All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S03E05.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator] A run down
nature park

full of strange secrets.

[Shawn] Some find it creepy
and spooky at night.

Me, I love the dark.
It doesn't bother me.

I'm the boogie man out here.

[laughs]

[narrator] Forgotten machines
that were so advanced,

their technology
is still classified.

[Ron] It were supposed
to be top secret.

It were supposed
to be locked up.

It wasn't.

[narrator] And a towering
skyscraper

that oversaw the rise
and fall of a city.

This building was
the heartbeat of Memphis.

[narrator] Scattered across
the Unites States

are abandoned structures

and those who know
their stories.

These forgotten ruins

reveal the past
of this land

and its people.

These are the secrets
of hidden America.

Hidden in the forests
of upstate New York,

lies a pioneering place

that connected
people with nature

for better or for worse.

[Shawn] Growing up here
was kind of desolate.

Kind of barren.

It's wild.

It's primitive.

And in the end,
it's very peaceful.

[Sascha] The Catskills are now
this vacation hotspot

but they're also a place

shrouded in history
and legends.

[Kyle] In the summer months,
it's a jungle here.

But in the winter,
it's freezing cold and frigid.

This change in weather
over the year

just chews up any building
that isn't maintained.

[Kenya] This place looks like
a tourist attraction

that time has forgotten.

It's always extra creepy

to go to abandoned places

where you know that
people had lots of fun.

[Shawn] This was
my Disney World growing up.

Coming down here was like,
you know, everything.

Everything, back in the day.

[Kyle] Through the trees,

a number of
distinct structures stand out.

Peeking out of the forest,

there are hints of
what this place used to be.

There are enclosures, cages,

a small amphitheater.

Makes me think that it was
a zoo of some sort.

[narrator] But this venue
of entertainment

harbored a dark secret.

[Sascha] This place
must have been
shut down for a reason.

But why was it
preserved like this?

Kept in a state of
suspended abandonment?

[Kenya] Some find it
creepy here at night.

But walking around
at night here

is a whole another experience.

A fun experience.

[soft music playing]

[narrator] Shawn Johnson
has been coming here
since he was a child.

He's now in charge
of keeping the memory
of this place alive.

[Shawn] I first came here
in 1977.

Me and my two sisters.

Totally amazed,
blown away.

It was something new
round of the corner.

New experience, new smell,
new wonder, new animal.

Magical.

[narrator] Covering 100 acres,

this is the oldest
private zoo in America.

This is
the Catskill Game Farm.

[Sascha] The Catskills
have always been

a vacation destination
for rich New Yorkers.

This place began
as a hobby

in the 1930s

for a New York Banker named
Roland Lindemann.

[Kenya] He filled it
with varieties of deer

which he raised
to be hunted

or sold to other farms.

[narrator] But the game farm
soon drew attention

because of it's
ideal location.

Back in the day, this was
a very very very popular
tourist area

due to the mountains,
the scenery.

The big people
from the city
for the summers

would be here
all summer long.

[narrator] The increased
affordability of automobiles
in the 1940s

led to a boom

in middle-class vacationers
coming to the Catskills.

Lindemann soon realized

he would have
an even more
lucrative business

if he created a petting zoo

with the offspring
of his game animals.

[Kenya] Children during
the post-war baby boom

loved the Catskill Game Farm,

because they could feed
baby animals.

By 1950,

nearly 200,000 visitors

were visiting
the game farm yearly.

And they had almost
a 1000 animals
which could be seen.

[narrator] The game farm
was officially recognized

as a zoological park

by the Department
of Agriculture in 1958

making Roland Lindemann
the first private zoo owner
in the nation.

[Shawn] I grew passion
in conservation

and restoration to the wild

and expanding
people's experiences
with different species.

Some of
the real exotic species
they had here

was the white rhino.

That was my favorite animal
as a kid.

To me, it was
like a dinosaur.

The skin colors,
the horn, the whole nine.

To me it was just
like a unicorn.

Roland Lindemann
was born in Germany,

and hired a fellow German
George Heck

to be the game farm's
zoological director.

But Heck's family
had a dark history.

[Kyle] George Heck's father,
Lutz Heck,

was director of
the Berlin Zoological Garden.

He was also a hunting partner
with Hermann Goring,

which made him essentially
the Chief Zoological Officer

for the Nazi party.

