0:00:02 > 0:00:06I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of
0:00:06 > 0:00:09North America with my reliable Appletons' Guide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late 19th century,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Appletons' General Guide To North America
0:00:17 > 0:00:20will direct me to all that's novel,
0:00:20 > 0:00:21beautiful,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23memorable,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and striking in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27THEY SHOUT
0:00:28 > 0:00:30As I journey across this vast continent,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34I'll discover how pioneers and cowboys conquered the West...
0:00:36 > 0:00:39..and how the railroads tied this nation together,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43helping to create the global superstate of today.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06HORN HONKS
0:01:15 > 0:01:17My journey west has brought me
0:01:17 > 0:01:21to the very heart of continental North America.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25By the time of my guidebook - thanks largely to the efforts of navvies,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28many of whom were immigrants from Europe -
0:01:28 > 0:01:33this once-remote region was at the centre of a web of tracks.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Whatever might be the divisions,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38politically between North and South
0:01:38 > 0:01:41and culturally between East and West,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44the railroads were creating united states.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53Following the pioneer trail, I set off from St Louis, Missouri.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Continuing westward, I'll explore Kansas City and Dodge City.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04I'll discover a surprising British outpost in Colorado Springs
0:02:04 > 0:02:09before turning south to Hispanic Albuquerque in New Mexico.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14My journey will end at Arizona's awe-inspiring Grand Canyon.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21On this leg I begin in Kansas City, the largest in Missouri.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23From there I travel to Saint Joseph,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27once the Western terminus of the United States' rail networks.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30Today...
0:02:32 > 0:02:35..I'll marvel at the art of the auctioneer.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I'll have eight.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41925.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43..learn of the perils of the Pony Express...
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Wanted - young, skinny, wiry fellows willing to risk death daily.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Orphans preferred.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52..and discover the truth about the demise of one of
0:02:52 > 0:02:55the Wild West's most notorious outlaws.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Jesse's not carrying a gun,
0:02:58 > 0:02:59Jesse's back's to us,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02so we're just going to murder him in cold blood.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12To my great excitement, I will soon, for the first time in my life,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15set foot in Kansas City.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Appletons' tells me it's the second city of Missouri
0:03:17 > 0:03:22in size and importance with a population of about 40,000,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25situated on the south bank of the Missouri River.
0:03:25 > 0:03:2912 important railroads converge here. 12!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Imagine what sort of station I'm going to find.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48This magnificent station does not disappoint.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Come with me on my journey in time back to 1914, when it opened.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Three magnificent chandeliers weighing tonnes,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01a destination board on which was listed every major city
0:04:01 > 0:04:05in the United States, East and West and North and South,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10a waiting hall that could accommodate 10,000 people.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13Now deserted.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16The crowds have gone to the airports.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27Kansas City, founded as a port on the Missouri River,
0:04:27 > 0:04:32was first settled by French fur traders in 1821.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36The town once revelled in the nickname Paris of the Plains.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41"If you want to see some sin," wrote journalist Edward R Murrow,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44"forget Paris and go to Kansas City."
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Away from a typically high-rise downtown,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54I'm surrounded by historic reminders of a prosperous commercial past.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The 1891 edition of Appletons' says that
0:05:00 > 0:05:05some of the largest packing houses are located in Kansas City,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07such as Armour's and Fowler Brothers.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The packing business in 1888 was worth 50 million.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13We are talking cattle.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15This is the sort of place where they used to
0:05:15 > 0:05:18heeeerd 'em up and moooove 'em out!
0:05:22 > 0:05:24I'm meeting Bill Haw,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28who runs the Kansas City Live Stock Exchange building,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32to find out how this city was built on beef.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Bill, I get the impression from my guidebook that Kansas City
0:05:35 > 0:05:39became an enormous centre for the meat trade. How did it begin?
