were so nervous they couldn't even sleep.
06:55I liked watching hosted programs when I was a kid.
06:58I just loved that approach.
07:00You know, I loved Unsolved Mysteries and, you know, Fact or Fiction or, you know, The Twilight Zone or whatever.
07:05And I feel like I called JD.
07:08You sort of need a guide.
07:09You do.
07:10You do.
07:10Because that's the.
07:11You don't necessarily have to.
07:12Well, I like it that way.
07:14And I think that's something that because it puts a face and a person to kind of help guide you through it rather than just, you know, voiceover and a bunch of still photos.
07:22And so we wanted to make something that was that was punchy and appealing.
07:26And to your point, something that kind of left you wanting to know more and and to be able to dig into it, especially when it's places where you can literally go like this is a place you can go there and you can go see this for yourself.
07:38And so that was a part of it, too, was was how can we how can we whet the appetite for this topic, for this subject, get people interested, not just in the stories we're telling, but the stories they could go find in their own families, which has been great.
07:51Because people share stories every time we tell them about this, they start listing off all the things that they have that would be good stories.
07:57And so each one begats the next.
08:00And that's been one of the fun things about sort of getting the pilot done and then circulating it, let people see it and sort of see what are they like?
08:07What are they not like?
08:08What do they want more of?
08:09What do they want less of?
08:10And you get the bites off of different people.
08:12Absolutely.
08:13And so the plot and the plan for moving forward revolves a lot around, A, the stories we already know we want to tell.
08:21I've got a few dozen of people that I've met that I already know, people I've already reached out to and said, would you be interested in letting us feature you?
08:28Everyone's game to participate.
08:29Like everyone loves the idea of it.
08:31And then as we talk more to people, we gather like we're gathering stories all the time.
08:36And so literally, you know, maybe two, three days ago, somebody shares a story.
08:40We go, OK, that that's worth exploring.
08:42And so it's almost like doing things like this is not just sharing it, but it's research unto itself because we learn more every day.
08:49We get more stories to tell.
08:50I think some are really good and some are really like full episode type stories.
08:56Sometimes maybe they're just good short stories, but there's no shortage of these things to tell.
09:02And people have such an interest in artifacts and relics and, you know, urban exploring and things like that.
09:08Like it is of interest to people.
09:09They love to dig and find and have that curiosity.
09:13And that's something that really is in me.
09:15I'm very curious about these things.
09:17And so I wanted to, you know, chase something that was interesting to me, but that also seemed to be interesting to other people.
09:24And so far, that seems to be good.
09:25We've collected now another dozen or so stories that people suggested.
09:30That kind of really was exciting to him because he knew that Native Americans had lived in this valley.
09:36But now he had what he thought was confirmation that they were actually living and working, going in and out of the cave.
09:44And that really changed his life.
09:47You know, like he was saying, anybody can have a story like this that they just, you know, hey, my grandmother is my, you know, when I was young, I remember this thing.
09:54And so we really want to make this a movement of sorts, you know, especially in this AI world where everything's hard to tell whether it's real or not.
10:05You know, a relic is tangible.
10:06And so we can tell stories, whether it's as simple as a few photos on Facebook or going to a full episode.
10:13And so we're just kind of excited to collect them all and share people's stories and hopefully get people interested in this type of thing again if they weren't already.
10:24And so we're just kind of excited about it.
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