Original subtitles

(mystical music)

- They didn't expect to see what they saw,

(mystical music continues)

and when they saw it, they could never forget it.

(mystical music continues)

Ferdinand Hayden was hired to lead a team

into the Northwest Territories

(gentle music)

and the 32 men headed west.

(gentle music continues)

They weren't here to protect Yellowstone.

They were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress,

gold interests, railroad barons, the Congress.

Powerful people wanted this land for themselves.

(dramatic music)

But something happened during their three month journey,

(dramatic music continues)

and slowly but surely, their mission changed.

So as we celebrate the 150th anniversary

of Yellowstone National Park, we take a look back in time

at the events that led to the preservation

of this magical place.

(mystical music)

(dramatic music)

(mystical music) (water rushing)

(water rushing)

(mystical music continues) (birds chirping)

(mystical music continues) (birds chirping)

(gentle music) (birds chirping)

(fire crackling) Sometimes I think

about the things I'm gonna miss most when I finally

have to walk away.

(gentle music continues) (fire crackling)

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

Not just my family that I'll think of,

but it'll be the books I never read, the music I never hear

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

and sometimes the stories that I wished I would've known.

(gentle music continues) (water sloshing)

Most of us walk through life and myself, admittedly,

I do the same thing,

without really getting below the surface.

(gentle music continues) (water bubbling)

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

When I was younger, I saw pictures of Yellowstone

and I thought, Could there be a place like this in the world

(dramatic music) (water splashing)

where these rivers cut through these mountains

that were so high and

(water thundering) the animals,

you'd see them by the thousands?

(dramatic music continues)

I remember when I got my first glimpse of the mountains.

(dramatic music continues)

I had to take a breath.

(gentle music)

I began to understand what was so special about it.

(eagle screeching) (gentle music continues)

And when I read what it took for Yellowstone to be here

so that we could all enjoy it, I realized

that this was a story that I suddenly wanted to share.

(dramatic music) (snow crunching)

I think everyone in their life at some point thinks,

I wanna change the world

but it's rare to actually come across a true story

of people who did.

(dramatic music continues) (pickaxes clinking)

This was a time in America where all people cared about

was what they could extract from the land,

what they could get out of it.

(dramatic music continues) (pickax thumping)

But these pioneers, they came up with an entirely new idea,

a new way of finding value in the land.

(dramatic music continues) (camera snapping)

I wanna see what they saw.

I wanna see what changed them.

(dramatic music continues) (water exploding)

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(ermine squeaking) (Kevin laughing)

(dramatic music)

(gravel crunching) (birds chirping)

(suspenseful music)

(suspenseful music continues)

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(door rattling)

(door slamming)

(flap rattling)

You know, I heard it was the 150th anniversary

of Yellowstone National Park.

First thing I thought was, how's a park have an anniversary?

What actually happened here 150 years ago?

So I started to look into it.

It's just an amazing story.

Back in the early 1870s, all this land you see around here,

it's being claimed up by miners.

(flap slamming) The stories about this place

started making their way back east.

Eventually, Congress caught wind of it.

You guys ready?

(gentle music) (gravel crunching)

(gentle music continues) (gravel crunching)

(suspenseful music)

Congress commissioned Ferdinand Hayden

to go investigate Yellowstone.

(suspenseful music continues) (camera snapping)

He recruited some of the best geologists, cartographers

and zoologists in the world.

(suspenseful music continues) (camera snapping)

He also brought along a photographer

and a painter to document their findings.

(suspenseful music continues)

And the 32 men headed west.

(dramatic music)

Their mission was twofold, the search for mineral exploits

that could benefit the American people

and to find a path to build a railroad

that would connect the Mississippi River

to the Pacific Ocean.

(dramatic music continues)

(dramatic music continues)

They weren't here to protect Yellowstone.

They were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress.

(dramatic music continues) (camera snapping)

But something happened during that three month journey.

This place, it did something to him, got inside him

and slowly but surely started to change their minds.

(dramatic music continues)

And that's why it's still here.

Yeah, she's still here.

(gravel crunching)

The Hayden Expedition resulted in the creation

of the National Park system, Yellowstone being the first.

(upbeat music)

Now there are over 4,000 worldwide

and over two million square miles

of pristine nature that are protected from destruction.