0:05:39 > 0:05:41You know, it was an accident of geography
0:05:41 > 0:05:43as much as anything else, I think.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48The cattle tended to originate in Texas, Oklahoma and the south-west.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51They were put on trains with the eventual goal of going to Chicago,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55but they needed to stop so that the cattle could be fed and watered.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Now, at some point that kind of evolves into the idea of
0:05:58 > 0:06:01getting the cattle off the train in order to be slaughtered
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- to continue as carcasses. Is that right?- That is right.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07I think the population, of course, had begun to move west,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10so there was more demand in the central United States.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15And the advent of refrigerated cars enabled them to be able to
0:06:15 > 0:06:19kill the cattle here and then distribute it farther west.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22And we're standing in front of a wonderful building.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24It was the largest livestock exchange ever built,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and it absolutely reflected the fact that this was
0:06:27 > 0:06:30the economic epicentre for the entire region.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39Today, the renovated building has found new life as a business centre.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44But the heyday of the international meat trade is a distant memory.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Can you imagine what this looked like 50 and 100 years ago?
0:06:48 > 0:06:53248 acres of pens, 12,000 men, most of them horseback,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58five rail lines capable of unloading 70,000 cattle a day.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00It was an incredible amount of activity.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And somehow, the railroads were interleaved
0:07:03 > 0:07:05amongst all those livestock yards.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09You know, there's a quote from an 1890s Kansas City Star
0:07:09 > 0:07:11that might explain that best.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13"Kansas City's advantage is the result of
0:07:13 > 0:07:16"an unrivalled geographical location.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20"Every foot of the territory to which Kansas City looks
0:07:20 > 0:07:23"can have rails laid upon it at a reasonable cost.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26"These rails will point to Kansas City as surely as
0:07:26 > 0:07:28"all roads pointed to Rome."
0:07:32 > 0:07:38The Live Stock Exchange Building held its last auction in 1991,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40but the region is still a cattle centre.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Today the markets are located outside town.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I've come south of the city across the state line
0:07:47 > 0:07:50to a livestock auction in Paola, Kansas.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55This looks like cowboy central.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59I have a feeling I may be the only one here dressed in pink and green.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- Hello, sir.- Hello.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- Would you mind if I pull up a chair for a moment?- Have a seat.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09So, what brings you to the auction today? What are you selling?
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- What kind of beasts have you got? - Feeder cattle.- What age are they?
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- They're yearlings.- Yearlings? - Yeah, a year old.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16So, what's your business?
0:08:16 > 0:08:19You take very young animals and grow them up to yearlings?
0:08:19 > 0:08:24Buy them weighing 300-400 lbs and make them weigh 700, 800.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28What is it about cattle that attracts a man to the job?
0:08:28 > 0:08:33For me, it might have started out the glamour of the Wild West,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- you know?- Brilliant.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39I grew up around horses and cattle, always rode a horse.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43First thing you know, you're making a living at it.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- Bit of John Wayne in you.- Yeah.
0:08:45 > 0:08:4656...
0:08:46 > 0:08:49HE SPEAKS RAPIDLY
0:08:49 > 0:08:5057.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53I'll have eight. And 58.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Half, nine.
0:08:55 > 0:08:5659.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Half. Nine and a half.
0:08:58 > 0:08:5959.
0:08:59 > 0:09:0059, half.
0:09:04 > 0:09:0525.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09So, cattle 160, 427 straight up.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14At this time, I'd like to introduce Michael Portillio, is that right?
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- Close.- Close. He's going to come up and take the microphone.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20- May I borrow that hat?- Yeah.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24OK, we're ready. What are we starting at?
0:09:24 > 0:09:25130 it is, 130...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27HE IMITATES CATTLE AUCTIONEER
0:09:27 > 0:09:28131.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32'Hmm. I think I got away with that!'
0:09:34 > 0:09:3735. 135!
0:09:37 > 0:09:38135.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- Who is buying?- Right there.- Ah.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Buyer 120, buyer 120 at 135.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48APPLAUSE
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Thank you, guys.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56I've heard that for Kansans,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58smoke has the power to transform meat
0:09:58 > 0:10:01from the mundane into the memorable.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05I've been recommended a barbecue joint out at the airstrip.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Whoa, that is a lot of food!
0:10:11 > 0:10:12What is this?
0:10:12 > 0:10:16That's baby backs, and that's the bottom part of the spare ribs,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19they cut it off. It has no fat on it, it's the most tender...
