0:00:11 > 0:00:13Ever since I was a small boy
0:00:13 > 0:00:17I've been fascinated by stories of the Wild West.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18What now?!
0:00:18 > 0:00:20GUNSHOT
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Stories of cowboys, Indians, wagon trains and the Gold Rush.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30But for me, those stories are inseparable from the landscapes
0:00:30 > 0:00:32in which they took place -
0:00:32 > 0:00:35the mountains, the deserts and the Great Plains.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43In this series I'll be discovering how the early pioneers
0:00:43 > 0:00:46conquered the mighty mountain ranges
0:00:46 > 0:00:50and the vast expanses of the Great Plains,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54how the homesteaders and cowboys overcame extreme temperatures,
0:00:54 > 0:00:55blizzards and drought.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58And I will be finding out how the plants, animals
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and natural resources of this unknown wilderness
0:01:02 > 0:01:06offered unimaginable wealth and opportunities for the new nation.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25The pioneers who headed west across America in the 1840s
0:01:25 > 0:01:28really were remarkable people,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31but I don't think anything could possibly have prepared them
0:01:31 > 0:01:33for this - the desert.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39It's hard to get a sense of scale of this vast landscape.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43One way to appreciate just how intimidating it must have been
0:01:43 > 0:01:45to new arrivals is to see it from the air.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52This was the last great frontier.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55It wasn't somewhere the immigrants wanted to settle.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59The desert was so hostile it was to be avoided wherever possible,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03and only ventured across in extreme circumstances.
0:02:05 > 0:02:098% of the United States is arid land, some of it classified
0:02:09 > 0:02:13as the harshest desert to be found anywhere on the planet.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19This is the great Monument Valley. Stunning, isn't it?
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Looks really green at the moment because this is the monsoon season.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26But it is a desert. They only get eight inches of rain a year here.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30You can be burned in the daytime,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33but at night the elevation, coupled with clear skies,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36means that the temperatures plummet.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40This high desert can be a very cold place, too.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50The deserts of North America lie in the southwest of the continent.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54The Great Basin Desert is a cold desert sandwiched on a high plateau
0:02:54 > 0:02:58between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Further south are America's three hot deserts -
0:03:02 > 0:03:07the Mojave, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10But I'm beginning my journey in Monument Valley.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20This stunning landscape's not only scorching hot and bone dry,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22it's convoluted and rocky,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25the result of millions of years of battering
0:03:25 > 0:03:28by the Earth's geological forces.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31160 million years ago,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Monument Valley lay under a vast inland sea
0:03:34 > 0:03:38which deposited a thick bed of sandstone.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40100 million years later,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44volcanic activity tilted and folded the Earth's surface,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49leaving these great sheets of sandstone pointing skyward.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53The wind has been carving out these amazing rock pillars ever since.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56This is a really distinctive landscape.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59You've got the flat-topped mesas,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01the small hills and buttes, the big ones,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03very distinctive and very familiar
0:04:03 > 0:04:06because this has been the backdrop of so many movies.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10In fact, this is called John Ford Point.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13One of my favourite movies was made here, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18and today of course, tourists flock here to photograph this landscape
0:04:18 > 0:04:22and be inspired by it. But they also have a chance to meet
0:04:22 > 0:04:26the native people for whom this is their traditional homeland -
0:04:26 > 0:04:27the Navajo.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33There were many Native American tribes living in the deserts
0:04:33 > 0:04:39in the early 1800s, with names like the Hopi, the Apache, the Navajo.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Each adapted differently.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Some, like the Apache, were warriors
0:04:45 > 0:04:49but most - like the Navajo - were farmers, who in addition to hunting
0:04:49 > 0:04:54and gathering learnt to exploit the precious resources of the desert.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Unlike the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03the Navajo were farmers and settled in this harsh landscape.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Their traditional homes, called hogans,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11were supported by a wooden frame, coated in thick mud
0:05:11 > 0:05:14sun-baked into a rock-hard shell.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18These thick walls would be cool in summer,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and in winter very effective at retaining heat.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28The packed earth was a simple, local and abundant building material,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32but the wooden logs were much scarcer in this desert landscape
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and were highly prized.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38There are still a few hogans on the property of Navajo elder,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Effie Haliday.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43These logs were from my grandpa.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47So, when my grandpa passed on, the wood was given to my mum.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49So, let me get this right,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52- so the wood's been used in more than one hogan?- Yeah.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Because you save the logs,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- because there are no trees here? - Yeah, mm-hm.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59- Can we look inside?- Yes.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- It's a lot cooler in here, isn't it? - Mm-hm.- It's nice,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07there's a nice atmosphere in here.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10I mean, these are absolutely perfect for these conditions, aren't they?
0:06:10 > 0:06:12- Mm-hm.- I can see some bark and things.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Yes, they put all the barks that they have, you know,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20trim all those logs off and after that they pack it down with the mud.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Every time it rains and it starts washing the mud off,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28you repack it and then pound it down with a shovel
0:06:28 > 0:06:34and then later on it kind of bakes the clay, hard as a rock.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- It's beautiful in here.- Mm-hm. Shall we have something to eat?
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Yes, why not? That's a good idea.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- It's about that time, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44- Looks like we might get rain.- Yeah.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47THUNDER RUMBLES
0:06:47 > 0:06:48Something's cooking.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55'Effie's daughters and granddaughter have already got a traditional
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Navajo lunch under way - blue corn mush and frybread.'
0:06:58 > 0:06:59THUNDER RUMBLES
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- That's looking delicious. - There we go.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07- And you got it just done before the rain.- Yes.- Smells good.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10'It's wonderful to be with Effie's family.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12'Navajo society is matriarchal,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16'meaning the woman is at the centre of their belief system,
0:07:16 > 0:07:17'the source of wisdom.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21'Her knowledge and possessions are passed on to her daughters
0:07:21 > 0:07:25'and granddaughters, just as Effie has inherited this hogan
0:07:25 > 0:07:28'from her mother, and her grandmother before that.'
