Original subtitles

[ RINGING ]

[ STEAM HISSING ]

[ WHISTLE BLOWS ]

I SEE OVER MY OWN CONTINENT

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD SURMOUNTING EVERY BARRIER.

I SEE CONTINUAL TRAINS OF CARS WINDING ALONG THE PLATTE,

CARRYING FREIGHT AND PASSENGERS.

I HEAR THE LOCOMOTIVES RUSHING AND ROARING,

AND THE SHRILL STEAM WHISTLE.

I HEAR THE ECHOES REVERBERATE

THROUGH THE GRANDEST SCENERY IN THE WORLD.

LO SOUL, SEEST THOU NOT GOD'S PURPOSE FROM THE FIRST?

THE EARTH TO BE SPANNED, CONNECTED BY NETWORKS.

THE LANDS TO BE WELDED TOGETHER --

WALT WHITMAN.

AMERICAN CHANTING ]

[ EAGLE CRIES ]

[ DRUM BEATS, CHANTING CONTINUES ]

[ MORE VOICES ADDED TO CHANTING ]

Narrator: IT HAD TAKEN THE BLOODSHED AND SACRIFICE

OF THE CIVIL WAR TO REUNITE THE NATION, NORTH AND SOUTH.

BUT WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER,

AMERICANS SET OUT WITH EQUAL DETERMINATION

TO UNITE THE NATION, EAST AND WEST.

TO DO IT, THEY WOULD BUILD A RAILROAD.

ITS COMPLETION WOULD BE ONE OF THE GREATEST

TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE AGE --

SIGNALLING AT LAST, AS NOTHING ELSE EVER HAD,

THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS NOT ONLY A CONTINENTAL NATION,

BUT ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A WORLD POWER.

AND WHEN THE RAILROAD WAS FINALLY BUILT,

THE PACE OF CHANGE WOULD SHIFT

FROM THE STEADY GAIT OF A TEAM OF OXEN

TO THE POWERFUL SURGE OF A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

THE WEST WOULD BE TRANSFORMED.

OVERNIGHT, THE RAILROAD WOULD TURN BARREN SPOTS OF EARTH

INTO RAUCOUS BOOM TOWNS -- NORTH PLATTE AND JULESBURG,

ABILENE, BEAR RIVER, WICHITA AND DODGE.

THE RAILROAD WOULD ALLOW CIVIL WAR VETERANS,

POOR FARMERS FROM THE EAST AND LANDLESS PEASANTS FROM EUROPE

TO HAVE A FARM THEY COULD CALL THEIR OWN.

THERE THEY PLANTED FOREIGN STRAINS OF WHEAT

IN RICH, MATTED PRAIRIE SOIL

THAT HAD NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING BUT GRASS.

RAILROADS WOULD CARRY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS

OF WESTERN LONGHORNS TO EASTERN MARKETS,

AND TURN THE DUSTY, SADDLE-SORE MEN WHO HERDED THEM

INTO THE IDOLS OF EVERY EASTERN SCHOOLBOY.

[ HORSE NEIGHS ]

AND RAILROADS WOULD BRING ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS

THE BUFFALO HUNTERS --

WHO WOULD DRIVE A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL THAT SYMBOLIZED THE WEST

TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION,

AND WITH IT A WAY OF LIFE

WITH ROOTS REACHING BACK BEFORE RECORDED HISTORY.

THE RAILROAD WOULD DO ALL OF THAT,

BUT FIRST, SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO BUILD IT.

[ DOG BARKS ]

THE GREAT PACIFIC RAILWAY IS COMMENCED.

IMMIGRATION WILL SOON POUR INTO THESE VALLEYS,

TEN MILLION EMIGRANTS WILL SETTLE IN THIS GOLDEN LAND

IN TWENTY YEARS.

THIS IS THE GRANDEST ENTERPRISE UNDER GOD --

GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN.

Narrator: RAILROADS HAD ALREADY TRANSFORMED LIFE IN THE EAST,

BUT AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR,

THEY STILL STOPPED AT THE MISSOURI RIVER.

FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY,

MEN HAD DREAMED OF BUILDING A LINE FROM COAST TO COAST.

NOW THEY WOULD ATTEMPT IT --

1,775 MILES OF TRACK FROM OMAHA TO SACRAMENTO.

IT WOULD HAVE TO BE CUT THROUGH MOUNTAINS

HIGHER THAN ANY RAILROAD BUILDER HAD EVER FACED,

SPAN DESERTS WHERE THERE WAS NO WATER ANYWHERE,

AND CROSS TREELESS PRAIRIES

WHERE ANXIOUS AND DEFIANT INDIANS

WOULD RESIST THEIR PASSAGE.

THEY KNEW FROM THE START THAT IF IT COULD BE COMPLETED,

AMERICANS WOULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING

NO OTHER PEOPLE HAD EVER EVEN ATTEMPTED.

IN THE RIPENESS OF TIME

THE HOPE OF HUMANITY IS REALIZED.

THIS CONTINENTAL RAILWAY WILL BIND THE TWO SEABOARDS

TO THIS ONE CONTINENTAL UNION, LIKE EARS TO THE HUMAN HEAD,

TO PLANT THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNION SO BROAD AND DEEP

THAT NO POSSIBLE FORCE OR STRATAGEM

CAN SHAKE ITS PERMANENCE --

WILLIAM GILPIN.

Narrator: THE WEST COULDN'T BE SETTLED WITHOUT RAILROADS,

AND A RAILROAD ACROSS THE WEST

COULDN'T BE BUILT WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT.

THE DISTANCES WERE TOO GREAT, THE COSTS TOO STAGGERING,

THE RISKS TOO HIGH FOR ANY GROUP OF BUSINESSMEN.

IT WAS ONLY THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT'S HELP

THAT ANYTHING OF THIS GARGANTUAN SIZE COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED,

MUCH AS LANDING ON THE MOON.

IT WAS NOT RUGGED INDIVIDUALISTS WHO BUILT THE RAILROAD,

IT WAS RUGGED CORPORATIONS

WHO FORMED AND FINANCED THEMSELVES AS ENTITIES.

IT WAS THE RUGGED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

THAT CAME UP WITH THE FEDERAL LOANS AND THE LAND GRANTS

THAT ENABLED IT TO BE BUILT.

AMID ALL THE ROMANCE OF THE BUILDING OF THE RAILROAD,

WE TEND TO FORGET THAT IT WAS

ONE OF THE MAJOR INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES OF ITS AGE.

Narrator: IN 1862, CONGRESS GAVE CHARTERS

TO TWO COMPANIES TO BUILD IT.

THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WAS TO PUSH EASTWARD FROM SACRAMENTO

OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.

THE UNION PACIFIC WAS TO START FROM THE MISSOURI,

CROSS THE GREAT PLAINS AND CUT THROUGH THE ROCKIES.

BOTH COMPANIES WERE TO RECEIVE VAST LOANS FROM THE TREASURY

AS THEY WENT ALONG --

$16,000 PER MILE OF LEVEL TRACK,

$32,000 IN THE PLATEAUS, AND $48,000 IN THE MOUNTAINS.

LOBBYISTS GOT THE RATES DOUBLED WITHIN A YEAR.

LELAND STANFORD, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA

AND PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD,

PERSUADED A MALLEABLE GEOLOGIST, PROFESSOR JOSIAH WHITNEY,

TO DECLARE THE GENTLY SLOPING SACRAMENTO VALLEY

A MOUNTAINOUS REGION,

SO THAT THE CENTRAL PACIFIC

COULD COLLECT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RATE

FOR LAYING TRACK ACROSS IT.

A GRATEFUL CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE LATER NAMED

ITS HIGHEST PEAK "MOUNT WHITNEY" IN THE PROFESSOR'S HONOR.

CONGRESS ALSO PROMISED EACH COMPANY

6,400 ACRES OF FEDERAL LAND FOR EVERY MILE OF TRACK IT LAID.

Man: THE RAILROADS GOT THE RIGHT OF WAY

AND ALONG THE RIGHT OF WAY

MILES AND MILES OF WHAT WAS THEN THE GOVERNMENT'S LAND.

WHEN YOU ADDED IT ALL TOGETHER IT WAS A GIFT OF ROUGHLY

THE SIZE OF CALIFORNIA PLUS MOST OF MONTANA.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

Narrator: THE UNION PACIFIC AND CENTRAL PACIFIC

WERE SOON LOCKED IN A RACE

TO SEE WHO COULD LAY THE MOST TRACK --

AND THEREFORE GET THE MOST LAND AND MONEY.

SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST -- NO ONE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE --

THE TWO LINES WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET.

IT IS A GRAND ANVIL CHORUS

THAT THESE STURDY SLEDGES ARE PLAYING ACROSS THE PLAINS.

IT IS IN TRIPLE TIME, THREE STROKES TO A SPIKE.

TWENTY-ONE MILLION TIMES ARE THEY TO COME DOWN

WITH THEIR SHARP PUNCTUATION

BEFORE THE GREAT WORK OF MODERN AMERICA IS COMPLETE --

DR. WILLIAM A. BELL.

Narrator: IN NEBRASKA, SOME 10,000 MEN WERE AT WORK

ON THE UNION PACIFIC HEADING WEST.

MOST WERE IMMIGRANTS FROM IRELAND,

BUT THERE WERE ALSO MEXICANS AND GERMANS,

ENGLISHMEN, EX-SOLDIERS AND FORMER SLAVES --

AN ARMY OF WORKMEN MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS

WITH MILITARY PRECISION.

THERE WAS NO TIME FOR REST.

A 20-CAR WORK TRAIN HOUSED AND FED THE MEN WHO ROSE AT DAWN.

A SUPPLY TRAIN CARRIED EVERYTHING NEEDED THAT DAY --

RAILS, TIES, SPIKES, RODS --

ALL OF WHICH HAD TO BE LOADED ONTO FLATCARS

AND RUN UP TO THE RAILHEAD

WHERE THE "IRON MEN" WERE ALREADY WAITING.

EACH RAIL WEIGHED 700 POUNDS.

IT TOOK FIVE MEN TO LIFT IT INTO PLACE.

TWO OR THREE MILES A DAY.

EVERY DAY. SIX DAYS A WEEK.

WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT.

AS THE UNION PACIFIC CREWS

WORKED THEIR WAY WESTWARD ACROSS THE PRAIRIE,

HUNDREDS OF PROSTITUTES, PIMPS, GAMBLERS, SALOONKEEPERS,

GUNMEN FOLLOWED RIGHT BEHIND --

"A CARNIVOROUS HORDE," ONE MAN RECALLED,

"HUNGRIER THAN THE NATIVE GRASSHOPPERS,"

AND EAGER TO DEVOUR THE MEN'S WEEKLY PAY.

JULESBURG, AUGUST 23, 1867 --

GAMBLING WAS CARRIED ON EXTENSIVELY,

AND THE SALOONS WERE FULL.

