All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S03E03.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator] A fort
on the frontier,

where a unique group
of soldiers protected
the nation.

They were major players
in every war

that the United States
has ever fought in.

[narrator]
A forgotten facility

where big business
was plundered by locals.

The fishermen hated
the fish traps.

They turned
into a fish pirate.

[narrator]
And a deserted shack

that raised
an American legend.

[Ann] I don't know
if America knows
of this building.

But I know that they should,

because it actually changed
the course of history.

[narrator] Scattered across
the United States

are abandoned structures

and those who know
their stories.

These forgotten ruins reveal
the past of this land

and its people.

These are the secrets
of Hidden America.

In the Arizona desert
near the Mexican border,

is a site
where pioneers fought

to protect the nation.

[Lobo Bazan] I'm a soldier.

I did 20 years
in the military.

So, when I stand
where they stood,

it's like me...

touching them,

and them...

touching me.

[Dr. Kwami] We're right
at the southern end
of Arizona,

just 600 yards
from the border.

[Hadley] For a large part
of American history,

this was the frontline.

[Bell] Men on horseback
could appear out of nowhere,

cause mayhem,

and then ride off

into the wilderness.

[narrator] One place was built

to contain the mayhem.

[Dr. Kwami]
There's a collection

of buildings in this area,

and they appear
to be made from mud

or...
or from the desert itself.

[Hadley] There's close
to 20 buildings.

This must have been home
to so many people

at some point.

[narrator] This place
would see many iterations
of warfare.

[Dr. Kwami] These men embarked

on a deadly game
of cat and mouse

with one of America's
most infamous enemies.

[Bell] Unbelievably,
this is the first place

where aerial warfare
came to America.

[narrator]
Veteran Carlos Lobo Bazan

was brought to this area

by the military
over 30 years ago.

[Lobo Bazan] You can feel
the energy here.

I tell people that the minute
that they step on this ground,

they're not just walking
into some patch of dirt.

Everything happened
right here.

[narrator] But this part
of Arizona

has not always been
as peaceful as it is today.

[Bell] You can see
the border wall from here.

But when this place was built,

that frontier was brand new.

[narrator] To make way
for new railroads,

this land was bought
from Mexico in 1854,

adding 30,000 square miles
to Arizona and New Mexico,

moving the border south
by up to 100 miles.

To defend this new frontier,

a series of camps
were constructed,

but one was built different
from the rest.

[Bell] Initially just
a tent camp.

this place housed
up to 5,000 soldiers
in its heyday.

[narrator] This is Camp Naco.

[Lobo Bazan]
This place was established

for the purpose
of protecting the border.

All sorts of wild people
were out here,

because it was literally,
uh, a lawless place.

[narrator]
Manning this frontier camp,
was a new kind of soldier.

Army veteran, Charles Hancock,
has lived and served

in Southern Arizona
for three decades,

and has a passion for the men
who came before him.

[Charles] Well,
there's a sense of pride.

I think about the soldiers,

the... specifically
the African American soldiers,

men who were referred to
as Buffalo Soldiers.

[narrator] Fighting
in the American Indian Wars

just years after being freed
from slavery,

the first Buffalo Soldier
regiments

are said to have been given
their name by their enemy.

The Native Americans revered
the Buffalo

as being one of the toughest,

most majestic critters
on the plains.

[snorting and grunting]

[Charles]
The Native Americans admired
these men.

They were fierce fighters,
just like the buffalo was.

[snorting and grunts]

[narrator] Even though
the Buffalo Soldiers

were keeping the nation's
southern border safe,

in the era of segregation,

they would not
have been welcome

in much of American society.

[Charles] Here,
they could not go

into a bar or a restaurant
to have a refreshment,

but they could have gone
across the border into Mexico
to a cantina and had a beer.

[narrator]
Yet the Buffalo Soldiers

were entrusted with missions
of the utmost importance.

And soon,

that landed the notorious
Francisco Pancho Villa

on their doorstep.

The Mexican Revolution
was a very scary time.

Pancho Villa was hell-bent
on killing gringos.

In 1916,

Pancho Villa's men brought
the Mexican Revolution

to the United States.

They raided
the New Mexico border town
of Columbus

for arms and ammunition.

[Hadley]
And for the Americans,
this is the final straw.