0:07:31 > 0:07:35It has a little bit of corn and you can kind of dip in to it.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36That's delicious.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41They also pass on their history through storytelling,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45and some of those stories are pretty dark.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46Like all American Indian tribes,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50the Navajo were under threat from the pioneers.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Beginning in 1825, the US Government started rolling out a plan
0:07:56 > 0:08:00across the continent to subdue the American Indian tribes
0:08:00 > 0:08:04by restricting them to large parcels of land called reservations.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Sometimes the reservations were hundreds of miles away
0:08:09 > 0:08:11from their traditional homelands.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16For nomadic tribes unable to hunt,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and for farming tribes unfamiliar with the new land,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22it was a disaster.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But when they resisted they were relocated by force.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30One of the most brutal of all of these exiles
0:08:30 > 0:08:32was inflicted on the Navajo.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38In 1846, the US army arrived in the Navajo's territory to claim it
0:08:38 > 0:08:42for the United States from neighbouring Mexico.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47For 20 years they attempted to subdue the desert tribes,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50including the Navajo, with little success.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56In a final showdown, the US Government force-marched
0:08:56 > 0:09:018,000 Navajo tribes people for 350 miles across the desert,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04from their homes in northern Arizona,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06down to Fort Sumner in New Mexico.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14The conditions were appalling. During their four-year exile,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18thousands of Navajo died from disease or starvation
0:09:18 > 0:09:20until finally a treaty was signed
0:09:20 > 0:09:23allowing them to return to their homelands.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Of course, by this time, many lives had been lost,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31including most of Effie's ancestors.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36My great-great-great grandma,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38her name was Four Horned Lady.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44And she remembered they roll her up in a big gunny bag
0:09:44 > 0:09:50and she went and dug a hole and wiggled herself up.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55- She took off like a rabbit and ran and ran and ran.- Good for her.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59But then she noticed that she couldn't walk any more,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05and her feet were full of stickers and rocks and they were swollen
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and red and she climbed a very big tree.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15In the morning she would wake up with a lot of frost on her blanket
0:10:15 > 0:10:20and she would just kind of take those and make it into her drinking water.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24And then during the day, you know,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28she took some yucca or some roots
0:10:28 > 0:10:33to make herself a sandal so she can walk on it.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36That's what she was doing day after day
0:10:36 > 0:10:40and she would still crawl around for berries to feed herself.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44She got captured again and this time
0:10:44 > 0:10:47she was captured with her mum, her grandma.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51She looked at her grandma and her mum and they got tired
0:10:51 > 0:10:55from walking and they just threw her in the wagon and they died.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58This is when they were force marched to Fort Sumner,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02- which is, what, 350 miles or so? - Mm-hm.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04And she survived again.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06But a lot didn't survive?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Yup, her family didn't survive.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Great-great Grandma used to say,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15"None of the family would be here
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"if I never had escaped that long walk."
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Effie's ancestral grandmother survived
0:11:24 > 0:11:26because she knew the desert.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31She knew how to find water, collect berries and how to protect her feet.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35You can get a real sense of the hardship and danger the Navajo faced
0:11:35 > 0:11:40by seeing what happens to immigrants who try to cross the desert today.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Down south, in the Sonoran Desert,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47I'm meeting up with coroner Dr Bruce Anderson.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52How many deaths are you seeing in the desert?
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Just under 200 a year for the last dozen years
0:11:55 > 0:11:59- and that comes to about 2,100 people. - That's staggering.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It takes your breath away to think of that.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Tell me about the individual that you've got here.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07We don't know who it is, it's a John Doe,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09found in a very remote place in the desert.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11And where's the rest of the body?
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Probably taken away by animals.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17There are some subtle indications, if you will, of gnaw marks.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20You can see that there are some scratches here, some bone missing
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and there's even a couple of punctures, right there and there.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27- Could be...- Coyote?- ..coyote.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Most of these people are dying from the effects of the environment.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34In the summer time, it's due to heat...lack of water,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37although some people are well hydrated
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and yet go into hypothermic condition
0:12:39 > 0:12:43because it gets so dizzyingly hot here in the summer time.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I'm thinking now about the Navajo,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48who were forcibly marched 300 miles
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and they had horrendous numbers of deaths.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Nobody, even if you are well trained in desert survival,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57it's still a life-threatening endeavour
0:12:57 > 0:12:59to try to cross the Sonoran Desert.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03But tragically many people still do.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08Anthropologist Robin Reineke works for the Missing Migrants programme,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11collecting thousands of personal belongings.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14She tries to reunite bodies with their families.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20These are items that have been found on unidentified bodies.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Are people prepared when they go out into the desert?
0:13:23 > 0:13:25I think in general, no, they are not prepared.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29You can't be prepared for that type of journey.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33People are walking five, six, seven, eight days in the desert.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36These are in triple-digit temperatures
0:13:36 > 0:13:38in very arid landscape, very remote.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42I remember speaking to the wife of a missing man.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45He actually died and was identified and she said,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47"He was a gardener, he was very strong,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49"he wouldn't just die from walking."
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Sometimes it's really hard to understand,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54and I was trying to explain to her that it's like walking in an oven,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59it's really so hot that you feel it within an hour.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02And there is still a tide of humanity trying to make their way
0:14:02 > 0:14:05to a new life in America across the desert.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And there are some strong analogies, I think, to the Navajo
0:14:09 > 0:14:13who were made to walk 300 miles through the desert, and even though
0:14:13 > 0:14:17they were desert people, it was appalling.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23Many, many of them died. You can't imagine the inhumanity of that time.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28I mean, your work gives you a strange understanding of the desert.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32How has it changed your view of the desert?
