0:00:02 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America
0:00:07 > 0:00:09with my reliable Appleton's guide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late 19th century,
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Appleton's General Guide To North America will direct me to all that's
0:00:19 > 0:00:23novel, beautiful, memorable
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and striking in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:00:28 > 0:00:30As I journey across this vast continent,
0:00:30 > 0:00:36I'll discover how pioneers and cowboys conquered the west...
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and how the railroads tied this nation together,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43helping to create the global superstate of today.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Through breathtaking scenery, where I'll encounter magnificent beasts,
0:01:08 > 0:01:13mimic fearless explorers and witness distinctive customs,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16I'll travel 1,500 miles
0:01:16 > 0:01:20recapturing the excitement and promise of the American frontier.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I'm beginning a new American adventure,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37striking out west into regions that would have been uncharted territory
0:01:37 > 0:01:41for most readers of my Appleton's guide.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I'll be using the railroads that enabled the United States
0:01:44 > 0:01:46in the 19th century
0:01:46 > 0:01:51to fulfil its so-called "manifest destiny" to span the North American
0:01:51 > 0:01:55continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I'll be following the tracks of intrepid men and women who ventured
0:01:59 > 0:02:04forth to discover the indelible mark that they left on the culture
0:02:04 > 0:02:06and the landscape of the west.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17My journey begins in St Louis, Missouri, from where I head west,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19pursuing the route of the pioneers,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21taking in Kansas City and Dodge City.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27I'll stop at a surprising British outpost in Colorado Springs before
0:02:27 > 0:02:32turning south to Hispanic Albuquerque in New Mexico.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36My journey will end at Arizona's awe-inspiring Grand Canyon.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Today I'm exploring St Louis.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44I'll begin by taking in the old and new icons of the city
0:02:44 > 0:02:49before embarking on an expedition from the banks of the Missouri.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54Returning downtown, I'll visit an urban oasis and end by drinking in
0:02:54 > 0:02:57the product of a 19th-century visionary.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02On my travels I marvel at America's monument to the west.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08It is absolutely astonishing but when you get beneath it
0:03:08 > 0:03:10you can't believe the scale of it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14I learn of the expedition which explored new lands
0:03:14 > 0:03:17but had devastating consequences.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18In the decades that followed,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21it meant for the demise of the Native Americans
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and their way of life would soon disappear.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And in what was America's grandest station,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29I sip some fine railroad refreshment.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32Choo-choo!
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I'm in the great metropolis of St Louis.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Named in honour of King Louis IX of France,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54it was founded by French fur-traders in 1784
0:03:54 > 0:03:57on the western side of the Mississippi River.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01After the city became part of the United States,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04it formed the gateway to the west.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15I'm now riding the MetroLink in St Louis.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Appleton's explains the city's key position,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22"Situated almost in the centre of the great valley of the Mississippi,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26"20 miles below the entrance of the Missouri."
0:04:26 > 0:04:30The rivers were the original highways of the United States,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34but the Mississippi presented a formidable natural barrier
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and St Louis was the crossing point for thousands
0:04:38 > 0:04:40who dreamed of a new life out west.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56As the railroad struck out across America,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00the mighty Mississippi was a colossal moat denying access
0:05:00 > 0:05:02to the territory beyond.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07I'm meeting park ranger Don Schwarzberger to find out how
0:05:07 > 0:05:08it was overcome.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Don, my Appleton's is quite excited about this bridge.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16"The great St Louis bridge across the Mississippi
0:05:16 > 0:05:19"from Washington Avenue to a corresponding point in east St Louis
0:05:19 > 0:05:24"is regarded as one of the greatest triumphs of American engineering,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28"designed by James B Eads, completed in 1874."
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Is it a great triumph of American engineering?
0:05:31 > 0:05:32We believe it is
0:05:32 > 0:05:36because a bridge like this had never been made
0:05:36 > 0:05:38out of cast steel and, plus,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41the design itself had never been tried before.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47James Buchanan Eads was a civil engineer from St Louis
0:05:47 > 0:05:49who was largely self-educated.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54What experience did Eads have of building bridges?
