0:00:02 > 0:00:05I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads
0:00:05 > 0:00:09of North America with 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 > 0:00:30'As I journey across this vast continent,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'I'll discover how pioneers and cowboys conquered the West...'
0:00:34 > 0:00:36GUNS SHOTS
0:00:36 > 0:00:39'And how the railroads tied this nation together,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42'helping to create the global superstate of today.'
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I'm concluding that part of my journey that skirts
0:01:20 > 0:01:22the Upper Mississippi.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I hope to learn how the technology of the region's new inhabitants
0:01:26 > 0:01:29enabled them to tame and to channel
0:01:29 > 0:01:31and to link the waters in order to increase
0:01:31 > 0:01:34the opportunities for trade.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36How the riverscape became a pin-up
0:01:36 > 0:01:42and how the people survived on a diet of berries and circuses.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56'This route began in Minnesota's twin cities,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00'following the Mississippi to the Wisconsin border at La Crosse.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'I'm now heading for the Great Lakes,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05'where I'll turn south at Milwaukee,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'bound for America's railway capital, Chicago.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13'I'll follow the route of the historic Illinois Central Railroad,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15'through Centralia,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17'then rejoin the Mississippi
0:02:17 > 0:02:19'to finish my journey in the home of the Blues.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26'Today, I'll start in Tomah, where flooded marshlands bear fruit.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30'Heading east, I'll discover the man who made Wisconsin Dells
0:02:30 > 0:02:32'a magnet for railway tourists.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35'My last stop will be Portage,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39'whose role was crucial in 19th-century navigation.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44'On this journey, I bury myself in the Thanksgiving harvest...'
0:02:44 > 0:02:48We are moving a vast number of cranberries,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50just vast.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'Take the plunge in the water park capital of the world...'
0:03:00 > 0:03:04'..and find out how railroads spread the joy of the
0:03:04 > 0:03:06'Greatest Show On Earth.'
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Holy whoop-de-doodle, here comes the train and there's an elephant trunk
0:03:09 > 0:03:11sticking out of one of them,
0:03:11 > 0:03:12a clown sitting on the vestibule of another...
0:03:22 > 0:03:25My next stop will be Tomah, Wisconsin.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Appleton's tells me it's at the crossing
0:03:27 > 0:03:32of the Wisconsin Valley Railroad in a very fertile valley,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35that's probably why the book says that it's a growing village -
0:03:35 > 0:03:37food for thought!
0:03:52 > 0:03:56'I'm alighting here to discover how an ingenious 19th-century farming
0:03:56 > 0:03:59'innovation brought cranberries to the masses.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01'Today, the state of Wisconsin
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'produces more cranberries than any other,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08'about five million, 100lb barrels each year -
0:04:08 > 0:04:12'that's 60% of the United States' entire crop.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16'There are 180,000 acres of cranberry marsh
0:04:16 > 0:04:20'and, at the centre of it all, is the village of Warrens.'
0:04:20 > 0:04:24The cranberry is, if anything, even more American than apple pie,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29since it features as an important component in the Thanksgiving feast.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Warrens, Wisconsin, is the cranberry capital
0:04:31 > 0:04:35and the cranberry harvest is just beginning.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39I'm grief-stricken to be missing the Cranfest,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42which begins in ten days' time.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47'I've come to Wetherby Farm to meet one of the original founders of the
0:04:47 > 0:04:50'Cranberry Festival, Nodji Van Wychen.'
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- Nodji, hello.- Hello, Michael.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54- Good to see you.- Good to be here.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Now, you are holding a pair of waders, are they for me?
0:04:58 > 0:05:01They certainly are and we're going to put you to work today
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and show you exactly how this whole process is done.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08'Nodji's grandfather started this cranberry farm
0:05:08 > 0:05:12'and her family has now been here for over a century.'