[narrator] Lutz Heck
put his knowledge
to good use

as the Nazis
invaded Poland

in September 1939.

[Sascha] At the beginning
of the war,

Poland fell to
a Nazi Blitzkrieg
in five weeks.

Lutz Heck would be
a key figure

in the plundering
of Warsaw Zoo,

convincing the authorities
that he would protect
the animals.

Nazis' attitudes
towards these rare species

was the same as it was
toward art.

They would loot these animals
and send them back to Germany.

[narrator] But that was
not the limit

of Hitler's plans
for the wild creatures
of Europe.

He wanted to bring a species
back from the dead

with Lutz Heck
leading the charge.

In upstate New York,

the Catskill Game Farm
became

the largest private zoo
in the United States.

Yet it had an unexpected
Nazi connection

through its
zoological director.

George Heck's father,
Lutz, was tasked with

undertaking one of Hitler's
more unusual plans

before World War II.

[Kenya] Lutz Heck
was also key to trying
to resurrect

the European aurochs.

A wild oxen
that had gone extinct

and was at one time

a symbol
of the German people.

[Sascha] The aurochs program

was kind of a pet project
of Adolf Hitler's.

The idea was that
he would repopulate

the conquered areas
of Poland
and the Soviet Union

with this giant ox

that was somehow
symbolically representative
of the German people.

A kind of
zoological lebensraum.

But the whole breeding program
was a failure.

[narrator] George Heck
inherited a fascination for
zoology from his father.

But fortunately,
it led him down

a more legitimate path
at the Catskill Game Farm.

His partnership
with Roland Lindemann

proved to be a success

as they imported
a number of unique
near extinct species.

[Kyle] At its height,
the zoo was attracting

nearly half a million
visitors annually.

But by the end of
the 20th century,

it's fortunes
were in steep decline.

[Kenya] As of
many attractions
in the Catskills,

the '70s and '80s
and the promise of
cheap air fare

led to a decline
of the game farm.

It's easier to fly
to the Bahamas

than it'd be coming
driving two hours north

to go to a zoo.

But you know what,
the resorts closed down
one by one.

It was out of work.

I mean to me,
it was really bad.

[narrator] To keep
the zoo open,

Roland Lindemann
continued to rely

on the original purpose
of the game farm.

[Kyle] Unfortunately,
many of these animals

were sent to private ranches
for canned hunts.

A canned hunt
is essentially a situation

where wealthy high-rollers
seek out the opportunity

to kill game animals

who probably were raised
in tame environments

and set into enclosed areas

for these hunters to
get their kill easily.

[Kenya] This was
the dark side to the park.

The animals that were
fed by children for years,

were ultimately sold
to hunting ranches

when they got too big
to be petted.

[Sascha] Although
hunting is a very popular
national pastime,

this particular type,

canned hunting,
is of questionable legality

and 20 states
have laws limiting it
or banning it altogether.

[narrator] But these sales
were not enough
to save the park,

and eventually,
it's assets and animals
were auctioned off.

[Sascha] On the day
of the auction,

people showed up
from all over the country

to bid on
the remaining animals.

And amongst them

were operators
of canned hunts

but also
animal rights activists.

[Kyle] Fortunately,
there was a coordinated effort

on the part of
the conservationists

to buy as many animals
as possible.

They were successful
and they even saved

two white rhinos
from canned hunts.

[narrator] After over
70 years of operation,

the Catskill Game Farm
closed in 2006.

Almost 20 years
after its closure,

some animals
have returned.

[Shawn] They're my babies.
Make me happy.

Make me feel complete.

[narrator] Tourism has also
returned to these mountains.

And the game farm's
new owners

are in the process of
updating some of
the buildings.

[Kyle] The old
giraffe house has been
turned into a hotel,

aptly named
The Long Neck Inn

for tourists to come
and experience
some nostalgia.

I wake up every day
picture myself that
I'm in a dream.

That I'm actually running
the Catskill Game Farm.

To me, it's a privilege.

I love it.
Absolutely love it.

[narrator] Tucked away
in Central Colorado

are the classified remains
of a revolutionary
government program.

[Corina] It's a rather
non-descript block

on the edge of Pueblo.

We're near
some railroad tracks.

[Sascha] At first,
it looks like
storage yard,

or maybe
a parking lot.