0:05:54 > 0:05:56He had no experience of building bridges.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59He was used to building hotels and buildings and,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03when he heard about the dilemma that they had in St Louis, he decided,
0:06:03 > 0:06:04"I'm going to build a bridge
0:06:04 > 0:06:09"that's going to make St Louis accessible from the east."
0:06:09 > 0:06:12And the bridge that he built was an engineering first,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15the longest arch bridge in the world
0:06:15 > 0:06:18and one of the first to carry railroad tracks.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21To combat the Mississippi's strong currents,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25it had to be anchored into the bedrock over 100 feet beneath
0:06:25 > 0:06:29the river, deeper than ever before attempted,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31and the public was anxious.
0:06:32 > 0:06:33Now, the bridge was innovative.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36There was literally a fear, was there, that it wouldn't work?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Yes, because of the structure and the way it was designed,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42everybody was sceptical that it would not hold up,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44so James Buchanan Eads,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47three days after the bridge was finished,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49before it was to be opened on the Fourth of July,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55he took an elephant from the local circus and decided to walk it across
0:06:55 > 0:06:57the bridge to prove to everybody that it would hold
0:06:57 > 0:07:00because folklore has it
0:07:00 > 0:07:05that an elephant would not cross an unstable surface.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Don, do you know? I believe if I'd been asked to cross the Mississippi
0:07:09 > 0:07:11on a bridge built by someone who'd never built a bridge before,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I'd be sceptical, too.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24Throughout the 19th century, Eads Bridge was the icon of the city,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26but in the 20th it would be rivalled
0:07:26 > 0:07:29by another superb feat of engineering.
0:07:35 > 0:07:42The Gateway Arch was completed in 1965 to commemorate St Louis' role
0:07:42 > 0:07:44as the gateway to the west.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48It is absolutely astonishing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I've seen it, you know, around the city, but when you get beneath it
0:07:51 > 0:07:53you can't believe the scale of it.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56This must be the biggest monument in the United States.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59It is the tallest freestanding monument in the United States,
0:07:59 > 0:08:00at 630 feet.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10To my delight, the way to ascend the highest monument in the country
0:08:10 > 0:08:13is by train, running inside the arch.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15Doors are now closing.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18You ready for a four-minute ride to the top?
0:08:18 > 0:08:19I can't wait.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22We've accelerated and now this is just like an elevator,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25we're going up pretty much vertically.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28What a fantastic piece of engineering this is.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30This is really exciting.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35I think this is the darnedest machine I've ever been in.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And from the top I'm rewarded with a fabulous view.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Well, this is like no building I've ever been in
0:08:47 > 0:08:52because, here, you lean right out to get the view below.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55As you lean down, you can see the people directly below
0:08:55 > 0:08:59and to say that they look like ants would be an exaggeration.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01They look much smaller.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02Whoa!
0:09:06 > 0:09:11St Louis became the gateway to the west because of geography.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15To understand its critical location, I'm taking to the skies.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44This map in my Appleton's shows why St Louis is so important.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Here is the city standing on the west of the Mississippi River.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53But just to the north of the city, the great Missouri River enters and,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57in a few moments, I'll be at the point where the waters meet.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03The Mississippi cut through the United States from north to south
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and the Missouri flows in from the west.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08In the era before the transcontinental railroads,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13these were the nation's transport and trade arteries.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16When it comes to American rivers, size matters.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24The browner waters of the Missouri River have travelled 2,300 miles
0:10:24 > 0:10:28from their source in the mountains of Montana to reach here,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32the waters of the Mississippi, and yet the Mississippi still has more
0:10:32 > 0:10:34than 1,000 miles to travel
0:10:34 > 0:10:37before it reaches the sea in the Gulf of Mexico.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52And it's on the banks of the Missouri River
0:10:52 > 0:10:54that I'm making my next stop.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57At the turn of the 19th century,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00this was French territory known as Louisiana.
0:11:02 > 0:11:03It bordered the United States,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06whose third president was Thomas Jefferson.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13To find out how their came to be an American west for the pioneers to
0:11:13 > 0:11:15conquer, I'm meeting Jan Donaldson.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Jan, my Appleton's remarks that, in 1803,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25"All the territory then known as Louisiana
0:11:25 > 0:11:27"was ceded to the United States."