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Where does the cranberry come from?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Well, the cranberry is native to North America.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22When the early Native Americans and Dutch settlers and so forth were in
0:05:22 > 0:05:26this area, they noticed that the blossom resembled the head
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and neck of a sandhill crane
0:05:28 > 0:05:32and those birds feast in these low-lying areas,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36so they named them "crane-berries" and it was shortened to cranberry,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38which we still call it today.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42So, here we are, a lot of floating cranberries.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44How come, how do they get to this state?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Well, when we raise the water level up in the bed,
0:05:47 > 0:05:48we're ready for harvest,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51and then we have a mechanical machine called a harrow,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54which has tines in the front and the back.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57As the machine goes through the bed,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59it slips the fruit off the vine
0:05:59 > 0:06:03and they immediately float to the surface of the water.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08'Wisconsin's cranberry farms were established by 19th-century settlers.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11'At first, they picked the berries laboriously by hand,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'then, in the 1870s, an area was deliberately flooded
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'to create the first cranberry marsh.'
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Your family has been here three generations.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Um... I mean, how do you feel about the business you're in?
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Oh, it's my life, it's my way of life, I'm passionate about it,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31I grew up here.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Um... My son and son-in-law are active in the business now,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36I have eight grandchildren
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and it's grandma's dream that one of those kids
0:06:39 > 0:06:42will take over the marsh and be the fifth generation on this marsh.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49'Well, on this, the first day of the harvest, it's all hands to the pump.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'First, floating booms are used to round up the cranberries
0:06:52 > 0:06:55'before they're pumped into a waiting truck.'
0:06:57 > 0:07:00I'll... I'll get a few sections down, shall I?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09'Producing a litre carton of cranberry juice
0:07:09 > 0:07:12'takes about 1,000 of these berries.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:16We are moving a vast number of cranberries,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18just vast!
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Thank you very much.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Next Thanksgiving,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Americans can give thanks to me
0:07:29 > 0:07:32for bringing them their cranberry sauce.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40With tremendous force, the pump is sucking out the cranberries,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43distributing the fruit to the truck, getting rid of the rubbish,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45returning the waste water,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48but it's still very useful to have a couple of guys with a rake!
0:07:50 > 0:07:54'It's an impressive operation and a major part of Wisconsin's economy.'
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'The Empire Builder service travels from Seattle,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12'Washington, in the far north-west...
0:08:12 > 0:08:16'all the way across America to Chicago,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18'a journey of well over 2,000 miles
0:08:18 > 0:08:20'and lasting more than 45 hours.'
0:08:28 > 0:08:29- Excuse me?- Howdy.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31May I join you a moment?
0:08:31 > 0:08:32- Pardon?- May I join you a moment?
0:08:32 > 0:08:37- Sure.- I'm-I'm interested, are you plotting our route on your map?
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Just the route that we're taking here
0:08:40 > 0:08:45over to New York City and, um, I'm just, uh,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47marking off the states I've been to.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Where did you get on this train?
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Um... Olympia, Washington.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55My goodness! Where are you getting off this train?
0:08:55 > 0:08:57We're going to stop in Chicago and have...
0:08:57 > 0:09:00have a delay of four hours
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and then we're going to get off in New York City.
0:09:04 > 0:09:05And why are you doing that?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Is it for the joy of travelling by train, or why?
0:09:08 > 0:09:11I'm, uh, travelling with my ex-wife.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13We were going to drive this route.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17The transmission went bad about in here, right here,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19we didn't get too far from home.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21So, we decided to take the train.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24You could have flown this distance in six hours,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26the train's going to take you more than three days.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Yeah, the train's a lot more fun.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- Yeah.- That's great.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42My next stop will be Wisconsin Dells,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45a place long popular with visitors.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49In the late 19th century, thanks to newish technology,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53prospective tourists could not only read about their destinations,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56but they could view their images in black and white.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16'I've arrived at a city on the Wisconsin River
0:10:16 > 0:10:20'lined by striking sandstone gorges and canyons,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24'cut by glacial meltwater thousands of years ago.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28'These beautiful dells are a natural tourist attraction
0:10:28 > 0:10:33'made famous by 19th-century photographer H H Bennett.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37'His studio is still here, managed by David Rambow.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Michael. Great to see you.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45David, I get the impression that H H Bennett was a big figure in the
0:10:45 > 0:10:47history of American photography, who was he?