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Well, the desert's a beautiful place.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36The Sonoran Desert, it's the flowering desert,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40it's an absolutely beautiful place, I love to hike in the desert.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45But I'll never see the desert as something not connected to
0:14:45 > 0:14:51a landscape of death, an incredibly brutal landscape.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56A landscape that's terrifying and that's not only hard on your soul
0:14:56 > 0:14:59but incredibly hard on you, physically.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Those few treasured possessions were very moving
0:15:08 > 0:15:13and a powerful reminder of just how dangerous the desert can be.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19It's not just the heat and the temperature of desert
0:15:19 > 0:15:22that's a threat, there are also a lot of things in here
0:15:22 > 0:15:24that can sting and bite
0:15:24 > 0:15:28and, of course, they come out mostly at night when it's coolest.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33There are snakes, tarantulas, black widow spiders,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38and one other nasty creature that is best seen at night using a UV torch.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47That's what I'm after. Look at that! Isn't that amazing?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49That's a scorpion.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53And that little chappy there is a bark scorpion.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58It's distinguished by these long, thin, very narrow pinchers.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00It's only about two centimetres long.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04You see it glowing there in the UV light, that's what scorpions do.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06They look like, almost... They look like toys,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09like something you might get in a Christmas cracker.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Nobody is sure why they glow in the dark.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Some have suggested it might be some mechanism that helps protect them
0:16:16 > 0:16:20from the sun's rays and others have suggested it might be some sort of
0:16:20 > 0:16:25camouflage because they tend to come out on moonlit nights.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Perhaps we'll never know.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29The key thing with scorpions is
0:16:29 > 0:16:32if they have a big fat tail and small pinchers,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35you can bet your bottom dollar they are going to pack a serious punch,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39in terms of venom. And that's the case with the bark scorpion -
0:16:39 > 0:16:42although he's only tiny, he can really spoil your day.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46Fatalities have been known. They are rare but it can happen.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Oh, there he goes. He's moving. Look at that, stunning.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54I don't like to take my eye off these fellas cos they move fast.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55Take great care.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02It's sobering to confront the realities of this landscape.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Not a place to be taken lightly.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Nonetheless there is real beauty here
0:17:08 > 0:17:10and despite the harsh conditions,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14animals and plants can make a living - providing they have
0:17:14 > 0:17:16one key ingredient.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20I love to sit quietly in a desert.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23When you do, you realise how much life there is.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26You see chipmunks running up the sand dunes,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28you hear insects buzzing to and fro,
0:17:28 > 0:17:34you see the busy ants and the lizards and sometimes you hear
0:17:34 > 0:17:38the most beautiful sound that you can ever hear in the desert.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Can you hear it?
0:17:40 > 0:17:42WATER TRICKLES FAINTLY
0:17:42 > 0:17:46That is the trickling of water,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48the very sound of life itself.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Water arrives in the desert in two main ways.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Right now the region looks pretty green.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01That's because from mid-July to early August it's the monsoon
0:18:01 > 0:18:02or rainy season.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Virtually all of the desert's rainfall will come at once.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Luckily for plants, animals and indeed people, there are also
0:18:11 > 0:18:16a few very scarce water sources that will last year round.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21This is a little creek and you can see that along here
0:18:21 > 0:18:24you get seepages like this, little springs.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26These are formed from cracks in the bedrock
0:18:26 > 0:18:30where water is under pressure and is forced up
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and comes out into the open.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36I think this is one of the most impressive desert creeks
0:18:36 > 0:18:38that I've ever seen because on this side
0:18:38 > 0:18:41we've got the rock and muddy conditions
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and on that side there's a sand dune
0:18:43 > 0:18:46with its feet literally in the water.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Water like this means life in a desert.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I know it's an obvious thing to say,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57but when I'm teaching desert survival it's the hardest message
0:18:57 > 0:19:01to get across, is just how important water is.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04If you haven't got water, you haven't got one of the fundamental
0:19:04 > 0:19:09building blocks of life. And the clock is ticking.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Anyone travelling in desert knows that you travel from water source
0:19:13 > 0:19:18to water source and if they are too far apart you can be in big trouble.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24And in the 1840s, water sources were critical to the location
0:19:24 > 0:19:27of the US army forts
0:19:27 > 0:19:30that accompanied the westward moving frontier.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Here in the deserts of the southwest they were needed to enforce
0:19:34 > 0:19:38the new nation's border with Mexico, and to protect prospectors,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41railroad crews and early settlers
0:19:41 > 0:19:44from the fierce Native American tribes.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Historian Rae Whitley,
0:19:46 > 0:19:50at the Museum of the Horse Soldier, in Tucson, Arizona, told me more.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56The military is needing to, out of necessity, have a water supply.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00So, tradition, and because of the thinking of that era,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04you are going to build a fort next to a river. Makes sense.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08The problem is, in Arizona, a lot of the rivers don't flow continually,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and there is a lot of standing water at certain times of the year.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And then here in southern Arizona we have monsoons.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19So, if a person came to survey for a fort in the height of monsoon season,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21they will see standing water,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and they may think there is a spring or there is a good water supply.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28Well, by mid-summer, they're finding that it's stagnant water
0:20:28 > 0:20:29and the soldiers are becoming sick.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33So there are a number of posts in Arizona that were only garrisoned
0:20:33 > 0:20:35for about one year, one season,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38until they figured out this is not an advantageous place to be.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41But despite the lack of water,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45the desert interior of the southwest was steadily colonised
0:20:45 > 0:20:51by a network of forts from the late 1840s to the mid 1870s.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Almost half of cavalry troopers were immigrants.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59Some who joined up wanted regular pay, some wanted an education,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04and some were lured by the promise of free passage out to the West.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09For freed slaves, army service offered social acceptance.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12And then there were those who enlisted
0:21:12 > 0:21:14in an effort to evade the law.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Wonderful collection.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22After a cramped train or wagon journey, or a long march,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27their arrival at a remote posting was usually something of a shock.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30The cavalry's standard issue equipment
0:21:30 > 0:21:32was ill-suited to the desert.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I know they had a lot of problems with their equipment.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38I mean, the classic one was their boots.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Isn't it right that their boots fell apart?
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Yes, the boots fell apart primarily because of the way the soles
0:21:43 > 0:21:45were put onto the boots.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48If you can see here, you will notice that the system that is
0:21:48 > 0:21:52holding the sole together is a series of wooden pegs.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Now, that's fine if you have enough humidity in the air
0:21:55 > 0:21:58but here in Arizona it's actually going to shrink those pegs
0:21:58 > 0:22:02because of the lack of humidity and when those pegs fall,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05soon thereafter, so will your sole.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- And are these some of the water bottles from the era?- Yes.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11These canteens are telling of the era.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15The first series comes from the Civil War, so the Civil War surplus
0:22:15 > 0:22:19would have been accompanying these soldiers in the 1870s and then this
0:22:19 > 0:22:23comes out in the 1880s but both of them have a feature which is
0:22:23 > 0:22:26extremely important for the soldier in Arizona and that's this covering.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29What you will do when you're filling this canteen is submerge
0:22:29 > 0:22:33the whole canteen, get this wet, hang it in a tree and the breeze
0:22:33 > 0:22:37will cool this off and it in fact gives you some cool water.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41- How many canteens did a man have? - A man was issued one.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44One canteen. Not a lot of water.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46- A quart?- Exactly.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51This was a really hostile land. I mean, you've got Spanish bayonet...
