All language subtitles for America in Color S03E03 Alaska

Narrator: This is the story
of the making of modern alaska,

Seen in color
for the first time.

In america's last
great wilderness,

The gold rush launches
this remote territory

On an incredible journey.

♪

Opportunity attracts pioneers...

And later, those rocked
by the depression.

I'm sure we'll make a go of it

Because my husband's
the kind that can.

Narrator: Long summer days
yield remarkable harvests,

While the rugged landscape
draws wealthy tourists.

But only the bold
survive its extremes.

Newsreel announcer:
The army wages a war

Against nature and the elements.

Narrator: In world war two,
alaska becomes

The only north american soil
to be invaded.

In less than a century
alaska goes

From the edge of the world
to the 49th state.

This is the story
of america's last frontier,

As you have
never seen it before.

♪

[indistinct shouting]

John kennedy: I want us
to recapture that...

♪

Narrator:
As the 20th century dawns,

Most americans think of alaska

As an icy, unpopulated
wilderness.

[growling]

A land mass one fifth the size
of the lower 48 states.

It's vast enough to stretch all
the way across mainland america.

[dogs howling]

Bought from russia in 1867,

Alaska boasts a vibrant
but brutal landscape,

With a climate to match.

Freezing long winters where
temperatures can reach minus 70.

And short summers
where the sun never sets.

It is america's last frontier.

But one single event
puts alaska on the map.

In 1896 prospectors find gold
in the klondike,

A canadian district
near the alaskan border.

Getting there means sailing
north from seattle,

Where gold fever attracts
thousands of dreamers

And the cameras of
movie pioneer thomas edison.

Local outfitters make a killing,

As all supplies have to be
taken with you, even horses.

[horn blows]

The steamship queen is
among the first to cast off,

Overflowing with prospectors.

♪

In time, 100,000
will head to alaska,

Most through the makeshift port
of skagway.

From here it's still 350 miles
inland to the klondike.

Edison captures the first ever
moving images of alaska.

The trek to the goldfields
takes three months...

Through the region's
toughest terrain.

Only 30,000 make it
to stake their claim...

And start panning for riches
as they process tons of dirt.

Over the next three years

The klondike yields
75 tons of gold.

But only a few
make their fortune.

Most return home empty-handed.

As the gold rush fades,
many towns die out,

But not skagway.

Alaska still offers riches
for the tough and self-reliant.

In 1914, whalers
aboard the herman

Make a profitable trip
working the waters off alaska.

Smoke billows as crewmen
render whale blubber into oil.

Whalebone also holds
great value.

Once clean, it goes
into domestic products

From hairbrushes to corsets.

On this voyage the herman
collects five tons of it.

Wearing fur on the left,
captain theodore pedersen

Trades pelts with
alaskan native hunters.

The furs that keep people alive
in alaska...

Bring premium prices
from american fashionistas.

In this barter economy,
arctic fox pelts buy rifles.

[dogs barking]

The extraordinary lives
of alaska's natives are caught

In this extremely rare
smithsonian institution footage.

In 1912,
explorer william van valin

Begins traveling
to point barrow,

In alaska's far north,

To document life
among the inupiat,

One of the seven major native
groups that inhabit alaska.

[laughing]

The united states deems
the 25,000 that live here

As non-citizens,
with no corresponding rights.

The region has been populated
for thousands of years...

And alaskan natives
have developed

An ability to survive here...

By kayaking...

Fishing...

Hunting...

And more recently,
caribou herding.

♪

[squealing]

Surrounded by flags
of the few whaling nations

That have traded this far north,

Van valin films
the extraordinary technique

Of the blanket toss.

In this low-lying land,
hurling a person aloft

Is the most effective way
of spotting a whale at sea.

Once a whale is caught,

Traditionally a messenger

Runs back to within eyeshot
of the village

And signals with
a two-footed high kick

For everyone to come and help
haul the giant mammal ashore.

♪

♪

None of the whale goes to waste.

♪

At point barrow,

Van valin visits
a native burial ground.

