0:00:02 > 0:00:07I've crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America with
0:00:07 > 0:00:10my reliable Appletons' guide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late-19th century,
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Appletons' 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 > 0:00:28INDISTINCT SHOUTING
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 > 0:00:39And how the railroads tied this nation together,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43helping to create the global superstate of today.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14This splendid train is known as the Super Southwest Chief and it runs on
0:01:14 > 0:01:18the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
0:01:18 > 0:01:24Now operated by Amtrak, it runs between Chicago and Los Angeles,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28travelling in darkness and light over three days.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32I've arrived in cowboy country, but that is a misnomer.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36For this land once belonged to the Native American and the buffalo.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I began my journey in St Louis, Missouri,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and then crossed the border into the prairie lands of Kansas.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49From there I'll push west across the Great Plains to the mountains of
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Colorado, and then turn south through New Mexico,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57to my journey's end in the spectacular Grand Canyon.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02On this leg, I'm starting in infamous Dodge City, Kansas.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Then travelling to Lamar, Colorado,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07on the western edge of the Great Plains.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Along the way, I discover what life was like in the old Wild West...
0:02:14 > 0:02:15He's got a gun!
0:02:17 > 0:02:19..give my verdict on a Kansas staple...
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Mmm. A nice bit of crispness around the crust, very nice.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28..and hear the harrowing story of the massacre at Sand Creek.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31A quote comes to mind in all atrocities.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36"The only thing necessary for evil to succeed
0:02:36 > 0:02:39"is for good men to do nothing."
0:02:49 > 0:02:54The night train from Topeka, Kansas, reaches Dodge City before dawn.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58So new arrivals must wait until sunrise for their first glimpse of
0:02:58 > 0:03:01America's fabled Wild West town.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Today, Dodge City has a population of around 30,000.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Many work in the meat processing industry.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18150 years ago, the arrival of the railroads sparked rapid growth in Dodge,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22and unleashed a tide of lawless behaviour that made it notorious.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Dodge City, nicknamed "cowboy capital of the world",
0:03:29 > 0:03:31"Queen of the cow towns,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33"wicked little city,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36"bibulous Babylon of the frontier."
0:03:36 > 0:03:40I wonder what it did to earn that reputation, and whether it deserved it.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48Dodge City was no more than a mud hut, or sod house, and a saloon before
0:03:48 > 0:03:52the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad built a depot and laid
0:03:52 > 0:03:54rails in 1872.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Buffalo hunters, then cattlemen were magnetised by the business
0:04:00 > 0:04:04opportunities, and used the railroad to transport hides,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09meat and cattle on an industrial scale to the cities of the East and North.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14To hear more about this western boom town,
0:04:14 > 0:04:20I've come to a reconstruction of Dodge's famous Long Branch Saloon.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Brent. Put it there.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Howdy, partner. Welcome to Dodge.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26Glad to finally have you here.
0:04:26 > 0:04:32'Brent Harris of the Boot Hill Museum keeps the spirit of the Old West alive.'
0:04:32 > 0:04:34How did Dodge City get started?
0:04:34 > 0:04:38It started in 1872, the train arrived in Dodge.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Shortly after come the longhorn cattle from Texas.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Along with them comes the young Texas cowboy.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50They've just spent three months driving a herd of more than 1,000
0:04:50 > 0:04:55longhorns, facing more danger and working harder than ever before in their life.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57These boys are weary, they're tired,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59they're probably a little bit angry.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00They're ready to let their hair down,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04paint the town red, and we're here to help them do that.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The cowboys arrived off the trail in early spring with three-months' pay
0:05:11 > 0:05:13in their pockets.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16And the railroad company shipped in fine liquor,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19boots and guns for them to spend it on.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26They turned a blind eye to the violence and lawlessness in the town's
0:05:26 > 0:05:29many bars, brothels and gambling dens.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33What about law enforcement?
0:05:33 > 0:05:38They hired Wyatt Earp, legendary Wyatt Earp, probably the best in the business.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40And of course, the first thing he wanted to know, what are the laws?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42What are the ordinances?
0:05:42 > 0:05:47The mayor at the time said, "The only laws are - don't kill the customers."
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Now, a year here in Dodge was early spring,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51late fall. In the winter, nothing happened.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55One year he was credited with 374 arrests.
