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 > 0:00:24novel, beautiful, memorable - and striking -
0:00:24 > 0:00:26in 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.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10I'm embarking on a new American rail journey that begins and finishes on
0:01:10 > 0:01:12the Mississippi River.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16It'll take me 1,000 miles from Minnesota's Twin Cities in the north
0:01:16 > 0:01:19to Memphis, Tennessee, in the south.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21- I enjoyed the ride, thank you so much.- Thank you!
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Along the way, I'll step up to the plate with the Slammers...
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Oh!
0:01:26 > 0:01:29..wade into the cranberry harvest
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and become an easy rider on a Harley.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34I'll herd ducks in Memphis...
0:01:34 > 0:01:37- Don't let them get away!- Oh. ..serve burgers in Chicago...
0:01:37 > 0:01:402.58, your train's never late.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43..and watch bald eagles on the mighty Mississippi.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45Divine.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55At the time of my Appleton's Guide,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00that father of the water spurred a rapid Industrial Revolution that
0:02:00 > 0:02:03attracted migrants from back east and from Europe.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07But the paddle steamers were giving way to the locomotives as the
0:02:07 > 0:02:13railroads entered a golden age with their unrivalled hub at Chicago.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I want to discover who were the winners and losers in that period of
0:02:16 > 0:02:21seismic change and how their struggles gave birth
0:02:21 > 0:02:22to the modern Midwest.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29My journey begins in Minnesota's Twin Cities
0:02:29 > 0:02:31and follows the Mississippi River
0:02:31 > 0:02:35south before crossing into Wisconsin at La Crosse.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I'll head east towards the shore of Lake Michigan at Milwaukee,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42then turn south to the Windy City.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I'll travel the length of Illinois, through Centralia, to rejoin the
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Mississippi and end in Memphis, Tennessee.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Today, I'll explore Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I'm making my first visit to the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and Saint Paul and, in my ignorance,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I learnt from Appleton's that they both sit on the Mississippi River
0:03:18 > 0:03:21even though it still has 1,800 miles
0:03:21 > 0:03:24to meander down to the Gulf of Mexico.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and the Mississippi threads between them.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Flowing south, the river passes through Minneapolis,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40which is the most populous city in Minnesota.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49And 14 miles downstream, it reaches the state capital, Saint Paul.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57I'm taking the Metro to Saint Paul,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01which Appleton's tells me is the capital of Minnesota.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06"A beautiful city, situated on both banks of the Mississippi.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09"It has the State Capitol, an opera house,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12"40 churches of various denominations,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15"four libraries, three free hospitals."
0:04:22 > 0:04:27- TANNOY BEEPS - Union Depot station.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Once the main station for the Twin Cities,
0:04:29 > 0:04:34Union Depot closed in 1971 when the newly formed national rail carrier
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Amtrak based its services in Minneapolis.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41But following a restoration project,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Union Depot has opened its doors once more.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52There's been a Union Depot station since 1881
0:04:52 > 0:04:55but this one is less than a century old.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Like many American railroad stations,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59it has a somewhat ghostly feel,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01but what ghosts!
0:05:01 > 0:05:06At one time, 280 trains a day left here from 21 tracks,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08and at the height of steam technology,
0:05:08 > 0:05:13monstrous locomotives screeched between here and Chicago
0:05:13 > 0:05:15in seven hours flat.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22The station is built on flat land by the river,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25where Saint Paul ranges over several hills
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and its cathedral stands on top of the highest.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38The city bears the name of Saint Paul,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43named after a log chapel first consecrated in 1851,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46but this is something completely different -
0:05:46 > 0:05:49this is early 20th century,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52modelled supposedly on French cathedrals,
0:05:52 > 0:05:57but with modern technology so that this enormous dome
0:05:57 > 0:06:02floats above us over a great, open space.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10'This cathedral, one of the finest in the United States,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14'provides an idea of Saint Paul's wealth and importance
0:06:14 > 0:06:16'before it was rivalled by Minneapolis.'