But then, behind the fencing,
you notice these vast
white objects.

[Jim] Each one is different,
but they are all

long airplane-like structures,

streamlined,
but with no wings.

[narrator] These vehicles

are a version
of an American future

that never quite
came to fruition.

[Sascha] It's like
being in one of those

1970s sci-fi movies

that tries to show you
what the future
will look like.

[Corina] It's not obvious
how they work

or what they were
used for.

But what's very clear,

is that they were
extremely powerful.

Printed on the side
in bold letters
are the words...

[narrator] A phone call
to a government official

revealed that one machine

is still
a closely guarded
state secret.

[Ron] And he says,
how do you know
about that?

I say, I'm standing,
looking at it.

I send him
a picture.

And his first word
was [bleep].

[narrator] These machines
originally lived

at a secretive government
testing facility,

less than 30 miles away.

[Ron] It's kind of like
a little Area 51 out there.

You can't drive up to it.
They 'll get you.

[narrator] Ron Roach,

a former
U.S. Navy Submariner

knew that acquiring
these unique vehicles

would be a major coup.

[Ron] Lot of people
in a private organization here
tried to get these.

And they wouldn't
let them go.

I went out there

being military,
ex-military myself

and they're all
ex-military out there.

And we got
our heads together.

[narrator] From 2008,
a Pueblo-based foundation

officially took ownership
of these innovative vehicles.

They represent an era
when American transport

was at a crossroads.

[Corina] We can point to
the '60s as the decade

where Americans really
fell in love with the car.

[Sascha] The government
was deeply concerned

about the potential for
a country-wide gridlock.

And they felt that
another mode
of transportation

was desperately needed.

[Jim] In 1965,
Congress passed

the High-Speed
Ground Transportation Act.

When President Johnson
announced the act, he said,

"Today, an astronaut
can orbit the earth

in less time than it takes
a man to travel on the ground

from New York
to Washington D.C."

[narrator] Other countries
however,

were taking
impressive strides forward.

[Sascha] At the same time
the Japanese were unveiling
their new

130 mile per hour
bullet train.

France, meanwhile,
was pushing ahead

with their futuristic
aero-train

which was being tested
on tracks just outside
of Paris.

Built to achieve
a nominal cruising speed

of just over
a 100 miles an hour,

the aero-train achieved
nearly double that speed
on test run.

[Sascha] The world
was racing ahead
at breakneck speed.

The U.S. had to catch up
and it had to do it quickly.

[narrator]
Military contractors
submitted ambitious plans,

and these three vehicles

emerged as America's
leading candidates.

And the world
was watching

to see if they would
change the course
of history.

On the edge of Pueblo,
Colorado's downtown,

lie three forgotten machines.

They are known as
the rocket cars.

America's answer to
the global transportation
technology race.

The first prototype
to be tested

was called The Garrett.

[Ron] This one
was used to see how fast

you could run on rail.

It's all it was doing.

How fast it could
run on rail.

[Sascha] They used a 3000
horsepower turbine

from a crashed NASA airplane

to give it
all the power it needed.

[Corina] The Garrett
set the world speed record

for an air-powered
wheel-on-rail vehicle

at 255 miles per hour.

It is still holding
this record today.

[Jim] That must
have been exciting
and honestly, terrifying

for the crew
that did these experiments.

There's one red button
that always tripped us out.

It says "Know Psalms 23."

[Jim] It's the stop button.

I think the message is,

if you try to stop this thing
when it's going top speed,

you better start praying.

[narrator] But the Garrett
was unfortunately

an accident
waiting to happen.

The TGV
and the bullet train,
they tilt.

That's what keeps them
on the tracks.

This one
couldn't do that.

So there's a big chance
this come off the tracks.

Oh, yeah.

I'd hate to see
that thing come off
the tracks

at that speed.

[narrator] To revolutionize
train travel,

American engineers decided

they were going to
have to move away

from traditional
railroad tracks.

In 1972, the office
of high-speed
ground transportation

began testing
a brand new
train technology.

[Corina] The idea
of the hovertrain

came from
the hovercraft's concept.

If you could do that
over water,

why not over tracks?

[Ron] This is the Grumman.

It's called
a track-levitated
research vehicle.

It ran in channel
of concrete like this.

These big rubber pads here
kept it off the sides
of the concrete,

and the ones
on the bottom
lifted it up.

