All language subtitles for E32Montan

Not all of them survived.

Conservationists hope to make the antelope's migration easier

by tearing down old fences,

and even building crossings over busy roads.

By helping this species' arduous journey,

they're also preserving

one of the nation's most iconic sights--

free-spirited animals roaming on the range.

Montana owes many of its wildest spaces

to conservationists, both past and present.

Including this dramatic spine of rock.

It's been left wild thanks to bob marshall,

who co-founded the wilderness society in 1935.

While others saw the land

as a bounty of potential natural resources,

early activists like bob marshall

saw that Montana's natural environments needed protection.

Today, the bob marshall wilderness--

or as hikers call it, the bob--

protects more than a million Montana acres,

the third largest preservation in the lower 48.

It's home to a spectacular formation

known as the chinese wall,

a 1,000-foot-high limestone cliff

that stretches unbroken for more than 20 miles.

But for legendary explorers headed west,

Montana's rugged terrain came as a big surprise.

In 1804, meriwether lewis and william clark

set out on their journey to find the northwest passage,

a fabled river that could take them

directly to the pacific ocean.

But as they traveled up the missouri river

deep into Montana,

the weary explorers came across this foreboding passage.

Today it's a reservoir,

but at the time 1,000-foot-high limestone walls

towered above their boat,

affecting lewis deeply.

In his diary he wrote,

"the rocks approach the river on both sides,

forming a most sublime and extraordinary spectacle.

Nothing can be imagined more tremendous

than the frowning darkness of these rocks,

which project over the river and menace us with destruction."

lewis named this gauntlet the gates of the mountains.

He and clark spent more time in Montana

than in any other state.

They were joined by a french-canadian fur trader

and his shoshone wife, sacajawea.

The explorers kept detailed notes

on the region's plants and animals,

and on the ways of life

of the indigenous people they encountered en route.

But these diaries also reveal that they managed to miss

one of Montana's most spectacular sights.

An epic landscape carved and sculpted by massive glaciers.

It lies south of the canadian border,

covers 1,600 square miles,

and is known as glacier national park.

It's home to some of the most awe-inspiring peaks

in the lower 48.

More than 70 million years ago,

crashing tectonic plates first pushed up these mountains.

Much more recently, during the last ice age 10,000 years ago,

giant glaciers carved out new valleys and formations

as they passed.

It's called glacier national park

both for the 25 glaciers that still remain,

and for their behemoth forefathers--

the ones that sculpted this incredible landscape.

Evidence of their enormous power is everywhere.

This rocky pinnacle, called a "horn,"

was created when two glaciers

slid along both sides of a single mountain,

sculpting what lay in between into a spectacular peak.

In 1885 a naturalist named george bird grinnell

visited Montana, fell in love with its glaciers,

and decided he would work to preserve the area

as a national park--

so that mining tycoons didn't ruin its natural beauty.

"far away in Montana,

hidden from view by clustering mountain peaks,"

he later wrote, "lies an unmapped northwestern corner--

the crown of the continent."

grinnell worked tirelessly for years.

And finally, in 1910,

a quarter of a century after he first visited Montana,

president william howard taft

signed a bill to create glacier national park.

Still, one wily tycoon succeeded in finding a way to cash in

on this epic landscape.

But he didn't do it with oil rigs or gold mines.

He did it by tapping another great american resource--

tourism.

At the time, americans were spending

hundreds of millions of dollars

traveling to europe for vacation.

Railroad magnate louis warren hill

wanted to bring them to Montana instead,

on his great northern railway.

So the railway helped promote glacier national park

by calling it "america's switzerland"

and with billboards that read "see america first."

once visitors arrived here and stepped off hill's trains,

they found comfortable swiss-style lodgings.

Many glacier hotel, named for the park's many glaciers,

opened in 1915,

and promised americans the full swiss experience,

from alpine architecture to bellhops in lederhosen.

It still thrives today as an historic hotel.

When glacier national park was created

there were no roads high into the mountains,

which made it difficult for most visitors

to see many of its most remarkable sights.

But building roads through these mountains

turned out to be no easy feat.

One of the most stunning and treacherous drives

is this one, called going-to-the-sun road,

named after a nearby mountain.

It took nearly 20 years to design and build.