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Well, I must say,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26that is one of the most challenging church climbs I've done
0:06:26 > 0:06:31but I'm rewarded with a wonderful view over the city of Saint Paul
0:06:31 > 0:06:36and it strikes me straight away that this wonderful domed building
0:06:36 > 0:06:41is built on a hill high above another wonderful domed building,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43that is the State Capitol.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You don't need to be a genius to work out the code -
0:06:46 > 0:06:50the church lords it above the state.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The Roman Catholic cathedral was paid for by donations from the great
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and the good of Saint Paul, who located it on their doorstep.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, is remarkable for the scale
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and quantity of its 19th-century mansions.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22The fragrant street trees and gardens
0:07:22 > 0:07:25cannot mask the smell of money,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27which, in the United States,
0:07:27 > 0:07:33was often borne on clouds of smoke and steam from the railroads.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41One of the most imposing residences belonged to James J Hill,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45the child of Irish immigrants, who became one of the mightiest railroad
0:07:45 > 0:07:50tycoons in America - the man they called the Empire Builder.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Hello, Craig. I'm Michael.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54Welcome to the Hill House.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Thank you very much indeed - what an amazing mansion it is.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Craig Johnson is an expert on JJ Hill.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Was there already railroad development in this area before Hill
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- stepped in? - Yes, there certainly was.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12In fact, Hill purchased a bankrupt railway in 1878 with a number of
0:08:12 > 0:08:18other investors, so he had seen rail lines come and go and rise
0:08:18 > 0:08:19and fall in this area.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24I think one of his great geniuses was his expansive vision that
0:08:24 > 0:08:29he had and his great ambition to understand every minute detail
0:08:29 > 0:08:31of the operation of the railway.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37As Hill's empire grew so did his reputation for ruthlessness.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41He earned his moniker the Empire Builder through hard work and the
0:08:41 > 0:08:43highest standards.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Talking of metaphors, Hill's house is built on a mount.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Yes, it is. It's one of the many bluffs surrounding downtown
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Saint Paul and it was chosen specifically by Hill - that way,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57everyone who was in the downtown area could look up
0:08:57 > 0:08:59and see who was living on top of the hill.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01May we continue the tour?
0:09:01 > 0:09:02- Certainly.- Thank you.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05'Hill renamed his company the Great Northern Railway
0:09:05 > 0:09:10'and embarked on what he regarded as the great adventure of his life -
0:09:10 > 0:09:14'a rail line that would reach across the continent and serve as the
0:09:14 > 0:09:17artery for American settlement in the West.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21The railway empire started here in St Paul and Minneapolis,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25then went across Minnesota, northward up to Canada...
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and then westward, across the United States
0:09:28 > 0:09:30and eventually connecting with Seattle,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34which opened up the possibility of trade with Asia across the Pacific
0:09:34 > 0:09:38- Ocean.- Now, most railroads were financed with the aid of the federal
0:09:38 > 0:09:42government, who allowed a strip of land to be sold off for the benefit
0:09:42 > 0:09:45of the railway. Is that how Hill progressed?
0:09:45 > 0:09:47The first stretch did have land grants,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49but Hill was someone who liked control,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51so he didn't want to do that any longer -
0:09:51 > 0:09:55he wanted to purchase that land outright and then he could make full
0:09:55 > 0:09:58decisions on that whole area and that's exactly what he did.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Hill's agents advertised in northern Europe for settler families to buy
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and develop land along his route.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09He offered farming opportunities in the Midwest,
0:10:09 > 0:10:14copper mining in the Rockies and logging in the Pacific states.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18There were many railway tycoons - what's special about Hill?
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Well, I think it's his ability to take a look not only at the area,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26to build something that would work for that particular region
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and then to get people to populate that area right alongside it.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32As he said at the end of his life,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34"I've made my mark on the surface of the earth
0:10:34 > 0:10:36"and they can't wipe it out."