The soil here is permafrost,
impossible to dig.

Inupiat dead, wrapped in skins,

Are left to decompose
aboveground.

But alaskan native life
is changing forever

With the influx of americans
from the lower 48.

♪

In 1918, filmmaker burton holmes

Documents life for the residents
of post-gold rush skagway.

July 4th celebrations

Show american traditions
are here to stay.

♪

One of the draws
are the long summer days

Where there are up to 19 hours
of sunlight.

And the eccentric ways
of getting around,

Like dog-driven taxis.

Many here have experienced
the gold rush firsthand.

Harriet pullen
came here in 1897,

One of the few women
to make the journey.

A skilled rider,

She made a fortune hauling goods
to the klondike.

When the rush ebbed, she opened
the pullen house hotel...

Serving homegrown berries

And lurid tales
of her gold rush days.

The pullen becomes the place
to stay in skagway.

[horn blows]

Moving around alaska
is no easy feat.

Pretty much the only way
to travel is by water.

[whistle blows]

Skagway has gotten rich

Because one of alaska's
few railroads

Literally runs
right down main street...

Bringing in iron, tin and copper

From mines that dot
the nearby yukon territory.

But for the inland mining town
of fairbanks, times are hard.

It's a coal mining region,

And the nearest port
is over 450 miles away.

It needs a railroad,

But entrepreneurs tried
and failed to run a line.

The territorial government
can't afford to cover

The cost of the railroad:
$35 million.

So officials lobby washington
3,000 miles away.

[howling]

[barking]

In 1914, congress greenlights
the project.

At ship creek, a tent city rises

To house crews of american
immigrant railroad workers.

Renamed anchorage
for its harbor,

The town grows to be alaska's
largest city, and still is.

Rare early footage shows
a steam-driven track layer

Bulling through
the harsh terrain.

♪

It takes nearly nine years
to finish.

For alaska's 55,000 inhabitants,

The alaska railroad
marks a turning point...

The opening
of the region's wonders

To the lower 48.

[cheering]

In 1923

President warren g. Harding
and first lady florence

Are on their way to alaska.

The only surviving footage
shows the president

Being received with great
pomp and ceremony.

But once he gets to alaska,
everything is far more relaxed.

He's here to open the brand new
alaska railroad.

Starting in seward, they set off
on the 470-mile journey north.

For part of the journey
the entourage ride the rails

In a specially converted
dodge roadster

To get a better view.

[whistle blows]

On July 15th president harding
is presented with a spike

Made out of alaskan gold.

It requires multiple whacks
to hammer the spike home.

Now the railroad
is officially complete.

[applause]

[whistle blows]

In the 1920s alaska's gold boom
is over,

But its frontier way of life
still thrives.

♪

Its tales of adventure
and eccentricity

Attract the movie business.

Austin "cap" lathrop is alaska's
first homegrown millionaire.

He wants to turn
the alaskan myth into movies.

In 1923, he produces
"the cheechakos,"

A feature set
in gold rush days...

Shot in and around anchorage...

[screaming]

♪

Incorporating
crude special effects.

[screaming]

In the lower 48,
"the cheechakos" draws yawns.

Woman: Help! Help!

Narrator: But in hollywood,

Yesterday's flop
can be tomorrow's hit.

In 1924 silent movie star
charlie chaplin

Directs and stars
in "the gold rush."

♪

His trademark character,
the little tramp,

Tromps the klondike...

Encountering wildlife...

And hard times when
he cooks and eats his boots.

"the gold rush"
is a box-office smash,

Taking in what today
would be $60 million.

Ironically, chaplin shot
the whole production

In northern california.

He declares it's the film he'd
most like to be remembered for.

[horse whinnies]

[dogs barking]

In January 1925,
one alaskan adventurer

Is about to create a new legend.

Norwegian immigrant
leonhard seppala.

He arrived here
during the gold rush,

Settling in nome,

One of the territory's
most remote cities.

And soon found his calling
in life--

Dog mushing--

A mode of transportation
alaskan natives have used

For a thousand years.