The American government
launches the Punitive
Expedition,

and this is a mission
to capture

or kill Pancho Villa.

[narrator] A huge force
of 10,000 American troops
would enter Mexico,

including planes,
armored cars,

and the Buffalo Soldiers
of Camp Naco.

[Dr. Kwami]
The Buffalo Soldiers were led

by Captain Charles Young.

[Charles]
Charles Young was the third
African American to graduate

from West Point
Military Academy.

[narrator]
The Buffalo Soldiers staged
a number of successful raids.

And soon, troops were closing
in on their target.

[Lobo Bazan]
Pancho Villa got wounded

by one of his own troops.

So, he literally was not able
to ride much.

[narrator] Yet, Pancho Villa
would evade U.S. forces

in the huge deserts
of northern Mexico.

For Charles Young
and the Buffalo Soldiers,

the expedition would soon turn
into a nightmare.

American forces encounter
not Pancho Villa's army,

but the Mexican
government's army.

And they get in a skirmish,

and many
of the Buffalo Soldiers
are captured.

[Dr. Kwami]
And President Wilson
at the time declared

that there could be
all-out war if these soldiers
were not returned.

[Bell] After only ten months,

the U.S. pulled their troops
out of Mexico,

ending the Punitive Expedition
in failure.

[Dr. Kwami]
Although the expedition
was not a success,

Captain Charles Young led
his men with distinction

and was promoted
to lieutenant colonel.

[narrator]
The Buffalo Soldiers
would return to Camp Naco

with valuable
combat experience.

And just two months later,

the United States
and the troops based here,

would enter
into a global conflict.

Just hundreds of yards
from the Mexican border,

Camp Naco has long watched
over this part

of North America's
largest desert.

In 1917,

US forces were gearing up
to join World War I.

Yet, the Buffalo Soldiers
stationed here,

and their decorated
commanding officer,
would not join them.

[Charles]
When World War I began,

Charles Young was a senior
African American colonel

in the United States Army.

Had Young been allowed
to stay on active duty

and participate
in World War I,

Young probably would have been

the first African American
general officer.

[Dr. Kwami] Many white
officers refused to serve
under a black superior.

And President Woodrow Wilson
himself confirmed
his forced retirement.

[narrator]
The Buffalo Soldiers
of Camp Naco

would stay in Arizona
for the duration of the war.

But early in the conflict,

the top brass realized
they needed more men
in France.

One hastily-assembled
African American regiment

did ship out to Europe,

and would fight
with distinction.

[Charles]
The 365th Infantry Regiment
out of New York

became known
as the Harlem Hellfighters.

[Bell]
Assigned to the French army
for the duration of the war,

the whole regiment was awarded
France's military honor,

the Croix de Guerre.

[narrator] Germany surrendered
less than six months

after the first major
American offensive,

and the troops shipped home.

In the new era of peace,

it seemed like Camp Naco
might have outlived
its usefulness.

But this border town
had not seen its last battle.

[Dr. Kwami] In 1929,
trouble flared up again,

in what was called
the "Escobar Rebellion."

[Bell] An American pilot hired
by the rebels,

was meant to bomb
the Mexican side
of the border,

but, accidentally hit
Naco, Arizona, instead.

[Hadley] Ends up hitting
a Mexican general's car,

who had left it on that side
of the border for safekeeping.

[Bell] What he did achieve,
however, was the first
aerial bombardment

of American soil,

over a decade
before Pearl Harbor.

[narrator]
After this last run-in
with trouble,

Camp Naco returned
to civilian hands.

And the soldiers here left
for other parts
of the frontier.

Yet the Buffalo Soldiers
would live on.

[Charles] But the name,
"Buffalo Soldier,"

carried on with some
of the African American units

all the way up
until World War II.

[narrator] Camp Naco
was used as housing
for local civilians.

But after an arson attack
in 2006,

it has been empty.

Its mud shell
slowly crumbling back
to desert dust.

Today, over a century
after it was built,

Camp Naco might have
a second chance.

[Dr. Kwami] The camp
has been purchased
by the city of Bisbee,

and has been given a grant
of over $8 million
for refurbishment.

[Lobo Bazan]
There is a history

within our own nation
that needs to be told.

Some way, somehow,
this was forgotten.

We can't forget it anymore,

because this is part
of our nation.