0:22:51 > 0:22:56cholla cactus, covered in thorns. You've got fish-hook cactus,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00- bark scorpions, black widows and rattlesnakes.- Yes.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04You know, something you don't see in the movies is every morning
0:23:04 > 0:23:07the soldiers are waking up and they'd have their morning cough,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10which is how you knew all the soldiers were rising - you have
0:23:10 > 0:23:12about ten minutes of chest rattle, and then you have
0:23:12 > 0:23:16everyone complaining about what had bit them in the middle of the night,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19shaking out their boots hoping not to get bitten again for breakfast.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22So, you'll have a number of soldiers that can't, for example, ride
0:23:22 > 0:23:26that day because they have a huge bite from a scorpion or spider
0:23:26 > 0:23:29on their backside. And if you took all of those things
0:23:29 > 0:23:32out of the equation you'll have a wind storm every couple of days
0:23:32 > 0:23:37and if you get caught in that, in a sandstorm that can, in fact,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40tear the hide right off of you.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44So everything out here is a potential threat to you.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47In fact, more soldiers died from illness
0:23:47 > 0:23:50than as a result of engagement with the enemy.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52But incredibly, despite the conditions,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56some of the soldiers brought their families with them.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00When I look at items like this and I see the sugar tongs or marbles
0:24:00 > 0:24:05in this area, knowing that Fort Wingate would have been crawling with
0:24:05 > 0:24:12everything from spiders and scorpions to the enemy, at times people still
0:24:12 > 0:24:18try to have moments that seemed civilised, if you will.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21If you look at the picture of Fort Grant.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25That's actually a rowing pond that has been built there,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28so the officers' wives and children can row their boats.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31You know, at the time this was happening their husbands
0:24:31 > 0:24:34are fighting Apache no more than 20 miles off post.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Back in the late 1800s, it would not have been safe to be here,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46not for me, that's for sure.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49This is Apache country.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Don't be fooled by Hollywood when they put them way out
0:24:52 > 0:24:55in the low desert. This is where they liked to be.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59It's arid but it's mountainous and that was part of their secret.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Up here the Apache could disappear,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and to try and winkle them out of these fortresses
0:25:05 > 0:25:08was just about impossible.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11One of the other secrets, of course, was the rain.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12There are lots of little kettles,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16little defiles in the landscape of the mountains that will hold
0:25:16 > 0:25:20that water and keep it in shade so that even during the dry periods
0:25:20 > 0:25:24of the year, the Apache knew where to find water.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29When it came to their equipment, they hardly needed anything.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32This landscape was very giving despite its aridity.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36They just needed a knife and their shoes.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Apache moccasins were the most important
0:25:40 > 0:25:43piece of equipment that they had.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Something like this.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Hard soles that can withstand the sharp, abrasive rocks
0:25:49 > 0:25:53of the landscape, that can protect them against thorns -
0:25:53 > 0:25:55this is a spiky landscape.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58There were also snakes and scorpions.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02A raised toe to give further protection from the spikes
0:26:02 > 0:26:03in the terrain.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Real Apache moccasins were tall, they came high up the leg,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10which meant they could run through the cactuses and the thorns
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and not end up spending the rest of the night pulling them out.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The desert may have looked empty to the newly arrived US Army,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21but it gave the Apache everything they needed.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31If ever there was an icon of the West it has to be this,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34the magnificent saguaro cactus.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38They don't put out branches like this until they are 75 years old
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and they live for about a century and a half.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44It can stand upright like this
0:26:44 > 0:26:49because inside there is a complicated structure of woody ribs,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54like this. And when the cactus dies and the flesh falls away,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58you are left with this skeletal frame that's inside it.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And sticks like this had a lot of uses for the native people,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04including the manufacture of fire sticks.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09The nomadic Apache lived a simple lifestyle,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12constructing temporary shelters known as wickiups.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16A framework of flexible poles was covered with dried grass
0:27:16 > 0:27:19or when pursued, with simple pieces of canvas.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24All throughout this country there are useful plants,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and this was one of the most important to the Apache.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32This is the agave and the choke of this plant was their staple food
0:27:32 > 0:27:35and they'd cook it underground for four days to make it
0:27:35 > 0:27:38into this sugary pulpy mass.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40But it had other uses, too.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45You take one of these very spiky leaves
0:27:45 > 0:27:49and with a knife you scrape back
0:27:49 > 0:27:53just below the spine like that...
0:27:53 > 0:27:54all round.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Then you cut through the leaf
0:27:59 > 0:28:02like that, just in the middle.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Then bend that over the knife
0:28:08 > 0:28:12and pull very slowly but firmly.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23What you can feel are the fibres coming out from the leaf.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30They stay attached to the spine,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34which forms a needle, and this is what was used to sew clothing,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37tucked down the side of their moccasins,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40ready to repair their footwear as needed.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44It's that kind of detailed knowledge and the way they used the plants -
0:28:44 > 0:28:48they had every resource they needed for life right here.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52When the frontier reached the desert,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56the cavalry were soon to find that the forts and battle tactics
0:28:56 > 0:28:59employed on the Great Plains were futile
0:28:59 > 0:29:03against the strategy of the Apache warriors.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08It was the beginning of 40 years of unrelenting warfare
0:29:08 > 0:29:10between the two sides.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13If you came in here after the Apache
0:29:13 > 0:29:17it was like walking into a wasp's nest, and although the cards
0:29:17 > 0:29:18were stacked against them,
0:29:18 > 0:29:23because the army were determined to put an end to the Apache Wars,
0:29:23 > 0:29:27the Apache put up one incredible fight.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32They were masters of decoying their enemies into ambushes.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35To my mind, they were probably the finest guerrilla fighters
0:29:35 > 0:29:38the world has ever known.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42They knew how to skirmish, to carry out a fighting withdrawal
0:29:42 > 0:29:44and to lay a snap ambush -
0:29:44 > 0:29:48all of the techniques that are taught to the military today.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57To get a sense of their unique fighting style,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01I've come to see an old friend, Apache historian Jay Van Orden.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04So why have you brought me up here then, Jay?
0:30:04 > 0:30:08Actually, this is a very historical spot.