0:05:57 > 0:06:03Earp's part in the legendary shootout at the OK Corral earned him a place in history.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07But the fearless lawman portrayed by Hollywood was more
0:06:07 > 0:06:09accurately a gambler and a gunslinger.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Do you think there'll be any trouble in town today?
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Well, if history is any indication, it's possible.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22But first we're going to have to do something about that outfit.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23You look like a city slicker.
0:06:28 > 0:06:29Is that better?
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Dodge City's reputation as the hell on the plains was well-deserved.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44SCREAMING
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Oh!
0:06:48 > 0:06:49Oh!
0:07:02 > 0:07:04He's got a gun!
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- He's dead.- What happened here? - You keep that barrel pointed down.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15- Show your hands!- Hands up!
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I think half the town just got wiped out in front of me.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38By the mid-1880s, the railroads reached directly into Texas,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43heralding the end of the cattle drives and the cowboy capital became
0:07:43 > 0:07:45just another farm town on the plains.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Shortly before the first cattle drives headed for Dodge, in the mid-1870s,
0:07:54 > 0:07:59buffalo hunters piled in to use the railroad to transport their kill.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04The name of Dodge City will forever be associated with the demise of
0:08:04 > 0:08:06that magnificent beast.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Here's a poignant passage from Appletons'.
0:08:11 > 0:08:17"At every little station, heaps of buffalo bones lie along the tracks.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23"The number of these gigantic animals slain by hide hunters in two or three
0:08:23 > 0:08:29"years in the territory tributary to the railway must have been over 500,000.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33"For many trainloads have already been hauled away,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37"and the industry of bone-picking is profitable."
0:08:38 > 0:08:43I feel ashamed, because surely we measure our humanity not only by how
0:08:43 > 0:08:47we treat one another, but by how we behave towards animals.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Especially the buffalo,
0:08:48 > 0:08:53that man used for survival and to further his progress.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Vast herds of buffalo roamed the grasslands of North America for
0:09:01 > 0:09:0710,000 years, but within 50 years of the white man's arrival in the West,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09they were hunted close to extinction.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15Today, a small herd of rare breed buffalo, or bison, have been re-introduced
0:09:15 > 0:09:20on the plains around Dodge by the Wild West Heritage Foundation.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Its president, Ryan Deutsch, is keen to show them off.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Ryan, as we approach the bison and the buffalo, you better give me the dos
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and don'ts. What are the safety rules?
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Well, I wouldn't recommend getting out and petting them.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37That's why we're in the back of this truck going down here rather than walking.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43The herd is made up of a rare golden bull buffalo, known as Buck,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47and three cows, who all gave birth during the summer.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55It's good to see some handsome specimens of buffalo here today.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58I've been reading about the slaughter of them.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Before the slaughter, what kind of numbers were there?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03You know, back in the mid-1800s,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07there was nearly 60 million of these buffalo roaming the plains.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10And what was their relationship with the Native American?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13You know, the buffalo were such a tremendous asset.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14Not just as a source of food.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Starting with their hides, which are used for bedding, clothing, tepees.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21The brain of the buffalo was used to tan the hides.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The bones were used for weapons and tools.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28The stomachs and the bladders were even used for containers,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31and all the way down to the manure was used for fuel.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34So the Native Americans hunted them, but there was no danger in those
0:10:34 > 0:10:36days that they would be hunted to extinction?
0:10:36 > 0:10:38That's correct.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42The arrival of the railroad spelled the end of the buffalo.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46The enormous herds delayed trains and destroyed track.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Rail companies responded by offering hunting specials,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53from which passengers would shoot the animals for sport.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00One Dodge City trader reportedly shipped 200,000 hides at a time back east,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03where they were made into coats and hats,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06as well as leather belting to drive the machines of America's
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Industrial Revolution.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11What is the attitude of the white American when he arrives in
0:11:11 > 0:11:13- the territory?- You know,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17it's more of a young man coming in for adventure and trying to make a profit.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21There was individuals that could kill 100 or 250 a day,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23and when they could sell those for three dollars a hide, you know,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26it was a very lucrative business back in the time when the average
0:11:26 > 0:11:28worker was making about a dollar a day.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Now, from what you've told me, the relationship with the Native American,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35this must have impacted the Native Americans, too, enormously?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Absolutely. The population of the Native Americans went down greatly,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40as they depended on these animals.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:51 > 0:11:55I'm drawn to the Dodge City Depot by the unmistakable sounds of a
0:11:55 > 0:11:56big band.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07The Dodge City Cowboy Band, founded in the early 1880s,
0:12:07 > 0:12:08is still going strong.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13THEY PLAY THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Wow, that was fantastic.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Very patriotic. The Stars And Stripes Forever.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I never saw it conducted with a gun before.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37LAUGHTER Tell me about that. What are you doing with a gun?
