Original subtitles

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ANNOUNCER: WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL YOU KNOW YOU'RE

WATCHING TELEVISION THAT'S EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL.THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: I'M DYLAN DREYER; JOIN ME ON AN ADVENTURE

THROUGH ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST SPECTACULAR TREASURES

-- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

WE'LL TRAVEL ACROSS TIME TO MEET THE ANCIENT PEOPLE

WHO FIRST SETTLED IN YELLOWSTONE,

THE EARLY EXPLORERS WHO FIRST CHARTED THE VAST

WILDERNESS, AND THE MODERN SCIENTISTS WORKING TO

UNEARTH YELLOWSTONE'S OLDEST SECRETS.

WE'LL BRAVE RAGING RAPIDS, SOAR HIGH OVER

BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES, COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH

AMAZING ANIMALS, AND EXPERIENCE THE JEWEL OF

THE AMERICAN WEST LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK IS MUCH MORE

THAN A PLACE, IT'S AN IDEA,

ONE THAT CONNECTS NATURE, ANIMALS AND MAN.

THE PARK WAS ESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS AND SIGNED

INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT ULYSSES S.

GRANT ON MARCH 1ST, 1872.

IT BECAME NOT JUST THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK IN

AMERICA, BUT PERHAPS THE FIRST TRUE NATIONAL PARK

ON EARTH.

ALTHOUGH THE GEOLOGY OF YELLOWSTONE IS MILLIONS OF

YEARS OLD, OUR STORY BEGINS WITH THE FIRST

PEOPLE TO HAVE EVER LIVED HERE SOME

11,000 YEARS AGO.

IT'S MEANINGLESS TO PICK A MOMENT IN TIME WHEN

YELLOWSTONE WAS BORN; IN MANY WAYS YELLOWSTONE IS

STILL BEING BORN.

THE ANCIENT STORY IS NOT FINISHED.

NO ONE KNOWS WHEN MAN FIRST CAME TO THE LAND OF

THE YELLOWSTONE.

THE TUKUDEKA WERE LIVING HERE WHEN HISTORY BEGAN.

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [FOREST SOUNDS]

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [FOREST SOUNDS]

MAN: THE GREAT BEAR HAS SPOKEN TO YOU,

HE IS OUR GRANDFATHER.

HIS SPIRIT WILL GIVE YOU POWER.

HE IS OUR BROTHER, HIS POWER WILL GIVE YOU

STRENGTH.

DYLAN: DURING THE TIME MAN HAS BEEN CALLED CIVILIZED

HE HAS FEARED THE WILDERNESS.

THE WILDERNESS WAS A FOREBODING PLACE OF WILD

BEASTS AND WILD MEN.

AS THE FIRST OF THE FEW BOLD STRANGERS VENTURED

INTO THE UNKNOWN PERCEPTION OF WILDERNESS

BEGAN TO CHANGE.

JOHN COLTER WENT WITH LEWIS AND CLARK TO THE

UNEXPLORED LANDS OF THE UPPER MISSOURI.

THE EXPEDITION EVENTUALLY RETURNED TO CIVILIZATION

BUT JOHN COLTER STAYED BEHIND.

FINALLY HE MET THE PEOPLE OF THE CROW NATION IN THE

WINTER OF 1806.

HE TRAPPED, HE TRADED, HE WANDERED 5 YEARS IN AN

UNKNOWN WILDERNESS VIRTUALLY ALONE.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: YEARS LATER WILSON HUNT ALSO CROSSED THE

YELLOWSTONE WILDERNESS IN SEARCH OF AN OVERLAND

ROUTE TO THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

THE INTRUSION INTO THE UNKNOWN LANDS OF THE

YELLOWSTONE HAD BEGUN.

WILSON: WEARY AND WORN BY OUR ARDUOUS OVERLAND TREK

WE HAVE DECIDED TO ABANDON OUR HORSES AND RETURN TO

THE RIVER.