[Corina] So the Grumman
got it's levitation power

from three huge
turbofan engines on top.

It would suck in air
and then expel it
underneath.

[Ron] When they
first started to
run this thing,

they thought
it was a bird.

It tried to fly. It came about
six feet up off the ground.

[narrator] To this day,
mystery surrounds
this vehicle

and information on it,
is still classified.

[Corina] There's so much
we don't know about
the Grumman.

This makes you think,
what did they learn
developing it?

[narrator] The secretive
nature of this train

makes sense when you realize
the resemblance it has

to one of the most famous
vehicle of all time.

[Ron] We were told
by man that was
in the Smithsonian

that they wanted
to use this for

aerodynamic testing
for the space shuttle.

It looks just like
the shuttle.

[narrator] But much of it's
operational history

remains a national secret.

[Ron] To this day,
we've been unable

to get test results
on this thing.

[narrator] But just before
the Department
of transportation

pulled the plug
on the whole program,

one more radical machine
was tested.

The Roar Aerotrain.

[Ron] These two
big holes here
are air intakes.

If you were standing there
about 50 feet away,

and they fired
this thing up.

It would pull you hat
off of you and it'd
go through the fans.

[Corina] It was
another hovertrain,

but this one
ran on a monorail.

[Sascha] Stepping
inside the train really gets
the imagination working.

It's like stepping
into the past

and the future
at the same time.

[Ron] I used to enjoy
coming up here and just
sit down to look at it

and just dream
what it was to
operate this thing.

One thing so distinctive
about this train is,

it didn't have
a traditional cockpit

for the engineer
to look out of.

He would rely on
the video screens.

[narrator] In 1975,

the government strategy
shifted away from
high-speed rail

and the whole program
was shut down.

[Sascha] The forecast
of nationwide gridlock

never really materialized.

Mostly because
larger, cheaper airfare

became possible
across the nation.

[Jim] By the late '70s,
everybody was flying in jets,

and the cost was really
quite competitive,

even with old slow rail.

An Amtrak ticket
and plane ticket

were often roughly
the same price.

[Corina] This was
a pivotal moment
in American history.

A time when
the country could have had
a very different future

for transport.

[Ron] Like everything that...
everybody's dreams,

that kind of
got shattered.

And they ended.

And this is where
the dream sits right now.

[narrator] Ron proudly
remembers

the day these
unique trains arrived

having taken a long journey
from the nearby
testing facility.

These are very hard to move.

The one that we're
sitting in right now

was moved on
house-moving dollies.

And it took them
two and a half hours
to go eight miles.

I worked hard
on painting them,

and then to see them
finally here,

I sat back
and just went, ah...

They're here!

Being one of a kind,
that makes them very special.

[narrator] The rocket cars
have now sat dormant
for decades.

But their former home,
the high-security
test center,

is still in operation.

[Corina] All that security
and secretiveness,

it really makes you wonder,

what are they doing out there?

Maybe some new
improved rocket cars
are just around the corner.

[narrator] Near the mid-point
of the Mississippi River,

there's building that reaches
towards the skies.

It was built
to reflect hope,

but came crashing down
during a moment of
national tragedy.

[Meagan] It's incredible
to be up here.

There's no words.
This building is, it's iconic.

Knowing who
has been up here,

you feel part of history.

[Michele] We're in
Memphis, Tennessee,

home of the blues
and the birthplace
of rock n' roll.

[narrator] Among
the bustle of downtown,

a derelict 37-storey tower
dominates the skyline.

This place is huge,
it's the tallest
building around.

You would think it would be
bubbling over with

excitement and activities,
but yet, it's derelict.

This building has
a very eerie feel to it.

Floor after floor
of damaged furniture

and paper strewn about.

It's as if one day,
all of a sudden,

everyone just decided
to up and leave.

Why in the world
has it been abandoned?

[narrator] Above all
the empty floors,

sits something unexpected.

What is that on the roof?
It looks like a UFO

has landed right on
top of the building.

[narrator] While the pinnacle
was a spot for the city's
mover and shakers,

the building offered something
that Memphis had never
seen before.

In it's heyday,
this building was
the shining gem of Memphis.

The stars came
from all over.

[Michele] This building
represents the golden age

of both America
and capitalism.

But it was
brought down by one of
America's darkest days.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] This
37 story building
is the tallest in Memphis.