0:30:08 > 0:30:15In 1869, a wagon train, the Tully and Ochoa Freighting Company,
0:30:15 > 0:30:21was making their monthly trip from Tucson up to Camp Grant,
0:30:21 > 0:30:27and at that point, about 80 Apaches sprung up
0:30:27 > 0:30:29and thus began a ten-hour battle.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Ten hours, that's a very long battle for the Apache.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34Yes, it is.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I wish we could see that, it must have been quite a sight.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42Well, surprisingly, this is another unique aspect to this battle -
0:30:42 > 0:30:45one of the participants was an artist.
0:30:45 > 0:30:51This artist, Edward Zins, did it with incredible detail.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55I can see the mountains are just as they are depicted.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58I mean, this peak here is over there.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00There's the mid range of mountains.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06- So that would put these wagons on that rise just below us.- Yes.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08So, what happened?
0:31:08 > 0:31:13The main reason why the wagon master was not afraid to give up the wagons
0:31:13 > 0:31:16because he had a secret - a cannon -
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and they rolled a cannon out and the Indians were surprised
0:31:19 > 0:31:23and that helped to keep them at bay for most of the day.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27I guess what he is hoping is to hold out long enough for the cavalry
0:31:27 > 0:31:31to turn up, just in the nick of time, of course, and save the day?
0:31:31 > 0:31:37The cavalry gallop in, firing and shooting and added to the firepower
0:31:37 > 0:31:40of the Americans against the Apaches.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42What do you think?
0:31:42 > 0:31:44I think we should go and have a walk across the battle field.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46- Let's do it.- Let's do it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Your feeling is that the wagons were down here
0:31:52 > 0:31:54somewhere on top of this rise.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57The Apache knew how to use the ground, we know that they
0:31:57 > 0:32:00could hide in nine inches of grass
0:32:00 > 0:32:03and there is plenty of dead ground all around but you've still got
0:32:03 > 0:32:06to come up the steep sides of this slope.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08It's a long shot for an arrow.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14You'd be vulnerable to gunfire to shoot anywhere near here.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17But they did use slingshots,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20and that also makes me wonder about this location because the slingshot
0:32:20 > 0:32:25gives you a chance to not only throw a heavy lethal rock with force
0:32:25 > 0:32:28from a longer range than a bow,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30but also you can do it from within cover.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33You can shoot it out from behind the cover of a bank
0:32:33 > 0:32:37and just keep raining them down in the hope that you'll be lucky.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40- You got plenty of rocks.- And there's no shortage of ammunition.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44- Let's have a look and see how it does, shall we?- All right.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I'll put a stone in there, a big stone.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51STONE WHOOSHES AND CLATTERS
0:32:51 > 0:32:53- Quite a sound, Jay. - Yes, it certainly is.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57STONE WHOOSHES AND CLATTERS
0:32:57 > 0:32:59- You can hear it. - You can hear it go.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03I mean, those stones fly.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Very simple, lightweight,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and in this environment an inexhaustible supply of ammunition.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Under the cover of darkness, the cavalry and teamsters were able
0:33:17 > 0:33:20to flee back to Tucson, leaving the wagons,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22goods and livestock to the Apache.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31The deserts in America provide some of the most beautiful landscapes
0:33:31 > 0:33:32to be explored.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36They are very diverse, though. A lot of people think that deserts are
0:33:36 > 0:33:41places of cactus and sand dunes, and it's true that there are deserts
0:33:41 > 0:33:46like that, but here, as in most places, deserts are mainly rocky.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49All those rocks make it difficult to walk in,
0:33:49 > 0:33:53and difficult to ride a horse in and difficult to drive a car in.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55They are dangerous places.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58It's amazing that the pioneers had to cross this
0:33:58 > 0:34:01with the technology of the 1800s.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10And this is what 1800s state of the art technology looked like -
0:34:10 > 0:34:12the stagecoach.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17In 1849, a quarter of a million men had headed west to California
0:34:17 > 0:34:22in the Gold Rush, most of them leaving their families behind.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26This mass migration created a need for a communication
0:34:26 > 0:34:28across the vast continent.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32And in the days before the railroads and telegrams,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36it was the stagecoach that carried the mail that kept them in touch.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42On these vehicles, people, post and wealth
0:34:42 > 0:34:45was transported across the West.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49In-between the relay stations, these wagons were pretty isolated
0:34:49 > 0:34:54so I've been given the job of riding shotgun for protection.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59Of course, vehicles like this attracted the unwanted attention
0:34:59 > 0:35:02of both hostile Native Americans and bandits.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05In the remote open spaces of the desert
0:35:05 > 0:35:06you were incredibly vulnerable.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12Mind you, these vehicles are notoriously uncomfortable.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15I think I better go and check on my guest. I think we'll pull up.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Whoa, boy.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Excellent.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21We can see how he's getting on.
0:35:21 > 0:35:27My passenger is a stage coach specialist, historian Bob Stewart.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30I've read accounts of people getting sea sick in these things.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33You probably could. It depends on the type of road you were on.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36It probably was quite torturous at times.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Why were these stagecoaches established?
0:35:39 > 0:35:42California became a state in 1850
0:35:42 > 0:35:46and, of course, between California and the East Coast there was
0:35:46 > 0:35:52a huge bunch of land and very few people were living in it.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55But California wanted to have mail service.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00So, in the 1850s, John Butterfield got the idea to create
0:36:00 > 0:36:05a stage line that would carry mail from St Louis to go to Los Angeles
0:36:05 > 0:36:07and San Francisco.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13The first stagecoaches established a continental trail
0:36:13 > 0:36:17across the country. But its route through the Rocky Mountains
0:36:17 > 0:36:20was impassable in the winter snows.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24In 1857, John Butterfield won the US Mail contract
0:36:24 > 0:36:30because his route headed south, and was open all year round.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34The downside was that it was 2,800 miles long
0:36:34 > 0:36:39and took passengers through some of the most hostile deserts on Earth.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44Tell me about the wagons themselves
0:36:44 > 0:36:47because the terrain they are having to cross is astonishing.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50The wagons, basically, were small and lightweight
0:36:50 > 0:36:53so that the horses could pull them quite easily.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58They were suspended between the axels on what were called through braces,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02which were leather looped between the axels
0:37:02 > 0:37:04with the body riding on top of it.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09Now, you couldn't use steel springs because they would have broken.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12The coaches out here in the rugged areas had no windows,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15had no doors - they were basic.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19They would have drop-down canvas coverings over the windows
0:37:19 > 0:37:22for when it was a dust storm or rain storm.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25It must have been uncomfortable to be inside one of these.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29Well, yes. It was state of the art, though,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32let's first remember that, for 1860, 1850.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36I don't think the passengers would call it wonderful!