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Ceded by whom and what did the territory really consist of?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Well, the Louisiana territory
0:11:34 > 0:11:38was a large piece of real estate of the day.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43It was ceded by Napoleon of France, who needed money to finance his wars
0:11:43 > 0:11:48in Europe and, of course, Jefferson was interested in buying.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54It consisted of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa,
0:11:54 > 0:12:00Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02A simply vast amount of territory.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I mean, it would take up much of the map of Europe.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07It must have doubled the size of the United States.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09It more than doubled the size of the United States.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Known as the Louisiana Purchase,
0:12:13 > 0:12:18the territory turned out to be 828,000 square miles,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22for which the United States paid 15 million,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24one of the best real-estate deals of all time.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Did Napoleon understand, did Thomas Jefferson understand,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32what was involved in the purchase?
0:12:32 > 0:12:38They did not. There was a map of that day that only showed the
0:12:38 > 0:12:40tributaries and the Missouri River
0:12:40 > 0:12:42going up to about where Nebraska is now,
0:12:42 > 0:12:48so that map did not even show everything that they were buying
0:12:48 > 0:12:50or that Napoleon was selling.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52'To find out exactly what he had bought,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56'Thomas Jefferson decided to put together an expedition to be led by
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark.'
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Jan and his team re-enact this historic voyage
0:13:03 > 0:13:05in a magnificent and exact
0:13:05 > 0:13:09replica of the original keelboat used by Lewis and Clark.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Jan, that is, I think, one of the most beautiful boats
0:13:14 > 0:13:15that I've ever seen.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- Tell me about that.- It's 55 feet long, cedar hull on the outside,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21oak ribs on the inside.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25It's got a bridge and so forth, it carries a lot of cargo,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27draft's only about 30 inches.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30We go up the river and we'd like you to join us,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32and we're going to put you in a set of whites
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and we're going to go aboard.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36Ready for action, sir.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00In May 1804,
0:14:00 > 0:14:05Lewis and Clark set out with a corps of about 50 men to explore
0:14:05 > 0:14:07the United States' newly-acquired lands.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Their task was to map the continent's interior,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28collect specimens
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and to make contact with the tribes of Native Americans.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37On the boat today is 80-year-old Bob Plummer,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40who's been making parts of this epic journey for 20 years.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46You must have a pretty good idea of how fit men can be.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Would you say Lewis and Clark must've been very,
0:14:49 > 0:14:50- very special kind of guys?- Very.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Yeah, they were in good shape and they were in a lot better shape when
0:14:53 > 0:14:55they started rowing up this river.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57They actually cordelled more than they rowed.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00They had men ashore with ropes over their shoulder
0:15:00 > 0:15:01and pulled the boat up.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Problem was their feet would get so sore they'd lose their moccasins,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06so they had to go barefoot,
0:15:06 > 0:15:07and their feet was cut all the time.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15It was a journey full of hardships and dangers, and the expedition
0:15:15 > 0:15:18relied on help from the tribes that they met.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22What contact did they have with the Native Americans?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Well, everywhere they visited the Native Americans,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29they made contact on direction of President Jefferson.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35And it was to exchange gifts and exchange information and make a pact
0:15:35 > 0:15:37of friendship, because that's what it was,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40it was an outreach to the Native Americans that had,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43some of them, never seen a white man before.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51They travelled to the source of the Missouri River before taking to
0:15:51 > 0:15:54horseback to cross the daunting Rocky Mountains.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00One year and 4,000 miles since they'd left St Louis,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean in November 1805.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Their maps and journals were indispensable
0:16:08 > 0:16:10for settlers going west.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20Am I right that you actually are a descendant of William Clark?
0:16:20 > 0:16:23William Clark is my great-great-great-grandfather.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25What do you think of the achievements of Lewis and Clark?