0:12:37 > 0:12:42It's in the tradition of Chalkley Beeson, who began the Cowboy Band
0:12:42 > 0:12:46here in Dodge City. He conducted with a gun, for show, of course.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50But he said that if any person
0:12:50 > 0:12:54- played a false note, he'd kill them. - Anyone you want to pick out today?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57LAUGHTER
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Chalkley Beeson was a buffalo hunter turned cowboy, then saloon owner.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06His band began playing nightly outside the Long Branch Saloon.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Its fame quickly spread.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13The band serenaded the governor and in 1889 travelled to Washington DC
0:13:13 > 0:13:17to play at the inauguration of President Benjamin Harrison.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24They weren't working cowboys of the day, they may have owned steers and cattle.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27They wanted to give that impression of what Dodge City was.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Now, at the risk of someone getting shot this time,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34can I have a few more bars? Oh, here comes the revolver.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36LAUGHTER
0:13:36 > 0:13:38THEY PLAY THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER
0:13:53 > 0:13:56With the oppression of the Native American,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and the extermination of the buffalo,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02the story of the Wild West is quite morally complicated.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06But the cowboy is the enduring hero.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11This booted and spurred figure, through literature, through stage shows,
0:14:11 > 0:14:12through movies,
0:14:12 > 0:14:18has become the greatest source of entertainment that the world has
0:14:18 > 0:14:19ever known.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28I'm up early to leave Dodge as I arrived, under cover of darkness.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I'm catching my old friend the Super Southwest Chief,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36which will carry me to my next destination.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43- Good morning.- Morning, sir.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44- Bright and early.- Oh, yeah.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53The next stage of my journey takes me through an area known as the
0:14:53 > 0:14:55breadbasket of America.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01As I follow the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe route,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I'm tracing the history of the West.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08This land was once home to the Plains Indians,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11but was granted to the railroad companies by the government,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14for sale to prospective settlers.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16In the 1879 edition of Appletons',
0:15:16 > 0:15:21there's an intriguing advertisement placed by a railroad, luring people
0:15:21 > 0:15:24to Kansas to buy wheat-growing land.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27At the next stop, Garden City, a lady, Jannetta, will get
0:15:27 > 0:15:32on, who's going to tell me the story with reference to her own family history.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Watch your hands.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Jannetta?
0:15:40 > 0:15:41- Jannetta!- How are you?
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Good morning, welcome aboard.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45It's a big step up now.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47OK. There we go.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49There we are, that's better. Come on in.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53- All right.- I'm using this Appletons' from 1879 and there's an
0:15:53 > 0:15:58advertisement there placed by the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00"Lands, lands.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03"The leading wheat state in the union in 1878.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05"Kansas. A farm for everybody.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08"62,500 farms.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10"Five million acres for sale.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15"The best land in America from 2 to 6 per acre."
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Wow. It really was an interesting time, wasn't it?
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Oh, definitely. Well, the government wanted to break this all open
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and the early surveyors were
0:16:25 > 0:16:28like, "Oh, there is nothing out there but desert.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30"You don't want people to go out there."
0:16:30 > 0:16:35And what they would do then is to get people interested, they would
0:16:35 > 0:16:39sell plots of land very cheaply to build up towns.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Tell me about your ancestor, who was involved in this business.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46My ancestor, I happened to bring a picture of him, is IR Holmes,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and he was the land agent for Santa Fe.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And he came to Garden City
0:16:53 > 0:16:59and sold thousands of acres there, then moved up the train and he was
0:16:59 > 0:17:01one of the founding fathers of Lamar, Colorado.
0:17:01 > 0:17:07And then he would go down to Texas and run the routes down there.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12And so made his millions being a land agent.