0:37:36 > 0:37:42The journey itself would have been very, very uncomfortable.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45I mean, you would have been sitting elbow to elbow,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48shoulder to shoulder with the person next to you,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51if the coach was full of nine people, which was the capacity.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55The seat width was 15 inches per passenger.
0:37:55 > 0:37:56There were three rows,
0:37:56 > 0:38:01and the middle row passengers dovetailed their legs
0:38:01 > 0:38:05into the passengers who were facing backwards.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09Now, 2,800 miles of dovetailed legs
0:38:09 > 0:38:12doesn't sound very comfortable.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15On top of it, the mail was often on the floor
0:38:15 > 0:38:19and your entire possessions were on your lap.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23So if you packed a valise or a suitcase or however you were packed,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26you were going to sit with that on your lap the entire time.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Plus you had to get out, to help push the coach through mud
0:38:30 > 0:38:35or if you were going to walk through an area that was heavily sand duned.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37It would be easy to bog down a heavy coach.
0:38:37 > 0:38:43There were Indian attacks, certainly they were always something
0:38:43 > 0:38:46you had to keep in mind as a possibility.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48I mean, you see in the westerns
0:38:48 > 0:38:52people in the stagecoaches with arrows coming at them and they are
0:38:52 > 0:38:54shooting out the windows, is that what happened?
0:38:54 > 0:38:58Well, I've seen a provisions list that was recommended
0:38:58 > 0:39:02for travelling on the Wells Fargo coaches,
0:39:02 > 0:39:08which asked you to bring a Sharps rifle, 200 rounds of ammunition,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11enough powder, a Colt revolver,
0:39:11 > 0:39:13three pounds of lead
0:39:13 > 0:39:19and additional powder for your Colt revolver,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23so I'm going to say there was a reason for that.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25When was the last coach to leave?
0:39:25 > 0:39:28On the Butterfield, in 1861.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33- Short-lived.- It was. It was two and a half years.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37But we started to have railroads that were connected coast to coast
0:39:37 > 0:39:39right soon thereafter,
0:39:39 > 0:39:43and that pretty much did away with long distance travel by coach.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47As quickly as they'd started,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51the Butterfield, like other stage coaches, would come to an end.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54The Butterfield route took 25 days,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58but by 1890 there were six transcontinental railroads
0:39:58 > 0:40:02straddling the continent, cutting the journey time to just six days.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Well, Bob, I can hear the horses are chomping at the bit there.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09I think they want to get moving,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11so I think we should make some dust.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14- It's been a pleasure, Ray. - It's been nice talking to you.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16- Did you have your ticket?- Yes!
0:40:16 > 0:40:18THEY LAUGH
0:40:23 > 0:40:27It's no wonder that these hot southern deserts
0:40:27 > 0:40:31with scorching temperatures, hostile Indians, and no water
0:40:31 > 0:40:35were not seen as places to settle by the early pioneers.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40They were just to be crossed as quickly and as safely as possible.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45But not even the hostile desert could deter the prospectors who,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47in the 1860s and '70s,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52struck off across the continent in search of silver and gold.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54Now, this is southern Arizona.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Back in the 1800s, there would have been no buildings here at all.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03In fact, all there was here were venomous snakes, spiny cactus
0:41:03 > 0:41:05and very hostile Indians.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09But even they would act as no deterrent for mining prospectors,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13and just over the hill here, a big silver strike was made
0:41:13 > 0:41:15and this town grew up.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18This is one of the most famous Western towns of them all -
0:41:18 > 0:41:19Tombstone.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29One of those prospectors was a man called Ed Schieffelin,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32a soldier in the 1870s.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35He took it upon himself to come up into this area and prospect.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Well, all his mates said, "You're crazy.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40"All you're going to find up there are rattlesnakes
0:41:40 > 0:41:43"and hostile Indians. You'll end up dead".
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Well, he didn't. In fact, he found silver and struck it lucky.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49So he named this town "Tombstone",
0:41:49 > 0:41:51the obvious choice!
0:41:51 > 0:41:55If there's anyone who can help paint a picture of life
0:41:55 > 0:41:58in this desert town in the 1880s,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01it's local historian Marshall Trimble.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06So here we are, walking up the main street of Tombstone.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Today it's a tourist town, but this was a hive of activity.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11There were thousands of people here.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14It was one of the largest cities in Arizona around 1880,
0:42:14 > 0:42:181881, when all the action was taking place here.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20It was the grand-daddy of the silver strikes in Arizona.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24There were several mines, several rich silver mines out here.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Someone told me, like, a million dollars
0:42:27 > 0:42:29was mined from one of the mines here?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31They figure, in those dollars,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34about 80 million dollars came out of this town.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36- 80 million! Gosh! Staggering.- Yeah.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39And that's just an estimate.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44So, this town grew from nothing to a hive of humanity
0:42:44 > 0:42:48- in virtually no time at all? - Almost overnight.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53Tombstone, like many mining towns, was a remote and isolated place.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Whilst California had become a state in 1850,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00and formed its own local government and militia,
0:43:00 > 0:43:04much of the desert in the Southwest was federal territory
0:43:04 > 0:43:06and ruled by Washington, DC,
0:43:06 > 0:43:102,000 miles away on the eastern seaboard.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Travel was slow and communications were limited.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19This meant that, when trouble erupted,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21it took time for law enforcement officers
0:43:21 > 0:43:24to get to these distant communities.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27Local people settled things for themselves.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30In a town like this you had the cowboys out here
0:43:30 > 0:43:32who were rustling cows. They came in when they had money
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and got kind of Western, as they say.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Along with cattle rustling, other common crimes were claim jumping,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43trail and train hold ups and, of course, bank robberies.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48Oh, that's got to hurt!
0:43:48 > 0:43:49What now?!
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The gun carrying culture and the large number of guns
0:43:53 > 0:43:57in circulation after the Civil War ended in 1865,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00meant that shootings were a common way of settling quarrels.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Throw up your hands, boys! We're here for your guns!