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Well, certainly the most significant achievement is finding a feasible
0:16:32 > 0:16:35route to the Pacific and opening the door to Western expansion.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I think for the Native Americans
0:16:37 > 0:16:43it marks a point in time when their lives as they knew them were facing
0:16:43 > 0:16:45the beginning of the end.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47In the decades that followed Lewis and Clark,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50it meant for the demise of the Native Americans
0:16:50 > 0:16:53- and their way of life would soon disappear.- Yes.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21After my exertions on the River, I'm keen for a comfortable bed tonight
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and in St Louis there's one obvious place for me to stay.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35At the time of my guidebook, this was a magnificent,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37opulent and busy railway terminal,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40but today Union Station is a hotel.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56- Darlene.- Welcome to Union Station.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58This is absolutely fantastic.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01This must've been one of the great railroad stations of America.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06Oh, exactly, and what you see today is the way it was in 1894.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Why did St Louis merit a station of such grandeur?
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Oh, simply because this was the place first to the west
0:18:12 > 0:18:15of the Mississippi. It married the east to the west.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Up until that time we didn't have anything that,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21other than Chicago of course, that would tie the country together.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27When opened it was the largest and most ornate terminal
0:18:27 > 0:18:29in the United States.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34The last commuter service pulled out of Union Station in 1978
0:18:34 > 0:18:36and, in honour of those railroads,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39I'm trying a coffee and almond liqueur cocktail
0:18:39 > 0:18:41known as a Union Pacific.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46- Here you are.- Ooh, thank you.
0:18:46 > 0:18:47You're very welcome.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Our Union Station signature drink.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Cheers.
0:18:52 > 0:18:53Cheers!
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Choo-choo!
0:19:20 > 0:19:24It's a new morning in St Louis and, led by my Appleton's guide,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I've more exploring to do.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36In this big city, I'm hoping to discover some tranquillity.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Appleton's draws my attention to Shaw's Garden,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50"Which Henry Shaw has opened to the public
0:19:50 > 0:19:53"and intends as a gift far the city."
0:19:53 > 0:19:59This far west, I expected tumbleweed and cactus, not a bed of roses.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07The Missouri Botanical Gardens are like an oasis
0:20:07 > 0:20:09in the heart of the city.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12The gardens' president, Peter Wyse Jackson,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15came here in 2010 after working at the botanical gardens
0:20:15 > 0:20:17of Trinity College Dublin.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Peter, my Appleton's says,
0:20:22 > 0:20:27"The herbaceous and flower garden, embracing ten acres, contains almost
0:20:27 > 0:20:30"every flower that can be grown at this latitude.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31"There are several greenhouses
0:20:31 > 0:20:34"with thousands of exotic and tropical plants."
0:20:34 > 0:20:36I was expecting the Wild West.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39This sounds like, I don't know, Great Britain.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Well, Henry Shaw really created the garden
0:20:43 > 0:20:47to be what he remembered from his childhood because, of course,
0:20:47 > 0:20:52he was an Englishman. He was born in Sheffield in 1800.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And when Shaw began, what was here?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59All that was here was prairie.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03There wasn't a single tree on all of the land that he owned.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Was Shaw interested in the botany of America,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10the samples coming back from the west?
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Yes, indeed. He certainly grew a large number of specimens
0:21:14 > 0:21:17in the garden from places in the US but, equally,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19he was growing plants from all round the world.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Having made his money in the cutlery business,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Henry Shaw decided to use his fortune to cultivate
0:21:29 > 0:21:32the prairie land and created these abundant gardens.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Inspired by that pioneering spirit,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39the gardens later developed a Climatron,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46which today houses around 7,000 species.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Many of the plants that are grown in the Climatron are either
0:21:53 > 0:21:55very rare or some of them are endangered.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Indeed, we have some species that are extinct in the wild.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03We aim to have as complete a reference collection of the world's
0:22:03 > 0:22:07plants, both preserved specimens and DNA for our DNA bank.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And maybe you could help us today.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11- By going up there?- Yes, indeed.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14You look like a fit man who could do that.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Here we go.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20'The specimen bank is one of the most comprehensive in the world,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24'with over 6.6 million samples, which it's hoped
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'can be used for future conservation of species.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Lovely sample there.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32And now a sample of leaf.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Couple of leaves
0:22:35 > 0:22:37and two beautiful fruit.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40- Now, what will you do with that?- We will test to see whether these are
0:22:40 > 0:22:44ripe and whether we can add these to the seed bank, but the leaves
0:22:44 > 0:22:48we'll make into a DNA sample, which will go into our DNA bank.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Continuing Shaw's legacy.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I'm glad to have played a tiny part in the garden's important work.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01And once more Appleton's draws me on,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05directing me to another project aimed at civilising the west.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15St Louis grew rapidly during the 19th-century.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21Between 1830-1870, the population increased by 60 times.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Providing for its tens of thousands of new inhabitants was a major
0:23:26 > 0:23:30concern and the city struggled to deliver clean water.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Appleton's tells me that the city waterworks are situated 3.5 miles
0:23:39 > 0:23:41north of the courthouse.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43"The two pumping engines,
0:23:43 > 0:23:48"each with a capacity of 17 million gallons a day, are worth seeing
0:23:48 > 0:23:51"and are open to visitors at all times."