(upbeat music continues) (gravel crunching)

Those are some big boots to fill,

but I'm walking in the shadow of the pioneers,

following the trail they blazed

as detailed in two journals kept

by members of the expedition

and 10 letters that Hayden himself wrote.

(upbeat music continues) (water rushing)

Does Yellowstone look the same today

as they described in these journals 150 years ago?

(upbeat music continues)

Let's find out.

(wind whistling) (birds chirping)

The explorers' first look at Yellowstone

was on the morning of July 16th,

(suspenseful music) (camera snapping)

collecting fossils on one of the mountain peaks

of the Gallatin Range.

(gentle music) (birds chirping)

They looked south and saw the Yellowstone River

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

winding through its valley in the distance.

They knew they'd arrived.

(gentle music continues) (water rushing)

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

Fed by runoff from the snowy mountain peaks,

the Yellowstone River is the lifeblood of the park.

Nearly 700 miles from end to end,

it's the longest free flowing river in America.

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

No dams have ever been built on it,

leaving the Yellowstone every bit as wild

and untamed as it was when Hayden first saw it.

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The Yellowstone moves east and south

through this part of the park,

before branching off into a 40 mile long tributary

called the Lamar River.

This leads straight to the fertile valley

that is the mecca of Northern American wildlife.

(dramatic music) (bison bellowing)

(dramatic music continues) (moose bellowing)

(birds chirping) (dramatic music continues)

Lamar Valley is often referred to as the American Serengeti.

(dramatic music continues) (birds chirping)

The abundant tall grasses and endless supply of fresh water

is everything the prey species in the area could ask for.

(dramatic music continues) (birds chirping)

(wings fluttering) And as they flood

into a one mile wide and 20 mile long wildlife court,

they're followed by predators of all shapes and sizes.

(bear growling) (dramatic music continues)

(cougar growling) (wolf howling)

(dramatic music continues) (bear roaring)

(birds chirping)

(birds chirping)

The wildlife in Lamar Valley seemed to have an impact

on the Hayden Expedition.

(gentle music) (camera snapping)

On one hand, the journal entries still refer

to the viability of mining the area, but on the other hand,

they wrote about the abundance of elk and deer

and more frequent run-ins with Yellowstone's alpha predator,

(ominous music)

the grizzly bear.

(ominous music continues) (bear growling)

Over 700 live within the park's borders today.

(ominous music continues)

It's a healthy population and it takes 22,000 pounds

of meat each day to keep them all fed.

(ominous music continues) (bear growling)

(birds chirping) (ominous music continues)

(grass rustling)

These elk aren't volunteering for the job

but this hungry bear doesn't care.

(bear snorting) (birds chirping)

(suspenseful music) (bear growling)

(suspenseful music continues) (bear panting)

(suspenseful music continues)

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The herd has the advantage of speed

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and the bear can't keep up his chase for very long.

(suspenseful music continues)

(suspenseful music continues)

(birds chirping)

But in the chaos, a calf gets separated from the herd.

(birds chirping)

The calf opts to hide,

(birds chirping)

and the grizzly searches.

(birds chirping)

(birds chirping)

(grass rustling) (bear sniffing)

(birds chirping) (grass rustling)

(bear sniffing) (birds chirping)

If she moves, she'll be an easy meal for the grizzly.

(birds chirping) (bear grunting)

(birds chirping)

(suspenseful music) (bear growling)

(bear growling) (suspenseful music continues)

(grass rustling) (suspenseful music continues)

(grass rustling) (bear growling)

(ominous music) (birds chirping)

She wins this round of hide and seek.

(birds chirping)

Mom calls out to find her offspring.

(elk whistling)

(birds chirping) (grass rustling)

(calf bleating)

(ominous music) (birds chirping)

This is life in the Lamar Valley.

(ominous music continues) (birds chirping)

(ominous music continues) (birds chirping)

Hayden and his men weren't here for wildlife watching

so they had to move on, pushing further into the unknown.

(mystical music)

(mystical music continues)

(wind whistling) (birds chirping)

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(fire crackling)

Sometimes I think about the spirit of the great explorers,

you know, what it takes to be the first to do something,

to journey into the unknown.

I mean, these guys had a job to do

and that was to keep going.

But as they headed south,

they started to hear a roar in the distance.

(water rushing) (mystical music)

Imagine making your camp right here,

having no idea what would be waiting

for you to come sunrise.

(mystical music continues) (water rushing)

You know, when you follow a river for long enough,

you're bound to run into a waterfall.

