0:00:03 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America with
0:00:07 > 0:00:09my reliable Appletons' guide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Published in the late 19th century, Appletons' general guide to
0:00:17 > 0:00:20North America will direct me to all that's novel.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Beautiful...
0:00:22 > 0:00:23memorable...
0:00:23 > 0:00:25and striking...
0:00:25 > 0:00:26in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28INDISTINCT SHOUTING
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 > 0:00:42helping to create the global superstate of today.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Morning, sir. Ticket, please.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22I'm getting off at Washington, Missouri.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Washington, Missouri, all right. Got you covered. Have a good trip.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I'm continuing my journey west across the United States.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41These tracks were used by European settlers in the 19th century.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I'll investigate how they imported their way of life
0:01:44 > 0:01:47into the New World, reinvented their traditions,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49and made the lawless penitent.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59My journey began in St Louis, Missouri, the gateway to the West.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Following the route of the pioneers,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05I'll visit Kansas City and Dodge City.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10I'll encounter a surprising British legacy in Colorado Springs
0:02:10 > 0:02:16before turning south to experience the Hispanic culture of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18My journey will end in Arizona,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22at the dazzling natural wonder of the Grand Canyon.
0:02:24 > 0:02:25Today I'm heading west,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30starting at the birthplace of a rural icon in Washington, Missouri,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33moving on to the very German Hermann,
0:02:33 > 0:02:38and ending up in the state capital of Missouri, Jefferson City.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42On this journey, I try my hand on a pipe production line...
0:02:42 > 0:02:43We're on a roll now.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47A little bit of finger in that one.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52..discover where the outlaws of the American frontier were brought to justice...
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And what they did is they hauled you all the way back to
0:02:55 > 0:02:56Jefferson City, Missouri.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00That's what caused us to have a population of over 5,000 people.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05..and enjoy the many traditions of the Midwest's German settlers.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Eins, zwei, drei.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14- Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke. - ALL:- Hoi, hoi, hoi!
0:03:32 > 0:03:35My first stop will be Washington, Missouri,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39which Appletons' tells me is a prosperous and handsome town.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44I want to discover how the Europeans encountering an American crop found
0:03:44 > 0:03:47a corny way of fulfilling their pipe dreams.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I'm travelling on the tracks of the very first railroad to operate west
0:03:56 > 0:03:59of the Mississippi, the Pacific Railroad.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Following the course of the Missouri River,
0:04:01 > 0:04:06it was built to connect early immigrant settlements and to promote
0:04:06 > 0:04:07further colonisation.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10- Thank you very much. - You're welcome.- Bye-bye now.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17The railroad arrived in Washington, Missouri,
0:04:17 > 0:04:23in 1855 and helped to make this town the world capital of a very
0:04:23 > 0:04:24particular product.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I'm visiting the Missouri Meerschaum company to meet Marilyn Lanning.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40- Hello, Marilyn.- Hello, Michael.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42- Welcome.- Thank you very much.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- Wonderful historic building. - Oh, thank you.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48This is actually the original building that we built in the
0:04:48 > 0:04:541880s and it was built specifically for the corn cob pipe factory.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04In the 19th century, pipe smoking was widespread and in the rural Midwest,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06where there was an abundance of corn,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09farmers whittled pipes from their own crops.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16In 1869, Dutch immigrant woodworker Henry Tibbe started to make pipes
0:05:16 > 0:05:20for sale and, within a decade, went into mass production.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Marilyn, how does the process of making a corncob pipe begin?
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Well, once the cobs get to the factory, Michael,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33they're separated into size.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Then they're cut on the saw into lengths for the size pipe
0:05:36 > 0:05:37that they're making.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42Then they come over here to Robert and he drills the tobacco holes
0:05:42 > 0:05:43in the centre.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Then after that, they'll go over and they'll be shaped by Nathan.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50There's a cutter head that shapes some of them.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So, some of this roughness on the outside is going to come off.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It will. Then the plaster is applied to the outside of the cob and this
0:05:57 > 0:06:02was the part of the process that was patented by Henry Tibbe back in the 1870s.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07And that's what made his pipes stand out from all the other local manufacturers.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Why would you want to cover the bowl in plaster of Paris?
0:06:11 > 0:06:16Well, because it would give it a smoother appearance and maybe make
0:06:16 > 0:06:19the pipe last a little longer and there were those people who thought
0:06:19 > 0:06:22smoking a corncob pipe was a little bit hickish,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25so it would kind of make them feel like they were a little more
0:06:25 > 0:06:27aristocratic, perhaps,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31if they were smoking something that didn't quite look as rural.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35- Hi.- Hello.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Wow! You do those fast.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39What have you got in the bowl there?