0:10:47 > 0:10:49He started out as a carpenter's
0:10:49 > 0:10:54apprentice and then a carpenter and moved here from Vermont in 1857,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56right before the railroads came here.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58He took up photography, uh,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01quite early after his experiences in the Civil War.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04His right hand was damaged by a bullet,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08so he had to switch trades and do something a little bit easier.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Very well-known for his landscapes,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13these were all taken around Wisconsin Dells, were they?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16These were all taken within a few miles of here.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18What do you think he did for Wisconsin Dells?
0:11:18 > 0:11:21He literally put Wisconsin Dells on the map
0:11:21 > 0:11:25with railroad travel and with tourism in general.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31'In 1886, this stunning photograph cemented Bennett's fame.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'Before then, the long exposures required by early cameras had made
0:11:35 > 0:11:37'capturing motion almost impossible.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Well, this was an innovation, this was Bennett at his best.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43He, in the late 1880s,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46was dabbling with what he called an instantaneous shutter.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49It was... He called it a "snapper".
0:11:49 > 0:11:51It ran on a rubber band.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52This was actually his son
0:11:52 > 0:11:57that he induced somehow to jump 14 times to get it just right.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59When they first showed this in Chicago,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02people were astonished, they accused him of fraud,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05they wondered where the wires were holding the son,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09but he could show them that he could replicate this and it was real.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16'David has brought me to one of the Dells' most tranquil spots
0:12:16 > 0:12:20'to show me the way that H H Bennett worked.'
0:12:20 > 0:12:23He would have chosen any spot where you could get a good view
0:12:23 > 0:12:26of the rocks and the panorama over the river.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Right, we're going to be dealing with chemicals, which don't agree with yellow jackets.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I'm just going to get rid of that.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34So, what do we do?
0:12:34 > 0:12:40OK, first, we choose a nice, clean piece of metal.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44We have to pour something on it that will connect to the silver
0:12:44 > 0:12:49into the metal, and in my case, uh, we use collodion,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54which is a combination of ether, nitrocellulose and grain alcohol.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Sounds like you might knock yourself out with that.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59I don't smoke near it, that's for certain.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01What you want to do is cover it completely
0:13:01 > 0:13:03without spilling too much, this is precious liquid.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06That's very satisfying, actually, David.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11'David disappears into his mobile darkroom to dip the plate
0:13:11 > 0:13:14'in silver nitrate, which makes it light-sensitive.'
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Bye for now!
0:13:16 > 0:13:20'The film now coating the plate will turn black when exposed to light.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26'A special holder protects it as it's transferred into the camera.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:29You have to remove this little baffle...
0:13:29 > 0:13:32- Ah-ha!- And that exposes the film to the front, where the light
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- will come in.- I'm going to remove the lens cap. How long for?
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Um, in this light, probably about five seconds.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- Will you count me down?- Certainly.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Five, four, three,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47two, and clear.
0:13:47 > 0:13:53'The last step is to wash the plate in a solution of potassium cyanide.'
0:13:53 > 0:13:55What will this ghastly compound achieve?
0:13:55 > 0:13:59You'll be starting to see this image turn from what looks like
0:13:59 > 0:14:01a negative into a positive.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05I'm seeing the trees emerging as dark shapes and now, indeed,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09the image is spreading all the way across the plate.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Now, look at that, David...
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Really, you have produced a beautiful image of the trees
0:14:15 > 0:14:20and the water and would not people have been drawn to Wisconsin Dells
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- by this photograph? - That was the plan that Bennett had.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26He saw these put into libraries all over the South
0:14:26 > 0:14:29so people would want to be drawn here.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38'In H H Bennett's day, Wisconsin Dells was officially called
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'Kilbourn, named after the president of the railroad,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45'but local people had always referred to it as
0:14:45 > 0:14:47"the Dells," and in 1931,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50'the name was formally changed.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51'By the mid-19th century,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53'holiday-makers who came for the landscape
0:14:53 > 0:14:57'could also enjoy attractions from water-skiing to theme parks.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01'And today, the city bills itself
0:15:01 > 0:15:03'as the water park capital of the world.'
