History Detectives

Civil War-Era Submarine The Place: New Orleans, Louisiana In Louisiana's bustling French Quarter sits a surprising remnant of American warfare - a Civil War-era submarine. Salvaged from the depths of a New Orleans lake, the origin of this vessel remains a murky mystery. Now a New Orleans man wants to know if his great-grandfather helped build the iron-clad wonder. Red Cloud's Peace Pipe? The Place: Livermore, California Was this peace pipe given to a Californian woman's ancestor by the famous warrior Chief Red Cloud? The ancestor was the Indian agent who moved the Oglala Lakota to a Reservation in South Dakota. Would Chief Red Cloud have given such a gift to a U.S. government official? The History Detectives go back to the turbulent days of the 1870s and a battle of wills and political scandal that reached the highest levels of government. Thomas Edison's House? The Place: Union, New Jersey This strange house is said to have been designed and built by Thomas Edison. Did the

Early Monopoly? The Place: Arden, Delaware A man in Delaware has an old board game that bears a remarkable similarity to Monopoly, but was made 20 years before Parker Brothers patented their creation. Could he own the earliest version of the world's best-selling board game? History Detectives investigates Monopoly's history and discovers a surprising story. Rather than originating in the Great Depression of the 1930s, Monopoly could be a much older game, reflecting an economic argument that - if followed - would have created a radically different economy than today's. Japanese Internment Camp Artwork The Place: San Francisco, California A San Francisco archive has discovered a set of watercolor paintings of what appears to be a prison camp. Piecing them together shows they were painted on the back of a Japanese-American internment notice from 1942. What is the story behind these paintings? Who was the artist? And what was his or her fate? History Detectives uncovers the dramati

World War II Landing Craft The Place: Bayfield, Wisconsin A craft used for dredging and hauling rocks in Bayfield's harbor could hold a dramatic secret. A local man whose father fought in the Second World War claims that, 60 years ago, the vessel played a vital role in the D-Day landings, when it transported American tanks on to the beaches of Normandy. Could this ship really be one of the 1500 LCT103 ""Landing Craft Tanks"" designed and built to support the amphibious landings of World War II, and did it really see action off the beaches of France? The Abolitionist Flag The Place: Michigan What two Michigan brothers believed was an old sheet in a family trunk may have contributed to the end of slavery in America. Was the sheet a flag an ancestor may have used to campaign for the creation of Free States? Or was it used as propaganda in a pivotal pre-Civil War campaign? History Detectives explores the politically charged abolition movement to reveal the surprising past of this fam

The First Movie Studio? The Place: Los Angeles, California Lincoln Heights is a quiet neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles located far from the glitz and glamour normally associated with Hollywood. But a resident there thinks the city's first motion picture studio may be located right in her very own neighborhood park. Could a broken gateway once have been the grand entrance to the beginning of Hollywood history? Warner Ufa Lighter The Place: Los Angeles, California A California man spends $50 at a flea market on an antique lighter that could be a piece of Hollywood history. It is engraved with ""Harry Warner"" on one side and ""Ufatone"" on the other. Harry Warner was one of the founders of Warner Brothers, whereas Ufa was Germany's largest studio and Hollywood's biggest competition. What is the connection between Harry Warner, known for his anti-fascist commitment, and a studio that became the propaganda tool of the Nazi party? King Kong Camera? The Place: Washington State and

Dueling Pistols The Place: San Francisco, California A San Francisco bank owns two antique pistols, allegedly used in the last great duel on U.S. soil. Fought in 1856, the duel was between abolitionist Senator David Broderick and California Supreme Court Justice David Terry. 150 years later, a bank employee wants to know if these guns are authentic - and more about the duel. What really happened? Was it about slavery or honor? Did it influence the outcome of the Civil War? Evelyn Nesbit Portrait The Place: New Jersey A woman owns a portrait she believes is a lost masterpiece by one of America's greatest illustrators and artists, Howard Chandler Christy. The painting's subject is claimed to be Evelyn Nesbit, the actress and model who rose to fame in 1906 when her husband killed a famous architect accused of ""taking advantage"" of her. The resulting scandal rocked New York in the early 1900's and became the ""trial of the century"". But is the painting authentic? Little Big Horn Bay