0:06:39 > 0:06:40It's a white plaster.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It's almost the same type of plaster you'd use on a household wall.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Right.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Here's a cob that's natural. See how you've got all these holes?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- Yes.- It fills them holes in to make it smooth,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58then you sand them down and then you put the plaster in the second time.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And then sand it again, by the time it comes out here,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02it's slick as glass.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Lovely. You keep going because I don't want your plaster to dry there.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Yeah, plaster will harden up on me.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19In this factory, they produce, pack and ship about 5,000 pipes a
0:07:19 > 0:07:22day for the home market and abroad.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29May I ask you what you're doing? What part of the process is that?
0:07:29 > 0:07:33This is the little black feral on the stem.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37I'm putting this on the stem and then they'll put the bit into it.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Have you any idea how many of those you can do maybe in a day?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Probably a couple of thousand in an hour...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45- In an hour?- In an hour.- Really?
0:07:45 > 0:07:49There's couple of thousand in a tub and I can do a tub in a
0:07:49 > 0:07:51- couple of hours.- Wow!
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Do you mind if I have a little go at that?
0:07:55 > 0:07:57- Show me how to do it.- This...
0:07:57 > 0:08:02I set it in there and line it up and hit it once to get it started.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Then I hit it the second time to level it out.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11- Two taps.- Yes. I always do two taps because the first one,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14I'm afraid it's not really level, so with the second one,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- it levels it out more.- Well...
0:08:19 > 0:08:20One end is thinner than the other.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22It's narrower, yeah.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23So I pop that over the ring...
0:08:24 > 0:08:27One tap and another tap for luck.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- Yes.- That looks good.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33We're on a roll now. A little bit of finger in that one.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Yeah. You'll soon be able to do 1,000.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Two taps and away to a pipe dream.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Excellent.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Manufactured just metres from the railroad station,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Henry Tibbe's pipes were exported across the country and the world.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Pipe connoisseurs Joe and Jim are aficionados of this icon of the Midwest.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13The pipe you're holding now, is that a special pipe for you?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15It's one that I use quite often.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19We like to hunt and fish here in the Midwest and squirrel hunting happens
0:09:19 > 0:09:21to be one of our hobbies.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22- Squirrel?- Squirrel.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Yes, relative to the rat, yes.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Tree rats, actually.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29But we consider them a food source here.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33And my wife cooks a fantastic squirrel in gravy
0:09:33 > 0:09:37and squirrel hunting is done where you go out into the woods
0:09:37 > 0:09:40before sun up, sit under a tree, usually in the fall,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43and it's kind of frosty and you light it up, it warms your hand.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Keeps your trigger finger warm.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Who have been famous pipe smokers in American history?
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Well, General MacArthur, I would say.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53He's right up there.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00He had his long-stemmed pipe designed down here for him.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04And they say he used to take it when he was giving orders and he'd
0:10:04 > 0:10:08use it to point. But he had a long bowl where he could probably be able
0:10:08 > 0:10:12to smoke it for a couple plus hours without refilling.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I guess he was a busy man.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Throughout the 19th century,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32European immigration to the United States gathered pace,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36as groups from Europe fled troubles at home and were attracted to the
0:10:36 > 0:10:39potential of America's new lands.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43My next stop will be Hermann, Missouri, founded in 1836
0:10:43 > 0:10:49by the German settlement society to be a city that was German in every particular.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53And you don't have to be here for long to discover that they
0:10:53 > 0:10:54certainly achieved that.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02In an area of hills and river valleys, the early German settlers
0:11:02 > 0:11:07began cultivating a crop that reminded them of home.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12I'm meeting Jon Held, whose winery was established in 1847.
0:11:14 > 0:11:20John, you have spectacular views here down over the Missouri River
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and I must say, they are quite reminiscent of what you might see in
0:11:23 > 0:11:26the Rhine in Germany. Is there some connection?
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Oh, you bet. The early settlers to Hermann selected this area because
0:11:30 > 0:11:31it reminded them of home.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34When did the cultivation of vines first start here?
0:11:34 > 0:11:39Right about the time the city or the town of Hermann was founded.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43And then it increased in production, hitting its peak around 1878,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47but by that timeframe, there were over 60 wineries
0:11:47 > 0:11:49in and around the town of Hermann.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I am afraid to say that I had not thought of Missouri as being
0:11:52 > 0:11:54particularly a wine-producing area.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56We tend to think of California.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59How important was Missouri in its heyday?