0:10:39 > 0:10:44The streets of Saint Paul retain their genteel Victorian character,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46but in the early 20th century,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50the age of the Empire Builder gave way to something
0:10:50 > 0:10:51altogether more louche.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58One of the United States' most popular novelists gave a name
0:10:58 > 0:11:00to that era in the 1920s
0:11:00 > 0:11:05of prohibition, gangsters, flappers and tycoons -
0:11:05 > 0:11:07the Jazz Age.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Some of his works are narrated by an outsider looking in to a coveted
0:11:12 > 0:11:16world and that feeling of being from the wrong side of the tracks
0:11:16 > 0:11:20may have begun when F Scott Fitzgerald
0:11:20 > 0:11:22was born here in Saint Paul.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30The son of an unsuccessful aristocrat
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and an Irish Catholic mother,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Fitzgerald wrote about a generation of rich,
0:11:34 > 0:11:39disenchanted youth and its pursuit of an American dream.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44The decadence and disappointed ideals of the Roaring Twenties
0:11:44 > 0:11:46inhabit his novel The Great Gatsby.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51Hello, Joel.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Hi, Michael. Welcome!
0:11:53 > 0:11:59'I'm meeting Dr Joel Pace, English professor and Jazz Age aficionado.'
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- Good to see you. - Good to see you, too.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05And I'm very thrilled to be at the birthplace of F Scott Fitzgerald.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06Looks like an enormous house.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Yes, and in fact Fitzgerald was in only one sixth of this house.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14His family was in dire straits. His father's wicker furniture
0:12:14 > 0:12:18business was soon to go out of business, forcing them to move.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21What sort of a neighbourhood is this, that he was born in to?
0:12:21 > 0:12:24This neighbourhood is really occupying the space in between
0:12:24 > 0:12:28the beauty and the grand mansions of Summit Avenue and also Rondo,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30the historical African-American neighbourhoods.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Fitzgerald is poised right between Summit and Selby Avenue.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38And what do you think was the effect on him of being in such a position,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42- geographically?- A lot of his friends were of the set who had their own
0:12:42 > 0:12:44family mansions on Summit Avenue
0:12:44 > 0:12:47but Fitzgerald was never quite accepted as one of them.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51He maintained the smouldering contempt of the peasant for the rich
0:12:51 > 0:12:52throughout his life.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55And what was the influence of the African-American
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- neighbourhood? - The influence of jazz.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05The jazz that characterised the age flourished in the Rondo,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09a few blocks from the favourite haunt of Saint Paul's social elite.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16What kind of a place then was the Commodore Hotel?
0:13:16 > 0:13:20The Commodore Hotel, when it opened in 1920, was the talk of the town.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Underneath the Commodore was a speakeasy. With the right knock on
0:13:22 > 0:13:25the door, you would be ushered into the basement
0:13:25 > 0:13:26where there was live jazz,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30bathtub gin and, perhaps, if you were just lucky enough,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32a little bit of moonshine.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Now, speakeasies, they were the sort of places that attracted gangsters -
0:13:36 > 0:13:38- were there gangsters here? - Absolutely right.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40The gangsters were on the second floor.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived in the luxurious Commodore.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49The ill-gotten gains of the gangsters who feature
0:13:49 > 0:13:51in Fitzgerald's novel
0:13:51 > 0:13:54almost certainly funded the glamorous lifestyle
0:13:54 > 0:13:56of the stylish hero Jay Gatsby.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06- Hello, ladies - may we join you? - Hi, guys.- My name's Michael.- Hello.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Great band.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15The bar of the Commodore has been
0:14:15 > 0:14:19renovated and is once again the place to be and to be seen
0:14:19 > 0:14:21in Saint Paul. APPLAUSE
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Well, ladies - what a pleasure. Cheers.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- Cheers!- The pleasure is ours. - Cheers.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29May I compliment you on your dress? That is wonderful.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31- Tell me about that.- Thank you.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33This was my grandmother's dress.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Do you think she was what we would call a flapper?
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Was she one of these, you know, It-girls in the 1920s?
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I would have guessed so, yes.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43She was definitely someone who liked a good time!
0:14:43 > 0:14:45She liked to have fun.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47- Hello, guys.- Hi.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Do you mind if I pop between you for a moment with my martini?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52- Not at all.- Tell me, are you...
0:14:52 > 0:14:54You're very young, but are you Fitzgerald fans?
0:14:54 > 0:14:56- Big-time Fitzgerald fans.- No!
0:14:56 > 0:14:58- Yeah.- What's that? What is that?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00- A tattoo.- What is it?
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The state of Minnesota with The Great Gatsby cover inside of it.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- That is a pretty extreme way to show your appreciation...- Yeah.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10..of Scott Fitzgerald.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14- Hello, sir.- Hi, how are you?- May I join you a second?- Please, yes.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Can I ask you, are you a Gatsby fan?