THERE'S AN UNCHARTERED WILDERNESS;

WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD.

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: HUNT'S PARTY FINALLY REACHED THE

COLUMBIA RIVER, BUT THEY DEEMED THE WEST UNFIT FOR

HABITATION.

UNEXPLORED AND UNDISCOVERED,

THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU RETURNED TO SOLITUDE.

FOR DECADES ONLY A FEW BRAVE SETTLERS DARED TO

EXPLORE THE GREAT WILDERNESS OF THE SNAKE

RIVER VALLEY.

EVENTUALLY ACCOUNTS OF THEIR TRAVELS BEGAN TO

REACH THE LARGER AMERICAN PUBLIC,

BUT NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES REFUSED TO

PUBLISH WILD STORIES ABOUT GREAT PITS OF SULFUR,

RUGGED LANDSCAPES AND ROARING GEYSERS THAT SHOT

STREAMS OF BOILING WATER HIGH INTO THE AIR.

THE TRUE NATURE OF YELLOWSTONE WAS CONSIDERED

JUST TOO INCREDIBLE TO BE BELIEVED.

COMING UP NEXT, WORD OF YELLOWSTONE'S BEAUTY AND

WONDER SPREADS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND THE

GREAT AMERICAN SPIRIT OF CONSERVATION IS BORN.

AND LATER, MODERN TECHNOLOGY UNCOVERS HOW

YELLOWSTONE WAS FORMED AND HOW A FAMOUS GEYSER CALLED

OLD FAITHFUL LIVES UP TO ITS NAME.

DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: WELCOME BACK TO JOURNEY,

I'M DYLAN DREYER.

BEFORE EUROPEAN SETTLERS ARRIVED THE HUMANS LIVING

IN YELLOWSTONE WERE MEMBERS OF THE BLACKFOOT

TRIBE.

THEY WERE BISON HUNTERS, TROUT FISHERMEN,

AND RANGED ACROSS LARGE AREAS OF THE GREAT PLAINS.

THEY BELIEVED THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS WERE THE

BACKBONE OF THE WORLD AND CONSIDERED THE REGION OF

YELLOWSTONE TO BE A SACRED PLACE WHERE THE GREAT

SPIRITS HAD BATTLED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME.

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [BUFFALO RUNNING]

DYLAN: FATHER FRANCIS KUPPENS WAS A JESUIT

PRIEST IN PURSUIT OF NATIVE SOULS.

HE LIVED AMONG THE PIEGAN BLACKFEET.

TOGETHER THEY BECAME PART OF YELLOWSTONE HISTORY IN

A CURIOUS AND UNEXPECTED WAY.

[MAN SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE]

KUPPENS: I HAVE LIVED AMONG THE BLACKFEET MANY

YEARS, I RESPECT THEM IN WAYS UNCOMMON TO OUR

MISSION.

THEY HAVE COME TO TRUST ME,

THEY CALL ME FRIEND.

I SPENT MANY EVENINGS AT THE FIRES OF CHIEF

BRIGLEG, WE SPEAK OFTEN OF THE LAND AND THE BEAUTY OF

THE MOTHER EARTH.

HE HAS TOLD ME OF A SACRED PLACE WHERE THE WATER

MAKES THUNDER.

HE AGREES TO TAKE ME THERE.

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: TALL TALES OF MOUNTAIN MEN HAVE BEEN

EASY TO IGNORE, BUT KUPPENS WAS A MAN DEVOTED

TO GOD.

WHEN HE DESCRIBED WHAT HE'D SEEN MEN LISTENED IN

A DIFFERENT GRAIN.

A SERIOUS EXPLORATION OF YELLOWSTONE BEGAN.

THE EXPEDITION LED BY GENERAL HENRY WASHBURN WAS

THE SECOND OF THREE MAJOR EXPLORATIONS.