Workers used hundreds of tons of explosives

to blast out stretches of this 50-mile-long roadway.

It twists, it turns,

and is not for the faint of heart.

And if it looks familiar,

that's because it's in the opening scene

of the film "the shining,"

when a character played by actor jack nicholson

drives his family volkswagen toward his ill-fated job

as caretaker at the fictional overlook hotel.

But many of the sights

that visitors come to glacier national park to see

may not be around for long.

Some scientists believe that the park's glaciers

will all be gone by the year 2020.

Thousands of plants and animals

that depend on the water sources created by the glaciers

may also soon suffer the consequences.

And much of the park's iconic beauty,

from its cascading waterfalls to its peaks flanked in green,

could soon disappear.

But melting glaciers also feed this area's many lakes.

And legend has it that deep within one of them

lies a terrifying creature.

Montana's flathead lake

is the largest freshwater lake west of the mississippi.

It covers 200 square miles, and is thought to have been created

by a freakishly large piece of ice that outlasted the ice age.

When it finally did get around to melting

a few centuries later,

it had already hollowed out a basin that became the lake.

But there's something else freakish about this lake.

Locals whisper about a monster here,

one that rivals the loch ness.

According to eyewitness accounts,

the flathead lake monster has an eel-like body

and, some say, a head shaped like a bowling ball.

Legend has it that the monster was first spotted

by a steamer crew in the 19th century.

The mystery seemed to have been solved in the 1950s

when a man claimed he caught

a giant, nearly 200-pound sturgeon in the lake.

That is, until a biologist

at the university of Montana in missoula

cut open its stomach,

and thanks to undigested food still inside,

determined that it couldn't have come from flathead lake.

When they're not busy investigating monsters,

the faculty and students at the university of Montana

are pursuing their studies on a campus

that's been called "rocky mountain berkeley."

the 200-acre campus is located in missoula,

Montana's second largest city.

Home to more than 68,000 people,

this college town lies at 3,200 feet.

A grizzly bear marks the center of the stadium--

in the field, and in spirit.

The Montana grizzlies are considered

one of the best teams in division i football.

They've been to the national playoffs

for 17 consecutive years,

winning the national championship in 1995 and 2001.

Every year, they play in the brawl of the wild,

a longstanding rivalry

against Montana state university in bozeman.

The griz have won 68 of 108 games,

making life for their rivals unbearable.

Over it all, an "m" marks the spot.

It was once freshman tradition

to hike up the zigzag trail every year

to weed and whitewash the granite "m."

but by the '60s,

freshmen were more interested in other activities.

So the university made the "m" more permanent--

and maintenance free-- with cement.

The "m" also overlooks the town of missoula,

which started off as a trading post,

but with the arrival

of the northern pacific railway in 1883,

began to thrive.

Lumber and other mills

were the backbone of missoula's economy for years.

Director david lynch, who was born in missoula,

admits that he may have had Montana's small towns in mind

when he created his hit drama series "twin peaks."

the name missoula comes from a salish indian word

that means "near the cold, chilling waters."

and indeed there is something chilling,

just outside of town, at a place called hell gate.

It's a narrow canyon, deep between two towering mountains,

and was once a terrifying place of ambush.

Salish indians, and other tribes on their way to hunt bison,

relied on this route.

But when they returned with their haul,

enemy tribes were sometimes lying in wait, weapons in hand.

Human bones soon lined the passage,

and the sight of them chilled fur traders

as they, too, passed through this harrowing canyon with fear.

But today, the only thing to fear at hell gate canyon

is a hole in your inner tube...

Or running out of beer.

From its rivers to the rockies,

Montana is a place that's wild at heart

and nearly impossible to tame.

But that doesn't mean some don't try.

The Montana state fair has been around

longer than Montana's been a state.

It began in 1870, and is still going strong.

One of the main attractions here in cattle country

is the big sky pro rodeo roundup--

a sport that reaches deep into Montana's cowboy history.

The name of the game in this saddle bronc riding competition

is to stay on for 8 seconds.

It may not seem very long...

Until you try.

While these horses might look wild,

they're here to get judged, too.

In fact, half the score is based on the horse's bucking action--

how high he jumps, how fast he spins,

and how hard he lands.

Although this competition is now purely for sport,

saddle bronc riding-- and virtually all rodeo events--

played a key role in the making of Montana's ranch culture.