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Or a Fitzgerald fan?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Well, yeah...I don't know if fan's the word.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23We live in the neighbourhood and so he's a local boy, right?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I mean, he...he's one of us.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30Do you think Fitzgerald gets the American relationship
0:15:30 > 0:15:32- with money?- I absolutely do.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36The thing about Fitzgerald is that he understands that we'll never...
0:15:36 > 0:15:37We're so puritan, we'll never
0:15:37 > 0:15:41quite be comfortable with the extent to which we are motivated by money.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44I feel like in a lot of ways he's the quintessential American writer,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47we will never be quite comfortable in our skin.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Alcohol and depression took their toll on Fitzgerald
0:15:52 > 0:15:57and in 1940, at the age of 44, he died in Hollywood of a heart attack.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01He believed himself a failure, yet today,
0:16:01 > 0:16:06his work features on school reading lists the world over.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08I think it's time for a little bit of ragtime.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11- What are you going to do?- I think I'm going to go play with the band.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13- Wow!- May as well.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23The Jazz Age came to an abrupt end
0:16:23 > 0:16:26with the great depression of the 1930s.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28But here in the Commodore,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32something of the spirit of Scott Fitzgerald lives on.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Wow, that was great!
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Another day, another cultural experience.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00- Hello.- Hello.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02- What's your name? - Mary, what's yours?
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Michael is mine. So, Mary - I'm an adventurous kind of guy...
0:17:06 > 0:17:08- OK.- ..and there's something here I've never heard of.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09It's a root-beer float.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10Oh, it sounds good to me.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12- You want it?- Yeah, all right.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14- OK, we'll get it.- All right.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16I've no idea what I've ordered.
0:17:18 > 0:17:19- Oh!- Here you go, Michael.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Thank you. What have I let myself in for?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Don't get it on that pretty white shirt!
0:17:24 > 0:17:28In my experience, dining in the United States requires you to summon
0:17:28 > 0:17:31up all your culinary courage - let's see what this is.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Mmm. This is a root beer. Broadly speaking,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39it tastes like thinned-out cough mixture
0:17:39 > 0:17:43and then it's got some vanilla ice cream with it and the two
0:17:43 > 0:17:45just kind of blend together.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48- Do you ever drink this stuff? - Not really, no.- No.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised!
0:17:50 > 0:17:51I think you've made a good life choice!
0:17:59 > 0:18:03I'm leaving Saint Paul, taking the Metro to Minneapolis.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08- TANNOY:- ..from Blue-Line train to downtown Minneapolis is arriving
0:18:08 > 0:18:11on track number one.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14This modern metropolis takes its name
0:18:14 > 0:18:16from the Dakota Sioux word minne,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20meaning water, of which there's a great abundance in lakes,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22lagoons and the mighty Mississippi.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28Minnesota experiences an extreme continental climate, which has led
0:18:28 > 0:18:33the cities' inhabitants to devise an ingenious solution.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36The weather in Minneapolis can be inclement.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39In summer, it can be 40 degrees.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43In winter, -18 is not unusual, but never fear,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47they have invented this system of glass bridges,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49heated and air-conditioned.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55Known as the Skyway, the network extends seven miles around the city,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59so you can go from your office to a restaurant to the shops without ever
0:18:59 > 0:19:02experiencing either heat or cold.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15While Saint Paul developed as a trading and commercial hub,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Minneapolis grew as an industrial centre,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20due directly to its location.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Appleton's tells me that, "A large part of the city's business
0:19:25 > 0:19:29"prosperity is owing to the Falls of Saint Anthony.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33"which afford abundant water power for manufacturing.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37"The best view is from the centre of the suspension bridge which spans
0:19:37 > 0:19:38"the river." Actually,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43this one used to carry the railroad and I can see here the immense power
0:19:43 > 0:19:47of the river hemmed in by civil engineering and it's given rise to
0:19:47 > 0:19:53this highly attractive cityscape of semi-derelict factories and mills.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00A young entrepreneur named Franklin Steele dammed the east side of the
0:20:00 > 0:20:04river and built the first sawmill in 1848.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06For the second half of the 19th century,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Sawdust Town led the world in sawmilling,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and from 1880 until 1930,
0:20:13 > 0:20:18Minneapolis, the Mill City, also led the nation in flour production.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22John Anfinson is a National Park Service superintendent.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- Hello, John.- Hi, Michael. Great to meet you.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27The falls really are in full spate.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29They are spectacular, they've been spectacular all year.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34What does it mean to Minneapolis to have had the Saint Anthony Falls?