Lennard James
took a job here
as a college student.

When I first
started working here,
I was 24.

It was an exciting time,
living in Memphis.

And I was very happy
to get the job here.

We were the talk
of the town.

[narrator] This tower
was designed to cash in

on a feel good factor
spreading across the city.

[Philip] In the 1960s,
Memphis was becoming
the center

of culture and music

and people actually wanted
to relocate there.

[Michele] Local businessman
Harry Bloomfield had a dream.

He wanted to build a place
where all these fine minds,

lawyers, architects,
engineers, accountants,

could work together
under one roof

and make Memphis
a Metropolitan titan.

[narrator] This is
100 North Main.

Construction began here
on June the 30th, 1963.

[Sascha] Harry Bloomfield
had his 13-year-old son

break ground here
with a gold-plated shovel.

We can only imagine
that this was

a sign of this vision
that he had

of the building
in the city's future.

[narrator] By the time
the building opened

in 1965,

it was already
50% occupied.

Yet the real jewel
of 100 North Main

wasn't within its walls.

It's something
lifelong Memphis resident
Megan May

has seen many times
from the streets below.

So this is the pinnacle
of this building.

This is
the revolving restaurant.

It would make a full
360 degree rotation

every 90 minutes.

[Lennard] I was
the head bartender.

I liked the atmosphere,
going up the escalators,

and knowing you were gonna
be at the top of the world
in Memphis

when you get up there.

[narrator] This restaurant
may have offered
unbeatable views.

But the staff needed more

than just a tolerance
for heights.

[Lennard]
There were challenges
working at the restaurant.

The key thing was,

when you came out
the serving door
from the kitchen,

the floor is moving.

So you had to step out
like you were ready to

jump on a treadmill.

You gotta be walking.

Or you're gonna
drop everything.

[narrator] Fortunately,
the threat of broken dishes

didn't keep
the customers away,

as this restaurant
was part of a craze

spreading across America.

[Philip] In the 1960s,
revolving restaurants

were the "new big thing."

[Michele] They originated
in Germany,

but they hit America
just three years later

in 1962
when the Space Needle
opened in Seattle.

[narrator] These
sky high restaurants

were designed to
reflect the new age.

[Sascha] This was
the dawn of the space age.

And it wasn't
just politicians
who were gripped

by this new frontier.

[Michele] Popular culture
had really bought
into the idea

of going into space.

And this UFO shaped restaurant
really fed into this mania.

[narrator] But while
space rockets were
about to take

humans into orbit,
for many,

this restaurant
was the best view
they could get

of the blue planet.

[Lennard] Everybody that's
anybody in Memphis,

lawyers, doctors, judges,

they all came
to the top of
100 North Main building.

[Meagan] Elvis
loved this place.

I feel like I should be
wearing blue suede shoes,

because I am indeed
walking in footsteps
of the King.

Some of the celebrities I saw

were ZZ Top,

B.B. King.

I met Hank Aaron,

Lynda Carter.

Those parties
were super wow.

Free alcohol all night,

and great music,
great DJs,
it was a hoot.

[narrator] While
the restaurant was
the talk of the town,

the top four floors

offered something found
nowhere else in Memphis.

So this is top of
the 100 Club.

This was
a very exclusive club,
members only.

When you think about
the deals that were made,

I think a lot of them
probably happened
at this table right here.

[narrator] However,

some of the members
in this private club

partied too hard,

endangering
the citizens of Memphis
430 feet below.

This is the Japanese garden.

But it closed
because people kept
throwing small rocks

off the top.

[narrator] Despite
the occasional stone

plummeting
to street level,

the top of the 100 Club
and 100 North Main boomed.

But no one
could have predicted

that just three years
after opening,

the customers
would be sent running.

We became the city
that killed the dream.

[narrator] In Memphis,
the city's tallest building

was where the movers
and shakers partied.

Until an event
that took place
just blocks away

shook America,
changing everything.

[Meagan] On April 4th,
1968

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated

at the Lorraine Motel.

He was in town
in support of
the sanitation strikes

that were happening
all around the city.

[Sascha] There were
demonstrations and riots

across the country.

But Memphis was
one of the worst hit areas.

Almost overnight,
the appeal of the city
evaporated for many

and this once bustling
downtown area

became a spot to be avoided.