0:10:19 > 0:10:22It's the cream of the crop when it comes to spare ribs.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It's so soft. It comes clean off the bone.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32It's got a great smoky flavour.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35I couldn't help noticing President Obama on the wall.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Did he have any ribs?
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Well, he took a slab to go.
0:10:43 > 0:10:44They're good.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51The population of Kansas City skyrocketed during the 1870s
0:10:51 > 0:10:53thanks to the cattle trade.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57An expanding network of railroad tracks brought people from across
0:10:57 > 0:11:02the nation and soon, transport within the city was also needed.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07I'm on the KC Streetcar.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10According to the 1891 edition of Appletons',
0:11:10 > 0:11:15electric or cable cars traverse the city in every direction
0:11:15 > 0:11:19and render all parts accessible for five cents.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20Five cents!
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Do you know what it costs now?
0:11:22 > 0:11:23Zero.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28It must be the only price to have gone down in 125 years.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Kansas City's cable and streetcar system
0:11:32 > 0:11:36once stretched over 300 miles.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38But the last service ran in 1957.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43The streetcar returned in 2016 as part of a programme
0:11:43 > 0:11:47to revitalise the city's downtown area.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50It runs for two miles and extensions are being planned.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52- Hello, ladies.- Hello.- Hi.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55- Are you enjoying the KC Streetcar? - Yes.- We are.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Are you regulars on the KC Streetcar?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- No, we've never done it before. - Oh, really?
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- You're not from Kansas City, then. - Yes.- Yes, we are.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So, why are you riding it today for the first time?
0:12:04 > 0:12:06- Girls' night out.- Girls' night out.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08- So, better than taking the car. - Yes.- Yes.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Because you might be having a little drink tonight, perhaps.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13- Just a little.- We already did.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Like much of America, Kansas City owes the building of its
0:12:20 > 0:12:24early railroads to Irish navvies.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27I've come to the West Bottoms district to meet Pat O'Neill
0:12:27 > 0:12:31from the Irish History Society.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Classically, a wave of Irish immigration
0:12:33 > 0:12:36came to the United States after the Hunger of 1848-49.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- Is that true of Kansas City? - It was, absolutely, yes.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Because, you know, the Irish bottled up in the tenements and again
0:12:42 > 0:12:45always on the East Coast and they were looking for places to escape.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And the catholic priest here in Kansas City actually put out
0:12:48 > 0:12:50a notice in the late 1840s,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53early 1850s for Irish to come to Kansas City to help them
0:12:53 > 0:12:57expand the city by cutting the streets through these bluffs.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01And so they naturally gravitated to better jobs on the railroad.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Kansas City's importance as a rail hub was secured in 1869
0:13:05 > 0:13:08when Irishman Charles Kearney helped to persuade
0:13:08 > 0:13:11the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad to construct
0:13:11 > 0:13:13the first permanent rail bridge
0:13:13 > 0:13:16across the Missouri River and Kansas City.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19By the 1870s, they're making cuts through these bluffs in every
0:13:19 > 0:13:22direction so railroads can take off from Kansas City.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Where was the old union depot?
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Well, the Union Station, you'll see that kind of empty area down there?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29- Yeah.- Well, that's where the Union Station was.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31That's also what they called the wettest block in Missouri,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34because it had some 40-some saloons within two blocks -
0:13:34 > 0:13:36mostly Irish saloons, I might add -
0:13:36 > 0:13:40and there was an area down in here that was shared by Irish immigrants
0:13:40 > 0:13:43and blacks, and it was cold Hell's Half Acre because
0:13:43 > 0:13:45it was the most prone to flooding.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47When the water came up 10 or 12 feet,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50it would send the cattle and the pigs in every direction.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55It would turn train cars over on their sides, even off the bridges.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Despite those hardships, the Irish community quickly put down roots.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05The first Irish business in America opened in Kansas City in 1887.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The shop and bar are now run by Kerry Browne,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11great-granddaughter of the founder.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- Well, thank you, and cheers. - Slainte.- Slainte, indeed.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18So, how did it all start?
0:14:18 > 0:14:20My great grandparents came over from County Kerry, Ireland,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24travelled by train and stopped here and thought, "This looks like home."