0:20:34 > 0:20:37There wouldn't be a Minneapolis without this falls.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It allowed the industry to build here that
0:20:39 > 0:20:41you couldn't do anywhere else.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43And what was that first industry?
0:20:43 > 0:20:44The first industry was lumber.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It was this ancient crop,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48just waiting to be harvested by the millers.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49They didn't need to go grow it,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51they didn't need people to come and plant it,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53it was there already for the taking.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Flour milling gradually supplanted the sawmills,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05but such intensive use coupled with poor engineering
0:21:05 > 0:21:08caused the falls severe damage.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16What was this magnificent river like before Europeans came here?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19It's hard to imagine, looking at it today, what it was really like.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22It was a series of jagged edges of limestone.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24If you look over here, you can see some limestone slabs that have
0:21:24 > 0:21:26fallen off on that island,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28and the falls retreated up the Mississippi because
0:21:28 > 0:21:31this limestone cap kept dropping off,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34as the sandstone under it was undermined by the falls itself.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37How bad did the damage to the river become?
0:21:38 > 0:21:43It became so bad that the falls almost went away.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45They almost eroded away completely in 1869.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49A huge hole formed underneath the limestone riverbed
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and collapsed into the river.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54So Minneapolis has depended on Saint Anthony's Falls
0:21:54 > 0:21:55and it's had to be saved?
0:21:55 > 0:21:59It did, and so the Corps of Engineers looked at the falls,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01they found out where the edge ended,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03and so they said the only way to save it
0:22:03 > 0:22:06is to build a wall under the river, about 36-feet high,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09four-feet wide, the entire width of the river.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11A dam under the Mississippi was what was needed.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13And does that survive to this day?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It does. It holds back the last tick of the geologic clock
0:22:16 > 0:22:18for Saint Anthony Falls.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22In the heyday of flour milling,
0:22:22 > 0:22:2520 mills stood along a covered canal
0:22:25 > 0:22:30through which flowed water drawn from the river above the falls.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Enough flour was ground in one mill
0:22:32 > 0:22:36to bake 12 million loaves of bread a day.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Industrial success came at a price, however.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43The number of accidents grew rapidly
0:22:43 > 0:22:47and that provided Minneapolis with another title -
0:22:47 > 0:22:50the artificial limb capital of the world.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53I've come to a suburb of the city to visit
0:22:53 > 0:22:58a family-owned prosthetics company to hear how that began.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- Hello.- Hello, Michael. Welcome to Winkley.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05'Greg S Gruman is president of the company
0:23:05 > 0:23:09'founded by AA Winkley in 1888.'
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Who was Mr Winkley?
0:23:11 > 0:23:17Mr Winkley was a farmer from about 50 miles south of the Twin Cities
0:23:17 > 0:23:22and was injured in an accident on his farm,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24we believe by getting kicked by a horse,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27broke a bone in his leg that never healed
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and suffered an amputation as a result of that.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32He received a prosthesis from a company where the representative
0:23:32 > 0:23:36would travel up from Chicago, and he was never happy with that.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39And there were no full-time prosthetists here in Minneapolis,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43so he ended up tinkering and modifying
0:23:43 > 0:23:45the prosthesis that he got,
0:23:45 > 0:23:46made it more comfortable for himself
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and basically got the idea,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51"If it works for me, it'll work for other amputees as well."
0:23:51 > 0:23:54In the mills and rail yards of Minneapolis,
0:23:54 > 0:23:59due to poor working conditions and the rapid introduction of new machinery,
0:23:59 > 0:24:04it wasn't uncommon for workers to lose limbs in industrial accidents.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08We have some shots of amputees
0:24:08 > 0:24:12in an old catalogue.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15This photo shows a railroad conductor doing his job
0:24:15 > 0:24:19with his pants leg rolled up, showing his prosthesis.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22A foreman on a line crew, he was an engineer,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26and they're all posing on-the-job,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30and every one of them has a comment underneath.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35He says, "I am now able to make my regular run just the same as before I lost my leg".