0:11:59 > 0:12:03During the peak in the 1870s, it was actually...
0:12:03 > 0:12:07for one year, the largest producing state in the nation.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Is that so? Are you very aware of your Germans?
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Absolutely. Living in Hermann, with the strong German heritage,
0:12:13 > 0:12:18as well as the wine, the German cuisine, very strong German identity.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22- What about the language?- Oh, the language died out with World War I.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26An example, the town that my parents grew up in was called Potsdam.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30But the day the US entered World War I, they changed the name
0:12:30 > 0:12:32to Pershing, in honour of General Pershing.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37The Feds really took a dim view of this town and they were
0:12:37 > 0:12:40scrutinising for German sympathisers.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43And that really killed that language out.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48My grandparents spoke it in their home as children but then it stopped.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Did that have an impact on wine growing?- It helped kill it.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Because they were looked so carefully at by the Feds,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58they didn't attempt to do any sacramental wines,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01which a lot of wineries in California were able to survive
0:13:01 > 0:13:05prohibition by making communion wine or sacramental wine.
0:13:05 > 0:13:06But with the German...
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Anti-German sentiment here, they didn't attempt that.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12- May we move on to the vineyard? - Oh, absolutely.- Thank you.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20The railroads initially boosted the Missouri wine industry,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23transporting its product across America,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28but when the first transcontinental railroad reached California in 1869,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32the West Coast wines offered formidable competition.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Where does this grape come from?
0:13:36 > 0:13:39The predominant species is Vitus aestivalis,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41which is a Native American grape.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44So very well adapted to this climate.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46- Are you having a good year? - Oh, it's a great year.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50It's a really warm season, adequate rainfall.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52I think these are going to ripen into a really great vintage.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I think I'm going to ripen in this heat.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59The heritage may be of the Rhine Valley,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03but the grape varieties and the resulting wines are very different
0:14:03 > 0:14:05from their European counterparts.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Not least because I've been expecting a German wine to be white.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11So, this is a bit of a surprise, isn't it?
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Because this wine is not in any way German, right?
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Not at all. This is our top wine.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22It's done in a traditional big red dry style,
0:14:22 > 0:14:26not what you think of as a Germanic-style wine.
0:14:26 > 0:14:27Very nice.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29- Redcurrant?- Definitely.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31- Spicy?- Very spicy.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32Particularly from this vineyard site.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35We get a lot of spicy character.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37- How do we say around here...? - Prost.- Prost!
0:14:44 > 0:14:49The population of Hermann today is still predominantly of German descent.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Traditions of the mother country are very much in evidence at the local
0:14:53 > 0:14:55sausage shop, run by Mike Sloan.
0:15:00 > 0:15:01So, Mike, what is this that I have here?
0:15:01 > 0:15:06So that sausage is a bratwurst, it's the bacon, potato, cheddar bratwurst.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10So, it's pork, seasoned spices and bacon, added cheddar,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13added potatoes. So, what that means is it's a meal.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15It's a meal all by itself.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- Oh, my goodness.- All the major food groups are represented right there
0:15:18 > 0:15:20- in that sausage.- That is a very, very good sausage.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23So, there must be huge demand for German sausages here.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27We make 46 different flavours of sausage and bratwurst.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30Are you a native of Hermann?
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Yes, I am. I've lived here all my life.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36- 71 years.- Have you any idea, you know, what proportion of this town
0:15:36 > 0:15:39is German today, would call itself German?
0:15:39 > 0:15:4240, 50 years ago, it was close to 100%.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Now, we have some people coming out from St Louis,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47but I'd still say 80%.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49What are the customs that you maintain?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Well, we have our May Festival, our Maifest,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56we have the sausage festival, the Wurstfest.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58We have Oktoberfest, October Festival.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Excuse me, is there any month you don't have a Fest?
0:16:02 > 0:16:03A couple of months, yes.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11And at the heart of any self-respecting German festival is
0:16:11 > 0:16:13beer and a singsong.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17# Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann
0:16:17 > 0:16:20# Und mir steckt's auch im Blut
0:16:20 > 0:16:24# Drum wandr' ich flott, so lang ich kann
0:16:24 > 0:16:27# Und schwenke meinen Hut... #
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Here we go!
0:16:29 > 0:16:35# Faleri, falera, faleri
0:16:35 > 0:16:38# Falera ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
0:16:38 > 0:16:41# Faleri, falera
0:16:41 > 0:16:44# Und schwenke meinen Hut. #
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Eins, zwei, drei.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke. Hoi, hoi, hoi!