[Meagan] Downtown Memphis
was devastated

and this building

really, it started
it's slow decline.

Over the next decades,

the revolving restaurant
managed to stay open,

but revenue was down.

Downtown really wasn't
a place that you went.

[narrator] With the money
in short supply,

in 2001,
the revolving restaurant
turned

for the final time.

Yet the rest of
100 North Main
limped on.

[Philip] Companies
continued to leave,

and by 2012,

the occupancy rate

had fallen down to
about 30%.

[Michele] Two years later,
the last resident left

and the doors to Memphis'
tallest building shut.

[narrator] Today,
over half a century since
Dr. King's assassination,

this building's shadow
is becoming a symbol
of optimism once more.

It's something
the Mayor of Memphis,
Paul Young,

is hoping will springboard
new life into the city.

[Paul] Part of
my campaign platform
is about

remediating blight
in our community.

And 100 North Main
will ensure that that happens.

We're going to see
this building revitalized.

[narrator] Paul's team
is planning to turn
100 North Main

into commercial units,

a hotel and apartments.

[Michele] The modernization
and reopening of
such an iconic building

will be a tremendous
development in Memphis

in terms of revitalizing
the downtown.

But it's also important
towards American history

given Memphis'
critical place in our culture.

[narrator] Perhaps one day

Memphians will be able
to eat their dinner

while admiring the same view

that Elvis enjoyed
over 50 years ago.

[Paul] There will definitely
be a restaurant at the top
of 100 North Main.

I'm not sure
if the floor will revolve.

But this building
will be the go to place

for Memphians once again.

[narrator] In the
Pacific Northwest,

there's a town
with a dark secret.

Where fortunes were made

and livelihoods
were lost.

[Phil] When I walk
in the underground,

I feel a great
sense of pride.

Even to this day,
puts me in awe.

This was the Wild West's
Sodom and Gomorrah.

[narrator] Near the heart
of the city of Pendleton,

an abandoned structure
hides a twisted past.

[Hadley] This is a two-story
brick building.

It looks like it was
a commercial building
at one point.

This place
has stuff everywhere.

But some of it
looks a little X-rated.

[Hadley] Scribbled all over
the doors are

writings and one of them says,

"The finest breasts
man has ever seen

awaits your touch
in room 18."

[Phil] This place
sat right behind
our police station.

They actually had a plank
that went across over to

the windows in the back
of the police station.

They probably were there

just to check on those girls

and enforce the law
if I were guessing.

[narrator] Despite
the shady deeds

that undoubtedly occurred
within these walls,

it's what's beneath
that's truly shocking.

[Hadley] Below ground,
things get even darker
and crazier.

When you go into the basement,
there's all these tunnels.

[Michele] This is
absolutely mind-blowing.

These tunnels seem spread
like a labyrinth.

Who built them here?

[Brooke] If you were to
walk back in these tunnels

in the 20th century,

you would go through

all different sensations
and smells

from tobacco to alcohol
to dirty sheep-herders

to opium.

It was a wild unruly place.

They gambled,
they drank whisky,

drank beer
and chased girls.

[narrator] Beneath the streets
of Pendleton, Oregon,

there's a labyrinth
with a secret sordid past.

It's something
that Phil Garton

first heard about as a boy.

[Phil] I first started
hearing about the tunnels

by the time I was
eight or nine years old.

There were stories
of Pendelton having
a dark underbelly.

[narrator] Thirty years later,

Phil and a group of friends

decided to investigate
these rumors.

They began unearthing
the tunnels once more.

[Phil] When I first
entered the tunnels,

they'd become full of
rubble and junk

and it was
so dark down there,

and it was almost eerie.

I felt a bit like
Indiana Jones.

[narrator] Phil
and his friends
uncovered a lost world

which hadn't been
witnessed for decades.

This is
the Pendleton underground.

The true extent of
the underground has been
lost to time.

Today it's believed
that the tunnels stretched

four blocks north to south

and two blocks
east to west,

maybe even further.

[Phil] These tunnels
were originally put in here

as freight delivery systems
to the basements

of the businesses
in Pendleton.

It was considered
unfashionable
in the old west

to take your merchandise

in the same door that
your customers went in.

[narrator] But soon,
events above ground

would make these
tunnels and rooms

far more than just
basements for storage.

[Corina] Around the turn
of the 20th century,

this area was a party town.