MOSTLY EVERY ONE SEEMED BENT ON DEBAUCHERY AND DISSIPATION.

THERE APPEARS TO BE PLENTY OF MONEY HERE,

AND PLENTY OF FOOLS TO SQUANDER IT.

I VERILY BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MEN HERE WHO WOULD

MURDER A FELLOW CREATURE FOR FIVE DOLLARS --

HENRY MORTON STANLEY.

Narrator: THE SUCCESSION OF BASE CAMPS THE UNION PACIFIC BUILT,

ROUGHLY 70 MILES APART,

ALL HAD DIFFERENT NAMES --

ELK HORN, FREMONT, OGLALLA,

LARAMIE, GREEN RIVER, AND CHEYENNE.

Watkins: SAY YOU'RE IN WYOMING,

SAY YOU'RE AT CITADEL ROCK ON THE GREEN RIVER IN WYOMING

AND YOU'RE LOOKING INTO THE DISTANCE AND THERE'S NOTHING,

AND BEHIND YOU THERE IS TRACK GOING ALL THE WAY TO OMAHA.

THE DONKEY ENGINES COMING IN AND GETTING OUT,

HAULING IN MATERIALS, THE CLATTER AND THE BUSTLE

AND THE WORK AROUND YOU AT ALL TIMES,

THE CLANGING OF THE SLEDGEHAMMERS ON THE RAILS

ECHOING IN THE WILDERNESS

THAT HAD NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING LIKE THIS, EVER.

THE SOUNDS OF THE LOCOMOTIVES BELCHING SMOKE

INTO A PREVIOUSLY PRISTINE SKY.

THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A SOUND LIKE THIS EVER BEFORE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]

EVERYTHING THE KIOWAS HAD CAME FROM THE BUFFALO.

THEIR TEPEES WERE MADE OF BUFFALO HIDES,

SO WERE THEIR CLOTHES AND MOCASSINS.

THEY ATE BUFFALO MEAT.

THEIR CONTAINERS WERE MADE OF HIDE,

OR OF BLADDERS OR STOMACHS.

MOST OF ALL, THE BUFFALO WAS PART OF THE KIOWA RELIGION.

THE BUFFALO WERE THE LIFE OF THE KIOWAS --

OLD LADY HORSE.

[ CHANTING CONTINUES ]

Narrator: OF ALL THE WEST'S NATURAL WONDERS,

NONE SURPASSED THE HUGE HERDS OF BUFFALO

THAT BLANKETED THE PLAINS --

PERHAPS ONCE AS MANY AS 30 MILLION OF THEM.

THEY HAD FRIGHTENED CORONADO'S HORSES BY THEIR SMELL,

AND ASTONISHED LEWIS AND CLARK BY THEIR SHEER NUMBERS.

ONE WAGON TRAIN OF PIONEERS WAS BLOCKED FOR HOURS

BY A HERD THREE MILES WIDE AND TEN MILES LONG.

BUT FOR THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE PLAINS,

THEY REPRESENTED EXISTENCE ITSELF.

Man: THE BUFFALO, WHICH WAS

THE ANIMAL REPRESENTATION OF THE SUN,

WAS THE SACRIFICIAL VICTIM OF THE SUN DANCE.

THE SUN DANCE WAS A GREAT CELEBRATION,

A GREAT SOCIAL OCCASION,

AND THE SUN DANCERS WERE EXPRESSING THEIR SPIRIT

IN ORDER TO GAIN CERTAIN POWER.

THEY WANTED TO BE VICTORIOUS IN WAR.

THEY WANTED TO GIVE THANKS FOR SOMETHING GOOD

THAT HAD COME TO THEM.

A BUFFALO BULL IS SACRIFICED, AND ITS HEAD IS IMPALED

IN THE SUN DANCE LODGE OR NEAR IT.

AND IT'S PART OF THE RITUAL --

YOU CAN'T HAVE A SUN DANCE WITHOUT THE BUFFALO.

Narrator: BY THE LATE 1860s,

THEIR NUMBERS HAD ALREADY DECLINED ---

REDUCED BY DISEASE, COMPETITION FROM HORSE HERDS,

AND BY THE BUFFALO ROBE TRADE

THAT ENCOURAGED SOME INDIAN BANDS

TO KILL MORE THAN THEY NEEDED.

AND NOW THE UNION PACIFIC HIRED MEN TO HUNT BUFFALO

TO FEED THE HUNGRY RAILROAD CREWS

AS THEY BUILT THEIR IRON ROAD ACROSS INDIAN LANDS.

WE SAW THE FIRST TRAIN OF CARS

THAT ANY OF US HAD SEEN.

WE LOOKED AT IT FROM A HIGH RIDGE.

FAR OFF IT WAS VERY SMALL,

BUT IT KEPT COMING AND GROWING LARGER ALL THE TIME,

PUFFING OUT SMOKE AND STEAM.

AND AS IT CAME ON, WE SAID TO EACH OTHER THAT IT

LOOKED LIKE A WHITE MAN'S PIPE WHEN HE WAS SMOKING --

PORCUPINE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]

Narrator: THE CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO AND LAKOTA

RESENTED THE RAILROAD'S INTRUSION.

THEY DE-RAILED TRAINS, RANSACKED FREIGHT CARS,

FIRED ON SURVEYING CREWS.

THE UNION PACIFIC FELL BEHIND SCHEDULE.

ON JUNE 26, 1867,

AN ARMY DETAIL WAS OVERTAKEN BY A WAR PARTY.

ONE OF THOSE KILLED WAS FREDERICK WYLLYAMS

WHO HAD COME ALL THE WAY FROM ENGLAND IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE.

ANOTHER ENGLISHMAN, AN AMATEUR ETHNOLOGIST,

PHOTOGRAPHED HIS COUNTRYMAN'S CORPSE.

THE MUSCLES OF THE RIGHT ARM, HACKED TO THE BONE,

SPEAK OF THE CHEYENNES, OR "CUT ARMS."

THE NOSE SLIT DENOTED THE "SMELLER TRIBE," OR ARAPAHO,

AND THE THROAT CUT BEARS WITNESS

THAT THE SIOUX WERE ALSO PRESENT.

IT WAS EVIDENT, FROM THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DEVICES,

THAT WARRIORS FROM SEVERAL TRIBES

HAD EACH PURPOSELY LEFT ONE IN THE DEAD MAN'S BODY --

DR. WILLIAM A. BELL.

Narrator: FINALLY, 5,000 TROOPS WERE SENT WEST

TO PROVIDE THE RAILROAD WORKERS WITH PROTECTION.

THE CREWS WENT BACK TO WORK.

[ GUNSHOT ]

WHILE THE UNION PACIFIC MOVED WEST AGAIN

ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS,

IN CALIFORNIA THE CENTRAL PACIFIC, AFTER A FAST START,

HAD GOTTEN STUCK IN THE SIERRA NEVADAS.

THE MOUNTAINS SEEMED IMPENETRABLE,

AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE,

CHARLES CROCKER, WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO BREAK THROUGH THEM,

COULD NOT SEEM TO HOLD ON TO HIS WORKERS.

THREE OUT OF FIVE STUCK WITH HIM JUST LONG ENOUGH

TO GET A FREE RIDE TO THE RAILHEAD,

THEN SET OUT ON THEIR OWN FOR THE NEVADA GOLD FIELDS.

HIS PLANS CALLED FOR A WORK FORCE OF 5,000.

HE HAD FEWER THAN 600.

DESPERATE, HE SUGGESTED TO HIS SUPERINTENDENT OF CONSTRUCTION,

JAMES STROBRIDGE, THAT HE TRY THE CHINESE

WHO WERE EKING OUT A LIVING

WORKING THE GOLD AND SILVER TAILINGS ABANDONED BY OTHERS.

STROBRIDGE WAS AGAINST IT --

HE THOUGHT THE CHINESE WERE TOO SMALL, TOO FRAIL.

THEY HAD NO EXPERIENCE BUILDING RAILROADS.

CROCKER TOLD STROBRIDGE TO GIVE THE CHINESE A CHANCE.

"AFTER ALL," HE SAID, "THEY HAD BUILT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA."

THE FIRST CHINESE BEGAN TURNING UP IN EARLY 1865,

EAGER TO WORK.

THEY WERE ALREADY ORGANIZED INTO WORK GANGS,

EACH WITH ITS OWN HEADMAN.

Man: CROCKER EXPECTED THAT THESE FELLOWS WOULD COME UP THERE

IN ONES AND TWOS LIKE THE OTHER NATIONALITIES,

AND HE FOUND THAT THE CHINESE SORT OF MARCHED UP THERE

AS ONE GROUP AND ALL HE HAD TO DO

WAS TO DEAL WITH THE FOREMAN OF THAT GROUP.

OF COURSE, HE WOULD BE THE CLAN LEADER.

Narrator: BEFORE LONG, 11,000 CHINESE WERE AT WORK

ON THE CENTRAL PACIFIC,

AND CROCKER WAS ADVERTISING FOR MORE IN CHINA.

[ EXPLOSION ]

BUT HARD WORK ALONE WAS NO MATCH FOR THE SIERRA NEVADAS.

STROBRIDGE WORRIED THAT HIS CENTRAL PACIFIC

WAS FALLING EVEN FURTHER BEHIND

IN THEIR RACE WITH THE UNION PACIFIC,

AND SOON ARMED THE CHINESE WITH BLACK POWDER

TO BLAST THEIR WAY THROUGH.

[ EXPLOSION ]

IT TOOK 500 KEGS OF IT A DAY, WEEK AFTER WEEK,

TO CARVE CUTS THROUGH THE FOOTHILLS.

AND THEN THEY CAME UP AGAINST A FACE THEY CALLED CAPE HORN --

SOLID ROCK, NEARLY STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN,

2,000 FEET ABOVE A RAGING RIVER.

THERE WERE NO FOOTHOLDS,

BUT THE CHINESE WERE TOLD TO MAKE A LEDGE IN THE CLIFF

WIDE ENOUGH FOR A TRAIN.

Woman: MY GRANDFATHER WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE

THAT THEY PUT IN THE BASKETS BECAUSE HE WAS SMALL AND LIGHT,

AND WHAT THEY DID WAS --

THEY WOULD BE LOWERED OVER CLIFFS

AND THEY WOULD DRILL HOLES,

AND THEN THEY'D SET THE DYNAMITE IN THEM.

AND THEN THEY'D LIGHT THE DYNAMITE,

AND THEN THEY'D PULL THEM UP BY THESE, UH, BY THE BASKETS.

AND THEN THEY HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE

BEFORE THE DYNAMITE EXPLODED.

[ EXPLOSION ]

Man:HUGE MASSES OF ROCK AND DEBRIS

WERE RENT AND HEAVED UP IN THE COMMOTION.