BUT IT WAS AN UNEMPLOYED TAX COLLECTOR NAMED

NATHANIEL P. LANGFORD,

THAT GAVE WASHBURN'S SURVEY A

SIGNIFICANT PLACE IN YELLOWSTONE HISTORY.

LANGFORD: WE'RE AT THE JUNCTION OF THE FIRE

HOLE...OUR DAYS ARE FILLED WITH EXAMINING,

MEASURING AND RECORDING THE STRANGE CREATURES OF

THE REGION.

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [MEN AND BEAR]

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [MEN AND BEAR]

LANGFORD: EACH DAY BRINGS SOMETHING NEW AND

UNEXPECTED.

SOMEONE SUGGESTS MOST PROMINENT POINTS OF

INTEREST BE THROWN INTO A COMMON POOL FOR THE

BENEFIT OF US ALL.

MAN: ALL THE MONEY WE MAKE FROM TOURISTS COULD BE

SPLIT EVENLY.

MAN: I AGREE WITH YOU.

WASHBURN: NO, NO, NO.

I DON'T APPROVE OF ANY OF THESE PLANS.

THERE OUGHT TO BE NO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF ANY

PORTION OF THIS REGION.

THE WHOLE OF IT OUGHT TO BE SET ASIDE AS A...AS A

GREAT PRESERVE, AS A GREAT...AS A GREAT

NATIONAL PARK.

AND EACH OF US SHOULD MAKE AN EFFORT TO HAVE THAT

ACCOMPLISHED.

DYLAN: FIVE MONTHS LATER YELLOWSTONE BECAME THE

FIRST NATIONAL PARK IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE

FIRST PRESERVE OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD.

IT WAS NOT THE BIRTHPLACE OF A NEW IDEA,

IT WAS AN EXPRESSION OF CHANGING PERCEPTION.

THE NOTION TO PRESERVE THIS WILDERNESS WAS A

SIGNIFICANT EVOLUTION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

MAN AND NATURE.

THE WILDERNESS, ONCE A HIDEOUS PLACE OF WILD

BEASTS AND WILD MEN, BECAME A PLACE OF BEAUTY,

A RETREAT, THE SANCTUARY OF NATURE.

DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: YELLOWSTONE'S OLD FAITHFUL,

THE MOST FAMOUS GEYSER IN THE WORLD,

HAS ERUPTED MORE THAN ONE MILLION TIMES SINCE PEOPLE

STARTED COUNTING.

FOR THE LAST 17 YEARS IT'S ERUPTED ONCE EVERY 44 TO

125 MINUTES.

BOILING WATER SHOOTS MORE THAN 150 FEET INTO THE

AIR, LASTING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES AT A TIME.

FOR THE SETTLERS WHO FIRST DISCOVERED IT AND FOR MANY

TOURISTS TODAY IT'S UNLIKE ANYTHING THEY'VE EVER

SEEN.

YELLOWSTONE IS A GEOLOGICAL PARK;

IT IS A WINDOW ON THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH.

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪ -- [GEYSER SOUNDS]

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪ -- [GEYSER SOUNDS]

DYLAN: DR. ROBERT SMITH IS THE WORLD'S FOREMOST

AUTHORITY ON YELLOWSTONE.

WITH COMPUTERS, SATELLITES AND 30 YEARS OF DEVOTED

STUDY HE HAS COMBINED WHAT WE KNOW WITH A STARTLING

NEW IDEA.

SMITH: YELLOWSTONE WAS FORMED BY A GIANT VOLCANIC

HOTSPOT ROOTED DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITES ALLOW US TO

MEASURE THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SURFACE.

COMPUTERS LET US SEE IN SECONDS WHAT OCCURRED OVER

MILLIONS OF YEARS.

HOT MOLTEN ROCK ROSE FROM DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH'S

INTERIOR CREATING A LINE OF VOLCANIC CENTERS CALLED

CALDERA'S.

YELLOWSTONE AS WE KNOW IT TODAY WAS CREATED BY THE

LAST OF THREE GIANT ERUPTIONS JUST

600,000 YEARS AGO.

