0:00:02 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America
0:00:07 > 0:00:10with my reliable Appleton's Guide.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12CAR HORN HONKS
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late 19th century,
0:00:14 > 0:00:19'Appleton's General Guide to North America will direct me to all that's
0:00:19 > 0:00:20'novel...'
0:00:20 > 0:00:21..beautiful...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23..memorable...
0:00:23 > 0:00:24'..and striking...'
0:00:24 > 0:00:28..in the United States...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30As I journey across this vast continent,
0:00:30 > 0:00:36'I'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 > 0:00:43'helping to create the global super-state of today.'
0:01:08 > 0:01:10STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS
0:01:16 > 0:01:21I'm continuing my journey west on the South-West Chief train and now
0:01:21 > 0:01:23approaching the Rockies -
0:01:23 > 0:01:25the so-called continental divide,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29that represented a formidable barrier to the railroads
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and so to the unification of the United States.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35President Jefferson had needed only cash
0:01:35 > 0:01:38to acquire a vast amount of territory
0:01:38 > 0:01:42that doubled the size of his fledgling country.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47Out west, an even greater expansion would be achieved by war.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58My railroad journey began in St Louis, the gateway to the West,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and took me across the Kansas Plains to Dodge City.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Next, I continued to Colorado Springs in the Rockies,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08on to New Mexico's Albuquerque,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10before ending on one of
0:02:10 > 0:02:13the great natural wonders of the world.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18On this leg, I visit Colorado's La Junta and ranching territory,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22before crossing the Raton Pass into New Mexico.
0:02:26 > 0:02:27Present...
0:02:27 > 0:02:32This time, I'm transported back in time to the Mexican-American War.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Soldier, your buttons are a mess,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37but you don't need to buttons to fight a war.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38- Are you ready?- Yes, sir.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Explore gun culture in the Old West.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45You have to remember that there was not a lot of law and order.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48And discover what drove railway expansion.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Out it comes one more time,
0:02:50 > 0:02:56much longer and slimmer and giving off an extraordinary amount of heat.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14My next stop is La Junta.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Appleton's tells me it's the point of junction with the main line
0:03:18 > 0:03:22extending to all points in New Mexico and Arizona.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The first glimpse is caught of the Rocky Mountains
0:03:26 > 0:03:28still 60 miles distant.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30In 1845,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34a New York editor had written that, "The United States had a manifest
0:03:34 > 0:03:40"destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free
0:03:40 > 0:03:44"development of our yearly multiplying millions."
0:03:44 > 0:03:49This ideal, this God-given right, was to sweep all before it.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55In 1845, United States President James Polk
0:03:55 > 0:03:57was in dispute with Mexico -
0:03:57 > 0:04:02a vast, sparsely populated nation with a strong cattle industry,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05whose territory stretched to upper California.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10My next stop, La Junta, lay close to the western border
0:04:10 > 0:04:14between the United States and Mexico on the old Santa Fe Trail -
0:04:14 > 0:04:17an important trade route between the two.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27I'm heading eight miles east to Bent's Old Fort,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30in its heyday the south-west's only all-white settlement and trading
0:04:30 > 0:04:33centre on the Santa Fe Trail.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Set up by fur traders in 1833,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39it welcomed trappers and Plains Indians dealing in fur
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and buffalo hides.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45But in 1846, this neutral outpost became the base
0:04:45 > 0:04:47for one of three United States armies
0:04:47 > 0:04:50on the disputed border with Mexico.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Hasta luego.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Present arms.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01- Sergeant.- Yes, sir.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- What unit is this?- First Dragoons.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Kearny's Army of the West.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06Fine looking body of men.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- Excellent men, sir.- What use are you making of the fort?
