:00:00. > :00:00.Those are your headlines on BBC News.
:00:07. > :00:18.This is the mighty Mississippi, the economic backbone of early America
:00:19. > :00:24.running north to south more than 2000 miles, carrying the people and
:00:25. > :00:35.cargo that helped to turn this country from a fledgeling upstart
:00:36. > :00:43.into a powerhouse. For much of the 19th-century steamboats like this
:00:44. > :00:47.ruled the river. But in 1879 construction began on a
:00:48. > :00:52.transcontinental train line that would link the new-found prosperity
:00:53. > :00:57.with the isolated far west, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with
:00:58. > :01:00.the Pacific Ocean. On this January I will follow the railroad that pushed
:01:01. > :01:10.the American dream along the Mexican border all the way to California. It
:01:11. > :01:14.is a unique city. And I will meet people who helped to define this
:01:15. > :01:31.unique, diverse and fascinating part of the country -- journey. New
:01:32. > :01:36.Orleans, my first port of call. Right now in the middle of one of
:01:37. > :01:47.its annual street parties, the French Water Festival -- Quarter. It
:01:48. > :01:50.gets its name from when the French founded the city in 1718 as a
:01:51. > :01:58.strategic port on the Mississippi and golf of Mexico. The Spanish also
:01:59. > :02:02.ran the city before it was bought by the US in 1803 -- Gulf of Mexico.
:02:03. > :02:13.And you can see all these influences in New Orleans' world-famous
:02:14. > :02:16.architecture, food and music. That is New Orleans exactly how I
:02:17. > :02:20.imagined it, a bra spent going down the street and a whole crowd
:02:21. > :02:29.following them are getting into the vibe. Fantastic. Now, the city might
:02:30. > :02:38.be best known for jazz, but you can also find a type of music you that
:02:39. > :02:48.I've never encountered before. Chubby carrier is a Grammy award
:02:49. > :02:55.winner and the third generation music family. People get it mixed up
:02:56. > :03:06.with this music but you hear blues, R, Seoul mixed into one. -- soul.
:03:07. > :03:10.This, Chubby says, is that the expression of Louisiana's black real
:03:11. > :03:15.community, a bit of African, French and Caribbean mixed up and apart
:03:16. > :03:19.from the accordion, Chubby says the essential instrument is the one that
:03:20. > :03:26.evolved from his grandmothers watch bought. This is my grandmother's
:03:27. > :03:30.washing machine. This was her washing machine back in the day. The
:03:31. > :03:34.buttons on your shirt would make a little sound like this and the
:03:35. > :03:41.grandmother would wash" at the time and of course we were going, hey,
:03:42. > :03:44.that sounds good. It might fit with the accordion, bring it over here.
:03:45. > :03:51.She said, you must be out of your mind. This is how I do my laundry.
:03:52. > :04:01.Can I...? You should try, it is percussion in zydeco. You have the
:04:02. > :04:16.rhythm going like this in your head. That is it. When you hit the board
:04:17. > :04:21.you lose it. Why? I don't know. The streets are packed and there is a
:04:22. > :04:28.jubilant atmosphere here. But it has been hard won. It has taken more
:04:29. > :04:35.than a decade for tourist numbers to recover from the devastation of
:04:36. > :04:41.Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Music has helped the city get its mojo back
:04:42. > :04:49.and festivals like this are better than ever. I feel lucky to have a
:04:50. > :04:54.ringside view. -- bigger than ever. When you point a camera to you I
:04:55. > :04:58.want you to shake your booty like your mum gave it to you. We want to
:04:59. > :05:14.show them how we do it in New Orleans. And then after my friendly
:05:15. > :05:29.disastrous ten minute lesson, this happens...