And those soldiers

did something that none of us
could ever imagine doing.

[narrator]
In upstate New York,

sits the ruins of a place
that nearly changed

the political future
of America.

[Martin] We're in a part
of New York

that's dominated
by the Catskill Mountains.

It's an especially
beautiful place,

known for the resorts
that used to attract people
to escape the city.

[Dr. Szulgit]
With this particular site,

there's no real way
to get there.

There isn't even a road.

It's just a steep,
2-and-a-half mile trek

to get up to the building.

[Katherine] There are signs
warning of rattlesnakes
attached to the trees.

Coming up here
is not for the faint-hearted.

[narrator] The mists
and trees hide the skeleton

of a long-forgotten building.

[Betsy, breathily] Wow.
Incredible.

I doubt there's anything
quite like this anywhere
in America.

It's so evocative.

[Katherine] If you were
to stumble across this place,

you would have no idea
what its original purpose was.

[Martin] Why?
Why is this here?

Why would someone go
to all the effort,
trouble and expense

of erecting this monstrosity?

[narrator]
Crumbling concrete hints
at this building's shady past.

[Dr. Szulgit]
This place is really remote.

If you were doing some kind
of secret meeting here,

nobody would ever know
what you're up to.

[Katherine] This was once one
of America's premier
leisure destinations,

but it would fall foul
of natural disasters
and political intrigue.

[narrator] Betsy Jacks
has lived in the Catskills
her whole life,

and is an expert
on the area's strange history.

[Betsy] It is a bit of a hike,

but... definitely worth it.

It's so unusual
to find something
that looks like a...

a Roman ruin.

I feel like we've gone back
in time

in this slightly spooky,
slightly beautiful place.

[narrator] For hundreds
of years,

this area was a mystery
to many New Yorkers.

[Katherine]
In the early 1800s,

the super wealthy
of the United States

would go on vacation
to Europe.

Europe was seen
as the old cultural capital,

and America was seen
as uncouth and wild.

[narrator]
But urban New Yorkers

would soon find out
what they were missing.

[Katherine] Thomas Cole,
the father of American
landscape painting,

loved this area.

And he based many
of his most famous
paintings here.

[Betsy] Thomas Cole painted
these area that were
considered dangerous,

and he thought
that was really exciting.

And so, his paintings
played up the danger.

He'd bring in a storm cloud
over one side,

and these dead craggy trees.

[narrator] Surprisingly,
Cole's paintings would start
a vacation revolution.

[Dr. Szulgit] A whole
new movement was started

in a new way
to take a vacation,

which was to go
to the Mountain House.

[narrator]
Perched in the clouds
on Overlook Mountain,

this was one of the most
ambitious hotels of its era.

This is the Overlook
Mountain House.

[Martin]
With over 300 guest rooms,

and at an elevation
of 3000 feet,

the Overlook was the highest
Catskills hotel of them all.

[narrator]
The Overlook Mountain House
became so popular,

it attracted the attention

of the most powerful man
in the land.

[Betsy] So, this place was
so grand that even presidents
would visit.

And famously,
Ulysses S. Grant came here.

[Katherine]
Grant had long been
a heavy drinker,

and despite managing
to stay sober

in the early years
of his presidency,

the pressure was mounting
and mounting on him.

In July, 1873, he paid a visit
to the Mountain House,

and was seen
putting away bottle
after bottle

on his coach ride up the hill.

[Betsy] Evidently,
when the president did arrive,

he was so inebriated

that they say he had
to be "poured into bed."

[narrator] Yet,
in the years to come,

this Catskill resort
would come to host

a very different sort
of leadership,

one intent on dismantling
the nation.

The Overlook Mountain House
near Woodstock, New York,

was one of the premier hotels

in the Catskills.

But it was soon hit
with tragedy.

[Martin] Just four years
after it opened,

the Overlook was ravaged
by a fire

on April 1st, 1875.

[Katherine] The cries of fire
were originally ignored

because it was April the 1st,
and people assumed

it was
an April Fool's Day joke.

[Betsy] Can you imagine
this whole enormous place...

erupting in flames?

It must have been
quite a sight

for miles and miles.

[narrator]
The Overlook Mountain House
would be rebuilt,

and reopened
just two years later.