THEN CAME THE THUNDERS OF THE EXPLOSION

LIKE A LIGHTNING STROKE,

REVERBERATING ALONG THE HILLS AND CANYONS,

AS IF THE WHOLE ARTILLERY OF HEAVEN WAS IN PLAY.

[ EXPLOSION ]

Narrator: BEFORE THE CENTRAL PACIFIC

COULD GET THROUGH THE SIERRAS,

THE CREWS HAD TO GOUGE OUT 15 TUNNELS.

[ EXPLOSION ]

THEY WORKED IN SHIFTS AROUND THE CLOCK,

BUT AVERAGED JUST EIGHT INCHES A DAY,

AND THEY HAD TO KEEP AT IT IN EVERY KIND OF WEATHER.

SNOW STORMS, 44 IN NUMBER, VARIED IN LENGTH

FROM A SHORT SNOW SQUALL TO A TWO-WEEK GALE.

THE HEAVIEST STORM OF THE WINTER,

BEGAN FEBRUARY 18th, AT 2 P.M.,

AND SNOWED STEADILY UNTIL 10 P.M. OF THE 22nd,

DURING WHICH TIME SIX FEET FELL --

JOHN R. GILLS.

Man: CHARLES CROCKER HAD TO PUNCH THE LINE

THROUGH THE SIERRAS THAT WINTER, THE WINTER OF '66,

AND THE CHINESE THEN HAD TO BUILD THE RAILROAD,

LAY THE TRACKS.

SO THEY BUILT THESE TUNNELS UNDER THE SNOW

TO KEEP ADVANCING THE LINE.

AND SOMETIMES THERE WOULD BE SNOW SLIDES

AND ENTIRE CREWS OF CHINESE WOULD BE TRAPPED

UNDER TONS OF SNOW,

AND THEIR BODIES WOULD BE LEFT THERE

AND FOUND THE FOLLOWING SPRING.

SOMETIMES THE BODIES WERE FOUND

WITH THE PICKS AND THE SHOVELS STILL IN THEIR HANDS.

NarratPRECISE COUNT,

BUT MORE THAN 1,200 CHINESE DIED DIGGING AND BLASTING

FOR CHARLES CROCKER AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC.

Chen: WHEN SOMEBODY DIED,

YOU JUST DIDN'T DIG A GRAVE FOR HIM

AND PUT HIM DOWN IN THE GRAVE.

YOU WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE

TO GET HIS REMAINS BACK TO THE VILLAGE THAT HE CAME FROM

BECAUSE A CHINESE DOESN'T WANT TO BE BURIED ANYWHERE.

HE WANTS TO BE BURIED WHERE HIS ANCESTORS WERE BURIED

BECAUSE HE WANTS TO STICK TOGETHER.

Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1868,

AFTER THREE LONG YEARS OF BACK-BREAKING, DANGEROUS LABOR,

THE CENTRAL PACIFIC CREWS DID WHAT FEW HAD BELIEVED

ANYONE COULD DO --

THEY BROKE OUT OF THE HIGH SIERRAS.

Man:JOHN CHINAMAN, WITH HIS PATIENT TOIL,

DIRECTED BY AMERICAN ENERGY AND BACKED BY AMERICAN CAPITAL,

HAS BROKEN DOWN THE GREAT BARRIER AT LAST,

AND OPENED OVER IT THE GREATEST HIGHWAY YET CREATED

FOR THE MARCH OF COMMERCE AND CIVILIZATION

AROUND THE GLOBE --

"THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE."

Narrator: THE HARDEST PART WAS BEHIND THEM.

THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WAS BACK IN THE RACE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]

Old Lady Horse:WE HIDATSAS BELIEVE THAT "ONLY MAN"

AND "FIRST CREATOR" SPLIT UP THE JOB OF CREATION.

THEY MADE THE RIVER AND THE PLAINS AND THE BADLANDS.

TO POPULATE THEM, "FIRST CREATOR" MADE THE BUFFALO.

BUT "ONLY MAN" CREATED A WHITE MAN

AND THE SPOTTED COWS THE WHITE MAN RAISED.

WHEN "FIRST CREATOR" SAW WHAT "ONLY MAN" HAD DONE

HE SAID, "YOU ARE FOOLISH TO MAKE THESE THINGS.

"THE WHITE MEN ARE A QUEER KIND OF MEN,

AND THEY WILL ALWAYS BE GREEDY."

"THAT IS SO," SAID ONLY MAN,

AND SO HE OPENED A HOLE IN THE EARTH

AND SENT ALL THE SPOTTED COWS DOWN UNDERGROUND.

"BUT WHEN THE BUFFALO ARE ALL GONE," HE SAID,

"THE SPOTTED COWS WILL COME AGAIN

AND COVER THIS EARTH AS THE BUFFALOES DID."

[ CATTLE MOOING ]

ABOVE ALL THINGS, THE PLAINSMAN HAD TO HAVE A SENSE,

AN INSTINCT FOR DIRECTION.

FEW MEN HAVE THIS INSTINCT.

YET IN THE FEW, IT IS TO BE TRUSTED

AS ABSOLUTELY AS THE HOMING INSTINCT OF A WILD GOOSE.

I NEVER HAD A COMPASS IN MY LIFE.

I WAS NEVER LOST --

CHARLES GOODNIGHT.

Narrator: CHARLES GOODNIGHT WAS USED TO TOUGH TIMES.

A DIRT FARMER'S SON, HE HAD RIDDEN BAREBACK

ALL THE WAY FROM ILLINOIS TO TEXAS AT THE AGE OF NINE,

AND HAD BEEN WORKING FULL TIME TO SUPPORT HIS WIDOWED MOTHER

SINCE HE WAS 11.

AT 19, HE AND HIS BROTHER WENT INTO THE CATTLE BUSINESS.

STILL TOO POOR TO BUY THEIR OWN HERD,

THEY AGREED TO WATCH OVER SOMEONE ELSE'S --

RECEIVING EVERY FOURTH CALF AS PAY.

GOODNIGHT HAD MANAGED TO COLLECT 180 HEAD OF HIS OWN

BY THE TIME THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT,

BUT HE LEFT HIS CATTLE TO JOIN THE TEXAS RANGERS

AND FIGHT FOR THE CONFEDERACY.

WHEN HE RETURNED TO HIS RANCH AT THE END OF THE WAR,

HE FOUND THE CATTLE BUSINESS IN RUINS.

TEXAS HERDS HAD MULTIPLIED WILDLY --

FROM THREE-AND-A-HALF MILLION TO SIX MILLION --

SO MANY THAT BEEF PRICES FELL TO NEARLY NOTHING.

Goodnight:IT LOOKED LIKE

EVERYTHING WORTH LIVING FOR WAS GONE.

THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WAS DEPRESSED.

THERE WAS NO HOPE.

Narrator: THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE AS A CATTLEMAN,

GOODNIGHT DECIDED,

WAS TO TAKE HIS HERDS NORTH TO BETTER MARKETS --

THE INDIAN RESERVATIONS, COLORADO MINING CAMPS,

AND THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CREWS

NOW WORKING THEIR WAY ACROSS WYOMING.

TO REACH THEM, HE AND HIS PARTNER OLIVER LOVING,

WITH 18 COWBOYS AND 2,000 CATTLE,

BLAZED A NEW TRAIL IN 1866.

AND WHENHE LONG DRIVE WAS DONE,

THE PARTNERS CLEARED $24,000,

MORE THAN THEY HAD EVER DREAMED OF GETTING.

THEY HURRIED BACK TO TEXAS TO BUY MORE CATTLE,

THEN HEADED RIGHT BACK UP

THE NEWLY NAMED GOODNIGHT-LOVING TRAIL,

BEFORE ANYONE ELSE COULD BEAT THEM TO IT.

Goodnight:LOVING WAS A MAN OF RELIGIOUS INSTINCTS

AND ONE OF THE COOLEST AND BRAVEST MEN I HAVE EVER KNOWN,

BUT DEVOID OF CAUTION.

Narrator: LOVING PUSHED ON AHEAD

TO GET IN THE PARTNERS' BID FOR NEW GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

BUT COMANCHES CAUGHT HIM ON THE OPEN PLAIN,

SHOT HIM IN THE WRIST AND SIDE, AND CHASED HIM TO A RIVERBANK,

WHERE HE HELD THEM OFF FOR SEVERAL DAYS

BEFORE HE CRAWLED TO SAFETY IN THE NIGHT.

HE WAS PICKED UP BY A PASSING WAGON

AND TAKEN TO AN ARMY HOSPITAL, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE TO SAVE HIM.

THE NIGHT LOVING DIED,

HE CALLED HIS PARTNER TO HIS SIDE.

Goodnight:HIS MIND TURNED BACK TO TEXAS,

AND AT LAST HE SAID, "I REGRET TO HAVE TO BE

LAID AWAY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY."

I ASSURED HIM THAT HE NEED HAVE NO FEARS --

THAT I WOULD SEE THAT HIS REMAINS WERE LAID

IN THE CEMETERY AT HOME.

HE FELT THIS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE,

BUT I TOLD HIM IT WOULD BE DONE.

Narrator: GOODNIGHT ORDERED HIS MEN

TO FASHION A TIN CASKET OUT OF FLATTENED CANS.

THEY PUT LOVING'S WOODEN COFFIN INSIDE,

COVERED IT WITH CHARCOAL, SEALED THE TOP,

AND PLACED IT IN A WAGON.

FLANKED BY A COWBOY ESCORT,

GOODNIGHT STARTED BACK SOUTH FOR TEXAS.

WORD OF THEIR PROFITS HAD SPREAD THROUGHOUT CATTLE COUNTRY,

AND OTHER OUTFITS WERE ALREADY STREAMING NORTH --

HEADED NOW FOR THE NEAREST RAILHEADS

FROM WHICH THEY COULD SHIP THEIR STEERS EAST.

A NEW INDUSTRY HAD BEEN BORN.

BUT IN FEBRUARY OF 1868, CHARLES GOODNIGHT,

THE MAN WHO HAD HELPED START IT ALL,

WAS HEADED IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.

KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO HIS DEAD PARTNER,

HE WAS TAKING OLIVER LOVING HOME.

[ WHISTLE BLOWS ]

RAILWAYS, MULTIPLIED AND SPANNING THE CONTINENT,

ARE ESSENTIAL DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONS --

MORE POWERFUL AND MORE PERMANENT THAN LAW,

OR POPULAR CONSENT, OR POLITICAL CONSTITUTIONS,

TO THOROUGHLY COMPLETE THE GRAND SYSTEM

WHICH FRATERNIZES US INTO ONE PEOPLE --

WILLIAM GILPIN.

Narrator: BY THE SPRING OF 1869,

THE COMPETITION BETWEEN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC

AND THE UNION PACIFIC WAS CONVERGING ON NORTHERN UTAH.