:05:30. > :05:43.BBC Travel here, y'all! And the party goes on long into the night,
:05:44. > :05:54.but I have got an early start and a very long trip ahead of me. So, that
:05:55. > :06:05.was New Orleans in all its flamboyant glory. It is eight in the
:06:06. > :06:11.morning and today I am heading west. 21. Thank you so much. And the
:06:12. > :06:19.service I am taking is the Sunset Limited train line, the route dates
:06:20. > :06:24.back to 1894. And stretches some 2000 miles Coast to coast from New
:06:25. > :06:32.Orleans to Los Angeles, passing through five different US states, an
:06:33. > :06:36.Odyssey really. So this is a route steeped in history but I am hoping
:06:37. > :06:43.it is also going to tell me something about contemporary
:06:44. > :06:54.American too. Right up the stairs. Thank you. Back in the day, several
:06:55. > :06:58.railroad franchisers joined-up to create this pan American rail
:06:59. > :07:04.network and all along the route significant, historical and natural,
:07:05. > :07:09.reveal themselves to passengers. So this is the view of the Mississippi
:07:10. > :07:21.river on this bridge and we are right in the middle of two lanes of
:07:22. > :07:32.traffic which is a read feeling. -- weird feeling. God, it gets rocky,
:07:33. > :07:37.doesn't it? Keep your feet shoulderwidth apart and keep one
:07:38. > :07:41.hand free so you can touch things when you are going through. But the
:07:42. > :07:47.bars we have a great iron which you can use. Have you fallen on a
:07:48. > :07:54.customer? Yes. LAUGHTER. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
:07:55. > :08:01.We will be in New Iberia in 30 minutes. Train supervisor Bruce is a
:08:02. > :08:04.veteran of the Sunset Limited line. The railroad is what created the
:08:05. > :08:08.United States, opening transportation from east to west and
:08:09. > :08:15.that was the big thing, transportation of both goods and
:08:16. > :08:18.people. The train might have been instrumental in the creation of
:08:19. > :08:26.modern-day America but today rail use is way below that of air and
:08:27. > :08:31.road travel, which are often cheaper and quicker. So why would anyone
:08:32. > :08:38.take the train? You basically don't have planes flying into, and you
:08:39. > :08:42.don't have Greyhound buses going into, so these isolated areas in
:08:43. > :08:46.taxes especially, New Mexico, this is the lifeblood to get
:08:47. > :08:50.transportation through -- in Texas are specially. Every trip is unique.
:08:51. > :08:57.It is a unique city. You had people giving birth... That has happened?
:08:58. > :09:05.Oh, yeah, on the train. Sometimes we are one hour away from civilisation
:09:06. > :09:15.and babies don't wait. LAUGHTER. We just crossed the line, so go,
:09:16. > :09:20.guys, we're in Texas. On the role as we cross into Texas and are joined
:09:21. > :09:25.by a group of train buffs on a day trip. So, are you mostly here
:09:26. > :09:31.because of them, because of these two? Yes, he saw Thomas the Train
:09:32. > :09:36.one time when he was two years old and since then he has been all about
:09:37. > :09:43.trains. Join the club. LAUGHTER. I actually have a couple of Amtrack
:09:44. > :09:47.cars and since I got them I thought they looked so good that I was
:09:48. > :09:53.waiting for a long time to ride on Amtrack and I was thinking that it
:09:54. > :09:57.was like, time to get the tracks. Some people don't get to get into
:09:58. > :10:01.the smaller areas, the smaller towns, so by going through the back
:10:02. > :10:05.areas you have an opportunity to expand the mind, because once the
:10:06. > :10:17.mind expands it can never return to its original dimension. My next stop
:10:18. > :10:36.is the city of San Antonio, but not before the Sunset Limited lives up
:10:37. > :10:41.to its name. San Antonio is a modern, prosperous city. In fact now
:10:42. > :10:46.it is America's seventh-largest. It is very cosmopolitan and in many
:10:47. > :10:50.ways not their stereotype of Texas, but it does have one historical
:10:51. > :10:55.attraction which gets to the very heart of what it means to be
:10:56. > :11:05.American, and more spec -- especially Texan. This is the Alimo,
:11:06. > :11:08.a legendary site in US history where in 1836 a small group of troops
:11:09. > :11:17.fighting for Texan independence were laid siege by a much larger Mexican
:11:18. > :11:27.army -- Alamo. Texan forces held out for 13 days before they were
