Yeah! I remember reading about the guy inside of the museum. Pretty sad! Something similar happened to my great aunt (89 years old now!) and great uncle who claimed a mountain in 29 Palms California back 70 years ago or so. They had some equipment that was registering a massive amount of thorium (I believe it was).

They spent years and a fortune trying to mine it, but could never find it. It turns out that there was a lot there, but it was much deeper (and a lot more of it) than they though. They ended up selling it to a company with deeper pockets and the best equipment.

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely be on the lookout for Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park next time we are driving through those parts. I feel like I've seen a sign for that, but I may be making it up.