RIVAL ARMIES OF RAILROAD MEN VIED TO COVER THE MOST GROUND

AND EARN THE MOST MONEY FOR THEIR EMPLOYERS

BEFORE THE TWO LINES FINALLY MET.

THEY TRIED TO OUTDO ONE ANOTHER,

FIRST LAYING FIVE MILES OF TRACK IN A SINGLE DAY --

THEN SIX, THEN SEVEN, AND THEN TEN MILES --

A PACE OF RAILROAD-BUILDING SUCH AS THE WORLD HAD NEVER SEEN.

NO FIXED RENDEZVOUS POINT HAD EVER BEEN ESTABLISHED.

GRADING CREWS FOR THE TWO COMPANIES,

WORKING FAR AHEAD OF THE TRACK LAYERS,

PASSED EACH OTHER IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

AND PUSHED ON FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES --

SOMETIMES WORKING SO CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER

THAT EXPLOSIONS SET OFF BY ONE WORK GANG

SPATTERED ITS RIVALS WITH DIRT.

FINALLY, THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENED

AND PICKED PROMONTORY SUMMIT, 56 MILES WEST OF OGDEN,

AS THE PLACE WHERE THE TWO LINES WOULD MEET.

THE RACE ACROSS THE WEST WAS COMING TO A CLOSE AT LAST.

ON MAY 10, 1869, EVERYTHING WAS READY.

A TELEGRAPHER STOOD BY TO SIGNAL TO BOTH COASTS

AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN THE DRIVING OF THE FINAL SPIKE.

[ MORSE CODE ]

Telegrapher:TO EVERYBODY, KEEP QUIET.

WHEN THE LAST SPIKE IS DRIVEN AT PROMONTORY POINT,

WE WILL SAY "DONE!"

DON'T BREAK THE CIRCUIT,

BUT WATCH FOR THE SIGNALS OF THE BLOWS OF THE HAMMER.

Man:WE UNDERSTAND. ALL ARE READY IN THE EAST.

Narrator: FOUR SPIKES -- TWO GOLD, ONE SILVER

AND THE FOURTH A BLEND OF GOLD, SILVER AND IRON --

WERE TO BE TAPPED GENTLY INTO POSITION WITH A SILVER MAUL

TO MARK THE OCCASION.

AND THEN A FINAL SPIKE --

AN ORDINARY ONE BUT WIRED TO THE TELEGRAPHER'S KEY --

WAS TO BE HAMMERED INTO THE GROUND.

Telegrapher:ALMOST READY.

HATS OFF -- PRAYER IS BEING OFFERED.

Preacher:WE DESIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THY HANDIWORK...

Telegrapher:THE SPIKE WILL SOON BE DRIVEN.

Preacher:...THAT MIGHTY ENTERPRISE MAY BE UNTO US

AS THE ATLANTIC OF THY STRENGTH,

AND THE PACIFIC OF THY LOVE,

THROUGH JESUS THE REDEEMER, AMEN.

Telegrapher:WE HAVE GOT DONE PRAYING.

THE SPIKE IS ABOUT TO BE PRESENTED.

Narrator: THE FINAL SPIKE WAS SLID INTO PLACE.

LELAND STANFORD OF THE CENTRAL PACIFIC

WAS TO HAVE THE HONOR OF DRIVING IT HOME.

Telegrapher:THE SIGNAL WILL BE THREE DOTS

FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE BLOWS.

Narrator: STANFORD SWUNG THE HAMMER HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD,

BROUGHT IT DOWN -- AND MISSED.

THE TELEGRAPHER CLOSED THE CIRCUIT, ANYWAY.

[ THREE DOTS ] Telegrapher:DONE!

[ CHEERING ]

Narrator: IN WASHINGTON, A GREAT CHEER WENT UP

FROM THE BIG CROWD IN FRONT OF THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE,

AND AN ILLUMINATED BALL DROPPED FROM THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL.

AT INDEPENDENCE HALL IN PHILADELPHIA,

THE LIBERTY BELL WAS RUNG --

GINGERLY, SO THAT ITS CRACK WOULD NOT WORSEN.

AND IN SAN FRANCISCO,

A HUGE BANNER WAS UNFURLED THAT PROCLAIMED --

"CALIFORNIA ANNEXES THE UNITED STATES."

THE VAST DISTANCES OF THE WEST HAD AT LAST BEEN CONQUERED.

A JOURNEY THAT HAD ONCE TAKEN MONTHS

COULD NOW BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A MATTER OF DAYS.

Watkins: ONCE THE RAILS WERE JOINED AT PROMONTORY,

I THINK YOU CAN SAY THAT WE BEGAN FOR THE FIRST TIME, TRULY,

TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS A CONTINENTAL NATION.

IT WAS A KIND OF A REACH OF THE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS

INTO A PLACE THAT HAD ONCE ONLY BEEN OCCUPIED BY DREAMS,

AND MYTHS AND IMAGINATION, AND HERE WAS

THE GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL MARVEL OF ITS TIME,

CRASHING THROUGH THOSE MYTHIC BARRIERS

AND GOING INTO A VERY REAL PLACE.

Momaday: THAT MOMENT, AT PROMONTORY POINT

IS A MOMENT OF TREMENDOUS SIGNIFICANCE,

BECAUSE ON EITHER SIDE OF THAT MOMENT

WERE VASTLY DIFFERENT WORLDS, RADICALLY DIFFERENT WORLDS.

IT FORETOLD THE WHOLE STORY OF TECHNOLOGY --

THE COMING OF THE MACHINE --

AND WHAT COULD BE MORE SYMBOLIC OF THAT NEW AGE

THAN THE COMPLETION OF THE RAILROAD

AND THE DRIVING OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE.

NOTHING WOULD EVER BE THE SAME IN THE WEST.

♪ OUR CAMP IS UNITED WE ALL LABOR HARD ♪

♪ AND IF WE ARE FAITHFUL WE'LL GAIN OUR REWARD ♪

♪ OUR LEADER IS WISE AND A GREAT LEADER, TOO ♪

♪ AND ALL THINGS HE TELLS US WE'RE RIGHT GLAD TO DO ♪

♪ HURRAY, HURRAH, THE RAILROAD'S BEGUN ♪

♪ THREE CHEERS FOR OUR CONTRACTOR ♪

♪ HIS NAME'S BRIGHAM YOUNG ♪

♪ HURRAY, HURRAH, WE'RE LIGHTHEARTED AND GAY ♪

♪ JUST THE RIGHT KIND OF BOYS TO BUILD A RAILWAY ♪♪

Narrator: BRIGHAM YOUNG HAD BROUGHT HIS MORMON PEOPLE WEST

IN SEARCH OF SANCTUARY FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES,

BUT THE NEW TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

NOW RAN RIGHT THROUGH UTAH.

AND IT BEGAN BRINGING THOUSANDS OF NEW SETTLERS

INTO YOUNG'S KINGDOM --

NON-BELIEVERS WHO THREATENED HIS AUTHORITY

AND DEPLORED THE MORMON PRACTICE OF PLURAL MARRIAGE -- POLYGAMY.

Watkins: THE MORMONS MUST HAVE VIEWED THE COMPLETION

OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WITH AN INCREDIBLE AMBIGUITY.

ON THE ONE HAND, THEY WERE A VERY COMMERCIAL PEOPLE.

THEY UNDERSTOOD PRECISELY HOW IMPORTANT THE RAILROAD

WAS GOING TO BE TO THE GROWTH OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY IN UTAH.

ON THE OTHER HAND, BEING ABLE TO SUSTAIN THEIR WAY OF LIFE

DEPENDED ALMOST ABSOLUTELY ON A POWERFUL DEGREE OF ISOLATION.

THE RAILROAD DESTROYED THAT,

THE RAILROAD OPENED UP THE GATES.

THE RAILROAD LET THE WORLD IN --

AND SOMETIMES LET THE MORMONS OUT --

AND IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN A TERRIBLE BLOW

TO THE BASE OF THE SOCIETY'S CONFIDENCE IN ITSELF.

[ GAVEL BANGING ]

Narrator: IN 1870, SOME 5,000 MORMON WOMEN

HELD AN "INDIGNATION MEETING" IN THE SALT LAKE TABERNACLE.

THEY WERE PROTESTING AGAINST THOSE NON-BELIEVERS

WHO HAD DARED CRITICIZE PLURAL MARRIAGE.

THE WORLD SAYS POLYGAMY MAKES WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN --

WE THINK DIFFERENTLY.

POLYGAMY GIVES WOMEN MORE TIME

FOR THOUGHT, FOR MENTAL CULTURE,

MORE FREEDOM OF ACTION, A BROADER FIELD OF LABOR,

AND LEADS WOMEN MORE DIRECTLY TO GOD

THE FOUNTAIN OF ALL TRUTH --

EMMELINE WELLS.

Narrator: ONE OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT THE RALLY

WAS A DETERMINED, HARD-WORKING WOMAN NAMED EMMELINE WELLS.

BORN IN MASSACHUSETTS

AND GRADUATED FROM A SELECT GIRLS' SCHOOL,

WELLS HAD CONVERTED TO MORMONISM AND MOVED TO NAUVOO, ILLINOIS

WHERE SHE LOST HER FIRST CHILD

AND WAS ABANDONED BY HER HUSBAND --

ALL BEFORE THE AGE OF SIXTEEN.

A SECOND HUSBAND DIED.

THEN SHE BECAME THE SEVENTH WIFE OF DANIEL WELLS,

THE MAYOR OF SALT LAKE CITY.

NOW, SHE LIVED IN HER OWN SMALL HOUSE,

AND HELPED TO SUPPORT HERSELF AND HER FAMILY

WHEN WELLSFINANCES SUFFERED.

"I HAVE NO STRONG ARM TO LEAN UPON,

NO PROTECTION OR COMFORT IN MY HUSBAND,"

SHE WROTE PRIVATELY IN HER DIARY.

AND YET, HER COMMITMENT TO PLURAL MARRIAGE WAS UNSHAKEABLE.

Woman: I ACTUALLY THINK THAT SOME OF THE GREAT FEMINISTS

WERE WOMEN IN POLYGAMY.

MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER IS AMONG THEM.

IF THERE WAS A WOMAN WHO EXCELLED IN TEACHING,

SHE HAD HER OWN LIFE.

IF THERE WAS ANOTHER WOMAN WHO EXCELLED IN COOKING OR FARMING,

SHE HAD HER LIFE.

AND EVERYONE HAD KIND OF THEIR OWN FOCUS.

THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF SISTERHOOD.

AND IN MANY WAYS THE MEN WERE IMMATERIAL.

Narrator: THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES,

WOMEN WERE DENIED THE RIGHT TO VOTE,

AND WELLS, AS THE OUTSPOKEN EDITOR

OF A POPULAR MORMON NEWSPAPER FOR WOMEN,

WANTED TO CHANGE THAT.

Wells:"THE WOMAN'S EXPONENT," VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1.