But its secluded location

would attract
some politically shady guests

with Russian connections.

[Martin] In October, 1917,

the old Romanov dynasty
was brought down

by a communist insurrection.

The Marxist
worker's revolution in Russia

would lead to a "Red Scare"
in the United States.

[Katherine]
In the early 1920s,

the young J. Edgar Hoover
was in charge of monitoring

these radical
political groups.

And he had spies in nearly
every Communist group
in America.

[Martin] And one
of those infiltrators

found himself at a meeting

at the Overlook Hotel.

[narrator] During the 1920s,

the Overlook
Mountain House led
a double life

as the unofficial headquarters
of the Communist Labor Party.

[Betsy] I think this would be
a really perfect place
for a secret meeting,

because it is absolutely
in the middle of nowhere.

It's just so remote.

[Katherine] In May, 1921,

it was the setting
of the Unity Convention
of Communist Parties,

a secret four-day meeting
of leaders

of communist parties
from across America.

[Martin]
And during this meeting,

these various
communist factions agreed
to come together

and form,
what will eventually become,

the Communist Party USA.

[narrator]
There was also evidence
of Russian involvement.

[Katherine]
Hoover's informer reported
that the Soviets

had sent the group $50,000,

along with encouragement
to come out into the open

and seize power in America.

But J. Edgar Hoover made it
a personal mission

to thwart this party,

throughout the whole
of his 48-year career
with the FBI.

And I think it's fair to say,
he's certainly succeeded.

[narrator] Eventually,
the Communist supporters
moved on.

And towards the end
of the 1920s,

another group would enjoy
the remoteness
of this mountain.

[Martin]
Most of the big resorts
in the Catskills

were closed to Jewish people.

And as a result,

Jewish businessmen...

um, would eventually develop
their own resorts.

[Betsy] There was
a whole community

of hotels in the Catskills.

that, um, served primarily
Jewish clientele,

and that became known
as the Borscht Belt.

[narrator]
The Overlook Mountain House

was bought
by New York hotelier,
Morris Newgold.

But this Jewish-owned
safe haven

would start to attract
some unwanted attention.

[Katherine] The Ku Klux Klan
were on the rise nationally
in the 1920s,

with an increasing presence
in Woodstock.

Not long after this,

the Overlook Mountain House
burned down for a second time.

And many believed
that arson was the cause.

[Martin] Despite the fact
that the Mountain House
burned down twice

in less than 50 years,

Morris Newgold
is gonna rebuild.

But this time,
he's gonna build one
that will last forever,

because he's gonna
make it out of concrete.

[narrator] Morris Newgold
would dedicate

almost 20 years
to the rebuilding project,

yet he died in 1940

with the structure
still a work in progress.

His family sold the land

and the hotel was abandoned.

[Szulgit] The golden age
of the Mountain House
came and went,

but this one is
the highest mountain house,

the most remote,

and it's that very fact
that has saved it

because the others were
pulled down.

This one's
in the middle of nowhere

and people just left it
for nature to reclaim.

[narrator] Today,
the bones of this hotel

have become part
of a wilderness area

preserved by the state
of New York.

[Alcock] Ironically,
in its abandonment,

the overlooked mountain house
is more popular than ever,

with thousands of visitors
trekking up to see it
every year.

So many people have built
on this site now,

just attempt after attempt
to make a go of it.

In a way,
it's now a great success.

It's a beautiful attraction,

and people come here
from all over the world.

[narrator] In Alabama,

an unassuming building
nurtured a national icon.

[Ann Clemons] I think
it's just amazing

to stand within the walls
of this structure.

It changed the course
of America.

[narrator] Three miles
from the town of Abbeville,

an abandoned structure
stands alone in the fields.

This house has clearly
not been used for a long time.

The windows are broken,

and the wood is splintered.

[narrator] Despite
its dilapidated appearance,

these walls
nourished a journey
that sent shockwaves

through every corner
of America.

[Clemons] She was courageous,
she was unselfish,

she influenced what I am
and who I am today.

[Kenya Davis-Hayes]
This underdog story
started here,

in the middle of nowhere,

but it ended
in the nation's capital,

with the country's
highest honors.

[narrator] On the outskirts
of Abbeville,

Ann Clemons is exploring
an abandoned building

that was pivotal
in her hero's life.