0:14:24 > 0:14:26This is the store early on.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28This is my dad, this cute little fellow here,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and you can still see how it looks the same.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Here's the papers of my grandfather when he came from Ellis Island.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40James R Browne from Knocknagoshel, County Kerry, Ireland.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42If you think of how young he was,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44he was about 17 years old and left home.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47This sheet is for steerage passengers.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- They came in the cheapest class. - Yeah.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Think of that journey, think of what it must have been like.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54I can't imagine.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56You've done very well, your ancestors -
0:14:56 > 0:14:57some of them did very well -
0:14:57 > 0:15:01but do you feel sadness about those who left Ireland in the first place?
0:15:01 > 0:15:02Yeah, it had to be awful.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04When you think of leaving those people,
0:15:04 > 0:15:05knowing you'd never see them again...
0:15:05 > 0:15:08And there wasn't the connections like we have now
0:15:08 > 0:15:11with internet or a phone - they said goodbye for good.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13And they'd have wakes, the Irish wakes,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15like a ceilidh at the crossroads,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19and everybody in the town would gather and have music and dance
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and send them off, knowing they'd never see them again.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26# And it's no, nay, never... #
0:15:26 > 0:15:29'Generations after the Irish arrived in Kansas City,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34'memories of home and those left behind run deep.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:38# And it's no, nay, never
0:15:40 > 0:15:42# No, nay, never no more
0:15:42 > 0:15:46# Will I play the wild rover
0:15:46 > 0:15:50# No, never, no more. #
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Go on ya!
0:16:02 > 0:16:07North of Kansas City lies a town that once held the distinction
0:16:07 > 0:16:11of being the most westerly point on the United States rail network.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14A gateway to the untamed prairies,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18it was also where an American legend was born and another died.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26During the 1850s, railroads had been built over a tremendous distance
0:16:26 > 0:16:30from the east coast into the heart of the American continent.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35But 2,000 miles remained before they'd reach California.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I'm at Saint Joseph, Missouri, the westerly terminus
0:16:38 > 0:16:43of the delightfully named Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46How to provide a connection to California
0:16:46 > 0:16:48before new lines could be built?
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Hannibal would doubtless have recommended elephants,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54but the Americans chose ponies.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02The Pony Express carried mail between Saint Joseph
0:17:02 > 0:17:04and Sacramento, California.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08From there, it would continue to San Francisco by ferry.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13I'm meeting Suzanne King and her husband John to discover more
0:17:13 > 0:17:17about this institution of the American West.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19- Hello, Suzanne. - Hi, Michael, how are you?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- Good to see you. Hello, John.- Hello.
0:17:22 > 0:17:23- And who is this?- This is Renzy.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27She is a Morgan horse and Morgans were one of the breeds of horses
0:17:27 > 0:17:30that were used during the Pony Express.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Now, I see we're standing outside the 1860 Pony Express office.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36- May we go inside?- Absolutely.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41The Pony Express made its headquarters
0:17:41 > 0:17:44in the Patee House Hotel, now a museum.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48It offered a last taste of luxury for guests heading into
0:17:48 > 0:17:50the inhospitable western terrain.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Well, Suzanne, really, here we are touching history.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57This is the original furniture of the Pony Express office.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00But what was the concept of the Pony Express?
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Well, the concept was to improve communication between
0:18:04 > 0:18:05the Atlantic and the Pacific coast.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Saint Joseph was the furthest west that you'd get on a train,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13however, communication for the rest of the country was slow.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15And so, with the Pony Express,
0:18:15 > 0:18:20the communication was condensed into ten days.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23The idea was proposed by California Senator William Gwin
0:18:23 > 0:18:27to freight magnate William Russell in 1859.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29It was visionary and in harmony
0:18:29 > 0:18:34with America's growing sense of manifest destiny,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37that the nation was fated to span the continent
0:18:37 > 0:18:40from sea to shining sea.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42The first rider, Johnny Fry,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46left Saint Joseph on April 3, 1860.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49What sort of riders did they have to recruit?
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Well, if you take a look at the advertisement...
0:18:52 > 0:18:55"Wanted - young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00"Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01"Orphans preferred."
0:19:01 > 0:19:05And these intrepid riders, what sort of perils did they face?