0:17:13 > 0:17:19In the 1860s, the population of the state of Kansas tripled to a million,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24as settlers flooded onto the Great Plains and began to farm the land.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30- Further east, where I started my journey, there was an awful lot of corn.- Right.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Corn on the cob, as we would say. What made people here farm wheat?
0:17:34 > 0:17:39I do believe that where they came from in Germany, Russia,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43that kind of area, they were very familiar with the grains.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49In fact, my last name, Heberle, is German for "keeper of the grains".
0:17:50 > 0:17:54The government and railroad companies knew that the climate on
0:17:54 > 0:17:58the Great Plains would suit only settlers with experience of prairie-style
0:17:58 > 0:18:02agriculture. So advertisements were placed in northern Europe,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05including Russia and Scandinavia.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10The early European immigrants who responded managed successfully to
0:18:10 > 0:18:13grow winter wheat on a large scale in Kansas.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17And it remains one of the state's most important crops.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21I have a surprise. I baked this loaf of bread for you yesterday.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- You baked it?- I did. - Oh, it smells delicious.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27So, we're going to break the bread, Michael.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31This is what nice, fresh bread looks like.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38Mmm! Very nice taste. Nice bit of crispness around the crust, very nice.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Well, Jannetta, thank you. You have brought me bread from the breadbasket
0:18:42 > 0:18:44- of America.- Fresh from my kitchen, even.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46SHE LAUGHS
0:19:02 > 0:19:04During the late-19th century,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08there seemed to be no limit to the power of the railroads.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16We've crossed into Colorado and the clocks go back one hour.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22We've moved from Central Standard Time to Mountain Standard Time.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Before the railroads established time zones,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29every town set its own time according to dawn and dusk.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32By the 1880s, when the time zones were introduced,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35the power of the railroads was resented.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39One newspaper commented, "The sun is no longer the boss,
0:19:39 > 0:19:45"55 million people must eat and sleep and work, as well as travel,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47"by railroad time."
0:19:47 > 0:19:51But in fact, the railroads have brought order out of chaos.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- Thank you very much, sir.- Thank you.- Y'all enjoy.- Thank you.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14Lamar, Colorado, a railroad town named after a 19th-century Senator,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16boasts a fine Art Deco cinema.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Having had an early start, breakfast is on my mind.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- Good morning, gentlemen. - Good morning.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- Do you come here regularly?- Yes.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31He has coffee here every morning.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34And what have you had for breakfast today?
0:20:34 > 0:20:36I had eggs and bacon.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39That's fairly standard. What did you have?
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Eggs, bacon, biscuits.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And the biscuit is a little round thing.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- It's like what I would call a scone? - Well, we eat biscuits like this.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49- Do you?- Yeah. - I'm in Colorado now.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Big biscuit country.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54I've ordered pancakes today. Do you think that's a good choice?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Yeah, that's a real good choice.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Ah, thank... And that's for me. Thank you very much.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Some maple syrup.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06You're supposed to pile them all up, one on top of the other.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Oh, really? Let me try that.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Pile them all on top of each other.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13- Am I doing better now?- Yeah,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16you're doing better now, but you need more maple syrup.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- Maple syrup on there.- Pancakes have a tendency to be dry.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22- Are they good that way?- They are.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24That is the right way to eat them.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31I'm heading 50 miles north of town,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34to a long-since abandoned stop on the railroad line.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51The first noteworthy station in Colorado, says Appletons',
0:21:51 > 0:21:54is Kit Carson.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55It's gone now.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57"Situated on Sand Creek,
0:21:57 > 0:22:04"about 20 miles above the spot where Colonel Chivington's Indian massacre
0:22:04 > 0:22:05"took place."
0:22:05 > 0:22:09The United States has not been particularly keen to own up
0:22:09 > 0:22:11to atrocities against Native Americans,
0:22:11 > 0:22:16and so it's interesting to find in an 1891 publication,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19that it's already described as a massacre.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29The Sand Creek massacre was one of the most shameful incidents in the
0:22:29 > 0:22:34wars between the United States and the Indian tribes who found themselves in
0:22:34 > 0:22:37the way of white settlement of the Great Plains.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Jeff Campbell is consultant historian for this national historic site.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48A former police investigator,
0:22:48 > 0:22:53he's devoted the past 16 years to examining evidence from the terrible
0:22:53 > 0:22:57events which took place here in November 1864.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02A melancholy sight.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04What was the background to the massacre?