But seppala perfects it

By being the first to use
siberian huskies...

Who prove to be the perfect
breed for the job.

But it's a disaster in nome

That vaults seppala
to national fame.

During the harshest winter
for 20 years,

An outbreak of diphtheria
threatens the city.

The serum which will cure it is
over 600 miles away in nenana.

The only means of getting
the serum to nome is by sled.

Seppala sets up relay teams
of mushers and dogs.

He himself takes
the toughest leg,

A 90-mile ordeal.

The journey takes
five grueling days.

Balto is the leading dog
into nome on February 2nd...

An event recreated
for the cameras

On the very same streets.

The serum saves
2,000 townspeople

From catastrophe.

Now a national hero,
seppala and his huskies

Tour america
on his adapted sled.

Crowds in nassau, new york,
can't get close enough.

And balto is in new york for
the unveiling of his statue...

[cheering]

That's still a popular spot
in central park.

[horn blows]

Drawn by its larger-than-life
reputation,

More than 20,000 tourists a year
visit alaska in the '20s.

Announcer: One scarcely expects
to find a heatwave in alaska.

But the hardy residents
go ice bathing in thunder bay.

It's not compulsory.
They enjoy it!

Narrator: The distance
and time involved

Ensure that those visitors
are well off.

Among these privileged few

Is an amateur filmmaker from
philadelphia and his family.

Ellwood hoffman, age 50,
is a businessman

Who made his fortune
in silk stockings.

In 1930, he records
how wealthy americans travel.

The hoffmans book
a luxury trip to skagway

Aboard an alaska steamship
company cruise liner,

The alameda.

Passengers pass the voyage
with distractions

Like egg-and-spoon races...

[laughter]

[applause]

[laughter]

And milk drinking contests.

[laughter]

[birds squawking]

[dog barking]

At skagway, it's not hard
to coax tales

From its most famous resident,
harriet pullen, now 69.

♪

For transportation,
you can now get a tour

On the skagway street car.

A dip into the gold rush
experience is mandatory...

No matter how well
you're dressed.

Spectacular glaciers are
within easy driving distance.

♪

[whistle blows]

And the white pass
and yukon railway

Now stretches through to canada.

But more than rich tourists,

Alaska needs tough settlers
ready to dig in and work hard.

[whistle blowing]

By 1934 alaska has a population
which has stagnated

Since the gold rush days.

The region is
struggling to grow.

Only 60,000 in total
live here...

Most living in small communities
along the lengthy coastline.

Nome is one of
the most isolated cities.

On September 17, 1934,
disaster strikes.

[explosion]

Flames break out in the roof
of the golden gate hotel.

The onshore breeze spreads
the fire across town.

The small fire department
burns down,

And locals have to
tackle the fire

In whatever way they can.

Much of nome winds up in ashes.

Of 1,500 residents,
400 are without homes,

Exposed to the coming winter
deep in the wilderness.

Only a massive
government relief effort

Gets them through to spring...

A reminder of alaska's
unforgiving nature.

But in 1935
during the great depression,

Alaska again becomes
a place of opportunity.

At matanuska, near anchorage,

Crews begin to clear
virgin forest.

It's the first phase
of a bold new deal program.

President franklin d.
Roosevelt's administration

Recruits 203 families
from the hard-hit states

Of minnesota, michigan,
and wisconsin.

These midwesterners know how
to navigate fierce winters.

[train whistle blows]

Arriving in may,
families each get 40 acres

On which to rebuild their lives.

Man: There are 200 lots
and 200 families.

Let's go.

Number one will draw.

Man: Elmer olson. 200.

Man: Tom porter, number 96.

Man: Marion poor, 49th.

[horse neighs]

Narrator: Low-interest loans

Underwrite houses, barns,
and livestock.

I'm sure we'll make a go of it

Because my husband's
the kind that can.

Narrator: Cameras capture
the initial optimism.