MILLIONS OF INTELLIGENT WOMEN ARE DEPRIVED OF THE VOTE

SIMPLY BECAUSE NATURE QUALIFIED THEM TO BECOME MOTHERS

AND NOT FATHERS OF MEN.

THEY MAY OWN PROPERTY, PAY TAXES,

ASSIST IN SUPPORTING THE GOVERNMENT,

REND THEIR HEARTSTRINGS IN GIVING FOR ITS AID

THE CHILDREN OF THEIR AFFECTIONS,

BUT THEY ARE DENIED ALL RIGHT TO SAY

WHO SHALL DISBURSE THOSE TAXES,

HOW THAT GOVERNMENT SHALL BE CONDUCTED,

OR WHO SHALL DECIDE ON A QUESTION OF PEACE OR WAR

WHICH MAY INVOLVE THE LIVES

OF THEIR SONS, BROTHERS, FATHERS AND HUSBANDS.

Narrator: IN HER PUSH FOR THE VOTE IN UTAH,

WELLS FOUND A MOST UNLIKELY ALLY --

THE MORMON PATRIARCH HIMSELF, BRIGHAM YOUNG.

HE WAS CERTAIN THAT ADDING MORMON WOMEN

TO THE VOTERS' ROLLS WOULD ONLY STRENGTHEN HIS HOLD ON UTAH.

ON FEBRUARY 12, 1870, WITH YOUNG'S BACKING,

THE UTAH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE GRANTED WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

TWO DAYS LATER, THEY EXERCISED IT.

YOUNG'S NIECE VOTED FIRST,

FOLLOWED BY ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS.

EVENTUALLY, EMMELINE WELLS JOINED THE LEADERSHIP

OF THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT,

DETERMINED TO WIN FOR ALL AMERICAN WOMEN

THE RIGHT NOW ENJOYED IN UTAH.

BUT SHE NEVER STOPPED LOBBYING FOR ANOTHER CAUSE,

JUST AS PRECIOUS TO HER --

THE RIGHT TO REMAIN A PLURAL WIFE.

ALL HONOR AND REVERENCE TO GOOD MEN,

BUT THEY AND THEIR ATTENTIONS

ARE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE OF HAPPINESS ON THE EARTH

AND NEED NOT FILL UP EVERY THOUGHT OF WOMAN.

AND WHEN MEN SEE THAT WOMEN CAN EXIST

WITHOUT THEIR BEING CONSTANTLY AT HAND,

IT WILL PERHAPS TAKE A LITTLE OF THE CONCEIT

OUT OF SOME OF THEM --

EMMELINE WELLS.

Narrator: FOLLOWING THE LEAD

OF THE UNION PACIFIC AND CENTRAL PACIFIC,

OTHER RAIL LINES SOON SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WEST --

THE KANSAS PACIFIC, NORTHERN PACIFIC,

AND DENVER PACIFIC,

THE TEXAS AND PACIFIC, THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE,

AND AS THE RAILROADS MOVED ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS,

THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM PEOPLE WHO HAD NEVER SEEN THE WEST,

OR ITS MOST MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL, THE BUFFALO.

AT FIRST, THEY SHOT THE BUFFALO FOR SPORT --

BANGING AWAY AT THE HUGE HERDS

FROM THE WINDOWS OF PASSENGER CARS.

ONE CHURCH GROUP FROM LAWRENCE, KANSAS,

ORGANIZED A TWO-DAY HUNTING EXCURSION

TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE CONGREGATION --

300 PEOPLE SIGNED UP.

WHEN THE WHITE MEN WANTED TO BUILD RAILROADS,

OR WHEN THEY WANTED TO FARM OR RAISE CATTLE,

THE BUFFALO STILL PROTECTED THE KIOWAS.

THEY TORE UP THE RAILROAD TRACKS AND THE GARDENS.

THEY CHASED THE CATTLE OFF THE RANGES.

THE BUFFALO LOVED THEIR PEOPLE

AS MUCH AS THE KIOWAS LOVED THEM.

THEN THE WHITE MEN HIRED HUNTERS

TO DO NOTHING BUT KILL THE BUFFALO --

OLD LADY HORSE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING, DRUM BEATING ]

[ GUNSHOT ]

THE BUFFALO DIDN'T BELONG TO ANYBODY.

IF YOU COULD KILL THEM, WHAT THEY BROUGHT WAS YOURS.

THEY WERE WALKING GOLD PIECES --

FRANK H. MAYER.

Narrator: FRANK MAYER WAS HANGING AROUND

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, IN THE HEART OF BUFFALO COUNTRY,

LOOKING FOR WORK, WHEN HE MET TWO HUNTERS

WHO OFFERED TO SHOW HIM THEIR BRAND-NEW TRADE.

"I WAS YOUNG. I NEEDED ADVENTURE,"

HE REMEMBERED, "HERE WAS IT."

THE NEW RAIL LINES MEANT THAT BUFFALO ROBES AND BUFFALO MEAT

COULD BE TAKEN TO EASTERN MARKETS

IN GREATER NUMBERS, AT LOWER COSTS.

AND MANUFACTURERS HAD PERFECTED TECHNIQUES

FOR TURNING STIFF BUFFALO HIDES INTO SOFT LEATHER --

IDEAL FOR SHOES, CUSHIONS, CARRIAGE TOPS,

AND THE BELTS THAT TURNED MACHINERY IN EASTERN FACTORIES.

FRANK MAYER WAS DETERMINED TO BE AMONG THE FIRST

TO PROFIT FROM THE BUFFALO BOOM.

HE SANK EVERYTHING HE OWNED INTO A HUNTING OUTFIT --

WAGONS, MULES, CAMP EQUIPMENT, AND FIREARMS.

THEN HE HEADED OUT ONTO THE PLAINS.

WHEN I WENT INTO THE BUSINESS, I SAT DOWN AND FIGURED

THAT I WAS INDEED ONE OF FORTUNE'S CHILDREN.

JUST THINK -- THERE WERE 20 MILLION BUFFALO,

EACH WORTH AT LEAST $3 -- $60 MILLION.

AT THE VERY OUTSIDE, CARTRIDGES COST 25 CENTS EACH,

SO EVERY TIME I FIRED ONE,

I GOT MY INVESTMENT BACK 12 TIMES OVER.

I COULD KILL A HUNDRED A DAY.

THAT WOULD BE $6,000 A MONTH -- OR THREE TIMES WHAT WAS PAID,

IT SEEMS TO ME, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

WAS I NOT LUCKY THAT I DISCOVERED

THIS QUICK AND EASY WAY TO FORTUNE?

I THOUGHT I WAS --

FRANK H. MAYER.

[ GUNSHOT ]

[ GUNSHOT ]

[ GUNSHOT ]

Man:WE HAD A MOTLEY ARRAY OF NEIGHBORS.

ON ONE SIDE A GERMAN, WHO COULD SCARCE SPEAK ENGLISH,

MARRIED TO A BOHEMIAN,

WHO COULD SPEAK LITTLE ENGLISH AND NO GERMAN.

ON ANOTHER SIDE, A FAMILY OF SWEDES

FRESH FROM THE OLD COUNTRY.

ON AN ADJOINING FARM, A SCOTSMAN WITH A MISSOURI WIFE.

NEARBY A FAMILY FROM IOWA.

ANOTHER FAMILY FROM ILLINOIS.

SOME OLD, SOME YOUNG, SOME ILLITERATE, SOME WELL-EDUCATED.

YET, ALL ENGAGED IN THE SAME ENTERPRISE.

Narrator: AS MORE AND MORE RAILROADS

EXPANDED INTO THE WEST,

AN INTENSE COMPETITION BETWEEN THEM BEGAN.

SETTLERS WERE SOUGHT WHO WOULD PROVIDE BUSINESS

FOR THEIR FREIGHT TRAINS,

AND BUY THE LAND THE RAILROADS HAD BEEN GIVEN

AS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES.

"YOU CAN LAY TRACK TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN,"

SAID THE HEAD OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC,

"BUT WHAT GOOD IS IT IF THE ONLY INHABITANTS ARE ADAM AND EVE?"

WESTERN STATES ALSO CONTENDED WITH ONE ANOTHER

FOR NEW RESIDENTS.

THE HOMESTEAD ACT PROMISED 160 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND

TO ANY PERSON WHO FILED A CLAIM, PAID A $10 FEE,

AND AGREED TO WORK THE PROPERTY FOR FIVE YEARS.

IN THE 1870s, KANSAS GREW BY MORE THAN HALF A MILLION PEOPLE.

NEBRASKA'S POPULATION QUADRUPLED.

200 SCOTTISH FAMILIES

SETTLED ON THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BORDER.

THE HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY LURED JEWS FROM EASTERN EUROPE

TO OREGON, COLORADO, KANSAS, THE DAKOTAS.

GERMAN-RUSSIAN MENNONITES, SWEDISH, DUTCH, FRENCH,

BOHEMIAN, IRISH, AND NORWEGIAN FAMILIES

WERE SOON SCATTERED ACROSS THE PLAINS.

Man: IN THE VILLAGES OF EUROPE YOU MIGHT BE

ONLY A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS,

CERTAINLY WITHIN HEARING DISTANCE.

YOU COULD HEAR THE VILLAGE'S CHURCH BELLS RINGING

ON A SUNDAY MORNING.

SUDDENLY, HERE THEY WERE ISOLATED

MANY MILES FROM NEIGHBORS AND FROM VILLAGES

WITH LONG PERIODS OF TIME BETWEEN ANY KIND OF INTERACTION.

THEY HAD "WIND SICKNESS," THEY CALLED IT,

FROM THE CONSTANT BLOWING OF THE WIND.

THEY PLANTED TREES AROUND THEIR HOUSES

NOT SIMPLY FOR THE SHADE OR FOR THE BEAUTY,

BUT TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE IMMENSITY OF THE LANDSCAPE.

Narrator: THEY STARTED TOWNS

LIKE LINDSBORG AND HOFFNUNGSTHAL,

NEW ALEXANDERWOHL AND DANNEBROG --

SOME WITH THE SAME STREET PLANS AS THEIR OLD VILLAGES IN EUROPE.

AND THEY PLANTED WHEAT THEY HAD BROUGHT ALONG

FROM AS FAR AWAY AS RUSSIA.

IT FLOURISHED AS NO OTHER DOMESTIC CROP EVER HAD BEFORE

ON THE SEMI-ARID PLAINS,

AND WOULD ONE DAY HELP MAKE THE UNITED STATES

THE AGRICULTURAL WONDER OF THE WORLD.

Welsch: THE MEN HAD FARMED,

IN MANY CASES, MOST OF THEIR LIVES.

THEY HAD TO STRUGGLE AGAINST ROOTS AND ROCKS

AND ALL THESE THINGS THAT MADE FARMING DIFFICULT.