Breaking in wild horses and keeping rogue cattle in line

was a serious and often deadly endeavor.

This tradition calls back to one of Montana's most defining

yet dangerous industries--

cattle ranches.

When cattlemen from texas came across Montana,

they were surely awed by the area's sheer beauty--

but also its grazing potential.

Seemingly endless acres of lush, sweet grass

made this the perfect place to keep cattle well fed.

This was the open range.

There were no fences, no corrals--

just a brand on their rump and miles and miles to roam.

But cattle weren't the first creatures to roam these parts.

Montana has long been home to deer, elk, and bison.

Just as cowboys corralled cattle with horses,

native americans had their own ways to control bison--

using rocks, spears and the landscape itself.

In the northern plains of Montana,

the blackfeet and other tribes used a rugged cliff for hunting.

First, native hunters built two rows of piled rocks and brush,

creating a "drive lane" that led towards the cliff.

Then, when a herd of bison were found grazing in the area,

hunters jumped out from behind the rock piles

to scare the bison and herd them through the drive lane,

until the beasts plunged right off the cliff.

With arrows, clubs and spears, hunters, waiting below,

finished off the injured bison.

This bounty provided food and hides for the tribes.

But Montana's once plentiful bison

were nearly driven into extinction,

not by native hunters, but by white settlers.

Settlers slaughtered bison for fun, and for their meat--

and especially for their tongues,

once considered a culinary treat.

Today, bison have their own home to roam,

in the 18,000-acre national bison range wildlife refuge.

Media mogul ted turner has also gotten into the act.

His ranches in Montana and new mexico

are now home to nearly 55,000 bison.

Whether it's grazing, hunting, or even mining,

Montana is a state rich with natural resources.

But battles over the rights to these resources

have led to conflict, and even war.

These golden Montana hills were once covered in blood.

They mark the site of one of the most crushing defeats

in u.s. military history,

a battle known as custer's last stand.

It began with a vision during a sun dance ceremony

in the spring of 1876.

In it, chief sitting bull saw american soldiers

falling from the sky upside down,

and prophesized a great victory for his lakota tribe

over the u.s. army.

"the whites want war," he said, "and we will give it to them."

a few years before, the u.s. government

had discovered gold in the nearby black hills--

and wanted the tribes to sell their land.

When they refused, the u.s. government

was determined to round them up

and move them to the great sioux reservation,

in what was then dakota territory.

In 1876, general alfred terry set out with 879 men

to force them to surrender.

Members of the lakota, cheyenne, and arapaho tribes

gathered here, at little bighorn river,

ready to defend their home and hunting ground.

When he found signs of a large tribal encampment,

the general divided his troops.

He ordered lieutenant colonel george armstrong custer

and his 7th cavalry

to flank the lakota and cheyenne from the south,

to keep them from escaping

the larger military attack from the north.

But soon after, custer heard

that his troops had been spotted.

Afraid that the tribes would scatter

before the rest of the army arrived,

he decided to attack--

even though he had no backup.

Custer divided his cavalry into three battalions.

While his own battalion of 210 men headed north.

He was hoping he could surround

and force the tribes into submission.

But custer's plan was about to go horribly wrong.

Little is known about what happened next.

But it's believed that hundreds of cheyenne and lakota

quickly overwhelmed custer's troops.

Many were killed

as native warriors pursued them across these dry hills.

Custer and the other survivors in his battalion finally fled

to a site now known as last stand hill.

By then, just 40 to 50 of the original 210 remained.

But little did these survivors know,

another native fighting force was approaching the hill

from the opposite direction.

Custer and his men came under attack.

Some managed to break free and escape down the hill,

but they didn't get far--

more native warriors were coming up from the river.

It was in this ravine

that the last of custer's men met their fate,

taken down by clubs, arrows, and bullets.

Not a single one survived.

Colonel custer was found near the top of last stand hill

with a shot to his head and one to his chest.

Legend has it that lakota warrior crazy horse

personally killed custer,

but no one knows for sure.

Historians believe that the battle of little bighorn

lasted about an hour.

Not a single one of the soldiers in custer's battalion

lived to tell the tale.

Today a granite monument stands on the site

where custer and the last of his men were surrounded.