♪ some people think
we're fooling ♪

♪ and are sure we will regret ♪

♪ but really they are
mistaken ♪

♪ for there's no sign as yet ♪

♪ we want to make a new start ♪

♪ somewhere without delay ♪

♪ so here we are, alaska ♪

♪ and we have come to stay ♪

Narrator: In alaska,
the long summer days

Mean super-size crops.

The new deal puts $5 million
into matanuska,

Providing vital roads, rail
and schools for the area.

But the alaskan summer
is a blink.

And alaska's long winters
are no cakewalk.

Man: The growing season
is too short.

Narrator: It's only
three months long.

I want to go home to grandma.

Narrator: Within five years,

Half the families
abandon matanuska.

Some move into nearby anchorage,
and others return home.

[birds squawking]

In the 1930s, fishing here
creates more wealth

Than all of alaska's
minerals combined.

Commercial fishermen
come for the cod...

The highly prized king crab...

And most of all, the salmon.

For a few short weeks each year,
over 20,000 fishermen

Head to alaskan waters
for the salmon run...

When millions of fish
return home from the deep ocean

To their breeding grounds
in alaskan rivers.

Lying in wait are massive nets
ready to intercept them.

At the industry's peak in 1937,

Fishermen catch
over 100 million salmon.

Today, that harvest would be
worth over $800 million.

[ship horn blows]

With no freezers on board,

The fish is raced
to nearby canneries

And processed within hours.

Modern canning revolutionizes
salmon processing.

Off with its head...

Into the can and sealed...

Then carefully cooked
in steam ovens,

Before being packaged
and shipped worldwide.

With a gold mine off its shores,

Others try to plunder
these riches...

As japanese floating canneries
move in on this resource.

Announcer: As on the shelves
even of united states merchants

Appear quantities
of alaskan salmon

Caught, packed and sold
by japanese.

To a world awakening
for the first time

To the problems of alaska...

Narrator: With the jobs
of fishermen at stake,

Furious alaskans
demand action...

As staged newsreels
from the time illustrate.

Well, we won't stand for it.

Them salmon were born and raised
in american waters

Under the protection
of our fish laws.

What if they do swim out
beyond the three-mile limit?

They're still american fish,
ain't they?

Narrator: This time
the united states and japan

Come to terms.

Japanese fishing vessels are
banned from alaskan waters.

In the mid-1930s
alaska takes delivery

Of america's latest weapon...

The b-10, the nation's first
all-metal bomber,

And the world's fastest.

Only long-distance flights
over rough terrain

Will battle-harden b-10s
and their crews.

Alaska offers such routes
in spades.

Each aircraft bears
an alaskan city's name.

Lieutenant colonel hap arnold
commands the flight.

He's a military
aviation pioneer;

Taught to fly
by the wright brothers.

Colonel arnold, on behalf
of the war department

And the secretary of war dern,

I came to wish you and the
officers of the alaskan flight

Success and godspeed.

Narrator: Crews will plan
new air routes

By mapping alaska with
cutting-edge aerial cameras.

Hap arnold: We're hopping off
for fairbanks,

And with the breaks
in the weather

And good luck
with our equipment,

We'll have all ten planes
in fairbanks

Ready for our reconnaissance
flights up there

Within a few days.

[cheering]

Narrator: They'll take a month
to chart 35,000 square miles

Of alaska and the arctic.

The mission is based in alaska's
largest airfield, at fairbanks.

The city now has
a population of over 2,000.

The cameras of
the u.S. Army air corps

Capture life as the airmen
cause a stir around the city.

They acquire alaskan mascots.

Alaska is of critical
strategic importance.

The crews' photos help plan
possible responses

To the growing threat
from russia and japan...

With one general saying,

"whoever holds alaska
will hold the world."

[cheering]

In recognition of their work,

Arnold is given a key
to the city of fairbanks.

But alaska remains isolated--

There is no rail or road route
connecting to the lower 48.

One man has been pushing
to end this isolation.

[bell rings]

Clyde "slim" williams
is an alaska celebrity.

He arrived in 1900 and blazed
trails all over the territory.

For years he's campaigned
for a land link

To the lower 48.