THEY LOOKED AROUND THEM HERE, AND THERE WERE THOUSANDS,

TENS OF THOUSANDS, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ACRES

WITHOUT A ROOT OR A ROCK.

THEY COULD PUT THEIR PLOW IN THE GROUND

AND GO MILES AND MILES STRAIGHT AHEAD

WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT A HILL.

THIS WAS GRASS, GROUND, EARTH THAT HAD NEVER BEEN TURNED

IN ALL OF HISTORY EXCEPT MAYBE BY A BUFFALO'S HORN.

THEY SAID THE FIRST TIME A PLOW WENT THROUGH THAT GROUND,

IT SOUNDED LIKE THE OPENING OF A GIANT ZIPPER

FROM THE GRASS ROOTS TEARING AS THE PLOW WENT THROUGH IT.

TO THEM, THIS WAS A DREAM COME TRUE.

[ WIND BLOWING ]

Woman: WE SELDOM STOP TO THINK HOW DESPERATELY LONELY IT WAS.

ONE OF THE TALES I LIKE THE BEST

WAS ABOUT A WOMAN WHO LIVED OUT WEST TEXAS.

SHE SELDOM SAW ANYBODY UP IN THE PANHANDLE.

A COWBOY CAME THROUGH ONE TIME AND BROUGHT HER A SACK

THAT HAD THREE CHICKENS IN IT.

AND SHE COULD NOT BRING HERSELF TO KILL THOSE CHICKENS.

SHE SAID, "YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT GOOD COMPANY THEY WERE."

THERE WAS SOME CORE OF THAT WOMAN

THAT EMBRACED THIS RAW COUNTRY,

BUT YOU SEE IT WAS HER LOT.

HER HUSBAND GOES OFF TO ROUND UP THE CATTLE,

ON WHATEVER ADVENTURE THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON

AND IT WAS HER LOT TO KEEP THE HOMESTEAD,

TO RUN THE RANCH, TO CARE FOR HIS FAMILY.

AND SO I THINK OF THAT WOMAN OFTEN WITH THOSE THREE CHICKENS.

AND I BET THEY WERE GOOD COMPANY.

SURELY THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE MUST BE IN THIS,

AS IT SEEMS THIS "DESERT" --

AS IT HAS BEEN TERMED SO LONG --

HAS BEEN SPECIALLY RESERVED FOR THE POOR OF OUR LAND

WHERE THEY CAN FIND A HOME FOR THEMSELVES AND FAMILIES.

AND WHERE THEY CAN ENJOY

THE COMPANIONSHIP OF THEIR LOVED ONES,

UNDISTURBED BY THOSE THAT HAVE HERETOFORE HELD THEM

UNDER THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CONTROL --

URIAH OBLINGER.

Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1872,

A UNION VETERAN NAMED URIAH WESLEY OBLINGER

LEFT HIS RENTED FARM IN ONWARD, INDIANA,

AND SET OUT WITH HIS BROTHER AND TWO BROTHERS-IN-LAW

FOR NEBRASKA, TO CLAIM THE HOMESTEAD

TO WHICH HIS MILITARY SERVICE ENTITLED HIM.

HIS WIFE, MATTIE, AND INFANT DAUGHTER, ELLA,

WERE TO WAIT AT HOME UNTIL HE SENT FOR THEM.

Oblinger:OCTOBER 6, 1872 DEAR WIFE AND BABY --

WELL I SUPPOSE THE FIRST QUESTION YOU WOULD ASK ME NOW

WOULD BE, "HOW DO YOU LIKE NEBRASKA?"

WIFE, YOU CAN SEE JUST AS FAR AS YOU PLEASE HERE,

AND ALMOST EVERY FOOT IN SIGHT CAN BE PLOWED.

THE LONGER I STAY HERE, THE BETTER I LIKE IT.

THERE ARE MOSTLY YOUNG FAMILIES,

JUST STARTING IN LIFE THE SAME AS WE ARE,

AND I FIND THEM VERY GENEROUS, INDEED.

WE WILL ALL BE POOR HERE TOGETHER.

I AM HUNTING A HOME FOR US WHERE WE CAN ENJOY OURSELVES

WITHOUT BEING BOTHERED DOING AS OTHER PEOPLE SAY.

I CAN GET ALONG WELL ENOUGH THROUGH THE WEEK,

BUT WHEN SUNDAY COMES, I FEEL A LITTLE LONESOME WITHOUT YOU.

GIVE BABY A KISS -- YES, TWO OF THEM --

AND TAKE ONE YOURSELF.

[ TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ]

Narrator: AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR OF SEPARATION,

URIAH OBLINGER'S LONG WAIT ENDED.

HIS WIFE MATTIE AND DAUGHTER ELLA,

ALONG WITH A CRATE CONTAINING ALL THEIR WORLDLY GOODS

AND ANOTHER FILLED WITH LIVE CHICKENS,

FINALLY ARRIVED ABOARD THE MORNING TRAIN.

URIAH TOOK THEM TO THEIR NEW HOME,

BUILT FROM PRAIRIE SOD WITH HIS OWN HANDS,

TO BEGIN THEIR NEW LIFE.

DEAR MOTHER AND FATHER --

AT HOME IN OUR HOUSE AND A SOD AT THAT!

WE MOVED IN LAST WEDNESDAY -- URIAH'S BIRTHDAY.

IT IS NOT QUITE SO CONVENIENT AS A NICE FRAME,

BUT I WOULD AS SOON LIVE IN IT AS THE CABINS I HAVE LIVED IN.

I RIPPED OUR WAGON SHEET IN TWO,

HAVE IT AROUND THE SIDES AND HAVE SEVERAL PAPERS UP.

IT LOOKS REAL SWELL.

THE ONLY OBJECTION I HAVE IS THAT WE HAVE NO FLOOR YET --

MATTIE OBLINGER.

Uriah:WHAT A PLEASURE IT IS TO WORK ON ONE'S OWN FARM

FOR YOU CAN FEEL THAT IT'S YOURS AND NOT FOR SOMEONE ELSE.

I WOULD RATHER LIVE AS WE DO THAN HAVE TO RENT

AND HAVE SOMEONE BOSSING US AND TELLING US WHEN TO MOVE...

Mattie:WE HAVE JUST COME IN FROM THE TRUCK PATCH

AND FOUND THE GOPHERS HAD ABOUT CLEANED THE PEAS

OFF ALL THE VINES,

BUT OUR SQUASH VINES ARE FULL OF BLOOM.

WE BROUGHT IN BEETS JUST NOW

THAT MEASURED ONE FOOT IN CIRCUMFERENCE

AND POTATOES ALMOST AS LARGE AS A GOOSE EGG...

Ella:DEAR GRANDPA -- I HAVE LEARNED MY LETTERS

AND CAN SPELL "AX" AND "CAT" AND "DOG" AND "GIRL."

I BOTHER MA AND PA CONSIDERABLE TO GET THEM TO LEARN ME.

I AM LEARNING "TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR."

LOTS OF LOVE AND KISSES -- ELLA.

Mattie:URIAH IS REPAIRING THE MINUTES

OF THE LAST LITERARY SOCIETY

WHICH WAS HELD LAST SATURDAY NIGHT.

THEY HAVE SOME BIG TIMES DEBATING.

I GO ONCE IN A WHILE TO HEAR THEM SPOUT.

WE HAD RATHER A NICE TIME OVER THE HOLIDAYS.

WE HAD A CHRISTMAS TREE AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE...

Ella:WE ALL WENT TO A CHRISTMAS TREE ON CHRISTMAS EVE

AND EACH OF US GIRLS GOT A NEW RED DRESS, AND A DOLL,

AND A STRING WITH CANDY AND RAISINS ON IT.

FROM YOUR GRANDCHILD -- ELLA.

Mattie:I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW

IF WE HAVE BEEN GRASSHOPPERED AGAIN.

THEY WERE HERE SEVERAL DAYS PRETTY THICK

AND INJURED THE CORN CONSIDERABLE.

NEBRASKA WOULD HAVE HAD A SPLENDID CROP

IF THE GRASSHOPPERS HAD STAYED AWAY A WHILE --

MATTIE OBLINGER.

Narrator: THE OBLINGERS HAD TWO MORE DAUGHTERS,

STELLA AND MAGGIE,

BUT AFTER SIX YEARS ON THE PRAIRIE,

THINGS HAD NOT GOTTEN EASIER.

AND BY 1879, MATTIE WAS PREGNANT AGAIN.

SHE WAS CONFINED TUESDAY EVENING ABOUT 4:00,

AND ABOUT 8:00 SHE TOOK A FIT VERY SUDDEN

AND NEVER SPOKE AFTER THE FIRST ONE.

THE DOCTORS WERE COMPELLED TO PERFORM A SURGICAL OPERATION

BY RELIEVING HER OF THE CHILD.

THE LORD CALLED FOR SISTER MATTIE

THIS EVENING AT 4:15.

AND SHE IS NOW RESTING WITH THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN.

THE CHILD IS ALSO DEAD AND WILL BE BURIED WITH HER

SOME TIME SUNDAY.

URIAH SAID HE COULD NOT STAND TO WRITE NOW.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WILL DO YET.

IT'S LEFT HIM AND HIS THREE LITTLE GIRLS

GILES S. THOMAS.

Uriah: DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER --

I TRY TO BEAR THE TROUBLE CHEERFULLY,

THOUGH THE TASK IS HARD AT TIMES.

I HARDLY KNOW HOW TO MANAGE.

Narrator: URIAH EVENTUALLY TOOK THE TRAIN BACK EAST TO MINNESOTA

AND REMARRIED,

BUT HE NEVER GAVE UP HIS DREAM.

HE RETURNED TO THE PLAINS TO START OVER --

NEBRASKA, THEN KANSAS, THEN NEBRASKA AGAIN.

HE SPENT THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF HIS LIFE BEING CARED FOR

BY HIS DAUGHTER, ELLA -- THE SAME GIRL, NOW GROWN,

HE HAD ONCE BEEN SO ANXIOUS TO BRING OUT TO NEBRASKA,

WITH HER MOTHER.

[ COWS MOOING ]

HERE WAS ALL THESE CHEAP LONG-HORNED STEERS

OVERRUNNING TEXAS.

AND HERE WAS THE REST OF THE COUNTRY

CRYING OUT FOR BEEF --

AND NO RAILROADS TO GET THEM OUT.

SO THEY TRAILED THEM OUT,

ACROSS HUNDREDS OF MILES OF WILD COUNTRY --

TEDDY "BLUE" ABBOTT.

Narrator: FROM THE SOUTHERNMOST TIP OF TEXAS,

CATTLE TRAILS POINTED NORTH --

THE SHAWNEE, THE CHISHOLM, THE WESTERN, THE GOODNIGHT-LOVING.

THEY ALL LED TO RAILHEADS,

WHERE THE CATTLE WERE LOADED INTO FREIGHT CARS

BOUND FOR EASTERN MARKETS.