Most of the soldiers were buried where they fell.

Today, their marble gravestones still dot the landscape,

in small groups,

revealing their frenzied attempt to retreat from certain death.

The soldiers' bodies were later moved nearby

to custer national cemetery.

But while this site may bear his name,

custer's own body was finally laid to rest at west point.

Little bighorn was declared a national cemetery in 1879,

and later preserved as a national monument in 1940.

It's estimated that at least 80 native americans died

during the battle.

A memorial by a native artist marks their loss.

The lakota and cheyenne may have won the battle,

but ultimately they lost the war.

The united states succeeded

in forcing the tribes into reservations,

and settlers soon moved in

to claim the land for themselves.

Events at little bighorn helped pave the way

for Montana becoming a state in 1889.

But the fight for the region's resources was just beginning.

One of Montana's epic power struggles took place here,

in helena.

When Montana became a state, a now-historic fight broke out

over what city should be named the new capital.

Mining magnate william clark

wanted it to be his town, helena.

But his rival, copper king marcus daly,

rallied for anaconda, a mining town near butte.

Both men knew that winning the state capital

could bring power and financial security

to their towns and businesses.

Combined, the two tycoons spent an estimated $3 million

in their campaign to win voters,

and both reportedly gave away whiskey in the streets

and handed out gold coins on voting day.

But at the end of a bitter battle,

helena won the title.

Montana's capitol building was completed in 1902,

with its crowning touch,

a statue called "goddess of liberty."

but her true identity remains a mystery to this day.

The statue mysteriously arrived by train

with no records and no description.

Everyone agreed she was perfect for the capitol's copper dome,

and today she continues her reign.

Another woman later made history beneath the dome.

In 1916, Montana's jeannette rankin

was the first woman elected to congress.

Smart budgeting has made Montana

one of the only states to actually have a surplus.

In 2011 that surplus was $433 million.

According to governor brian schweitzer,

it's because they run the state like a ranch,

pinching pennies and cutting out what doesn't work.

But what does work in Montana is mining.

There's a treasure trove of valuable minerals

under this state.

Today, there are several hundred mines in operation,

generating revenues in the billions.

In 1880, a businessman named marcus daly

purchased a mine nearby for $30,000.

He thought it would produce silver,

but it soon struck one of the largest copper veins in history.

Some say daly kept his find a secret--

and then complained that he'd been swindled,

so he could drive down the prices

of the other mines in the area.

He then quietly set about buying up those mines for cheap.

When the demand for copper later skyrocketed,

daly cashed in.

But the pursuit for mineral wealth in Montana

also comes at a terrible price.

In the 1950s

the anaconda copper company began strip mining,

blowing up entire hills to get to the metals.

This mine, known as berkeley pit,

produced almost 300 million tons of copper ore.

But when it was shut down in 1982, it left behind this...

A giant 40-billion-gallon lake,

filled with highly acidic toxic water,

containing high levels of arsenic, aluminum and zinc.

In 1995, a flock of snow geese landed on the lake--

and within days, more than 300 of them were found dead.

Residents in the area

worry about the pit's long-term effects.

It's been reported that cancer deaths are higher in butte

than the national average.

But there might be a silver lining

to this stripped-out wasteland.

Montana researchers are investigating

mutated organisms from the pit

that may be producing compounds

useful in the fight against cancer.

And high above this pit

stands one man's decidedly divine tribute

to his wife's survival with cancer.

Our lady of the rockies

is a 90-foot-high cast concrete statue,

second only in size to the statue of liberty.

It began when a man named bob o'bill prayed,

promising the virgin mary that he'd build a statue

if his wife joyce recovered from cancer.

She did, and so bill got to work.

Volunteers poured in to help with skills and materials.

They labored for 6 years--

and ended up creating this towering tribute.

The army's national guard helped airlift it

to its overlook here in the rockies.

Our lady of the rockies

is a tribute to women and mothers everywhere.

But with vast quantities of valuable ore

buried under this state,

mining continues to thrive here.

At the golden sunlight mine, 25 miles east of butte,

men and giant machines still search for gold,

hoping to strike it rich just as prospectors did

with their pickaxes and shovels more than a century ago.

But gold and copper aren't the only treasures

hidden under Montana soil.