0:44:03 > 0:44:05Look, I don't want to fight you.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09One of the most famous, now re-enacted daily in Tombstone,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12was, of course, the gunfight at the OK Corral.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21Wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
0:44:29 > 0:44:32APPLAUSE
0:44:36 > 0:44:38"John Martin. Killed."
0:44:38 > 0:44:40In 1882 there were a lot of deaths.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44Mm-hm. That was the heyday. That was the real heyday.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Law and order was enforced by a small number of marshals
0:44:47 > 0:44:51and sheriffs, as well as local vigilante committees
0:44:51 > 0:44:55who dealt out rough and ready justice.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Billy Grounds, he was killed out here in a gunfight,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01he was an outlaw.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04This is the famous Boot Hill cemetery.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07- How does it get its name? - Boot Hill?- Yeah.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09They died with their boots on.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12And all of these Western towns had a boot hill.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16And that was just the saying for a guy that died with his boots on.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18It means he died violently,
0:45:18 > 0:45:22never got a chance to take his boots off and die in bed.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26Some of these head stones are quite revealing, aren't they?
0:45:26 > 0:45:30"Here lies George Johnson, hanged by mistake, 1882.
0:45:30 > 0:45:36"He was right, we was wrong, but we strung him up and now he's gone."
0:45:36 > 0:45:39It just shows those people had a sense of humour.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43They had a sense of humour but it also dispels the myth of
0:45:43 > 0:45:45the nobleness of the Wild West.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47It was a wild and tough place, wasn't it?
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Death was pretty commonplace. People died of diseases,
0:45:51 > 0:45:53they died of injuries, of accidents.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56Of course, some of them really deserved their reputations,
0:45:56 > 0:45:57- didn't they?- Oh, yeah.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00This was an escape for people who didn't fit anywhere else.
0:46:04 > 0:46:10Thousands of men lived short, violent and unrecorded lives.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Only a few outlaws achieved the long-lasting notoriety
0:46:13 > 0:46:18of Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26The so-called "Outlaw Trail" was a network of trails
0:46:26 > 0:46:31linking safe havens for bandits, all the way from Mexico to Canada.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36This route enabled a safe passage for wanted men and smuggled goods.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42The safe havens were hide-outs
0:46:42 > 0:46:45tucked away in the inaccessible terrain.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Many were never penetrated by law officers.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52I'm travelling north to Utah, to the Great Basin Desert,
0:46:52 > 0:46:53to try and find one.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59This is the high desert. I really like it.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03It's a beautiful terrain. Soft, pastel shades.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05But look how broken that terrain is.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09The very remoteness and inaccessibility of this country
0:47:09 > 0:47:11would shape its history.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15Because this would be exactly the right country
0:47:15 > 0:47:17for bandits to hide out in.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20That area over there is called Robbers Roost,
0:47:20 > 0:47:25and that was an almost impregnable fortress that housed one of the most
0:47:25 > 0:47:29famous bandit gangs - the Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Here, it was their intimate knowledge of the geography
0:47:34 > 0:47:38of the region that was to give these bandits the upper hand.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45That is the sound of a life or death chase.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48An outlaw pursued by the posse.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51And do you know, I think they might get him!
0:47:57 > 0:48:01You see that scene in just about every Western movie,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04but what I want to know is, did that really happen?
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Hightailing was a race for life,
0:48:12 > 0:48:17the outlaw making a dash across open country, pursued by a posse
0:48:17 > 0:48:23of local vigilantes determined to drive him from town, or worse.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26But if the bandit was first to reach the broken badlands
0:48:26 > 0:48:29then he'd be home and dry.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39A modern day hightailer, West Taylor,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41has offered to show me how.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44So you've successfully caught this sorry looking individual.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48- We've got one. We got him. - Don't take any nonsense from him.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53Tell me, in all truth, did posses ever catch up with people?
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Not much out here on the roost. If an outlaw could make it out here to this
0:48:57 > 0:48:59part of the world he had it made and he knew it,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02cos once he gets off some of these cliffs and the canyons,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04no posse would go out there, it's a death trap.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07And the outlaws had the advantage because they knew the canyons.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Absolutely, they knew where they were going
0:49:09 > 0:49:12and the posse knows not to go over that hill because once they get
0:49:12 > 0:49:15over there one gunman can hold off 50 riders on one of those ledges.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18So posses knew it, outlaws knew it, it was just a race.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20The local posse would generate,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24get a group of guys, and they're getting store keepers and farmers
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and the banker, you know? They're not getting hard-core cowboys
0:49:27 > 0:49:30to go on these posse rides, they're getting the guys from town,
0:49:30 > 0:49:35you know, and it's kind of their civic duty so they saddle up and go.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37But once they get up to a point it's like,
0:49:37 > 0:49:40"We're done, this is it, we gave it a go."
0:49:43 > 0:49:46George Armstrong Chapel was my third great grandfather
0:49:46 > 0:49:50and he was one of the few sheriffs at the time that dared
0:49:50 > 0:49:53to come out here, because it was in his county,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56so he had much more of a civic duty to come into it.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59And he was the only sheriff to actually make an arrest
0:49:59 > 0:50:02on Robbers Roost and bring somebody back out.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05There wasn't even a jail built in 1895 when my grandfather
0:50:05 > 0:50:09was the sheriff here, so he would take them back to his house in Limon,
0:50:09 > 0:50:12and he had a granary out back of the house and he would actually
0:50:12 > 0:50:16take the prisoners that he had out to the granary
0:50:16 > 0:50:19and lock and barricade them inside the granary,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22where his wife and kids would take meals out to them until they waited
0:50:22 > 0:50:25for transportation to go up to the county for the court hearing.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29I mean, this guy is lucky cos we can't find a tree for miles around
0:50:29 > 0:50:31to hang him from so we'll have to take him back to town.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35- Maybe drag him on his belly for a while.- It's up to you.
0:50:37 > 0:50:38Right, we'll take him in.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53West is taking me into the canyons of Robbers Roost,
0:50:53 > 0:50:57to a part of the outlaw trail known as the "Angel Trail",
0:50:57 > 0:51:00to help me understand how the landscape protected bandits
0:51:00 > 0:51:02from the law.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06So this is an unusual trail by American standards,
0:51:06 > 0:51:10this is the Angel Trail and it ends here. How does it get its name?