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Well, we are on our way into Mexico, to Santa Fe and the thought is
0:05:13 > 0:05:15currently being used as a warehouse
0:05:15 > 0:05:17and hospital for the sick and injured.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Mm. Men are well prepared for it? - They are, they are well armed.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Soldier, your buttons are a mess,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25but you don't need good buttons to fight a war.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27- Are you ready?- Yes, sir.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29- Good.- Go get me a Mexican.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32That's the spirit. Now, here's a picture of a soldier.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33- Are you ready to fight? - Yes, sir.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Well, you look smart, the Mexicans will be terrified of you.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38Thank you.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- Sergeant.- Yes, sir. - I'm proud of you.- Thank you, sir.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- Permission to carry on.- Yes, sir.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Bent's Old Fort hosted Colonel Kearny's Army of the West,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51made up of his first United States Dragoons Regiment
0:05:51 > 0:05:55of 1,000 cavalrymen and an army of volunteers from Missouri.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00'John Carson is park ranger at today's living history museum.'
0:06:02 > 0:06:07John, in 1846 the United States forces are flowing into this remote
0:06:07 > 0:06:09place, Bent's Fort. Why?
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Well, President Polk has declared war on Mexico and Colonel Kearny's
0:06:13 > 0:06:18mission is to be the northern prong of the US invasion.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22In 1846, the Arkansas River, a quarter of a mile away,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25is the border between the United States and Mexico
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and this is the only place on the Santa Fe Trail to stop
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and use as a jumping off point.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38War had broken out over the annexation by the United States
0:06:38 > 0:06:40in 1845 of the then independent Texas,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42which had been Mexican territory.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47The two nations disputed the new border
0:06:47 > 0:06:52and whether Texas ended at the Nueces River or the Rio Grande.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57As tension mounted, the Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00leaving up to 16 Americans dead.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02President Polk saw an opportunity
0:07:02 > 0:07:06and rushed a war request through Congress.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08The idea then was the bigger you are,
0:07:08 > 0:07:13the stronger you are and he didn't use the phrase Manifest Destiny,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17but that became a huge movement where the United States had,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21if you will, God-given duty to gain control of all the land
0:07:21 > 0:07:23from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Manifest Destiny captured the public's imagination and was the
0:07:27 > 0:07:31subject of a painting by John Gast in 1872.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34America pictured herself leading civilisation,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37liberty and progress westward,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41sweeping aside the natives and their animals.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43How did Colonel Kearny's mission work out?
0:07:43 > 0:07:47It went pretty easy compared to the other two prongs.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Again, Kearny left here,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53got to Las Vegas and New Mexico and read his proclamation that that area
0:07:53 > 0:07:56was now going to be under the United States.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02Got to Apache Canyon on this side of the Santa Fe and Governor Armijo
0:08:02 > 0:08:07had a force of somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 men,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10but as the US Army neared that area, they left.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15So, basically Kearny walked into Santa Fe without firing a shot.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20'The two year war would fulfil America's Manifest Destiny,'
0:08:20 > 0:08:21but it came at a cost.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Over 14,000 Americans and up to 25,000 Mexicans
0:08:25 > 0:08:28paid with their lives.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31So, how much land did the United States gain in the end?
0:08:31 > 0:08:36We would gain what's now the southern part of Colorado,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, parts even of Wyoming,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Utah, Nevada and California.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- Immense.- Huge, huge.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53which ended the war in 1848,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56the United States gained the northern half of Mexico,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00representing roughly a third of the United States' landmass today.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06It also inherited a cattle ranching tradition developed under Spanish
0:09:06 > 0:09:08colonial rule.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14The legacy that would help to create the most iconic figure
0:09:14 > 0:09:16of the Wild West.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Is the cowboy simply a figure from history?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Well, there are still cattle, there are still ranches.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The old skills must still be alive.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28I think I should give them a try.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32After all, in my life, I've worn more than one hat.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Off the beaten track, south of La Junta, lies Las Animas County.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I'm hitching a ride through this ranching territory
0:09:44 > 0:09:46with Steve Wooten.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47Hello, Steve.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Thank you very much.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Welcome.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Good to see you, thank you.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Steve, has your family been in these parts for long?