:11:28. > :11:31.overwhelmed and killed. Doctor, Winters, Bruce. But this historian,
:11:32. > :11:38.Bruce, says it would be simplistic to call it that guys Mexicans versus
:11:39. > :11:41.good guys Americans. This is a story about people, to make nations, a
:11:42. > :11:48.story about the idea of what should government be like --2 nation. It is
:11:49. > :11:55.really the convergence of Mexican history and US history. # any man
:11:56. > :12:00.that will fight to the death rolls over but if you want to leave the
:12:01. > :12:04.butterfly. The battle became a symbol of resistance and the
:12:05. > :12:16.struggle for independence the Texan won that year. # will remember the
:12:17. > :12:22.Alamo... Prepare for 12 times. Dot Reddy, load. Today, the Alamo is one
:12:23. > :12:26.of the top tourist attractions in the state and these re-enactors help
:12:27. > :12:34.tourists make sense of the complex past. Fire! APPLAUSE. That was
:12:35. > :12:39.scary! # we will remember the Alamo... So, I've been talked into
:12:40. > :12:46.having the full Alamo experience here. But Brian, tell me, there is a
:12:47. > :12:50.point to this, isn't there, it is living history. Absolutely. As
:12:51. > :12:55.people come in here they see how we or coffee, how we cook meat in the
:12:56. > :12:58.fire, the kind of food we would have, parched corn and beef is what
:12:59. > :13:02.they would have during battle. So what we try to do is just let people
:13:03. > :13:06.in on that side of history, give them a kind of taste, that emotional
:13:07. > :13:10.experience. What was the mood of the people in this situation and waiting
:13:11. > :13:15.in a sense for the Mexicans to come? This was home for them, this was
:13:16. > :13:17.their chance for a new life, and so in that they were willing to fight
:13:18. > :13:22.for something greater than themselves, which is kind of that,
:13:23. > :13:30.in my view, the amazing feeling you get at any battlefield site. This
:13:31. > :13:34.epic fight for freedom from Mexico might be part of the folklore of San
:13:35. > :13:37.Antonio, but Hispanic influence is also a huge part of the city's
:13:38. > :13:55.current identity. We are only two Hours Drive from the
:13:56. > :14:04.border, and contemporary Mexicana is celebrated here. When you win, what
:14:05. > :14:18.do we say? Watch don't we say? Bingo! If you say bingo, we don't
:14:19. > :14:22.use that word. We say lotteria. You put the T-shirt on, join a team and
:14:23. > :14:44.you realise this is about family, community and winning. You've got
:14:45. > :15:00.the double? -- devil? The next part, the deer. -- card. Somebody has won
:15:01. > :15:05.already. We all know the lotteria, it's important to us because my
:15:06. > :15:13.grandma didn't know English and I didn't know growing up. --I didn't
:15:14. > :15:18.know Spanish. It gave us quality time with each other. We had a
:15:19. > :15:25.connection during the game. Hello everyone, I'm from London and I'm
:15:26. > :15:38.going to bring you luck. Are you ready for this? How's my team doing?
:15:39. > :15:53.The barrel. Anyone close to winning? Lotteria! Your first time playing!
:15:54. > :15:58.Maybe we should let him win. What's it like being Mexican - American? I
:15:59. > :16:06.wouldn't change it, I love it. I have assured that says, I'm just
:16:07. > :16:12.lucky. It is true. Just because we are darker, it is hot in Texas. Our
:16:13. > :16:19.ancestors are from them, but we were born in the United States. Don't try
:16:20. > :16:29.to send us back to somewhere we are not even from. The next day and
:16:30. > :16:32.deeper into southern Texas, you find yourself even closer to the Mexican
:16:33. > :16:43.order. Some call it the last frontier. Alpine Station is the
:16:44. > :16:52.jumping off point to one of America's most rural vote in
:16:53. > :16:58.national parks. We drive through a Vista that feels straight out of a
:16:59. > :17:05.Western. They call it, big band, after a twist in the legendary
:17:06. > :17:20.movie. But today it separates the USA from Mexico -- big bend. This is
:17:21. > :17:26.the Rio Grande. Welcome to the border! This year marks the
:17:27. > :17:32.Centenary of the foundation of the National Parks service in the USA,
:17:33. > :17:47.and what a spectacular asset they are. Just to get out geography
:17:48. > :17:51.sorted, where is the USA? So we have Mexico over here, Texas over here.