(mystical music continues) (water rushing)

The one that the Hayden party found

on their way was a monster.

(dramatic music) (water rushing)

At 308 feet tall, over 60,000 gallons

of waterfall over its lower falls every second.

(dramatic music continues) (water thundering)

(water bubbling) (dramatic music continues)

You know, the sheer sight and sound

of the cascading water was almost too perfect

for the lead geologist to put into words.

(dramatic music continues)

"Standing there, I thought

"how utterly impossible it would be

"to describe to another the sensations inspired

"by such a presence.

"A grander scene was never witnessed by mortal eyes."

(birds chirping)

Now, (chuckles) how in the hell are we gonna get down that?

(mystical music) (water rushing)

The morning of July 27th,

Albert Peale wrote in his journal,

(placid music)

"This morning, Elliott and I started for the falls

"with the intention of descending

"to the bottom of the canyon,

"a thing which all hunters and trappers say cannot be done."

(suspenseful music continues) (camera snapping)

The men were given a warning, but they did not heed it.

(suspenseful music continues) (water rushing)

They didn't have fancy climbing gear, no harnesses,

no carabiners, just ropes made of elk hide

that were known for snapping when they got wet.

That, and the insatiable desire to explore.

So they tied the ropes around their shoulders,

crossed their fingers

and made the 308 foot descent in just over two hours.

(suspenseful music continues) (water rushing)

When they finally reached the canyon below,

Peale wrote, (camera snapping)

"All was silent except the roaring of the water

"as its waves dashed upon the rock at our feet."

(reverent music) (water rushing)

(camera snapping) "Far above us,

"the trees along the edge seemed like a line of grass."

(reverent music continues) (camera snapping)

They had arrived in the canyon,

(reverent music continues) (water rushing)

and what a magnificent canyon it is.

(reverent music continues) (water rushing)

Carved by the river for the last 160,000 years,

the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a work in progress.

Today, it's 24 miles long,

1,200 feet in depth, and 4,000 feet wide.

(reverent music continues)

Tomorrow, it'll be a little bigger.

(reverent music continues) (water rushing)

Every day, it gets deeper and wider

as hydrothermal activity weakens the rock that lines it.

That rock is rich in iron deposits, which oxidize over time,

giving the canyon the stunning yellow colors

that swirl inside its walls.

The Minnetaree tribe named the river Mitseadazi,

which means Yellow Rock River.

When trappers and fur traders came, they interpreted

that as Yellowstone.

(gentle music) (water rushing)

(gentle music)

Renowned American painter Thomas Moran

was part of the Hayden Expedition.

His job was to capture the sites they witnessed.

(gentle music continues)

When Hayden sent Moran's renderings of the falls

and the canyon back east to Congress, they were speechless.

(gentle music continues)

These golden canyon walls give the park her name,

and that painting hung in the US Capitol for 80 years.

(gentle music continues) (water rushing)

(gentle music continues) (water rushing)

(water rushing)

At the edge of the canyon, the hills rise up

and drop back off into a sprawling basin.

(air whooshing)

Everything you see here was once underwater,

trapped for centuries beneath the flood waters

of the melting Ice Age glaciers.

When the water finally drained,

it left behind 50 square miles of sub alpine grasslands

that would come to be named after the pioneers.

(gentle music) (camera snapping)

This is Hayden Valley,

(dramatic music)

a stunning open range to behold

and home to one of the most iconic animals in US history,

(dramatic music continues) (bison snorting)

the great American bison.

(dramatic music continues) (bison snorting)

Weighing up to a ton and standing six feet tall at the hump,

these are the largest mammals in North America.

(dramatic music continues)

And the Yellowstone herd are the only pure descendants left

of the Asian bison who migrated across the land bridge

to North America 400,000 years ago.

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(dramatic music continues)

(bison snorting) (birds chirping)

And in July and August,

right when the Hayden party

was making their way down these hills,

dust fills the air in the valley.

(lively music) (bison snorting)

The bison run is underway.

(lively music continues) (bison snorting)

Female bison tend to mate with the most dominant bulls.

(lively music continues) (bison snorting)

This wallowing behavior by the males

is a display of power and aggression.

During the mating season,

each bull will lose around 200 pounds,

dedicating all his time and energy

to performing for the potential mates.

(dramatic music) (birds chirping)

It's an interesting ritual, but highly effective

because in Yellowstone, the bison are thriving.