0:10:00 > 0:10:05Michael, we've been in this part of the country for four generations.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10My great-grandfather emigrated from Ireland in 1860s and he developed a
0:10:10 > 0:10:13cattle business, a sheep wool business
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and a goat business, where he traded on the railhead
0:10:16 > 0:10:19that they developed there, so that they could transport
0:10:19 > 0:10:21livestock and the produce back east.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25The arrival of the railroad at La Junta in 1875
0:10:25 > 0:10:28transformed its cattle industry.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Large ranches could load cattle here and transport them east.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Unlike the cowboys of the cattle drives, ranch families settled.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39Did he acquire much land?
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Through the years, he did, Michael.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45By the time Papa Joe passed away, he'd made seven ranches,
0:10:45 > 0:10:50one for each of his children and the total amount of those ranches was of
0:10:50 > 0:10:52greater acreage than all of Ireland that he left.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54That is amazing.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58President Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act of 1862
0:10:58 > 0:11:01encouraged western migration.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Any adult citizen who headed a family could, for a small fee,
0:11:05 > 0:11:10received 168 acres of public land to cultivate for five years.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14The Act distributed 80 million acres by 1,900.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17And do you still have to do the cowboy things,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20like branding and lassoing and riding horses?
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Yes, Colorado is a brand state, so we brand our cattle.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26We prefer to move our cattle horseback.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28It's our tradition, it's our heritage,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32it's been done that way since 1800 and we like to carry that part on.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Gosh, Steve, you have a stunning property.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Look at this terrain.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Michael, we're blessed to be here.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53'Steve's going to show me the ropes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56'It's a loopy business, but I'm game.'
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I think you'd better stand back.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15All right, let's get a bit of speed up now.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16Point it straight, there you go.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Walk towards it.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22'In the 18th century, native cowboys, called vaqueros,
0:12:22 > 0:12:23'from the Spanish word for cow,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27'developed their roping skills using braided rawhide.'
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Later, when Western settlers poured onto former Mexican land,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35they learned a traditional ways of the vaqueros.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40By the 1870s, the classic Wild West cowboy as we know him had arrived.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45This loop, double or nothing, point it right, palm down,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48right at the front of the bail.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50There you go. OK.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Step towards it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58I'd say, yes.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00That's as close as I'm going to get.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02I'm going to steer away from this activity.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04You're game, all right!
0:13:04 > 0:13:07- Good job.- Thank you.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- Hello, Joy.- Nice to see you. - Good to see you.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- Welcome to Beatty Canyon. - Thank you very much.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- What have you got in the pot, Joy? - We're cooking brisket.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Whoa! Look at that, that's huge.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29- One of your own beasts, of course? - Of course.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30It's great to cook outdoors.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I'm not sure whether today we're going to be able to eat outdoors,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35- what do you think?- I think it's going to rain,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37- which would be awesome. - "Awesome"?- Awesome.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40We always need rain on the dry parade.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42THUNDER CLAPS
0:13:50 > 0:13:53That is so good. Cooked to perfection.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56And wonderful to have a beast straight off the ranch.
0:13:56 > 0:13:57I wanted to ask you,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00I'm using a late 19th century guidebook to go around
0:14:00 > 0:14:03and I believe that even then tourists were coming to visit
0:14:03 > 0:14:05ranches, is that right?
0:14:05 > 0:14:09I think then they were dudes from the east that weren't
0:14:09 > 0:14:13accustomed to the open space, the cowboy lifestyle, the horseback,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17cattle riding, wrangling, and so they were craving that experience,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22because Western lifestyle had been iconicized in dime store novels.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Do you have dudes today?
