And while on the subject of iconic Mayan temples, we dug into our archives yesterday to find footage of Wilhelm Busta Leslie – The Rockstone Pond Villager who along with his buddy Winston found the legendary Jade Head at Altun Ha in 1968. Almost ten years ago, we went back to Altun Ha with them to relive the glory of their discovery, and reminisce about the legendary dig led by Dr. David Pendergast:…

Jules Vasquez Reporting

Little do we know how much we owe to the hard headed and stick to it I've-ness of two boys from Rockstone Pond. Walking into the main plaza at Altun Ha you might think these two men - both residents of the adjacent village of Rockstone Pond were accidental tourists. But in fact even as tourists and tour guides walk past them without even a second glance, Winston Butler and Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert are pivotal, central figures in the history of Altun Ha, the site that draws all these visitors. But these men are not even footnotes in the storied and gloried history of Belize's most visited Maya site. In fact they are forgotten, and now they want recognition.

Their story goes back to March of 1968 - when they were working in a crew of 26 men along with Dr. David Pendergast on Altun Ha. They had been working for four years and were clear on what they wanted.

Winston Butler, Rockstone Pond Villager

"We wanted to make our name famous, my partner and I."

Pendergast put them here at the top of structure B4, or as its known the masonry temple. He warned them of the dangers.

Winston Butler

"He told us it is very dangerous so we must take our time and we started to dig."

But after a few days - Pendergast became discouraged and told them to close up the hole.

Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert, Rockstone Pond Villager

"Mr. Pendergast gave up and he told us to go home and that when we come back we should cover the hole."

But these two at the time young men from Rockstone Pond, Winston then 23 and Wilhelm then 32, didn't. Instead they were intent on realizing this fame that so obsessed them

Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert

"We were interested in the work, we didn't only work for money, we worked because we wanted fame."

Jules Vasquez

"At this point you all had been working here 5 years."

Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert

"From the beginning, from the start."

Jules Vasquez

"And you all wanted the fame and the notoriety of finding something great?"

Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert

"Definite."

Jules Vasquez

"And you were confident there was something great?"

Wilhelm "Buster" Herbert

"Definite."

And so they continued to dig:

Winston Butler

"The more we go down the easier it was becoming. While digging we discovered a round object which is a Jade button."

That first find created excitement and the surety that more would follow - it did.

Winston Butler

"It was only about 15 minutes to 12 when I came upon some soft dirt, soft soft, so I took my shovel and start to scrape it and it lead me to something solid at the bottom of that fine dirt. But I said to my partner, look something is here and I said this looks like a capstone."

Beneath that capstone was a tomb - But it would be some days before the tomb would be fully exposed. With the help of the entire crew, they had to raise the massive capstone first, and that's when the glorious jade head was revealed. Winston was doing the brushwork.

Winston Butler

"While I was cleaning I saw a piece of green, just a small piece, and I started to brush it but the more I cleaned this thing, the bigger it get until it got about this size. When I looked up and saw Dr. Pendergast staring down I said, 'boss it seems that this is a very big piece.' He said 'hmm' and to just continue. The more I picked that thing and brushed it, the more it got bigger and it got about this size; all eyes looking down. After looking down on that thing, he turned it over and made a big sigh and said this is the biggest find in Central America. He passed it to each one of us in that room."

And that feeling has stayed with them throughout their lives. But what has not stayed is that first blush of fame. Nowhere are these two men mentioned for sticking to a mission that their boss had abandoned.

Winston Butler

" My partner and I, we need to be recommended. I would like that history prevails see because they are some youths wondering in the city, and all over the world, who don't even know about this finding. And if they do know or hear about it, they already believe or heard that it was a white man. So I would say that from here on I would like that our names be sounded and not Dr. Pendergast's name anymore because he knows to his heart that he didn't find that."

And while the gods of academia may feel hard to give them that recognition, until then, all they want is a license free and clear to work as tour guides in a place where they didn't write history, they made it.

Again, that story was from mid-2005. And while it is hard to imagine Altun Ha as buried beneath the bush, prior to 1960, it was. The pair told us that in 1958, their fellow villager Benjamin Audinett was the first to come upon a jade pendant in the area – which, the story goes, he took to George Price, who then called in Archaeological Commissioner A.H. Anderson and David Pendergast - the rest as they say, is history.