:17:52. > :18:00.The actual border is the deepest current in the river. This would be
:18:01. > :18:05.the spot where some politicians in the US want to build a water wall.
:18:06. > :18:15.I'm not sure how they would manage that. It is not just the spectacular
:18:16. > :18:23.border with Mexico that makes the park unique. The desert extends
:18:24. > :18:29.north into New Mexico, but this part definitely contains the biggest
:18:30. > :18:32.chunk of the desert. Then there are the mountains, you get up in the
:18:33. > :18:41.high mountains and you get different species of animals, like tears in
:18:42. > :18:56.line, and trees. So there is big diversity in the flora and fauna.
:18:57. > :19:05.710, this is the Ranger out on foot patrol. Varies more to wild corner
:19:06. > :19:13.of the earth than the incredible diversity of living species. Big
:19:14. > :19:18.Bend has more dinosaur fossils than any other national park. Over 90
:19:19. > :19:26.species have been found here, dating back over 80 million years. This is
:19:27. > :19:38.fossilised dinosaur faecal material. Dinosaur Prue? That would be correct
:19:39. > :19:46.to. That is fossilised? Wow. -- dinosaur poo. That's the first time
:19:47. > :19:50.I've held dinosaur poo. A new exhibit dedicated to the dinosaurs
:19:51. > :19:59.is opening in September. It will incorporate these giant bonds cost
:20:00. > :20:06.of fossils. This is a crocodile dinosaur. You can see from its size
:20:07. > :20:11.that it is a well named species. I've seen crocodiles from today and
:20:12. > :20:18.they are pretty scary, but this is huge! This would have had around 40
:20:19. > :20:24.feet of length through the entire animal. Sometimes we find scarring
:20:25. > :20:37.in other animal bones from his teeth, so he literally ate the
:20:38. > :20:45.dinosaurs -- other dinosaurs. It contains 180 miles of Borders line
:20:46. > :20:50.is more relevant today than ever. 100 years ago, the people in this
:20:51. > :20:55.region, the border wasn't a significant part of daily life. The
:20:56. > :20:59.river was. So we had people who would live on the United States
:21:00. > :21:04.side, and they had cousins in Mexico. There would be a
:21:05. > :21:07.multinational community here because the boundary wasn't considered to be
:21:08. > :21:14.a significant part of daily life -- border zone. Now, we have made it a
:21:15. > :21:24.significant part of our politics. We head off to get a high vantage point
:21:25. > :21:28.of the Rio Grande River. We have a community in Mexico over here which
:21:29. > :21:35.has just over a couple of 100 people, but beyond that, that is
:21:36. > :21:39.protected land in Mexico. People can legally move between the two
:21:40. > :21:44.countries at a crossing point in the river. There are schemes where the
:21:45. > :21:48.sides were together to protect the environment. Sometimes they help us
:21:49. > :21:55.out with protecting our resources from wildfire, sometimes we partner
:21:56. > :22:03.together to remove invasive species to make the entire Rio Grande a
:22:04. > :22:08.better place. So the first half of my trek across the Southern stretch
:22:09. > :22:13.of the USA and is literally a stone's throw from Mexico. It is
:22:14. > :22:20.wonderfully tranquil, so it seems odd that this place has found itself
:22:21. > :22:23.at the front of politics. I am going to relish my last moments of
:22:24. > :22:33.serenity, because next week I continue my journey west where
:22:34. > :22:40.things start getting strange. You and I have just started something
:22:41. > :22:47.that we can't stop. There is only one problem. We are on this thing
:22:48. > :22:51.and there is no want to turn it off. Does that mean we are on it forever?
:22:52. > :22:57.In theory, that could happen.