0:14:24 > 0:14:28We do, but we're more of a traditional ranching experience,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30where you can get involved in all aspects of it -
0:14:30 > 0:14:33including the horses and the cattle, but the fencing,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36the windmilling and everything else
0:14:36 > 0:14:38that comes with raising cattle on a ranch.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Why do you think people are so attracted by the West?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44I believe it's the open space and the quietness.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09It's difficult for a European to get a hold on how big this country is.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Look, I've already come 550 miles from Kansas City.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I'll be passing through Flagstaff, still 700 miles to go.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21I'm 2,000 miles from New York, more than 1,000 miles from Los Angeles.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24With a country like this, let the train take the strain.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31From La Junta station, I'm taking an Appleton's recommended itinerary on
0:15:31 > 0:15:34the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Thank you.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Built along the great trading route of the Santa Fe Trail after the
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Mexican-American war,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45this important railroad connected Missouri with New Mexico.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49It greatly influenced settlement in the south-west.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55This is the topographical highlight of the journey. As Appleton says,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00"The railroad climbs the mountains through the Raton Pass on a grade of
0:16:00 > 0:16:04"185 feet to the mile.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08"At an elevation of 7,688 feet,
0:16:08 > 0:16:14"the train plunges into a tunnel under the crest of the Raton Range.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16"The light of Colorado quickly vanishes
0:16:16 > 0:16:20"and that which flashes upon us again in a few minutes
0:16:20 > 0:16:24"is the warm brightness of sunny New Mexico."
0:16:27 > 0:16:30So long, Colorado.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Howdy, New Mexico.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46Raton was a ranching town
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and trade centre that flourished thanks to the railroad.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Today, alongside its many tourist attractions,
0:16:55 > 0:17:01Raton lists a vast 33,000 acre shooting and recreation centre.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04It belongs to the National Rifle Association.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13The NRA was founded in 1871 by Union veterans dismayed at the poor
0:17:13 > 0:17:15marksmanship shown by Northern Yankee troops
0:17:15 > 0:17:18during the American Civil War.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Today, it's a powerful gun lobby.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'I'm meeting firearms museum curator Robbie Roberts
0:17:25 > 0:17:30'to find out about guns in the Wild West and their legacy today.'
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Robbie, in the exploration and the settling
0:17:32 > 0:17:34- and the conquest of the West... - Yes.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39..do the explorers and the settlers and cowboys, do they need the gun?
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Absolutely. It was an invaluable tool for the folks coming out west.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Hunting to put food on the table,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50they were used for self-defence against the Indians and the outlaws.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52You have to member back in the Old West,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55there was not a lot of law and order and in a lot of cases,
0:17:55 > 0:18:00you couldn't tell the lawmen from the outlaws, OK?
0:18:00 > 0:18:03But their primary use was to put food on the table.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Fur traders, pioneer settlers,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12soldiers and Native Americans relied on their guns.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16By the 1860s, a time of Civil War and great western expansion,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19a significant firearms industry has emerged,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21dominated by gun makers such as Colt,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Smith & Wesson and Winchester.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Probably the most recognisable is the Colt single action,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31the model of 1873.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32It's called the Peacemaker
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and it was actually developed for the United States Army,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39but it was so good that it went and wound up in the civilian market.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And, literally, millions of them were sold over the years and
0:18:42 > 0:18:44they're still in production today.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47This weapon, then, represents a breakthrough, does it?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Yes, sir, it does. Absolutely, because it is a revolver
0:18:50 > 0:18:51and the biggest advancement was
0:18:51 > 0:18:53it used a self-contained metallic cartridge,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57whereas the firearms that predated it were all cap and ball
0:18:57 > 0:19:00muzzle-loaders, basically.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03The American Civil War was followed by a series of Indian wars,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06as the United States Army pushed west
0:19:06 > 0:19:10and Native Americans resisted encroachment on their land.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15The Army shipped 37,000 Colt pistols to its cavalry
0:19:15 > 0:19:18as the standard issue sidearm.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Now, what about the long barrel weapons?
0:19:21 > 0:19:26Probably, again, the most recognisable is the Winchester 1873.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27- Oh, yes.- OK.