0:23:51 > 0:23:55By the time of my guidebook, St Louis had become an enormous city.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59With the Missouri and the Mississippi, there was water, water,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03all around, but there might have been scarcely a drop to drink
0:24:03 > 0:24:05but for human ingenuity.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17In the 1840s and '50s, as the population boomed,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19St Louis was struck by cholera.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Desperate to provide a safe water supply, the city board turned to a
0:24:24 > 0:24:28talented railway engineer, James P Kirkwood,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30to design a new city waterworks.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Today Pat Baldera is in charge of the 19th-century Chain of Rocks
0:24:38 > 0:24:42water-treatment plant. He's going to show me how it used to work,
0:24:42 > 0:24:47starting at these now disused intake towers in the middle of the river.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Ah!
0:25:00 > 0:25:02One half bucket of Mississippi water.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Now, sir, would you care to drink that?
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Mmm, bit brown, isn't it?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09That's the famous sediment, is it?
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Yes, you know, Mark Twain said you could tell the difference between
0:25:12 > 0:25:15a St Louis man and an outsider because the outsider would try
0:25:15 > 0:25:16to drink off the top
0:25:16 > 0:25:19but a man from St Louis would stir up the sediment
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and chuck the whole thing down.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Probably thinking that the sediment was good for you.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I'm going to confine the sediment to the Mississippi.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Here on the eastern shores of the river,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44James Kirkwood designed a plant to rid the water of its sediment
0:25:44 > 0:25:48and to purify it by filtering it through sand.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Today the plant operates on the same basic principle.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Now, I believe that in St Louis you pride yourselves on your water.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Yes, we consider ourselves to have the best water in the country
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and I'd like to prove that to you by maybe taking a blind taste test.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15- Yes, sure.- All right, so, if I could get you to turn around,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19I'll prepare you one sample with traditional bottled water
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and one sample right from the filter plant here.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23OK. No peeping, I promise.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31All right, Michael.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34Thank you very much.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Mmm.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45I'm going to say this one is from the Mississippi.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46- Am I right?- You're right.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47Do you know why?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50- It's a little bit softer on the palate.- OK.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53It's kind of actually more interesting as a water.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- Very pure. Well done.- There may be just a little bit of Mark Twain's
0:26:57 > 0:26:59sediment still left in there.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01MICHAEL LAUGHS I hope so!
0:27:03 > 0:27:06The rivers have defined St Louis
0:27:06 > 0:27:10and I end my exploration of the city at the water's edge.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20The United States perceived a manifest destiny to control
0:27:20 > 0:27:24all the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
0:27:24 > 0:27:26and indeed to civilise it,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30including with botanical gardens and water-treatment plants.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34I struggle to grasp the courage that would've been needed by Lewis
0:27:34 > 0:27:39and Clark to set off into the unknown to map the west,
0:27:39 > 0:27:44or to imagine the excitement felt by settler families able to cross the
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Mississippi on Eads Bridge by railroad into a new future.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53My journey will continue west along the Missouri.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Next time, I try my hand on a pipe-production line...
0:28:02 > 0:28:03We're on a roll now.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05A little bit finger in that one!
0:28:06 > 0:28:09..discover where outlaws of the American frontier
0:28:09 > 0:28:12were brought to justice...
0:28:12 > 0:28:14And what they did is they hauled you all the way back
0:28:14 > 0:28:16to Jefferson City, Missouri.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19That's what caused us to have a population of over 5,000 people.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24..and enjoy the merry traditions of the Midwest's German settlers.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26- Tiki-taka, tiki-taka...- Oi, oi, oi!