He calls it the alaska highway.

To publicize his plan,
in November 1932

He mushed from fairbanks through
the toughest terrain to seattle.

It took five and a half months.

But the government
ignored the hoopla.

Now, in 1939, williams and
fellow adventurer john logan

Decide to repeat the journey...

On motorcycles.

♪

They use their frontier skills
to overcome challenges.

♪

♪

To fuel their bikes, they rely
on folks living way off grid...

In logging camps...

And on alaskan native
settlements.

♪

♪

Six hard and increasingly hairy
months later,

Williams and logan
reach pavement,

Lashing their bikes together
for the final leg to seattle.

Despite all this effort,

The government again
rejects the idea.

[air raid siren]

[explosions]

December 7, 1941,
changes everything for alaska.

Japan attacks
pearl harbor, hawaii.

America is thrown into war.

Japan also turns
its attention

To alaska's
aleutian islands,

Strung far
into the pacific.

Their first target
is the u.S. Navy base

At dutch harbor.

[explosions]

On June 3, 1942, imperial forces
bomb the remote outpost,

Killing 78 americans.

♪

This rare captured footage

Shows the unbelievable
happening three days later...

Japanese soldiers
conquering american soil.

This aleutian island is defended

By only ten u.S. Navy weathermen
and their dog, explosion.

Enemy soldiers round up
the defenders...

Parading john mccandless
and rolland coffield

Past the lens.

The weathermen spend three years
as prisoners of war.

Coffield survives...

As does mccandless.

With alaska under attack,
american troops and equipment

Need to be transported north
as quickly as possible.

The pressure of war
means slim williams's dream

Is finally going to be reality.

The alaska highway.

Announcer: Here from a tent city
in the heart of the wilderness,

The army wages a war
against nature and the elements.

In 30-below-zero temperature,
they're blazing a trail

For the construction
of a 1,500-mile military highway

From the united states
to alaska.

Narrator: By November,
the road is complete...

An extraordinary achievement
of american engineering.

With alaska connected,

Construction workers, men
and material freely flow north.

Now preparations can begin

For one of the most remote
campaigns of world war two.

So remote, everything
is shipped 2,300 miles west

To the aleutian island of adak.

It will act
as the jumping-off point

For the mission
to expel the japanese.

Academy award-winning director
john huston

Documents the build-up.

John huston: Typical of
the aleutian chain,

It is windswept, treeless,
rain-soaked.

Next to worthless
in terms of human existence.

But strategically adak is one
of the most important locations

In the world.

Narrator: Only seasoned pilots

Can cope with its
boggy landing strip.

♪

It's from here that in may 1943

American troops begin
their campaign

To liberate
the aleutian island of attu.

Announcer:
Troops don warpaint--

Camouflage for what they
expect to be

The bloodiest of battles against
a foe fighting to the death.

[machine gun fire]

[machine gun fire]

Narrator: U.S. Army air force
bombers begin the only battle

Fought on north american soil
during the conflict.

♪

At dawn on may 11th,
u.S. Infantry hit the beach.

[artillery fire]

The battle rages on
for three weeks...

[artillery fire]

As the japanese defenders
fight to the death.

Victory is only achieved
when all 2,400 are wiped out...

For the loss of 500
american lives.

[bugling]

American advances elsewhere
in the pacific

Overshadow the victory at attu.

To the soldiers who spilled
blood on the aleutians,

It becomes known
as the forgotten battle.

♪

After regrouping, u.S. Forces
assault nearby kiska...

Only to find
the japanese have fled,

Leaving behind tons
of military hardware,

Including midget submarines.

And amid the debris,

The weathermen's dog, explosion,
who is still alive and well.

Alaska is now liberated.

[cheering]

In August 1944
fdr spends six days

Inspecting troops in alaska.

♪

For company he's brought fala,

His scottish terrier
and america's favorite dog.

When they return
to the lower 48,

Critics claim he ditched fala
in the aleutians...

Only to send an expensive
warship back to retrieve him.

You know, fala's scotch...