0:19:27 > 0:19:34And this was used by the Army, by cowboys, by Native Americans?
0:19:34 > 0:19:36All except the Army. They didn't really welcome them,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39because they thought it was a waste of ammunition.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42To give you an example - when Custer went to Little Bighorn,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44they were all shooting, their standard issue
0:19:44 > 0:19:46was single-shot rifles.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49The Indians, on the other hand, had repeating rifles.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55In the early 20th century, an advertising campaign marketed
0:19:55 > 0:19:59the Winchester as the gun that won the West.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Hollywood reinforced this in the 1950s,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07glorifying the cowboy era and placing the iconic rifle
0:20:07 > 0:20:10in the hands of gun-toting legends.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Is there an opportunity to fire a weapon today?
0:20:13 > 0:20:16You betcha. We'll go out and shoot a Colt and, you know,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19if we want to do that, we need to head to the range as we speak.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20Good.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- You're going to hit those ducks, are you?- I'm going to try.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34There's no guarantee in the shooting world.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39'Robbie exercises his constitutional right to keep and bear firearms.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42'Around a third of Americans either own a gun
0:20:42 > 0:20:44'or live with someone who does.'
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Even when you're ready for it, it's pretty loud, isn't it?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Yes, it is.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00- How did you do, Robbie? - Not very good,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- but you'll notice I was pretty close.- You were pretty close,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06I could see the sand being kicked up just beyond the target.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Yes, I was a little high.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Now, if that was an animal or if it was a bad guy out there,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13it wouldn't have mattered, because they would have been deadly.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17- You routinely carry a gun? - Yes, sir, every day.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22- Why?- Well, because I'm going to protect myself and my family.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Now, I've never had to use it and I'm thankful of that.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31I don't want to have to use it, but if somebody's there to do me ill,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33I would rather be prepared than not be prepared.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35So, you've never had to use it in your life?
0:21:35 > 0:21:39- No.- But every day of your life, there's been a risk that it might go
0:21:39 > 0:21:43off accidentally, that one of your kids might get hold of it.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47- I don't know, you're running a risk every day?- No. One, you know,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51gun safety is paramount and all the gun accidents that happen,
0:21:51 > 0:21:52I guarantee you,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55one of the three golden rules of gun safety was violated.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Is that the fault of the gun?
0:21:57 > 0:22:01No, it's the fault of the individual behind the gun.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Does it not worry you that a high school student may come in
0:22:04 > 0:22:06and buy a gun and massacre his classmates?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Well, is it something that we think about every day?
0:22:09 > 0:22:11No. Is it a concern?
0:22:11 > 0:22:12Sure, it's a concern.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Is there a gun law that's going to stop that?
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Unfortunately, no.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21To Europeans, these views are surprising.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Indeed, the United States astonishes us again and again.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28But travel is meant to broaden the mind.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32It seems that Americans are much influenced by a history that's bound
0:22:32 > 0:22:34up with the Colt and the Winchester.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39From the New Mexico border heading north,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41there are now no passenger services
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and the line has been given over to freight.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Appleton's draws me to Pueblo,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53one of the chief cities of southern Colorado.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Once situated on the historic Denver and Rio Grande railroad,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00my guidebook tells me that it has a large steel works.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I'd always thought of steel as coming from Pittsburgh
0:23:06 > 0:23:08and the East, but the guidebook opens my eyes
0:23:08 > 0:23:11to something that should have been obvious.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14If you're going to build a railroad from ocean to ocean,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17you needed a steel plant in the West.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24I'm meeting general manager Ben Lutz at the sight of the original plant
0:23:24 > 0:23:26that made this steel city.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Ben, this is a tremendous piece of industrial archaeology.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I have a real sense of history here.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35And, indeed, this plant is mentioned in my 1891 Appleton's,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37so you've been here a good long time.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Yes, we started manufacturing rails back in 1882.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Why was it that the plant was located here?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47The Rocky Mountains are rich with iron ore and coal deposits,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50which are two primary materials that are needed
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and the railroads needed a supply of rail here in the West,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57to continue their westward expansion.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01William Jackson Palmer was the railroad tycoon
0:24:01 > 0:24:05behind the Denver and Rio Grande western railroad.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Instead of importing steel from the East,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10he decided that it was cheaper to make steel rails in the West.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12His affiliate business,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16the Colorado Coal and Iron Company, created the first integrated steel mill
0:24:16 > 0:24:18west of the Mississippi.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22And it was the railroads then that drove the existence of this plant,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25the demand for the steel from the railroads?