In 1978, a rock shop owner scouring this rocky mountainside

found something that she couldn't quite explain--

a collection of tiny bones.

It didn't take long for a local paleontologist, dr. jack horner,

to suspect they were on to something extraordinary.

The bones looked like they could have belonged to a bird.

But he soon realized that they were the skeletal remains

of an entirely new species of dinosaur.

They also uncovered fossils of eggs resting in nests

alongside adult dinosaur skeletons.

This discovery led to a breakout theory--

that these "terrible lizards"

may actually have cared for their young.

So they named this duck-billed dinosaur "maiasaura"--

the "good mother" reptile.

They named the area egg mountain,

and dr. horner went on to become the inspiration

for the lead character

in steven spielberg's blockbuster film

"jurassic park."

today, the maiasaura bones--

and other dinosaur fossils from across Montana--

are finding new life here

at the museum of the rockies in bozeman.

It's home to the world's largest

tyrannosaurus rex skull ever discovered,

and more t-rex bones than any other museum in the world.

With mountains, rivers, even yellowstone nearby,

bozeman is a popular town

for anyone who'd rather be skiing, swimming,

or just taking a stroll.

But it was one quiet sport that broke out

to make Montana's rivers a must-see destination--

with a little hollywood help from brad pitt.

Just as rivers twist, weave and wind their way through Montana,

so do its roads and highways.

And for a while, both were free and unfettered.

For years Montana's highways had no set speed limit.

Known as the "Montanabahn,"

cars often zoomed well over 100 miles per hour.

But that joyride came to a screeching halt in 1996,

when rancher rudy stanko was pulled over in his camaro

and given a ticket for going 85 miles per hour.

Stanko fought the law-- and won.

But the Montana supreme court also ruled

that to have no posted speed is too vague

and impossible to enforce.

So, to the disappointment of dragsters everywhere,

Montana's speeds were set at 75 miles an hour--

and the last limitless road in america came to an end.

This highway, interstate 90, crosses the continental divide.

And 200 years ago,

Montana's most famous explorers looked for a similar shortcut.

By 1805, the lewis and clark expedition

had been traveling upstream on the missouri river,

it was a rough ride.

The team had to drag their canoes upstream

against swift currents,

or lug them over rugged rocks when the water got too shallow.

But Montana's rivers haven't always been so unkind.

Over the years they've provided plentiful food, fresh water,

and today, one of the state's most iconic sports--

fly fishing!

and there's no more famous fishing grounds in Montana

than this one, the blackfoot river,

which twists and winds for 132 miles through the state.

This picturesque river was the inspiration

for the novel and film, "a river runs through it,"

starring brad pitt and directed by robert redford.

It's the story of two brothers who take separate paths in life,

yet remain united by their deep love of fly fishing.

Since the film's release in 1992,

Montana's blackfoot and clark fork rivers

have become major destinations for fly fishers everywhere.

In this tucked away ranch just outside of town,

actor peter fonda has found a homestead away from hollywood.

Beneath the blue spruce trees,

it's an easygoing lifestyle for the star of "easy rider."

peter and his wife becky live here year-round,

and tend to their crops of hay, barley, rye, and apples.

Whether it's a family ranch or a commercial enterprise,

Montana's high arid plains provide the perfect climate

for grains, especially wheat.

It's Montana's number one crop,

bringing in more than a billion dollars a year.

After wheat, hay and barley are Montana's biggest moneymakers.

In july, green harvesters

carve out a more terrestrial form of crop circles,

when they harvest another thriving Montana crop.

These rows of cut alfalfa will soon be baled for livestock.

About 66% of Montana's total land

is dedicated to farming in one form or another.

And whether Montanans are living on the farm or downtown,

one thing's for sure--

there's a lot of space to go around.

To be exact, there's about 94 acres per person--

if they ever choose to divvy it up.

Most of Montana's cities have sprung up

near natural resources.

Missoula began as a trading post by a river.

Great falls got its start

as a potential site for hydroelectric power.

Helena and bozeman boomed thanks to nearby gold claims,

while butte nearly exploded with the copper industry.

And then there's billings, Montana's biggest city,

population over 100,000...

And still growing.

It began as a railroad hub in 1882,

and was even named

after the president of the northern pacific railroad,

frederick billings.