[Clemons] This has been
one of the most
incredible experiences,

to walk in one of America's
greatest legends' footsteps.

[narrator] Over a century ago,

Ann's icon came
through these doors
for the first time.

This is the first residence
of Mrs. Rosa Parks.

[Davis-Hayes] She was born
here, in Alabama,

on the 4th of February
in 1913.

[narrator] 42 years later,

her actions on a bus
in Montgomery

would spark a revolution
across America.

This moment was a culmination

of childhood influences
and experiences

which began here,
in this building.

It was built
by her grandfather
and her father.

Her paternal grandfather
and grandmother
lived in this house,

as well as the brothers
and the sisters of her father.

[Davis-Hayes] Rosa's father
was a carpenter,

so he had the skills
to build a house.

And you can even
still see his handiwork

in the carvings
throughout the home.

[narrator] Rosa's father
often traveled away from home
for his work,

but the rest of her family
was there to protect her

from the unsavory aspects
of early 20th century Alabama.

[Davis-Hayes] The KKK had
a very strong presence

and had rallies
all across the state,

including here in Abbeville.

[Philip J. Merrill]
The Ku Klux Klan infiltrated
all aspects of life

and caused
a great deal of fear

for African Americans.

[narrator] Although both
of Rosa's grandfathers
had white ancestry,

they still knew the Klan
could strike at their homes

at any time
and without provocation.

[Clemons] Rosa Parks
remembered

her maternal grandfather
always having

his shotgun handy,

just in case the Klan decided
to burn their house.

[narrator] Nevertheless,
Rosa's maternal grandfather,
Sylvester Edwards,

didn't let fear
get the best of him.

As the son
of a white slave owner

and an enslaved mother,

Sylvester was determined

to use his quirky sense
of humor in unexpected ways.

[Clemons] Her grandfather
really had this...

terrible aversion
of white people,

but he used
to play jokes on them.

He would go up and say, "Hi,"

and the other white people
standing around him said,

"Don't shake his hand.
He's a Negro."

And then he would have
a big laugh and leave.

[narrator]
Even though Rosa's grandfather
was light-skinned,

these jokes could have had
dire consequences.

[Merrill] He could have been
lynched, arrested, beaten.

So, Rosa grew up
watching all of this,

and it never left her.

[narrator] As Rosa navigated
segregated America,

she looked up
to her grandfather

and his unconventional ways.

And it soon became apparent

that this gave them
a strong bond

that would influence
her actions
outside of the family home.

[Merrill]
Roughly at the age of 10,

Rosa Parks was threatened
by a young white boy,

and in a true act of defiance,

she picked up a brick
to defend herself.

That was
a very dangerous thing
for Rosa to do

because she could've been
lynched.

[Meares] Rosa later said
about the incident

that she'd rather be lynched
than live to be mistreated.

[narrator]
But Rosa's grandfather
wasn't the only person

to teach her the skills
she needed

to set her on the path
to becoming
an American legend.

Education was a priority
in Rosa's family,

with her mother serving
as a school teacher

for many years.

When she got
to the sixth grade,

her mother sent her
to the Montgomery
Industrial School.

The school was also
commonly known
as Miss White's school.

[Clemons] Miss White was
a white woman from the North,

but she didn't treat them
like white people treat
black people.

She taught the young children

how to talk, how to write,
how to think.

[Davis-Hayes] Alice White
is credited

with encouraging the girls
in her school
for being ambitious

and doing whatever they desire
to do with their lives.

Rosa Parks really took this
to heart.

Alice White started
a civil rights fire
within her.

[narrator] Years later,

the influence of Alice White
would be felt

in every corner of America

as the nation took
a dramatic step
into the future.

[narrator] In Alabama,

the influences that would make
Rosa Parks a hero

began in this home.

In 1943, at the age of 30,

Rosa acted
on all she had learned

and joined the NAACP,

the National Association
for the Advancement
of Colored People.

[Clemons] When Rosa Parks
was a member,
she had many tasks.

She was an
investigative reporter,

but also developing
and starting

the youth council
of the NAACP.

[narrator] She encouraged
younger people

to challenge the rules
of segregation

with acts
of non-violent protest,

such as organizing
their own spelling bees

and checking books out
of the white-only libraries.