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke. - ALL: Hoi, hoi, hoi!
0:17:18 > 0:17:21It's a new day and I'm continuing westwards on the
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Amtrak River Runner Route.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32- Guys? May I join you for a second? - Sure.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34Thank you very much.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38It's very nice to see a family using the train.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42- Where are you headed for?- We're going from St Louis to Kansas City.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- Do you like using the train? - Absolutely.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47It's clean, it's comfortable, you meet nice people.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49- It's the best way to travel.- Wow!
0:17:49 > 0:17:52You sound like an advertisement for the railroads.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Actually, many Americans seem to be railroad averse.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56They just get in their car.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00I think if you grew up in the north-east, it's a different story.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I think your statement is correct for other parts of the country.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06The Midwest, particularly, but the East Coast, that's a way of life.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Yeah. That's true, that's true. And do you know this route?
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Have you travelled it before? I'm just enjoying the views of the
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- Missouri River so much, aren't you? - Very scenic, very nice.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25My next stop is Jefferson City,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29which Appletons' tells me is the capital of the state of Missouri.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34Beautifully situated on high bluffs which overlook the Missouri River.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39Named after Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Third president of the United States.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45The man who made the Louisiana purchase from Napoleon of France
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and who set out the grid pattern for the settlement of the American West.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Ladies and gentlemen, we're arriving in Jefferson City.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Please gather your belongings, make your way to the exit doors.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Jefferson City, now arriving.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09All right, folks. Be very careful here. Watch your step.
0:19:09 > 0:19:10Thank you very much.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Located on the river between St Louis and Kansas City,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Jefferson City began as a midway trading post.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28It's the capital of Missouri, but by no means the state's biggest city.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36With a population of just over 40,000, it has a quiet, small-town feel.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Every state in the union has a capital city and a centre of government,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47generally known as the capital, and in nearly every case,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49dominated by a dome.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54This one in Jefferson City, Missouri, has a sort of grey austere
0:19:54 > 0:19:55elegance about it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Inside, I'm hoping to find something a little earthier.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15My Appletons' gives the reader detailed descriptions of American
0:20:15 > 0:20:18towns and cities but in the days before guidebooks,
0:20:18 > 0:20:24people in the east struggled to get an image of the new western lands.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27I'm here to meet art historian Joan Stack
0:20:27 > 0:20:30to find out about a famous frontier painter and Missouri
0:20:30 > 0:20:33politician, George Caleb Bingham.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Why is George Caleb Bingham significant?
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Well, he was an early artist who painted the West and he didn't just
0:20:42 > 0:20:44paint Native Americans and buffalo,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48he painted the people who worked in the West.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51And when people saw these images in the east,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55they began to really realise, perhaps, the potential of the West.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02Painting primarily in the 1840s and 50s, Bingham was the first artist to
0:21:02 > 0:21:07bring realistic images of the West into the drawing rooms of the rich
0:21:07 > 0:21:09and influential in New York.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Well, not what I expected as images of the Wild West.
0:21:15 > 0:21:16Tell me about this image.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20This is the picture that made George Caleb Bingham famous.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23And the picture was called The Jolly Flatboatman.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28The interesting thing is that you see the type of person that was in
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Missouri at that time.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36We see a kind of a group of young immigrants, Young Americans,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39who represent the potential of the United States.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And then this would be an oil painting of his, would it?
0:21:42 > 0:21:48Yes. This is a painting called Watching The Cargo, painted in 1849,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49that was displayed in New York.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53It appears at first to be this beautiful landscape with this
0:21:53 > 0:21:56beautiful evening sky, but if you look closely,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00you'll see there is a wrecked steamboat in the painting,
0:22:00 > 0:22:06so they're protecting the commercial goods because the river is dangerous.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09And Bingham was a member of the Whig party,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13which supported the idea of improving the rivers,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17of making them more safe to navigate.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20How different is Bingham's art from what other people are painting in
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- the West?- Well, most of the artists who are painting the West are taking
0:22:23 > 0:22:27advantage of the romanticism around the Native Americans,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31the exotic animals like the buffalo, but to many people,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35that is the West that is disappearing.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39There was also a West that was growing and those are the river
0:22:39 > 0:22:41men, those are the people that are working the rivers,
0:22:41 > 0:22:47making America a united country, uniting the East with the West,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51creating this commercial world, this economic world,
0:22:51 > 0:22:52that had a great deal of potential.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Remaining in Jefferson City, and led by my guidebook,
0:23:05 > 0:23:11I find myself outside the imposing walls of an enormous fortified building.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Jefferson City's State penitentiary, says Appletons',
0:23:17 > 0:23:19is massive and spacious.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Evidently, so it is.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27I'm just asking myself why such a small town would need such a huge jail.