Mapped out in a no-nonsense grid,

the city was a cow town in the 1880s

and later became a major hub for wool.

But business boomed in 1915,

when oil was discovered south of town.

Then, with the economic boom after world war ii

and through the 1950s,

the city nearly burst its britches

with a 66% growth rate.

When the gas crisis hit in 1973,

Montana's oil businesses exploded.

But this area is better known for some very famous graffiti.

Outside of town, on the edge of the yellowstone river,

stands an impressive rock formation

known as pompey's pillar.

A wooden staircase winds its way up this sandstone mesa,

leading curious visitors to a spot beneath a rock ledge--

and the only physical evidence

left by the lewis and clark expedition

on their historic route.

William clark clambered up to this spot

and carved his name on the rock face,

with the date, july 25, 1806.

Clark named the mesa "pompey's pillar"

in honor of his guide sacajawea's baby boy.

There's a reason why william clark

may have chosen to leave his name here,

of all places in their travels across the country.

Because others already had!

native american petroglyphs also cover this rock face.

Some believe these markings may go back as far as 2,000 years.

In one form or another,

Montana has inspired artists and writers through the centuries.

More recently, filmmakers are creating

their most mesmerizing movies here, under the big skies.

And one film about a troubled family,

a troubled horse,

and the horse whisperer who brings them together

made a movie star out of Montana.

With its wide open plains rolling toward distant horizons

and epic skies that seem to go on forever,

Montana is a place where nature seems to know no bounds.

In many ways, the story of Montana

is the story of people

learning to live harmoniously with their natural environment.

And in some cases, even communicate with its creatures.

It took a bestselling book--

and later a major hollywood film--

to capture that story and share it with the world.

Tucked away among these trees

is one of Montana's most famous movie icons...

A ranch house, where robert redford directed and starred

in "the horse whisperer."

redford and his team scouted nearly 100 locations.

But when they came across this stately ranch

outside of livingston,

they knew the search was over.

The film crew built another house

where scarlett johansson's character and family lived.

Set designers also added a horse pen where tom booker--

redford's character-- worked with troubled horses.

While filming here, redford realized

they didn't need special filters and effects.

He said, "the truth is that the real west is pretty powerful

and quite beautiful just the way it is."

the film helped reinforce the archetype of Montana

that lives on today--

as a place where men and women can reconnect with nature--

and rediscover themselves in the process.

Yet for some here, nature itself is part of their ancestry.

The salish and kootenai tribes of northwest Montana

see the land itself as sacred

and something that needs to be protected.

Especially pristine areas like this.

The cascading mission falls,

part of the mission mountains wilderness complex

of the northern rockies.

Glacial water cascades down this rugged alpine slope

for nearly 1,000 feet.

This 90,000-acre tribal wilderness area

is the only one in the country

to be established by the tribes themselves.

For in the words of the salish indians,

"the earth is our historian.

It is made of our ancestors' bones."

but no matter who watches over this land,

nothing can stop nature's destructive powers...

Especially in densely wooded areas like this, near butte.

When whipping winds combine with severe drought conditions,

one bolt of lightning can turn these trees

into tinder ready to ignite.

And in western Montana, lightning can strike

up to 3,500 times in a single day.

A lightning strike caused this fire to ignite.

These small flames may not seem like much now,

but when fires like this one go unchecked,

they can start to roar

and cause tens of thousands of acres to go up in smoke.

Putting out fires

in remote, hard-to-reach locations like this one

requires an elite team of firefighters,

those willing to parachute right onto the blazing front lines.

These are the smokejumpers of Montana.

When the call comes in, these specially trained firefighters

load up supplies and then head out

for what could be a long battle.

When they're not on the front lines,

smokejumpers stay here,

at the Montana aerial fire depot in missoula.

They'll spend their time keeping in top-notch physical shape--

that could mean the difference between life and death

when they're out battling the flames.

These smokejumpers can get called

to go nearly anywhere in the nation,

but they'll always call Montana home--

just as the lakota, cheyenne and arapaho have for centuries.

From the jagged spine of its rocky mountain front

to the lush fields of its fertile plains,

Montana is a state forged

by resilience and hard-won character.

It's a land where fortunes have been won

and battles sometimes lost.

Throughout it all, the people of Montana

have always found ways to thrive under this state's big skies!