And every year,

more and more of these wooly giants roam the valley.

(birds chirping) (bison snorting)

Fortunately, Mother Nature has her own way

of balancing the ecosystem.

And while the bison here are formidable, in Hayden Valley,

the Wapiti Lake Wolf Pack runs the show.

(suspenseful music) (wolves howling)

(suspenseful music continues)

(wolf growling) (suspenseful music continues)

And bison steak is on their menu.

(suspenseful music continues) (wolves barking)

(suspenseful music continues) (wolves barking)

At 19 wolves strong,

the pack is of force to be reckoned with,

(suspenseful music continues)

(suspenseful music) (wolves howling)

and they've fought off numerous attempts

from other packs to steal their territory.

(suspenseful music continues) (wolves barking)

With a flourishing population

of over 500 wolves currently living

in the Yellowstone ecosystem,

it's certain that they'll be challenged again

and a new pack will reign supreme over the valley.

It's all part of the natural

and inevitable ebb and flow of life.

(birds chirping) (suspenseful music)

(birds chirping) (water sloshing)

(birds chirping) (water sloshing)

(mongoose squealing) (water sloshing)

(meat ripping) (birds chirping)

(gentle music) (birds chirping)

(water trickling)

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

(water sloshing) (birds chirping)

(air whooshing)

(gentle music continues) (water sloshing)

(water bubbling)

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

(gentle music continues) (birds chirping)

I mean, these guys, the time they got here,

they must have known they'd found paradise.

How could you not?

You know, wild game everywhere, geology everywhere.

Maybe it was right here where they started

to change their mind about this place.

Why in the hell would you build a railroad

through all of this?

(birds chirping) (water rushing)

During the expedition, Hayden was sending letters back

to the North Pacific Railroad Company,

just giving them updates, but at some point his tone changed

and his communications became less about logistics

and more about the beauty all around.

(birds chirping) (water rushing)

Maybe it was a day just like this,

right here in this spot that got to him.

(gentle music) (camera snapping)

(gentle music continues)

(gentle music continues)

(thunder rumbling) (gentle music continues)

(thunder rumbling) (mystical music)

(cicadas chirping) (birds chirping)

(pups howling)

(water rushing) (magical music)

(water rushing) (magical music continues)

Whether the seeds of doubt had crept

into their minds or not,

(magical music continues) (water rushing)

Hayden and his team were determined

to explore as much of this alien world as possible.

So they headed in further, following the river

to the lake that feeds it.

(magical music continues) (birds chirping)

(camera snapping) (magical music continues)

(birds chirping) (magical music continues)

(camera snapping) (magical music continues)

(birds chirping) (magical music continues)

20 miles across and 14 miles wide, Yellowstone Lake

is the largest high elevation lake in America.

(magical music continues) (water lapping)

Its 110 miles of coastline

provide unlimited fresh drinking water

to every species in the park during the summer.

(magical music continues) (birds chirping)

In winter, the liquid water

is trapped below a sheet of ice three feet thick.

(magical music continues) (water bubbling)

Holes in the frozen surface mark spots

where warm water gushes up from below its geysers

and hot springs rage beneath the lake's peaceful surface.

(magical music continues) (water bubbling)

(wind howling)

It's the result of Yellowstone's active geology.

It's what gives life to all the park's geothermal activity.

(ominous music) (water rushing)

It's why this alien world looks

like no other place on earth.

(ominous music continues) (water bubbling)

And the curiosities it offers are endless.

(water bubbling) (ominous music continues)

Black Dragon's Cauldron, a boiling mud pot

that burst through the ground in 1948,

once blasting mud up to 20 feet in the air.

The cauldron has since cooled

to a steady bubble along the surface.

(ominous music continues)

Mammoth Hot Springs, formed over thousands of years

as spring water traveled underground through a fault line

and then cooled as it seeped out of the limestone,

depositing calcium carbonate.

(ominous music continues)

Algae in the warm pools turn the stone shelves

in the travertine terrace red, green, brown, and orange.

(ominous music continues) (water exploding)

(ominous music continues) (wind whistling)

(gentle music) (water rushing)

(wind whistling) (gentle music continues)

(wind whistling) (gentle music continues)

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the single feature

that took up the most space

in the Hayden Expedition's Journals.

(gentle music continues) (wind whistling)

A mesmerizing site where water bubbles up

from the Earth's crust.