Yet, it was outside
of this role,

on the evening
of December 1st, 1955,

as momentum for equality
built across the nation,

that she changed history.

[Merrill] Rosa Parks decided

that she was not going
to give up her seat on a bus.

This changed the face

of the modern-day
civil rights movement.

When the driver demanded
that we give up this seat,

I felt that the time had come
to not take it anymore.

I had had enough,
and this was truly the end

of being pushed around.

[narrator] Rosa was arrested
for disorderly conduct.

It was an action that shook

and galvanized
the African American
community.

[Davis-Hayes] Over the course
of the next year,

over 50,000 African Americans
in the city

boycotted
the public busing system.

[narrator] This boycott became
a catalyst for change

for the civil rights movement
across America.

But Rosa's story
didn't end there.

She went on to receive
the Medal of Freedom award.

[Meares] So,
from this little cottage
in rural Alabama,

Rosa became someone

who really effected
profound change in America.

[narrator]
Despite this humble beginning,

when Rosa died
on October 24th, 2005,

her body was given
the nation's highest honor.

[Clemons] She had
a statesman's funeral.

She was the first
non-government person

to receive that honor.

She also was the first woman,

not to mention
African American woman,

to lie in state in the Rotunda
at the Capitol.

[narrator] Today,
nearly two decades
after Rosa's death,

the house where it all began
lies abandoned.

But this is about to change.

Jerry Lathan and his team
of historic restorationists

are planning
to move the building

to a more accessible location

and convert it into a museum.

[Lathan] The goal is,
if a young Miss Parks

walked back
into this museum herself,

she would recognize
everything.

It would look
exactly like it did
when she was a child.

[Clemons] I think
that this building

should be preserved
in any way possible,

even if it has
to be relocated,

because America should know
about this building,

because it actually changed
the course of history.

[narrator] In Ketchikan,
on the southern tip of Alaska,

one building stood up
to pirates.

[Martin Perez] These buildings
are special.

This place helped Alaska
become a state.

[Szulgit] This is
George Inlet.

It's a beautiful,
almost pristine environment.

[Rob Bell] But in the middle
of it all,

there's these old buildings.

They almost look industrial.

[Meares] They're driven
into piles in the water.

Why on earth are
these buildings here,
half in, half out?

[narrator] Scattered
around the structures
are clues to their purpose.

[Szulgit] There's these
rusting relics,

parts of ships possibly,
or winches.

[narrator] Once,
these belonged to a trade
that put Alaska on the map.

These buildings
are one of the oldest
buildings of this industry.

[narrator] But for the sake
of keeping up with demand,

these structures ended up
driving a wedge
into the community.

Many locals saw the pirates
as heroes,

a bit like Robin Hood.

[narrator] For 19 years,

Marty Perez has lived
a remote life

as the watchman
of these abandoned buildings

in Ketchikan, Alaska.

[Perez] This place
is special to me

because it's quiet.

I first came here in...
I think it was fall of '97.

[narrator] Working here,

Marty has followed
in his father's footsteps,

yet his father had
a very different experience.

My dad was a fisherman
all his life,

and he started sailing
for this place in 1950.

[narrator] Marty's dad
was fishing

for one of Alaska's
most abundant resources.

[Szulgit] People have been
catching salmon in Alaska

since people have lived
in Alaska.

[narrator] Constructed
in 1914,

these structures were built
to exploit
a natural phenomenon

that millions of salmon
undergo each year.

When they leave the ocean,

they swim up Alaska's rivers
to spawn and die.

[Bell] Locals call
the salmon season
"the salmon run."

It's a time
when cities on the coast
really come to life

with people trying
to catch the fish.

[narrator]
But the annual salmon run
only occurs during the summer

and the precious pink meat
spoils in just two days.

These buildings
were constructed
to solve that problem.

This is
the George Inlet Cannery.

This is the canning line.

In its heyday, we'd be doing
1,000 cans a day, maybe more.

[narrator] Today,
canned Alaskan salmon
is a staple on the shelves

of grocery stores
across America.

But that wasn't
always the case.

It was thanks
to a global conflict
that the industry boomed

and buildings like this
were constructed.

[Bell] In July 1914,
World War I broke out
in Europe,

and suddenly, European powers
had thousands of troops

living in dirty,
cramped trenches.