0:15:19 > 0:15:21The resort of Wisconsin Dells
0:15:21 > 0:15:24has changed a bit since the times of H H Bennett,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but water is still very much the theme and, hey,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29you've got to flow with the times.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33MUSIC: Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Whoo!
0:15:56 > 0:15:59More revealing of a person's character
0:15:59 > 0:16:02than any 19th-century photograph!
0:16:15 > 0:16:17'Before rejoining the railroad,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21'I'm making a detour to another important attraction.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25'A short distance away is Baraboo, a place that,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29'in the late 19th century, became known as Circus City.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32'Today, it's home to a quirky museum
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'with a special draw for the railway enthusiast.'
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Welcome, welcome to Circus World.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42A magical world for me, not only a train shed,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44but a train shed full of circus vehicles.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Circus train, for sure,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50it's over 600 feet long and it contains a full circus train
0:16:50 > 0:16:51on three different sidings.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55'Former clown and ringmaster, Scott O'Donnell,
0:16:55 > 0:16:56'is the museum's director.'
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Scott, I think this is one of the most extraordinary places
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I've ever been and we're walking on flat railway cars,
0:17:02 > 0:17:03what were these for?
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Uh, the flat cars in the circus were for transporting all of the exciting
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and spectacular circus wagons from town to town.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14These are magnificent wagons that weigh from five to 12 tonnes apiece.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19'Baraboo was home to the five Ringling brothers.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22'They opened their first circus on the site in 1884
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'and started to tour the Midwest.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29'But within six years, they were using the railroad
0:17:29 > 0:17:32'to take their acts much further afield.'
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Paint me a picture of those trains.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Sure, so the train in its entirety is probably a mile long.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Uh, it's a combination of flat cars, such as we're walking on,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42and it's a combination of Pullman cars,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45sleeping cars for the performers to live in as well.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Then there is also some specialised stock cars which took the elephants
0:17:49 > 0:17:52or any of the other exotic animals from town to town.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55'The Ringlings weren't the only circus to use the railroad.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00'In 1872, their fellow Wisconsinite, P T Barnum,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03'famous for creating the Greatest Show On Earth,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08'pioneered the idea of the specially-designed circus train.'
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Is Wisconsin special in the history of American circus?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14It's an important state because it's like a hub to the rest of America.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16You could go east or you could go west.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18It also had good rail infrastructure,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21so that allowed a lot of circuses to be formed here.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23When the circus came to town, it was like a national holiday.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Schools were let out,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28businesses took the day off because the circus came to town with sights
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and sounds and smells that you'd never seen before.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33Electricity is an attraction when you're at the circus.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Flying machines, automobiles, recorded sound.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Whether it's animals in a menagerie,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41whether it's people with some unique physical features in the sideshow,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44you can imagine the awe and excitement that would be found
0:18:44 > 0:18:46at a day at the circus.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53'The Ringling brothers bought Barnum's circus in 1907
0:18:53 > 0:18:56'and still use the railroad.'
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Travelling by train is like the United Nations on rails,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01you could have a Mongolian contortion act,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03next to a Hungarian teeterboard act,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06next to a Brazilian tiger trainer,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and that's an amazing world to be a part of, especially on rail.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11You get to sit on a vestibule in your train car
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and watch America go by.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Part of the magic of the circus is you're standing at the side of the
0:19:16 > 0:19:19road, the arms go down for a train coming and holy whoop-de-doodle,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21here comes the train and there's an elephant trunk sticking out
0:19:21 > 0:19:24of one of them, there's a clown sitting on the vestibule of another,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26and that's a great experience.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Controversially, in Europe, is the use of animals.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Obviously, they were used in the United States, are they used still?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Animals are still used in America, not in every circus,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38but on classic or traditional circuses, um...
0:19:38 > 0:19:41We, here at Circus World, have animals with us during the summertime.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Shall we move along and you can show me some tricks?