0:23:34 > 0:23:41This intimidating structure was opened in 1836 and was operational
0:23:41 > 0:23:44for 168 years, until it closed in 2004.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49I'm meeting Mike Gruce, a former warden.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Mike, the interior of the prison confirms its size.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Why so big in Jefferson City?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02This prison should've housed around 1,000 inmates -
0:24:02 > 0:24:05that's what a state our size would have housed.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09But what happened is we're located at the stepping off point to the frontier.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12We were the furthest west prison in the United States for a
0:24:12 > 0:24:15number of years. Those people going west, they're concerned about not
0:24:15 > 0:24:18being killed by an Indian or eaten by a bear.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Not building a prison.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23And if you are a person that went west, let's say on a wagon train,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and you ended up in Colorado and you robbed your mining partner out there
0:24:26 > 0:24:28or something, what did they do with you?
0:24:28 > 0:24:30There were no prisons.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34What they did is actually hauled you all the way back to Jefferson City, Missouri.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38That's what caused us to have a population of over 5,000 people
0:24:38 > 0:24:39here at this prison.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45As the last bastion of law, this prison serve the entire
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Wild West and serious and violent criminals from beyond the frontier
0:24:50 > 0:24:55were brought here by local sheriffs or bounty hunters.
0:24:59 > 0:25:00Must have been pretty crowded.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03It was certainly crowded and with six people per cell,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06you have to consider in those days there was no plumbing,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08there was no electricity, there was no heat.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11And in this particular case as well, they didn't even give them a bed.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16They simply gave them a straw-filled mattress and they slept on the floor.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19What was the daily routine of the prisoner?
0:25:19 > 0:25:21The primary job was building the prison.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Each of those millions of rock it took to build these buildings in
0:25:25 > 0:25:28this wall, each of those have been cut out off the ground by an
0:25:28 > 0:25:30inmate and hand shaped.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35So this was a massive construction project to build their own prison.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40The regime was harsh - silence at all times, solitary confinement during
0:25:40 > 0:25:44the evening, and hard labour during the day.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49The large, cheap workforce was readily exploited by local businesses.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59They were put to work manufacturing things that were needed by the
0:25:59 > 0:26:02people in Missouri and the people settling in the West.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07We supplied a large portion of the harness for horses that pulled those
0:26:07 > 0:26:09wagons west, in Westward expansion.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11We found the records for saddle trees,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13which is the piece under a Western saddle.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16We were producing 60,000 of those a year here.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20So a significant portion of what the settlers in the early West needed
0:26:20 > 0:26:22were made here at this prison.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24How were the raw materials imported into the prison?
0:26:24 > 0:26:27How was the product exported?
0:26:27 > 0:26:30In the early years, it was brought in on a wagon behind a team of
0:26:30 > 0:26:32horses or mules. But that wasn't sufficient.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35With 5,000 people, you need a lot of raw materials.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39And what happened here is eventually we had to bring it in by train and
0:26:39 > 0:26:42they put a rail spur actually into the prison that they hauled in the
0:26:42 > 0:26:46leather goods and the steel and the items that we needed for manufacture.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00Whilst the inmates made goods for the Pioneers, the railroads forged
0:27:00 > 0:27:03West, carving out routes for trade and new settlement.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09While migrants clung to cherished customs, in these harsh new lands,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12they had to adapt and work hard.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20German settlers were attracted to Missouri because it reminded them of
0:27:20 > 0:27:26the Rhine and today there is still a German community enjoying sausages.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29But the wine they produce is not German.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34It's made from an indigenous American grape, and that could be a metaphor -
0:27:34 > 0:27:40no matter how much those of European origin value their traditions,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44they've been thoroughly absorbed into the American mosaic.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51Next time, I'll discover the hidden pleasures of 19th-century railroad workers...
0:27:51 > 0:27:54One of the St Louis newspapers referred to the city
0:27:54 > 0:27:58as the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Midwest.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02..confront the brutal hardships faced by the early pioneers...
0:28:02 > 0:28:06400,000 people made that journey.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09They claim at least 9% died along the way.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13..and find out with freight on the rails it's all about size.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16So let's say the average length of a car is 20 yards,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19you've got 100 cars, that is more than a mile.