[Szulgit] Of course, an army
marches on its stomach,

you need to feed these people,

so canned food
that will last for a long time
becomes important.

I think the soldiers
liked the canned salmon,

because salmon
is full of protein,

you can eat it cold,
you can eat it on a cracker.

[Szulgit] Even before
America joined the war,

millions of cases
of canned salmon were being
sent over to Europe

to be enjoyed
by British and French forces.

[Bell] Having been built
at the start of World War I,

this place really grew
on the Great War's
salmon demand.

[narrator] By the 1930s,

these buildings were
one of 13 canneries
in the Ketchikan area,

packing 1.5 million cases
of the pink fish a year.

This earned it the nickname,

"the salmon capital
of the world."

But the majority
of this natural resource

wasn't caught on boats.

These canneries needed
a lot of fish,

so they used fish traps.

[Szulgit] Fish traps
are simply a funnel

where the fish swims down
a small, little,
narrow bottleneck,

and then it doesn't see
the way out.

And they're just there
waiting for you
to come and collect them.

[Bell] Fish traps really were
a game-changer.

Thousands of fish
could be caught
with very little effort.

[narrator] Yet,
due to their huge yield,

these traps forced a divide

between the cannery
and the local community.

The problem with fish traps is
that they catch a lot of fish,

and this meant
that local fishermen

couldn't get enough salmon,

and this had a a big impact
on the Alaskan way of life.

[narrator] With their
livelihoods threatened,

some swashbuckling locals
took matters
into their own hands.

[Szulgit]
When the big industry
takes away the resources,

you're gonna get pirates.

[Perez] A fish pirate was
a guy that went around

and he robbed the fish traps.

[Meares] The pirates
really saw themselves

as stealing from the rich
and giving to the poor,

but I'm sure that they
actually kept the profits.

[narrator] To combat
these pirates,

canneries like this stationed
armed guards on their traps.

[Bell] They were no match
for the pirates,

and so a lot of the time
they just let the trap
be robbed.

Of course, sometimes
this was also because the men
working on the traps

were in on the deal.

[narrator] But in 1937,

both side's attention
was grabbed by a new enemy

when an armada
entered Alaskan waters.

Japan sends over
a fleet of fishing vessels,

but these are
no ordinary ships.

[Szulgit] These boats were
absolutely massive,

and they had not only
the abilities to catch
huge amounts of salmon,

but to can them
right on board,

and it struck fear
into the hearts
of not only locals,

but the cannery industry.

[Meares] You've got
to remember that Alaska

was only an American territory
at the time.

It wasn't a state,
so it didn't have
the same protections.

And that means
the Japanese saw Alaska
as a really easy target.

[narrator] Yet Congress
thought otherwise.

[Szulgit] Washington came
to Alaska's aid

and negotiated
with the Japanese

and made a treaty
to stop the Japanese

from coming
into Alaskan waters.

[Meares] This was
a totally historic moment.

It was the first time
in history

that international fishing
boundaries were contested.

[narrator] But Washington had
an additional motive

when coming to Alaska's aid.

With its abundant resources,

the U.S. government wanted
to make Alaska a state

and needed to win the approval

of many locals
who were against this.

[Szulgit] The treaty
with the Japanese

started to make the locals
feel that, "Hey.

Maybe the federal government
is here to help us out."

[narrator] In the 1950s,

Washington stepped up
its efforts to cement
Alaskan statehood

and offered
further concessions

as they declared political war
on the fish traps.

[Szulgit] Fish traps
had already been banned

in the rest
of the United States,

and they offered the Alaskans
an olive branch and said,

"If you join us as a state,

we will ban fish traps there
as well."

[narrator] With this promise,
on August 26, 1958,

83% of the population

voted for Alaska
to join the United States.

But this represented
a nail in the coffin
for these buildings,

because without the traps,

they became uneconomical
to operate.

[Perez] George Inlet Cannery,
it shut down.

It canned its last can
in August of 1958.

[narrator] Today,
nearly seven decades later,

Ketchikan is still known
as the salmon capital
of the world.

And while fish are
no longer canned here,

these buildings still
contribute to that name.

[Perez] This place is now used
as a tour place.

We have tours here.

People seem to like it.

I think it's good
that it's being used

because before
it was just sitting here
doing nothing.

This place would have fallen
in the bay.