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Absolutely.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Michael, welcome. Welcome to the centre ring.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52We have some fantastic circus wardrobe for you to put on,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55although, by the looks of it, you don't need much other
0:19:55 > 0:19:57than the nose and the hat, but your choice!
0:19:57 > 0:19:59I... I'm going to go for this jacket, cos it's...
0:19:59 > 0:20:02- It's kind of my style. - Polka-dots are in, absolutely.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- Good, OK.- Of course, you can't do nothing without one of these.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08- Oh!- Ah, how do I look?
0:20:08 > 0:20:09Ta-dah!
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Very fine. Right. Shall we teach you some tricks?
0:20:13 > 0:20:14Yes. Well, you can try to.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17OK. Get yourself a broom and your finger,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21put the broom on your finger and work on your balancing skills.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23It's best when you're balancing just to look at the top,
0:20:23 > 0:20:24so, if it starts to lean one way,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28you come underneath and counterbalance with your finger.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Right. All I can really see is my...
0:20:30 > 0:20:32- Is my nose.- Is your nose...
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And you're off.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Nicely done, look at you sweeping up with these skills!
0:20:37 > 0:20:38Centre ring, here you come.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41My goodness, there's sawdust in your veins, I can tell.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Back, nose!
0:20:45 > 0:20:48OK, we're going to spin plates with the skills that you just learned
0:20:48 > 0:20:52balancing the broom. So get yourself a plate, get yourself a stick...
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Sit it on the stick and you're going to let it go right around the stick
0:20:56 > 0:21:00until it goes right to the centre and spin around... It does.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02And...go.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Nice.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07I've spent 30 years of my life working on spin!
0:21:08 > 0:21:11And the circus performer is born.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Whoa!
0:21:19 > 0:21:20Really nice.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30'There's one more stop on this leg of my journey.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33'A short train ride just 20 minutes east.'
0:21:43 > 0:21:49The Empire Builder train, that left Seattle 44 hours ago,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51is approaching Portage city,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55which Appleton's tells me is situated at the head of navigation
0:21:55 > 0:21:57of the Wisconsin River
0:21:57 > 0:22:01and on the canal connecting the Fox and the Wisconsin
0:22:01 > 0:22:07at a junction of the Milwaukee and St Paul Railroad.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10A portage was a place where you had to carry your boat
0:22:10 > 0:22:13between one body of water and another.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Ouch!
0:22:15 > 0:22:17TRAIN HORN BLOWS
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Ah! Thanks for the ride.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26So how long is your route? Where do you go backwards and forwards from?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Between Chicago and Winona, Minnesota.
0:22:28 > 0:22:29How long have you been on the railroad?
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- Uh, eight years. - Yeah, that's quite a long stint.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35- Eight years.- So, what do you have to do now as we come into this station?
0:22:35 > 0:22:37I have to tell the engineer when to stop,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I have to have him stop at a specific point on the platform.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42- OK, I'm going to let you concentrate on that.- All right.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45So you tell him how many car lengths, is that right?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Yeah, how many car lengths until I need him to stop.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Four cars.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Three.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Two.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01One.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08- Hope to see you on another ride. - I hope so too.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10- Bye-bye, now.- Take care.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'The canal described in my Appleton's was once a vital link
0:23:26 > 0:23:30'in America's 19th-century system of waterways.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34'I'm hearing the story from amateur historian Fred Galley.'
0:23:34 > 0:23:36- Hello, Fred.- Hello, Michael. Welcome to Portage.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39- Thank you so much. - We're happy to have you here.
0:23:39 > 0:23:40And this is the Portage Canal?
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Yes, it is. This first section was built in 1876,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47but the history of the portage goes back some 10,000 years.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52So there was a portage between the Fox River and the Wisconsin River.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54How far were people having to carry their boats?
0:23:54 > 0:23:56A mile and a quarter, that's about 2,000 metres.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59And what sort of land was between the two?
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Well, it was a marshy area.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05'This short section of marsh
0:24:05 > 0:24:08'was the only obstacle to travelling thousands of miles by water.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11'The Fox River is linked to the Great Lakes
0:24:11 > 0:24:14'and thence to the Atlantic Ocean.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18'The Wisconsin River joins the mighty Mississippi, which, in turn,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20'flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.'