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Absolutely. This plant is here for rail
0:24:27 > 0:24:29and that's still what we make today.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39So, these great tubes of hot metal.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42- Yes.- What are they? - So, these are blooms.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45They come from our steel-making process.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Here, we are a 100% recycling operation.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Our primary source is shredded automobiles.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56And you can make a reliable rail for the railroad out of shredded
0:24:56 > 0:24:58- automobiles?- Yes, we can.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The old steel mill used the British Bessemer method.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Four blast furnaces belted out plumes of smoke,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10as steel was made from the chemical reaction between coal and iron ore.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15So, this is the initial rolling process, called our breakdown mill.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20This is where we'll start to change the shape from the round we saw
0:25:20 > 0:25:23earlier into something that looks a lot more like a rail.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Much more of it appearing now and...whoa!
0:25:28 > 0:25:30A lot of heat coming off that metal.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Yes! The rolling temperature here is about 1,900 degrees.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38That's the optimal temperature for rolling steel.
0:25:38 > 0:25:39How many rails do you make here?
0:25:39 > 0:25:43So, every day, we'll produce about 1,000 rails.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47- A day?- A thousand rails per day.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Out it comes one more time.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55Much longer and slimmer and giving off an extraordinary amount of heat,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57as it disappears past us.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Pueblo's steel plant was acquired by the Rockefeller family in 1903 and
0:26:03 > 0:26:08became central to a steel business that in 1906 employed as much as 10%
0:26:08 > 0:26:11of Colorado's population.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16One of the things that I noticed was just how long the rails were,
0:26:16 > 0:26:17much longer than in the old days.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Correct. Lengths have progressed throughout the years.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26Originally, starting very short just to what the men could carry by hand.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Today, the standard is approximately 80 feet.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32So, you take these 80-foot lengths and then what do you do to them?
0:26:32 > 0:26:36They travel in special trains that can take 48 pieces
0:26:36 > 0:26:39of quarter-mile-long rail out to the field.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- That I have to see. - We certainly will.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Then, a remarkable sight.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Very long rails coming out of what?
0:26:52 > 0:26:53So, this is a welding plant,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57where the 80-foot pieces that we produce are flash-butt welded
0:26:57 > 0:27:00together into quarter-mile-long pieces.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02And then loaded onto these enormous trains?
0:27:02 > 0:27:07Yes, specialised trains made to handle the quarter-mile pieces,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10taking them to the field where they'll be installed.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12And are your markets in North America?
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Yes, we supply all the major railroads in North America,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18even the Amtrak Route from Kansas to Trinidad,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Colorado was made with rail from this facility.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24I've been travelling on that very route
0:27:24 > 0:27:26and I knew that it felt smooth.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28I'm glad you're enjoying it.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38The war against Mexico gained the United States the far West,
0:27:38 > 0:27:43enabling railroads to be built from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The United States Army and cowboys subdued the Native American.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51The nation's Manifest Destiny was fulfilled.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Providence no doubt was at work,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58but the bullet played at least an important supporting role.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05Next time, I ride the historic railroad that sparked a war.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09They aimed their guns at each other, shots were fired back and forth.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13# America, America... #
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Explore the origins of an iconic national hymn.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And ascend to 14,000 feet.
0:28:21 > 0:28:27Oh, my word, we are going to the very edge.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29That's unbelievable.