0:24:35 > 0:24:39The priority for this man and for all these in the book
0:24:39 > 0:24:41was keeping his job, performing his job,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44being able to support himself and his family.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46It's a remarkable publication.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48And maybe just as remarkable, this thing here.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50What kind of vintage is that?
0:24:50 > 0:24:53This particular one is from the 1930s,
0:24:53 > 0:24:59but it was the same as the original patent that Mr Winkley patented.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02This one is for an amputation below the knee.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04This was loaded with a spring mechanism
0:25:04 > 0:25:07through these elastics so that the inner socket
0:25:07 > 0:25:12would function independently and go up and down and absorb the shock
0:25:12 > 0:25:14of you hitting the floor or the ground,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17especially walking over furrowed fields
0:25:17 > 0:25:22or an unpaved factory floor or a rail yard
0:25:22 > 0:25:24where you're stepping on gravel.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27But the technology, even though we view it as an antique,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30was revolutionary for its time.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36- Hello, Mike.- Hello.- Michael.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41'Mike Hodges lost his leg in an electrical accident.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46'He decided to retrain as an engineer specialising in prostheses.'
0:25:47 > 0:25:49What are these items that you have here?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51These look pretty advanced to me.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53These are some of the microprocessor hands.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Go ahead and stick your hand in there and you can feel the contacts in there.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- And really just the very lightest touch on that contact.- Right.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Quite a minor impulse for the...
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Right, so the movement in your arm from where your fingers move
0:26:06 > 0:26:09is what is making the contact there.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12That is brilliant. And is this leg similar to the one that you wear?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Mine has a few more bells and whistles.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18The prosthetic I wear now has four microprocessors,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20an accelerometer and a gyroscope,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22so it's adjusting 100 times a second to if I want to
0:26:22 > 0:26:25walk fast, walk slow, go uphill, go downhill -
0:26:25 > 0:26:27it's constantly making adjustments,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31almost before I can actually make the move.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35And living in Minnesota, the big part of it is it's 100% waterproof.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38So with a little over 10,000 lakes, you're around water quite a bit,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40so it's nice to have that.
0:26:40 > 0:26:4325 years ago, you'd have to take your leg off to be able to go in a lake or do something.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47You are an inventive guy who, having lost your leg,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49has come into the prosthetics business.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51Your story is awfully like Mr Winkley's.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54You know, I guess it is, when you think about it.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I knew I was going to have to have a prosthetic.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I wasn't going to go in a wheelchair or crutches,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I wanted to get up, get moving,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06and I was one of those guys who, even in physical therapy, I was,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08"Just give me my stuff, I'll figure it out",
0:27:08 > 0:27:11which isn't always the best thing to do, but we do it anyway.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20JJ Hill in railroads,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and other tycoons in sawing and milling,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27created thousands of jobs for Americans and immigrants
0:27:27 > 0:27:31moving to the Midwest and the upper Mississippi.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Some of those employees lost limbs to the massive machinery
0:27:34 > 0:27:37of America's late Industrial Revolution.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42F Scott Fitzgerald summarised the ambivalence of the nation
0:27:42 > 0:27:44towards great wealth.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Americans were hypnotised by its glamour and its power to create
0:27:49 > 0:27:53great cities like Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56But they were repelled by its excesses.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01'Next time, I'll use my diplomatic skills
0:28:01 > 0:28:03'at a Swedish-American lunch...'
0:28:03 > 0:28:05What a very interesting texture!
0:28:05 > 0:28:09'..feel the rhythm of a great American epic poem...'
0:28:09 > 0:28:11So you get what sounds to us like a tom-tom beat -
0:28:11 > 0:28:13boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom...
0:28:13 > 0:28:15By the shores of Gitche Gumee...
0:28:15 > 0:28:18'..and experience life as a turn-of-the-century tycoon.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Oh, beautiful.
0:28:20 > 0:28:21Let's bounce on the bed.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Ah! These people knew how to live.