0:24:20 > 0:24:23The Native Americans knew about and used this portage,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25who were the first Europeans to do so?
0:24:25 > 0:24:28The first Europeans were Marquette and Joliet.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30They came in 1673,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33they were French explorers and the Indian translators told them
0:24:33 > 0:24:35where the portage was.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37In the heyday of the portage, what was it like?
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Around 1800, the portage really started to be used
0:24:40 > 0:24:43and what it was used for was people travelling west.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46So, at its height, about 1,000 people a year would cross
0:24:46 > 0:24:52the portage and that continued on until the 1830s or even 1840s.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55There were a number of different entrepreneurs that started a livery service.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59And when you pulled up in your boat in the Fox River,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01they would come down and ask you if you wanted help.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03And for 5 or 10,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05they would take all of your stuff and carry it to the other side
0:25:05 > 0:25:08of the Wisconsin River, get you all situated and push you off
0:25:08 > 0:25:10and send you downriver.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15'The waterways were being used increasingly to transport wheat and
0:25:15 > 0:25:17'manufactured goods.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21'Local businessmen began to campaign for a canal in 1829,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24'but it failed due to a lack of funds.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26'Eventually, in the 1870s,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30'the Army Corps of Engineers took on and completed the project.'
0:25:31 > 0:25:351876 is very late for a canal, because, by then,
0:25:35 > 0:25:36- you've got railroads.- Right.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And that kind of caused a lot of problems.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42But what happened was the railroad was a monopoly and they were
0:25:42 > 0:25:45charging just extravagant amounts of money to haul these goods.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48The entire Fox-Wisconsin water system was built
0:25:48 > 0:25:53to make the railroads lower their prices and be accountable, you know,
0:25:53 > 0:25:54give them some competition.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Thinking back to the days of the portage,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00what do you think it was like for the ordinary person having to lug
0:26:00 > 0:26:02their canoe a mile and a half?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Well, I've got one sitting right over here, let's give it a try.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06OK!
0:26:09 > 0:26:11And how would you set about carrying that?
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Well...
0:26:12 > 0:26:14So, you grab it like this...
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Then we pick it up and flip it over!
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Oh, hang on, Fred. Hang on, hang on, hang on!
0:26:20 > 0:26:22I think you and I are a bit old for this, don't you?
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- Just a little, yes. - Look, there's a handle at each end.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27There's a handle at each end, let's try that.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Let's try that. OK.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- Hup!- All right, we're ready to go!
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- OK, how far?- 2,700 paces.
0:26:34 > 0:26:362,700.
0:26:37 > 0:26:3919, 20, 21, 22...
0:26:39 > 0:26:41That's a long way to 2,700.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45- Hard work, Fred.- Yes, might be easier if we put it in the canal.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Now you tell me!
0:26:51 > 0:26:54So, up ahead, Michael, is the Wisconsin River lock.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56How far are we now from the Wisconsin?
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Well, the Wisconsin is just down the other side of this levee, so not far, like, 100 feet.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Well, Fred, you're right about one thing.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Paddling a canoe certainly beats carrying a canoe.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09That's correct.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16'The riverscape of North America would have changed hardly at all
0:27:16 > 0:27:19'in the thousands of years that Native Americans
0:27:19 > 0:27:23'hunted and fished this region.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26'The white settlers converted the Mississippi
0:27:26 > 0:27:29'into a major artery for commerce and, later,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33'engineers built this Portage Canal to connect the North Atlantic
0:27:33 > 0:27:35'to the Gulf of Mexico.'
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Railroads, farms, cities and highways followed.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The taming and development of the Midwest
0:27:43 > 0:27:48offers an extraordinary example of American grit and ingenuity.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59'Next time, I taste the freedom of the American open road.'
0:27:59 > 0:28:01- Ready to ride?- I'm ready to ride.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06'I'm bowled over.'
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Yay!
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'And learn how innovation delivered a fuel injection...'
0:28:14 > 0:28:15And a little bit of gas.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17'..to 19th-century farming.'