IT WAS AN IMMENSE EXPLOSION.

REMNANTS OF HOT ASH WERE THROWN THOUSANDS OF MILES

INTO WHAT WE KNOW AS CANADA AND MEXICO.

THE HOTSPOT BELOW US IS STILL ACTIVE.

THE IMMENSE HEAT DRIVES THE WORLD'S GREATEST

DISPLAYS OF HOT SPRINGS AND GEYSERS.

RAINWATER PERCOLATES DOWNWARD AND IS HEATED BY

CONTACT WITH SUPER HEATED ROCKS.

THE HOT WATER RISES TO THE SURFACE AT TEMPERATURES

FAR BEYOND THE BOILING POINT.

IN AN INSTANT IT FLASHES TO STEAM,

ERUPTING TO THE SURFACE, THE MOST FAMOUS GEYSER OF

ALL -- OLD FAITHFUL.

DYLAN: DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: THE LEGACY OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD.

TODAY ALMOST EVERY NATION UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE

OF NATIONAL PARKS AND MOST HAVE PROTECTED THEIR MOST

BEAUTIFUL AND TREASURED WILD SPACES FOR FUTURE

GENERATIONS.

NOW MANY OF THESE PLACES ARE ALSO ON THE FRONT

LINES OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION WHERE

BIOLOGISTS, NATURALISTS AND CLIMATE SCIENTISTS ARE

UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF OUR NATURAL WORLD.

SUSAN KEIFFER HAS BEEN STUDYING OLD FAITHFUL

GEYSER FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS.

SUSAN RECENTLY ACCOMPLISHED AN

EXTRAORDINARY FEAT; INSERTING A VIDEO PROBE

INTO THE THROAT OF OLD FAITHFUL.

SUSAN: OLD FAITHFUL IS THE MOST FAMOUS GEYSER IN THE

WORLD.

CURIOUSLY WE KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT IT OR WHY IT

ERUPTS WITH SUCH PREDICTABLE REGULARITY.

I WANTED TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN ERUPTIONS,

HOW DOES HOT WATER GET BACK INTO THE GEYSER AFTER

AN ERUPTION, AND WHAT CAUSES IT TO GO OFF AGAIN.

JIM: SUSAN CAME TO ME WITH A CRAZY IDEA;

TO DROP PROBES AND A CAMERA INTO OLD FAITHFUL.

IT'S TAKEN US 10 YEARS OF CAUTIOUS TRIALS BEFORE WE

DEVELOPED A CAMERA PROBE WE THOUGHT WOULD NOT GET

CAUGHT IN THE VENT.

OUR GREATEST FEAR IS GETTING STUCK.

SOMETIMES DROPS OF WATER FALL OFF THE CAMERA

HOUSING; THAT'S CONVENIENT BECAUSE THEY SHOW US WHICH

WAY IS STRAIGHT DOWN.

AS WE GO DEEPER WE DISCOVER THE WATER IS

BOILING WILDLY.

OLD FAITHFUL FLOWS FROM THE BOTTOM WHERE THE WATER

IS HOTTEST AND THE PRESSURE IS HIGHEST.

IT'S READY TO ERUPT JUST LIKE A WARM CAN OF SODA

POP.

THAT'S WHY IT GOES OFF SO FAST AND SO REGULAR.

DYLAN: YELLOWSTONE WAS BORN IN CHAOS.

THE ANCIENT STORY IS NOT FINISHED.

THIS MUCH IS CERTAIN, SOME THINGS ARE FOREVER WILD.

SINCE THE 1960'S AT LEAST 2 MILLION TOURISTS HAVE

VISITED YELLOWSTONE EVERY YEAR,

MAKING IT AMONG THE MOST POPULAR NATIONAL PARKS IN

THE UNITED STATES.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A VISIT.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR JOURNEY THROUGH

YELLOWSTONE.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ MUSIC ♪ -- [CREDITS]