[laughter]

And being a scottie,

As soon as he learned

That the republican
fiction writers

Had concocted a story

That I had left him behind
on an aleutian island

And had sent a destroyer
back to find him,

At a cost to the taxpayers

Of two or three, or eight
or twenty million dollars,

His scotch soul was furious.

[laughter]

Narrator: As hostilities end
on american soil,

Alaska's role keeps evolving.

America donates planes
to soviet russia

To help bolster the fight
on the eastern front.

At fairbanks,
where b-10s once landed,

Russian crews take delivery
of american-made aircraft

And paint on the soviet star.

Soviet pilots fly the planes
to the eastern front

4,000 miles away.

Fairbanks hosts hundreds
of russian personnel

In a rare moment of cooperation
between the two countries.

♪

The soviet visitors find life
very different than at home.

In 18 months nearly 8,000 planes

Make the transit
through alaska...

Advancing the allies
to victory in may 1945.

♪

But all too soon, yesterday's
ally will become today's enemy.

In the aftermath
of world war two,

Tensions with russia rise.

It's the start of the cold war.

On July 9, 1953, huge blasts
rock the territory...

[explosion]

Not a-bombs, but a volcano.

Newsreel announcer:
Erupting for the first time

In the history of mankind,

Mount spurr is an awesome
and truly spectacular sight.

Narrator: The eruption
sends an ash plume

70,000 feet into the air.

Ash shuts down anchorage.

Announcer:
Nearby elmendorf airfield

Has been blanketed
with a fine soot,

And it's been a job
to keep the runways clear.

The powerful blower
of a jet engine

Has been pressed into
this argument with the dust,

And by the look of it,
the debate continues.

♪

Narrator:
The cold war escalates,

And an ice curtain slams down
across the region.

Alaskan natives find themselves
on the frontline...

Especially on two islands
in the bering strait.

Just two miles separates

Russia's big diomede
and america's little diomede.

[birds squawking]

For centuries
islanders have survived

By collecting eggs

And catching birds
on the cliff faces.

And free movement
between the islands

Is part of their way of life.

As tensions mount,
the soviet authorities

Evacuate its big diomede
population to siberia,

Forever separating families.

From a military backwater,
alaska has evolved

Into a strategic gem, on which
the government showers money.

The military quickly becomes the
territory's largest employer.

Alaska's northerly position
is perfectly placed

For a network of radar stations

That will detect russian bombers
coming over the north pole.

When complete,
the distant early warning line

Will stretch 3,000 miles
from alaska to greenland.

To enable this,
the military builds

Permanent bases
in arctic alaska...

Connecting once-remote locations
to the outside.

Across the dew line

A new generation of americans
are living a frontier life.

Announcer: But perhaps the true
historical role of the dew line

Will prove to be the opening up

For peaceful and
productive purposes

Of a vast new frontier
above the arctic circle.

Narrator: In July 1957,
test wells come good

When 250 million barrels
of oil are found

40 miles from anchorage.

Roughnecks from across america
flood into alaska

To exploit its black gold.

Anchorage is booming.

Only 40 years ago a tent city
for railroad workers,

It is now as modern
as any metropolis in america.

For 90 years, the federal
government in washington, d.C.,

Has administered alaska
from afar.

But with rising oil wealth and
a growing population of 220,000,

They want statehood.

Alaskans campaign to become
the 49th state of the union.

Finally, in 1958,

President eisenhower signs
the alaska statehood act.

Announcer: A 49th state born,
with uncle sam

As pleased as the celebrants
in alaska,

Who tossed
the wildest celebration

Since gold rush days.

[cheering]

Narrator:
Crowds in anchorage cheer

As local pageant queen
rita martin

Gives old glory a 49th star.

[cheering]

♪

A year later anchorage
turns out again...

For the annual fur rendezvous...

A festival celebrating
what makes alaska, alaska.

They may be part of the union,
but alaskans still feel

They stand apart
from the lower 48,

Thanks to their unique culture
and traditions.

Isolation and harsh beauty

Will always define this state

As america's last frontier.

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