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Well, you did have Indian activity, you had the heavy winter snow,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12the rains washing out the gullies, the trail,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16and you had groundhogs, because a horse would run across that,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18they could break a leg.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- The groundhog was at least as dangerous as the Indians.- Yeah, yes.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Over 400 horses and 80 riders galloped between
0:19:26 > 0:19:30a chain of stations that crossed hostile terrain.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Riders could be in the saddle for 100 miles at a time.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37This sounds like a very expensive operation.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Well, they had 172 stations.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Each of those stations had to be staffed and stocked,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47and you have all the costs of the horses and the feed and food.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52And the letters at that point in time cost 5.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55The high price deterred most people from using
0:19:55 > 0:19:57the Pony Express for their mail.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00The final nail in its coffin was the connection
0:20:00 > 0:20:02of the cross-country telegraph,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06which provided instantaneous and affordable communication.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11That service opened on October 24, 1861,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15and two days later, the Pony Express announced its closure.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Here's something that only lasted 19 months.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Why does this little incident live in our minds, in our history?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Because it accomplished what the whole country wanted it to do
0:20:26 > 0:20:29at that point, which was communication.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32And the skiddy, wiry fellow, the rider,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35has joined the panoply of the American heroes.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46Because on the Pony Express it cost 5 to send half an ounce
0:20:46 > 0:20:49in ten days to California, most of the correspondence
0:20:49 > 0:20:53was official, governmental, military and so on.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56So I've decided to send my letter, get my money's worth,
0:20:56 > 0:21:02to John Gately Downey, who was, of course, the governor of California.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07The Pony Express is commemorated with an annual ten-day ride
0:21:07 > 0:21:09from Saint Joseph to Sacramento.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13John and Suzanne have taken part since the 1980s and their children,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Kristen and Richard, carry on the tradition.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Kristen, I've been to the Pony Express office and I've paid
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- my 5 for half an ounce.- Yes.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- Would you put that in your mochila, please?- Of course.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Thank you very much.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Now, I believe that every young man who made this ride
0:21:31 > 0:21:33had to take this oath.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36- Would you like to raise your right hand, please?- Yes.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37And pronounce the oath.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I agree not to use profane language, not to get drunk,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44not to gamble, not to treat animals cruelly
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and not to do anything else that is incompatible
0:21:47 > 0:21:50with the conduct of a gentleman.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Godspeed. May my letter reach its destination safely
0:21:54 > 0:21:56- and may you be kept safe as well. - Thank you.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Robin Hood, Bonnie and Clyde -
0:22:23 > 0:22:27can it ever be right to treat the bandit as a hero?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30For me as a train lover, the question arises poignantly
0:22:30 > 0:22:35in the case of that terror of the railroads, Mr Jesse James.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Jesse James was one of the most famous outlaws of the Wild West.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Trains, stagecoaches, banks -
0:22:48 > 0:22:51little was safe from his larceny.
0:22:51 > 0:22:52Hello, Ralph.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'Ralph Monaco is a Missouri historian and former member
0:22:57 > 0:22:59"of the Missouri House of Representatives.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02"He's an expert on the James gang."
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Ralph, who was Jesse James?
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Part of him is still a mystery to this day,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09the mystique about him, but he was certainly a young man who was
0:23:09 > 0:23:13raised in Clay County under a Southern mind-set by his mother.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16They were slave owners themselves.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19He is thrust into the Civil War as a guerrilla.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21When the war ends, he tries to surrender,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23he's shot through the lung, nearly dies.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And then, how did he pursue his criminal career?
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It was really the gang led by his older brother Frank,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31who was born in '42, Jesse was born in '47.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32They went directly after the source
0:23:32 > 0:23:35of what they thought were all their privations -
0:23:35 > 0:23:39railroads and banks, owned by the union men, the Yankees, if you will.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41And we're going to get our revenge,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and in the process we're going to get rich.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47During the American Civil War, supporters in Missouri of
0:23:47 > 0:23:50the Southern Confederacy were barred from voting
0:23:50 > 0:23:52and holding public office.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Resentment grew and James' attacks on union targets made him
0:23:57 > 0:23:58a hero for many.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Tell me about one of the gang's lurid railroad crimes.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06I think the one we can certainly point to happened here in Missouri,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08in Daviess County, is the Winston train robbery.