Preston Brooks' Riding Crop The Place: Long Island, New York A man claims that a beautiful riding crop was given to a family ancestor by the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. He believes that it was no ordinary present, but was given to Preston Brooks to congratulate him for beating into senselessness an anti-slavery campaigner, Charles Sumner. Many regard this public attack in the Senate as a significant moment in America's move toward division and Civil War. History Detectives visits New York City, Columbus, Georgia and Sea Cliff, New York, to unravel a startling story of politics, filibusters and mistaken identity. Home of Lincoln Assassination Plot The Place: Greenwich Village, New York A woman has a question about the home she's been living in for the last few years. She's heard a rumor that John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin of Abraham Lincoln, spent some time in her house. Not only that, she's heard that her home is where the plot for the assassination

Ventriloquist Dummy The Place: Brooklyn, New York An African American woman in Brooklyn, New York, has her father's black ventriloquist dummy, ""Sam."" Her father, John Cooper, was the first famous African American ventriloquist. In a time of minstrel stereotypes, did ""Sam"" help transform how Americans viewed race in the early 20th century? How was this dummy created and was it meant to be a protest against racial prejudice? Witch's House? The Place: Essex County, Massachusetts Did this house once belong to an accused witch? History Detectives heads to New England to research the likelihood with local historians and a descendant of the accused witch, Martha Carrier, who was executed by hanging in 1692 during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Migrant Poems The Place: San Francisco, California In the first half of the 20th century, nearly 250,000 Chinese immigrants attempted to enter the United States. Because of discrimination against Chinese and laws meant to impede their pass

Bonnie & Clyde The Place: Brodhead, Wisconsin Could 5 spent bullets in the possession of a Wisconsin woman have been responsible for the demise of the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow? History Detectives travels to cities all over the country in an attempt to link the bullets to the crime spree of the murderous twosome. Revolutionary War Poem The Place: Salem, Oregon History Detectives goes to Salem, Oregon to look into the story of a Revolutionary War poem found 25 years ago, hidden in an antique trunk. The document appears to have been written by an American named Dan Goodhue while imprisoned in 1780 as a POW in England. Who was this man and how did his poem travel for over two centuries, across the sea and nation, to end up in Oregon? Portrait of George Washington The Place: Frederick, Maryland Could a drawing passed down through a Maryland family actually be an authentic portrait of the nation's first president, George Washington? The investigators attempt to pr

Lost Gold Ship The Place: Alaska Environmentalist Gabriel Scott was working in the Copper River Delta near Cordova, Alaska, when he came across the wreckage of an old ship. According to locals, these are the remains of the SS Portland, the famous steamship that carried 68 miners and nearly two tons of gold from the Klondike River to Seattle harbor and began the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. The History Detectives team mixes maritime history and forensic science to reveal the dramatic story of the SS Portland and confirm that the remains are of this legendary ship. John Hunt Morgan Saddle The Place: Paris, Kentucky A Kentucky man owns a beautifully preserved, Western-style saddle, believed to have been used by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan on his audacious raid into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in July 1863. History Detective Wes Cowan has a surprising personal connection to the case - his great-grandfather was actually one of ""Morgan's Raiders"" and was captured alongsi

""Pretty Boy"" Floyd's Handgun The Place: La Verne, California A man owns a vintage Colt automatic handgun, which family legend suggests once belonged to the Depression-era desperado, Charles ""Pretty Boy"" Floyd. According to the legend, Floyd gave the gun to the man's uncle, who had served as the criminal's lookout. History Detective Wes Cowan travels to California, Oklahoma and Missouri to discover why gangsters became heroes to the rural population of the Midwest and to reveal the true story behind the dramatic rise and fall of a man who ranks alongside Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger as one of the most colorful bank robbers in American history. Continental Army Muster Roll The Place: Las Vegas, Nevada A man owns an old Continental Army muster roll issued by the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts in July 1780. Among the 16 men listed is ""Paul Cuffee, and the contributor wants to know if this could be evidence of a previously unknown episode in the life of Cuffee, a remarkable

Charlie Parker's Saxophone? The Place: Oakland, California A woman owns a beautiful old alto saxophone that belonged to her father and according to family legend was once owned by the legendary jazz musician Charlie ""Bird"" Parker. Her late father, a white musician, told her that when they lived in Portland, Oregon, Charlie Parker came to a practice session without his horn. The story goes that when her father chided Parker for selling his instrument, Bird said, ""If you want the horn so much, here's the pawn ticket."" Is the story true? Did these two musicians ever meet? Would troubled musical genius Charlie Parker abandon his horn? Prison Plaque The Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In the heart of Philadelphia stands the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary building. Founded by Quakers in 1829, this castle-like structure set new standards for prisons across the country with its progressive ideas for rehabilitation. Recently, a group in charge of preserving this historic structu

Body in the Basement Newport U-Boat Shippen Golf Club