Downtown, there were
18 brothels and 32 bars,

all within four blocks.

[Brooke] You have
sheepherders, cowboys,
the ranchers,

that have been up
in the mountains

for a long period of time

and they need to let loose
and have a little fun.

So, where better to go
than Pendleton?

[narrator] While many people
enjoyed the fun offered here,

a set of unwritten laws

meant others
faced persecution

and even death.

Pendleton, Oregon,
was the party town
of the wild west.

But not everyone
was invited.

In the early 20th century,

there were a lot of people
of Chinese heritage

in the north-west
of America.

Many of their ancestors
had come over during
the Gold Rush

or to work
on the railroads.

[Hadley] This work put them
in direct conflict with

White Americans who felt that
they were stealing their jobs.

And Pendleton
drew a lot of shady

fighting and drinking
characters

who often directed
their aggression towards
the Chinese immigrants.

[Brooke] There in Pendleton,
there were sundowner's laws,

unwritten laws, so that

if the Chinese were
above ground
after sundown,

they could be
shot and killed

and man who shot them
may have just been fined $5

for discharging his firearm
within city limits.

Not for actually
killing the person.

[narrator] With the threat
of beatings and death
above ground,

some of the Chinese immigrants
turned to the tunnels
and basements

beneath for sanctuary.

[Corina] According
to local legend,

many Chinese found safety
underneath the city.

And they expanded the tunnels
by knocking down the walls.

There were even rumors
that some Chinese people
lived down there.

The Chinese used
the underground in Pendleton

like you would use your house

with hallways
and they moved about

rather freely underground.

[Hadley] There were businesses
in the Pendleton underground.

Some of them were just
extensions of businesses
above ground.

But there were also
some businesses
that were probably

solely underground.

And one of these was

a laundry which was owned
by a Chinese immigrant.

[narrator] Yet the clandestine
nature of the underground

attracted some businesses

with a more nefarious purpose.

[Brooke] This is one of
the opium dens in here.

And this was not only
used by the Chinese,

you would have had
working girls,

and cowboys come down
to smoke opium.

As you can see, they've got
the wood pillows on the bed

where they would
lay on their sides
to smoke the opium.

[narrator] For around
a decade,

this unlikely
underground world flourished.

However, a radical
wave of change

spreading across America

would turn this place
upside down.

In 1908, Pendleton
and the county of Umatilla
went dry.

They enacted prohibition.

[Michele] This was
12 years before Congress

enacted nationwide
prohibition.

But in the decades
leading up to it,

many places in America,
including Pendleton

had already enacted
their own alcohol bans.

[narrator] The new law
forced some of the bars
in Pendleton

to head underground.

Prohibition made
the Pendleton underground
come alive.

Suddenly, it was
the place to be.

And people who would
normally would have
never ventured underground

were going there regularly
to have a drink
and have some fun.

[Phil] There were cardrooms
in the underground

and a bunch of bars
down there.

There was everything
from beer to moonshine whisky.

I think these tunnel walls

would have seen
some great parties.

[narrator] But the good times
down below wouldn't last.

On the 5th of December 1933,
Prohibition came to an end,

and brought with it

the decline of
the Pendleton underground.

[Phil] The end
of Prohibition played
a big role

in the folding
of the underground,

because there was
really no good reason
to hide underground.

You could actually go out
and have a brewski

about any place
you wanted to.

[Hadley] Attitudes towards
Chinese immigrants
slowly changed

after World War I

and so they were able
to love more openly

and not have to be in hiding.

[Michele] We don't know
exactly when
the underground shut.

But people did stop
coming down here.

And slowly but surely,
the tunnels were
blocked up.

[Hadley] The only time
you would hear about
the Pendleton underground

was maybe from
an old drunk
at a local bar.

[narrator] Despite almost
being lost to time,

the Pendleton underground
has made a comeback.

Brooke Armstrong
is the director
of the project.

Today,
the Pendleton underground
is used to give tours

throughout all the tunnels,

and to share
Pendleton's history.

[narrator] While people visit
from across the globe,

perhaps
the Pendleton underground's
biggest campaigner

lives far closer
to home.

[Phil] Oh, it's very special.

It's like our legacy,
because we...

We worked so hard
putting it together.

I will continue to advocate
for the Pendleton underground
for as long as I live.