0:24:08 > 0:24:131881, the train is filled with many railroad employees, in fact.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14Things didn't go well.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16They stopped the train as a regular stop,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19they surrounded the train, they robbed the train.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And what's the tragedy of it is that while the mystique of
0:24:22 > 0:24:25the James gang is so interesting, you've got to remember that
0:24:25 > 0:24:27the stonemason was killed,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31the conductor was killed on the train.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Despite those murders,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39the gang gained a reputation as Robin Hood-like figures.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Legend had it that they would steal money from the railroads
0:24:42 > 0:24:45but would not rob the passengers.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49The railroads were not going to let their trains be robbed again,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52so they brought in the number one Detective agency in the world,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Thomas Pinkerton, and they were going to get
0:24:54 > 0:24:55Jesse James and Frank James.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58- The noose just tightened and tightened.- Yes, it did.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03'After a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07'James moved his family to this Saint Joseph house in 1881.'
0:25:10 > 0:25:13- What had brought Jesse James here? - To hide out.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Jesse James had moved his family from Tennessee to Missouri,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19city to city, town to town, on the run,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21because there was a bounty on their head.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Governor Crittenden issued a 10,000 reward.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25As they were living here in Saint Jo,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28their name was the Howard family,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32but they were also known as the Johnson family, the Woodson family.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36James invited his most trusted accomplice, Charley Ford,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38and his brother Robert to live with him.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40But James was double-crossed.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Robert had done a deal with Missouri Governor Crittenden
0:25:44 > 0:25:46for the reward on Jesse's head.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49There was a hot Monday morning.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Jesse James was here in this very room,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and for whatever reason he decides to take his holsters off
0:25:56 > 0:25:59and went to feather duster the picture on the wall.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04And the Ford boys were over here and that was their golden opportunity.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Jesse's not carrying a gun, Jesse's back's to us,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10so we're just going to murder him in cold blood.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14GUNSHOT
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Bob pulled the trigger, his wife came running into the room,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20saw her husband laying on the ground,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23blood coursing from his head.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Now, wait a minute, you're being quite sentimental about
0:26:26 > 0:26:29a man who killed a lot of people. Why has he become some sort of hero?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31There's multiple reasons,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35but one simple answer is John Newman Edwards.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39He was the owner of the Kansas City Times newspaper -
0:26:39 > 0:26:42well-known publicist, well-known writer.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Anything Southern-minded from the war he supported,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and he considered Frank and Jesse as nothing less than
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Knight Errants of the Round of the olden days.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53And so when he was killed,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Edwards writes this editorial that just condemns the entire
0:26:56 > 0:27:00state of Missouri because of the conspiracy with these bad guys.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02And it violated the law of the West -
0:27:02 > 0:27:04you don't shoot somebody in the back of the head
0:27:04 > 0:27:05when their back is turned.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09That dirty little coward who shot Mr Howard
0:27:09 > 0:27:12has laid Jesse James in his grave.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14And that ballad will never die.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19# Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man
0:27:19 > 0:27:22# He robbed the Glendale train
0:27:23 > 0:27:25# But the dirty little coward
0:27:25 > 0:27:28# That shot Mr Howard
0:27:28 > 0:27:33# Has laid poor Jesse in his grave. #
0:27:35 > 0:27:39If Jesse James is a doubtful American hero,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42recognition should surely go to the Irish navvy
0:27:42 > 0:27:45who, by laying the railroad tracks,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49played a big part in the building of the United States.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Those pony riders who galloped between Saint Joseph and Sacramento
0:27:54 > 0:27:56were special men, too.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59It took cattle to build the West,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02and those drovers required true grit.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06I salute the cowboy, the guy in the hat.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Next time,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I pay homage at the cathedral of basketball...
0:28:16 > 0:28:20- Turn in two. Good job. There we go, good score!- Yeah!
0:28:20 > 0:28:23..get my hands on a vintage hooter...
0:28:23 > 0:28:25HORN HONKS
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Wow, that was fun.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30..and head out on the range where the buffalo roam.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32What fantastic animals, aren't they?