(gentle music continues) (wind whistling)

At 189 degrees in the center,

it's too hot for anything to live,

giving it the deep blue color of pure water.

(gentle music continues) (wind whistling)

As the water spreads across the surface, it cools,

(gentle music continues)

allowing thermophilic bacteria to flourish.

(gentle music continues) (water whooshing)

(gentle music continues) (wind howling)

Each ring of color is a different type of bacteria

that thrives at a different temperature.

(gentle music continues)

But bacteria aren't the only life forms

that have adapted to the unique geology here.

(gentle music continues) (bison snorting)

Bison migrate to the thermals in winter

where heat melts away the heavy snow,

exposing the grass below.

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

(wings fluttering) (gentle music continues)

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

Cliff swallows come every spring

to make condos out of the pocked sandstone mounds left

behind by the dormant hot springs of the past.

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

The ever morphing geology of Yellowstone built these homes.

All they have to do is move in.

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues)

It must be nice.

(wind whistling) (gentle music)

(fire crackling) (wind whistling)

You know, it's amazing how much they all knew so long ago.

They must have all felt the ground moving,

heard the rock slides in the distance at night falling.

(fire crackling)

They all knew something was pushing from down below.

It took another 100 years to figure out what

was really going on down there.

Kinda wish I didn't sometimes.

(fire crackling) (wind whistling)

(wolf howling) (birds chirping)

(suspenseful music)

We know there's a volcano down there

and a magma chamber 37 miles long, 18 miles wide

and extending five miles down into the earth's crust.

(suspenseful music continues)

Scientists estimate an eruption could send thousands

of cubic miles of rock and molten glass into the atmosphere,

(suspenseful music continues)

creating a cloud of dust and debris so thick

that no one on earth would see the sun for years.

(suspenseful music continues)

(birds chirping)

That worst case scenario isn't meant to be terrifying.

It's meant to quantify the power

of the underground boiler

that sits right below the surface of Yellowstone.

That volcano has only erupted three times

over the last two million years, so it's unpredictable,

but the awesome heat it generates powers one

of the most iconic landmarks in the US,

(dramatic music) one you can set your watch by.

(water spraying) (dramatic music continues)

People come from all over the world to stand

with eyes wide and mouths hung open.

(water exploding) (birds chirping)

It's the most visited feature in Yellowstone.

(dramatic music continues) (water exploding)

This is Old Faithful. (dramatic music continues)

(suspenseful music)

Named for the consistency of its eruptions,

Old Faithful is a crack

in the earth above an underground reservoir.

(suspenseful music continues)

And Yellowstone's searing geothermal heat keeps

that water steaming hot 24 hours a day,

filling the chamber with steam pressure,

pressure that builds and builds,

and roughly every 90 minutes.

(suspenseful music continues) (ground rumbling)

(water exploding)

(gentle music)

After months of exploring, the Hayden team

had seen some of the most dazzling sites in the world

(gentle music continues)

and their journals were filled with attempts

to detail the mind blowing phenomena

that lay right in their country's backyard.

(gentle music continues)

They knew immediately this was a special place,

(gentle music continues)

but then they came across two prospectors

who'd laid claim to the entire area.

(dramatic music)

(crickets chirping)

They were gonna dig for gold, build a hotel

and market the water as some sort of magical healing potion.

And the thought of it must have just crushed Hayden.

He knew that it would be destroyed soon,

that his children's children would never see it

unless he did something about it.

(fire crackling) (mystical music)

"It requires no stretch of the imagination

"to see this place in the near future thronged

"with invalids drinking this water

"and bathing in it for their health."

He knew that if he could protect Yellowstone,

if he could find a way, that it would rank

with any natural curiosity the world can produce, his words.

Imagine the pressure Hayden (chuckles),

Hayden must have been feeling, gold interest,

(suspenseful music) Congress,

(suspenseful music continues) railroad barons,

(suspenseful music continues)

powerful people wanted this land for themselves.

(suspenseful music continues)

He knew the fight would be uphill

but he also knew that when you have an idea

and you believe in it strongly enough,

you can change the world.

(dramatic music)

(ducks squawking) (dramatic music continues)

(wolves barking) (dramatic music continues)

(elk bellowing) (dramatic music continues)

(water splashing) (dramatic music continues)

(thunder rumbling) (elk bellowing)

(suspenseful music)

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