AMARILLO -- A dad and his daughter, looking for a two hundred year old treasure.
It's a journey that's forever sealed their relationship and if they're right they could find nearly a billion dollars.
KAMR NBC 4's David Martinez takes a look at what they're searching for, and what they've already found.
Adventure is nothing new for sixty-two year old Gary Smith, it's in his blood.
But for twenty-eight years now a hidden Spanish Treasure has eluded him.
"This is southwestern Colorado. In the Pegossa Springs, Durango area," says Smith.
In 2001, his seventeen year old daughter joined the hunt.
"And I was all heart from the beginning," says Emily.
In 1919, according to legend, two sheepherders stumbled upon the lost mine.
"Over forty markers have led us to where we are now right below timberline on a hill. Just like the sheepherders said it would be," says Gary.
A key to their treasure map is a marker they've dubbed the Rosetta Stone.
"And it's got just clearly etched bored in holes and etched lines a and they made designs it's just undeniable," says Emily.
According to Gary, the markers were placed by French Explorers, who worked the mine for five years.
"Exact distances, exact lines, marker to marker, and we are being pointed to the ground," says Emily.
"This room we believe is where they smelted their gold oar into gold bars," says the elder Smith.
They both believe there could be nearly a billion dollars worth of unclaimed gold.
Abandoned by it's newfound owners who were overwhelmed by the elements, overrun by sickness, and attacked by the Yute Indians.
"There's a lot of times up there where I feel the spirit of those men. I know that sounds crazy but I do, I feel their energy," says Emily.
"Each time we go we expect to possibly find it. But what we find is another marker leading us on. Now we're at the top of the mountain. There's no further to go, these markers are going to tell us where it is," says Gary.
So close they can taste it.
The Smiths hope to find the lost mine during their next trip in June.
Once they find the treasure, they have to let it sit in a bank for a year to see if there's anyone who files for ownership.