IN LESS THAN TWO DECADES,

SIX MILLION STEERS AND COWS WERE HERDED NORTH.

"SO MANY," ONE TRAIL DRIVER SAID,

"THAT IN PLACES THE DUST WAS KNEE-DEEP TO THE CATTLE."

THE MEN WHO BROUGHT THEM TO THE RAILROADS

WERE GIVEN A NEW NAME -- COWBOYS.

THEY WERE A MIXED GROUP -- FORMER CONFEDERATE CAVALRY MEN

AND IMMIGRANTS WHO HAD ONLY RECENTLY LEARNED TO RIDE.

THERE WERE INDIAN COWBOYS AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS,

AND MEXICAN VAQUEROS, WHOSE ANCESTORS

HAD INTRODUCED CATTLE TO THE WEST CENTURIES EARLIER.

"A COWBOY," ONE WESTERNER OBSERVED,

"IS JUST A PLAIN BOWLEGGED HUMAN

WHO SMELLED VERY HORSY AT TIMES."

IN PERSON, THE COWBOYS WERE MOSTLY

MEDIUM-SIZED MEN, QUICK AND WIRY,

AND AS A RULE, VERY GOOD-NATURED.

IN FACT, IT DID NOT PAY TO BE ANYTHING ELSE.

IN CHARACTER, THEIR LIKE NEVER WAS OR WILL BE AGAIN --

TEDDY "BLUE" ABBOTT.

Narrator: EDWARD C. ABBOTT WAS BORN IN CRANWICH, ENGLAND,

AND BROUGHT TO THE WEST BY HIS PARENTS AS A BOY.

HOPING THE OPEN AIR WOULD IMPROVE HIS FRAIL HEALTH,

HIS FATHER LET HIM HELP DRIVE A HERD OF CATTLE

FROM TEXAS TO NEBRASKA WHEN HE WAS JUST 10 YEARS OLD.

"THE EXPERIENCE," ABBOTT SAID LATER,

"MADE A COWBOY OUT OF ME.

NOTHING COULD HAVE CHANGED ME AFTER THAT."

Abbott:MY FAMILY AND I WENT SEPARATE WAYS,

AND THEY STAYED SEPARATE FOREVER AFTER.

MY FATHER WAS ALL FOR FARMING,

AND ALL MY BROTHERS TURNED OUT FARMERS EXCEPT ONE,

AND HE ENDED UP THE WORST OF THE LOT --

A SHEEPMAN, AND A REPUBLICAN.

Narrator: THE COWBOYS' AVERAGE AGE WAS 24.

THEY WERE PAID SO BADLY AND WORKED SO HARD

THAT TWO-THIRDS OF THEM MADE ONLY ONE TRAIL DRIVE

BEFORE FINDING SOMETHING BETTER TO DO.

THEY OWNED THEIR SADDLE, BUT NOT THE HORSE THEY RODE --

AND THEY RODE IT DAY AND NIGHT.

FOR A MAN TO BE STOVE UP AT 30

MAY SOUND STRANGE TO SOME PEOPLE,

BUT MANY A COWBOY HAS BEEN SO BUNGED UP

THAT HE'S HAD TO QUIT RIDING THAT EARLY IN LIFE.

MY ADVICE TO ANY YOUNG MAN OR BOY IS TO STAY AT HOME

AND NOT BE A RAMBLER, AS IT WON'T BUY YOU ANYTHING --

JAMES EMMIT McCAULEY.

[ THUNDER CRASHES ]

Abbott:IF A STORM COME AND THE CATTLE STARTED RUNNING,

YOU'D HEAR THAT LOW RUMBLING NOISE ALONG THE GROUND.

THEN YOU'D JUMP FOR YOUR HORSE AND GET OUT THERE IN THE LEAD,

TRYING TO HEAD THEM AND GET THEM INTO A MILL

BEFORE THEY SCATTERED TO HELL AND GONE.

IT WAS RIDING AT A DEAD RUN IN THE DARK,

WITH CUT BANKS AND PRAIRIE DOG HOLES ALL AROUND YOU,

NOT KNOWING IF THE NEXT JUMP

WOULD LAND YOU IN A SHALLOW GRAVE.

♪ I RIDE AN OLD PAINT AND I LEAD AN OLD DAN ♪

♪ I'M GOIN' TO MONTANA TO THROW THE HOOLIHAN ♪

Abbott:THE SINGING WAS SUPPOSED TO SOOTHE THE CATTLE,

AND IT DID.

THE TWO MEN ON GUARD WOULD CIRCLE AROUND

WITH THEIR HORSES ON A WALK, IF IT WAS A CLEAR NIGHT

AND THE CATTLE WAS BEDDED DOWN AND QUIET,

AND ONE MAN WOULD SING A VERSE OF A SONG,

AND HIS PARTNER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HERD

WOULD SING ANOTHER VERSE.

AND YOU'D GO THROUGH A WHOLE SONG THAT WAY.

I HAD A CRACKERJACK OF A PARTNER IN '79.

I'D SING AND HE'D ANSWER,

AND WE'D KEEP IT UP LIKE THAT FOR TWO HOURS.

BUT HE WAS KILLED BY LIGHTNING.

Narrator: AFTER UP TO FOUR STRAIGHT MONTHS IN THE SADDLE,

OFTEN IN THE SAME CLOTHES EVERY DAY,

EATING EVERY MEAL AT THE CHUCK WAGON,

DRINKING NOTHING BUT COFFEE AND WATER,

THE COWBOY'S JOB WAS FINALLY DONE --

HE WAS PAID FOR HIS WORK, AND TURNED LOOSE IN TOWN.

♪ NOW COME ALONG BOYS AND LISTEN TO MY TALE ♪

♪ AND I'LL TELL YOU OF MY TROUBLES ♪

♪ ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ I STARTED UP THE TRAIL OCTOBER 23rd ♪

♪ LEFT OLD TEXAS WITH A TWO-MULE HERD ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪♪

[ FLASHBULB POPS ]

[ FLASHBULB POPS ]

[ FLASHBULB POPS ]

Abbott: I BOUGHT SOME NEW CLOTHES

AND GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN.

I HAD A NEW, WHITE STETSON HAT THAT I PAID $10 FOR

AND NEW PANTS THAT COST $12 AND A GOOD SHIRT AND FANCY BOOTS.

LORD, I WAS PROUD OF THOSE CLOTHES!

WHEN MY SISTER SAW ME, SHE SAID,

"TAKE YOUR PANTS OUT OF YOUR BOOTS AND PUT YOUR COAT ON.

YOU LOOK LIKE AN OUTLAW."

I TOLD HER TO GO TO HELL,

AND I NEVER DID LIKE HER AFTER THAT.

Narrator: COWBOYS WERE BIG SPENDERS,

BUT WHILE BUSINESSES PROFITED,

ALL THE COW TOWNS SOON BECAME WILDER

THAN THEIR PERMANENT RESIDENTS LIKED.

Man:"ABILENE CHRONICLE."

THE MARSHAL HAS POSTED UP PRINTED NOTICES,

INFORMING ALL PERSONS THAT THE ORDINANCE

AGAINST CARRYING FIREARMS OR OTHER WEAPONS IN ABILENE

WILL BE ENFORCED. THAT'S RIGHT.

THERE'S NO BRAVERY IN CARRYING REVOLVERS

IN A CIVILIZED COMMUNITY.

Narrator: GUN-CONTROL ORDINANCES WERE COMMON.

COWBOYS WHO INSISTED ON CARRYING THEIR SIX-SHOOTERS IN TOWN

RISKED FINES AND IMPRISONMENT.

TO MAKE SURE THE LAWS WERE OBEYED,

SOME COW TOWNS RESORTED TO HIRING NOTORIOUS GUNMEN --

WYATT EARP, BAT MASTERSON, AND WILD BILL HICKOK --

TO KEEP THE PEACE.

Man:MORALLY, AS A CLASS, COWBOYS ARE FOULMOUTHED,

BLASPHEMOUS, DRUNKEN, LECHEROUS, UTTERLY CORRUPT.

USUALLY HARMLESS ON THE PLAINS WHEN SOBER,

THEY ARE DREADED IN THE TOWNS,

FOR THEN LIQUOR HAS AN ASCENDANCY OVER THEM --

"CHEYENNE DAILY LEADER."

Narrator: ONE BY ONE, THE COW TOWNS

WOULD DECLARE THEMSELVES OFF-LIMITS TO THE TEXAS HERDS

AND THE COWBOYS WHO CAME WITH THEM.

[ GUNSHOT ]

Abbott:THEN I WENT HOME.

AFTER I GOT HOME MY FATHER SAID TO ME ONE NIGHT,

"YOU CAN TAKE OLD MORGAN AND PLOW THE WEST RIDGE TOMORROW."

LIKE HELL I'D PLOW THE WEST RIDGE.

AND WHEN MY FATHER WOKE UP NEXT MORNING, TEDDY WAS GONE.

[ TRAIN ENGINE PUFFING ]

I CROSS THE LARAMIE PLAINS.

I SEE IN GLIMPSES AFAR OR TOWERING IMMEDIATELY ABOVE ME

THE GREAT MOUNTAINS.

I SEE THE WIND RIVER AND THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS.

I SEE THE MONUMENT MOUNTAIN AND THE EAGLE'S NEST.

I PASS THE PROMONTORY. I ASCEND THE NEVADAS.

I SEE THE CLEAR WATERS OF LAKE TAHOE.

I SEE FORESTS OF MAJESTIC PINES.

MARCHING THROUGH THESE AND AFTER ALL

IN DUPLICATE SLENDER LINES,

BRIDGING THE THREE OR FOUR THOUSAND MILES OF LAND TRAVEL,

TYING THE EASTERN TO THE WESTERN SEA,

THE ROAD BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA --

WALT WHITMAN.

Narrator: FROM THE TIME OF COLUMBUS,

EXPLORERS HAD SEARCHED IN VAIN FOR A PASSAGE

THAT WOULD CONNECT THE ATLANTIC WITH THE PACIFIC.

THE CENTURIES-OLD DREAM HAD FINALLY COME TRUE.

NO SUCH PASSAGE EXISTED, SO THE AMERICANS HAD BUILT ONE.

[ TRAIN ENGINE PUFFING ]

Watkins: IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THE DEFINITIVE SYMBOL

OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CULTURES THAT HAD EXISTED

IN THE AMERICAN WEST FOR AT LEAST 10,000 YEARS,

AND MAYBE LONGER,

AND THE CULTURE THAT WAS JUST A-BUILDING

EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,

THIS CULTURE OF TECHNOLOGY, OF COMMERCE,

OF GRASPING AFTER TOMORROW BEFORE IT ARRIVES,

YOU COULDN'T COME UP WITH TWO MORE POWERFUL SYMBOLS

THAN THE RAILROAD AND THE BUFFALO,

BECAUSE WHEN THE RAILROAD MET THE BUFFALO,

THE IRON AGE MET THE STONE AGE.