0:23:04 > 0:23:10This was a reservation area from Sand Creak down to the Arkansas River.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15It was assigned to the Cheyennes and Arapahos in 1860 by treaty.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21That treaty greatly reduced Native American Indian lands.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25And in response, they stepped up raids on white settlements.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30The governor of Colorado territory declared war on all hostile Indians.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34In August 1864, with tensions rising,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38tribal chiefs resumed talks with the territorial government and the
0:23:38 > 0:23:40United States Army.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44It was the understanding of the chiefs and most of the people there
0:23:44 > 0:23:47that negotiations would continue.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51The Cheyennes returned to this area.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53They set up a camp here.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57They felt that they were under the protection of the military.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00On 28 November,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04a group of US cavalry left Fort Lyon and rode through the night,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07arriving at Sand Creek at six on the morning of the 29th.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11They were led by Colonel John Milton Chivington,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14a former elder of the Methodist Church,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18well-known for his violent hatred of the Plains Indians.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Over what area, looking from here, did the massacre occur?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28The soldiers came from the south
0:24:28 > 0:24:31and they came up around the bottom of this hill,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34and we have pretty well located that from soldier testimony.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38They came across here and they went up the valley,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42and as I pointed to the village stood in there,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45it was about a half mile from end to end.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Women were up maintaining the camp.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51They were getting water, cooking morning meals,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and they heard, in this quiet, calm morning,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59what they thought were the sounds of many, many hooves.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02And they went back to the tents, or the tepees, and they were saying,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06"The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming!"
0:25:06 > 0:25:07What they heard were the soldiers.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12And about 675 horses, plus four pieces of artillery.
0:25:14 > 0:25:15Over nine hours,
0:25:15 > 0:25:20between 200 and 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians
0:25:20 > 0:25:23were killed, and a similar number wounded.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Eyewitness reports from two United States officers who
0:25:27 > 0:25:30refused to take part describe horrific scenes,
0:25:30 > 0:25:36as soldiers tortured women and children and looted and burned the camp.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40And was this action maverick or officially sanctioned?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44We may never know. Because there is very little
0:25:44 > 0:25:49written word or orders or anything to the effect to attack these people.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51In the aftermath,
0:25:51 > 0:25:57there were at least five general in staff that discredited and disavowed
0:25:57 > 0:26:01the attack on Sand Creek as unprofessional,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04breaking of trust and honour,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09ungentlemanly like, unmilitary like,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13against the flag of truce.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20Neither Colonel Chivington nor any of his soldiers was ever indicted or tried.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23In 2007,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Sand Creek was designated a National Historic Site in recognition of its
0:26:28 > 0:26:30significance, and every year,
0:26:30 > 0:26:35prayer ceremonies and healing rituals are held at this spot.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41You must have reflected on this event a great deal.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43How do you feel about it?
0:26:43 > 0:26:47A quote from the British...
0:26:47 > 0:26:52philosopher Edmund Burke comes to mind...
0:26:52 > 0:26:55as in all atrocities.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59"The only thing necessary for evil to succeed
0:26:59 > 0:27:03"is for good men to do nothing."
0:27:09 > 0:27:13The Native Americans suffered because of the greed of land-grabbers,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17cowboys and railroads as they pushed west.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22But remember that most of the white Americans were of European descent.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26When the Spanish had colonised Peru and Mexico,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30they'd been equally villainous and murderous with the indigenous
0:27:30 > 0:27:35population. It was the English that introduced slavery to Virginia,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40bequeathing to the United States a bitter legacy not fully resolved to
0:27:40 > 0:27:42this day.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46If the treatment of the native is a stain on American history,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50then the Europeans have no reason to be smug.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Next time, I'm transported back to the Mexican-American war.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08- Are you ready?- Yes, sir.- That's the spirit.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I explore gun culture in the Old West.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14You have to remember there was not a lot of law and order.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And discover what drove railway expansion.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Out it comes one more time.
0:28:20 > 0:28:26Much longer and slimmer and giving off an extraordinary amount of heat.