0:51:10 > 0:51:15The outlaws had a theory that if you made it across the Angel Trail,
0:51:15 > 0:51:17across this section of the trail,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21then you had to have angels with you to ensure your safety to make it
0:51:21 > 0:51:23- across to the other side. - Why was that?
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Cliffs, slick rock, sandstone, one missed step
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and you could be 50 to 100 feet to your death. You've got to remember
0:51:30 > 0:51:34some of these posse horses are, you know, a plough horse or a horse
0:51:34 > 0:51:38they use to pull a wagon. These weren't off-road type horses,
0:51:38 > 0:51:41so once the posse got to some of these off-road situations,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44their horses just wouldn't perform, they just couldn't do it.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I imagine back then if we had stood here at this time of day
0:51:47 > 0:51:48you wouldn't feel safe.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50Even knowing it well, there's dangers out here
0:51:50 > 0:51:53that are just unforeseen and there's been a couple of times we've been
0:51:53 > 0:51:58riding out here and ended up into some quicksand and that is like
0:51:58 > 0:52:01just walking along or just standing like you and I talking right here
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and having someone just pull a sheet of earth from right underneath you,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08and it's over before you even know you're in it and that's a death trap.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11And in this arid land it's the last thing you'd really expect to see.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Both times that I ended up in the quicksand out here
0:52:14 > 0:52:17I was riding a mustang, or a wild horse, and these horses seem to
0:52:17 > 0:52:19instinctively know what to do in it.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Whereas I was, kind of, was in a bit of a panic mode
0:52:22 > 0:52:25but the mustangs started crawling to their side
0:52:25 > 0:52:29and just kind of crawled in a circle and got themselves up on their side.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31They knew better than to try and stand up and they just kept clawing
0:52:31 > 0:52:34- in a circle until they got to some solid ground.- Amazing.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37It was impressive and inspiring to me.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40I did the same as I was crawling out on my belly.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48I've often wondered how, with a posse of lawmen on their tails,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51the bandits were able to disappear.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54But their secret was their specially trained horses
0:52:54 > 0:52:57and intimate knowledge of the terrain.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01West has offered to show me how it's done.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06So this is it. My goodness me.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08You are telling me you are going to go down here on a horse?
0:53:08 > 0:53:12Yeah, this would be one of those spots that the outlaws could get to
0:53:12 > 0:53:17- and get their horses off of and posse horses would say no.- Wow.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21I take my hat off to you, because this isn't just steep,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24it's loose, it's incredibly loose.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26I wouldn't do it if I wasn't on a trusted horse
0:53:26 > 0:53:29and one I know can handle this and is familiar with this
0:53:29 > 0:53:32- type of terrain and this type of riding.- OK.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36At the end of the day it's only television, no pressure.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40I'm going to step back and watch. Good luck.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06It's pretty tense now -
0:54:06 > 0:54:08imagine doing it after a long run,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11knowing the law is hot on your trail!
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Boy, you can't buy adrenaline like that on the street!
0:54:44 > 0:54:45I'm telling you!
0:54:47 > 0:54:50For me, it's a point of trust.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52She's got to make that jump, she's got to turn,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56she's got a lot to do with her feet to keep me from going 100 feet down.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59- That was awesome!- And what about the horses themselves,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01what makes them good for this?
0:55:01 > 0:55:04She's a mustang so she has been a wild horse for three years
0:55:04 > 0:55:08of her life, so she is more than comfortable
0:55:08 > 0:55:11- surviving in terrain like this. - And this is what the outlaws did?
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Absolutely, they make it down off of this, across the river,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19- they're home free.- I can understand, the butcher and the shop keepers
0:55:19 > 0:55:22- and the posse, they're not going to follow.- You're not going to get
0:55:22 > 0:55:25your plough horse out here and get him to come off of this.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27It's too much to risk. If I'm a farmer and I break
0:55:27 > 0:55:31my plough horse's leg I can't provide for my family now.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34- It's not a risk I would take.- I take my hat off to you, that's fantastic,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40- That's brilliant, thank you. - All right.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49At about the same time that West's sheriff ancestor was chasing outlaws
0:55:49 > 0:55:51across these high deserts,
0:55:51 > 0:55:55another pursuit was taking place in the hot deserts of the South.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00The desert mountains of Arizona were a refuge
0:56:00 > 0:56:03for America's last Indian resistance -
0:56:03 > 0:56:07the great warrior bands of the Apache nation.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11Since the 1840s, when the western frontier had rolled across
0:56:11 > 0:56:17these mountains and encountered the Apache, conflict was ever present.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22For over 40 years, the US Army and the Apache tribes had clashed
0:56:22 > 0:56:25in a series of brutal battles and skirmishes
0:56:25 > 0:56:27over their right to this land.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34Without a doubt, the most famous of all the Apache was Geronimo,
0:56:34 > 0:56:39and he was the last of the Apache war leaders to put up a resistance
0:56:39 > 0:56:42and what a resistance he left.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45He was a real thorn in the side of the American government,
0:56:45 > 0:56:48like a cactus thorn in their foot.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50He caused them serious embarrassment.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54In 1881, the US Army deployed 5,000 men
0:56:54 > 0:56:58and the Mexican Army a further 300,
0:56:58 > 0:57:01to hunt down Geronimo and his followers.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05By that time, there were only 34 men,
0:57:05 > 0:57:08women and children in his group,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12yet they managed to avoid capture for over a year.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15Well, the pursuit that followed him
0:57:15 > 0:57:19eventually wore down the morale of his small band
0:57:19 > 0:57:23and he was persuaded to surrender,
0:57:23 > 0:57:28and that effectively ended Indian resistance in North America,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32one last bright flame of resistance.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35The Indian Wars were finally at an end.
0:57:35 > 0:57:40Just a few years later, the American government would declare
0:57:40 > 0:57:42the wild frontier closed.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50When the frontier rolled across the deserts of North America,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54it gave birth to some of the most colourful chapters of the Wild West.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Lawlessness flourished in these remote regions.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05And outlaws sought refuge in the broken desert landscape.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Native peoples were pushed from their homelands
0:58:10 > 0:58:13and relocated to reservations.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18And this was where the Indian Wars were declared over.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21But here, in the American deserts,
0:58:21 > 0:58:26I found that part of America that truly cannot be tamed.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30This remains the Wild West.