THE MACHINE ARRIVED IN THE GARDEN,

AND THE WEST WAS CHANGED FOREVER.

Momaday: THERE WAS A MAN WHO KILLED A BUFFALO BULL

TO NO PURPOSE, ONLY HE WANTED ITS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS.

IT WAS A GREAT, OLD NOBLE BEAST,

AND IT WAS A LONG TIME BLOWING ITS LIFE AWAY.

ON THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT,

THE PEOPLE GATHERED THEMSELVES UP

IN THEIR GRIEF AND SHAME.

AWAY IN THE WEST,

THEY COULD SEE THE HUMP AND SPINE OF THE HUGE BEAST

WHICH LAY DYING ALONG THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.

THEY COULD BRIGHT BLOOD RUN INTO THE SKY

WHERE IT DRIED, DARKENING, AND WAS AT LAST FLECKED

WITH FLAKES OF LIGHT.

[ GUNSHOT ]

THE THING WE HAD TO HAVE,

WE BUSINESSMEN WITH RIFLES, WAS ONE SHOT KILLS.

WE BASED OUR SUCCESS

ON THE OVERWHELMING STUPIDITY OF THE BUFFALO,

UNQUESTIONABLY THE STUPIDEST GAME ANIMAL IN THE WORLD.

IF YOU WOUNDED THE LEADER, THE REST OF HER HERD,

WHETHER IT WAS THREE OR THIRTY,

WOULD GATHER AROUND HER AND STUPIDLY MILL.

[ GUNSHOT ]

ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS PICK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE.

I ONCE TOOK 269 HIDES WITH 300 CARTRIDGES.

[ GUNSHOT ]

ADVENTUROUS?

NO MORE THAN SHOOTING A BEEF CRITTER IN THE BARNYARD.

IT WAS A HARVEST. WE WERE THE HARVESTERS --

FRANK H. MAYER.

[ GUNSHOTS ]

Narrator: FRANK MAYER AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER

BUFFALO HUNTERS SWARMED ONTO THE PLAINS.

SOME STOPPED SHOOTING JUST LONG ENOUGH

TO COOL THEIR OVER-HEATED RIFLE BARRELS

WITH CANTEENS OF WATER.

WHEN THE WATER RAN OUT,

THEY URINATED DOWN THE BARREL AND KEPT SHOOTING.

UP AND DOWN THE PLAINS THOSE MEN RANGED.

BEHIND THEM CAME THE SKINNERS WITH THEIR WAGONS.

THEY PILED THE HIDES AND BONES INTO THE WAGONS

UNTIL THEY WERE FULL,

AND THEN TOOK THEIR LOADS TO THE NEW RAILROAD STATIONS

TO BE SHIPPED EAST TO MARKET.

SOMETIMES THERE WOULD BE A PILE OF BONES AS HIGH AS A MAN,

STRETCHING A MILE ALONG THE RAILROAD TRACK --

OLD LADY HORSE.

Narrator: THIRTY-TWO MILLION POUNDS OF BUFFALO BONES

MADE THEIR WAY FROM THE PLAINS TO EASTERN FACTORIES,

WHERE THEY WERE GROUND INTO FERTILIZER.

BUFFALO HORNS WERE TURNED INTO BUTTONS, COMBS, KNIFE HANDLES.

HOOVES BECAME GLUE.

ALL ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS, THE SLAUGHTER WENT ON --

PERHAPS AS MANY AS THREE MILLION BUFFALO KILLED

IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD.

WHERE THERE WERE MYRIADS OF BUFFALO THE YEAR BEFORE

THERE WERE NOW MYRIADS OF CARCASSES.

THE AIR WAS FOUL WITH A SICKENING STENCH,

AND THE VAST PLAIN,

WHICH ONLY A SHORT TWELVEMONTH BEFORE TEEMED WITH ANIMAL LIFE,

WAS A DEAD, SOLITARY, PUTRID DESERT --

COL. RICHARD IRVING DODGE.

Narrator: MANY AMERICANS GREW ALARMED

AT THE EXTENT OF THE SLAUGHTER.

IN THE SPRING OF 1874,

CONGRESS PASSED A LAW TO PROTECT THE BUFFALO,

BUT PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT REFUSED TO SIGN IT,

AND THE KILLING CONTINUED.

HUNTERS HAD ALREADY MOVED SOUTH OF KANSAS,

ONTO HUNTING GROUNDS RESERVED BY TREATY FOR THE INDIANS.

THE GOVERNMENT DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM,

AND EVEN PROVIDED THE HUNTERS WITH FREE AMMUNITION.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING, DRUM BEATING ]

YOU WHITE PEOPLE MAKE A BIG TALK,

AND SOMETIMES WAR,

IF AN INDIAN KILLS A WHITE MAN'S OX

TO KEEP HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN FROM STARVING.

WHAT DO YOU THINK MY PEOPLE OUGHT TO SAY AND DO

WHEN THEY ES SEE THEIR BUFFALO KILLED BY YOUR RACE

WHEN YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY?

LITTLE ROBE.

Mayer:THE INDIANS SENSED THAT WE WERE

TAKING AWAY THEIR BIRTHRIGHT,

AND THAT WITH EVERY BOOM OF A BUFFALO RIFLE

THEIR TENURE ON THEIR HOMELAND BECAME WEAKENED

AND THAT EVENTUALLY

THEY WOULD HAVE NO HOMELAND AND NO BUFFALO.

SO THEY DID WHAT YOU AND I WOULD DO

IF O WERE JEOPARDIZED -- THEY FOUGHT.

Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1874,

THE KIOWAS, COMANCHES, ARAPAHOS AND SOUTHERN CHEYENNE

ROSE UP AND DROVE OUT THE HUNTERS --

AND ANY OTHER WHITES THEY CAME ACROSS.

GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN ORDERED A MASSIVE CAMPAIGN,

DEPLOYING FIVE COLUMNS OF TROOPS

TO PURSUE THE INDIANS RELENTLESSLY

DURING THE SUMMER AND FALL,

DEPRIVING THEM OF REST, OR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HUNT.

[ BIRD CAWING ]

BY THE NEXT SPRING,

VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE RESISTING BANDS ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS --

DESPERATE NOW FOR FOOD --

HAD BEEN DRIVEN BACK ONTO THE RESERVATIONS.

THE BUFFALO HUNTERS WENT RIGHT BACK TO WORK.

[ GUNSHOTS ]

WITHIN A YEAR, THE HERD ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS

HAD VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED.

ONE BY ONE, WE PUT UP OUR BUFFALO RIFLES,

AND LEFT THE RANGES.

AND THERE SETTLED OVER THEM A VAST QUIET.

THE BUFFALO WAS GONE.

MAYBE WE SERVED OUR PURPOSE IN HELPING ABOLISH THE BUFFALO.

MAYBE IT WAS OUR RUTHLESS HARVESTING OF HIM

WHICH TELESCOPED THE CONTROL OF THE INDIAN

BY A DECADE OR MAYBE MORE,

OR MAYBE I AM JUST RATIONALIZING.

MAYBE WE WERE JUST A GREEDY LOT WHO WANTED TO GET OURS,

AND TO HELL WITH POSTERITY, THE BUFFALO, OR ANYONE ELSE,

JUST SO WE KEPT OUR SCALPS ON AND OUR MONEY POUCHES FILLED.

I THINK MAYBE THAT IS THE WAY IT WAS --

FRANK H. MAYER.

Momaday: IT WOULD BE HARD TO IMAGINE

ANYTHING MORE DEEPLY HURTFUL

THAN THE LOSS OF SOMETHING INEFFABLY SACRED.

ONE CAN ONLY GUESS AND IMAGINE.

WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS NOW.

BUT CERTAINLY A CONFUSION, FIRST OF ALL, I SUPPOSE.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

"WHY ARE YOU KILLING THE BUFFALO?

"WE DO THAT, OF COURSE,

"BUT WE DO IT IN ORDER TO SURVIVE,

AND WE DO IT IN A SACRED MANNER."

BUT THIS WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER MUST HAVE BEEN,

FIRST, CONFUSING

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, A DEVASTATION --

A WOUND IN THE HEART THAT WE CANNOT CONCEIVE OF NOW.

Old Lady Horse:THE BUFFALO SAW THAT THEIR DAY WAS OVER.

THEY COULD PROTECT THEIR PEOPLE NO LONGER.

SADLY, THE LAST REMNANT OF THE GREAT HERD

GATHERED IN COUNCIL, AND DECIDED WHAT THEY WOULD DO.

ONE YOUNG WOMAN GOT UP VERY EARLY

AND PEERING THROUGH THE HAZE,

SHE SAW THE LAST BUFFALO HERD APPEAR LIKE IN A SPIRIT DREAM.

STRAIGHT TO MOUNT SCOTT THE LEADER OF THE HERD WALKED.

BEHIND HIM CAME THE COWS AND THEIR CALVES,

AND THE FEW YOUNG MALES WHO HAD SURVIVED.

AS THE WOMAN WATCHED,

THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN OPENED.

INSIDE MOUNT SCOTT THE WORLD WAS GREEN AND FRESH,

AS IT HAD BEEN WHEN SHE WAS A SMALL GIRL.

THE RIVERS RAN CLEAR, NOT RED.

INTO THIS WORLD OF BEAUTY THE BUFFALO WALKED,

NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN.

-- CAPTIONS BY VITAC -- BURBANK, PITTSBURGH, WASHINGTON

♪ NOW COME ALONG BOYS AND LISTEN TO MY TALE ♪

♪ NOW COME ALONG BOYS ANDOF MY TROUBLES ♪LE ♪♪ AN D I'LL TELL YOU

♪ ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪♪

♪♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ I STARTED UP THE TRAIL OCTOBER 23rd ♪♪

♪ LEFT OLD TEXAS WITH A TWO-MULE HERD ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ OH A $10 HORSE AND A $40 SADDLE ♪

♪ I'M A-GONNA PUNCH THEM LONG-HORN CATTLE ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ WOKE UP ONE MORNING ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ♪

♪ WITH A ROPE IN MY HAND AND A COW BY THE TAIL ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ WELL WE ROUNDED 'EM UP AND WE PUT 'EM ON THE CARS ♪

♪ AND THAT WAS THE LAST OF THE OLD TWO-BARS ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪♪ THEN I WENT TO THE BOSS FOR TO DRAW MY ROLL ♪♪

$9 IN THE HOLE ♪ ♪ HE HAD IT FIGURED

♪♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ SO I SOLD OLD BOLLY AND I HUNG UP MY SADDLE ♪♪

♪ AND I BID FAREWELL TO THE LONG-HORN CATTLE ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YI YIPPY-YAY ♪

♪ COME-A TI-YI-YIPPY YIPPY-YAY ♪♪