kennedy, american encouragement and assurance. >> it would be a mistake for others to look upon berlin, because of its location, as a tempting target. the united states is there. the united kingdom and france are there. the pledge of nato is there and the people of berlin are there. it is secure, in that sense. we cannot separate its safety from our own. gave to west berlin in a time of peace. it will not be broken in a time of danger. if we do not meet our , if we are to berlin not true to our word or we have not achieved security their , it meanshese words

nothing. , ithere is one path to war is the path of unity. we seek peace, but we shall not surrender. that is the central meaning of this crisis and the meaning of this government's policy. this crisis can be surmounted. freedom can prevail. endure. can >> it is a day-to-day crisis as berlin becomes a symbol of the western standard against communist aggression.

august 13, 1961 -- threatened with economic chaos in berlin and east germany if the flow of refugees continues, the east german government seals off the border between east and west berlin. curtain is added a curtain of cement as eastern communists erect a wall to stop refugees. the wall outrages the western alliance. the agreement signed at the end of world war ii made berlin and entity jointly occupied by the western free and the soviet union. permanent discord to the life of the city as one after another entry points are sealed off. west berliners grow restive.

many have lost their jobs as a result of economic disruptions caused by arbitrary communist action. relatives and friends are separated. berliners flocked to the border and staged mass demonstrations. troopsted states cooperating with the west berlin police attempt the difficult task of keeping order, avoiding any incident with -- which might aggravate the situation. the brigadier general commanding

general keeps a watchful eye on the operations. aware ofin's mayor, the intense feelings of his people, attends a mass rally. the mayor urges restraint and expresses compliments and support for a free berlin by the united states and the western alliance. in the next few days, american soldiers patrolling the border area are yards away from a shooting war. it is a time for patients and self-control. u.s. troops are to resist any encroachment on the freedom of west berlin or our rights of entry into these berlin. -- east berlin.

at this crucial time, secretary of the navy john connolly pays an official visit to berlin. he is greeted by berlin garrison. intensified now to prevent any emergency. august 18, 1961. vice president lyndon b. johnson western berlin as a personal emissary of president kennedy. at the airport, the vice president, accompanied by robert watson, united states commander on a guard soldiers of

the west berlin police. guarda guard -- honor soldiers of the west berlin police. the vice president and mayor move on to city hall, where anxious people seek reassurance on the position of the united states. makeeir part, west germans it clear that they want the western alliance to stay and are opposed to any weakening in the protection they now enjoy. vice president johnson carries a message for president kennedy. freedom granted to west berlin, the united states is committed to the survival and future of a free west berlin. general lucius clay, who

engineered the 1948 berlin airlift, is president kennedy's special advisor to berlin in the crisis. august 19, 1961. the first battle group of the united states seventh army is dispatched across 110 miles of soviet east germany to join forces in west berlin. the battle group, commanded by glover john's, is met by a cartel.

as the convoy enters west berlin , it is greeted by an enthusiastic populace. troopss before, american under the city and now the cycle has come full circle as once more, united states soldiers move into the city. this time, they come as protectors to help keep law and necessaryfight, if for united states rights and a free berlin.

the communist threat to west berlin is clear. our commitment to that city is firm. whatever the future, however the explosive berlin crisis may

develop, the state army must inevitably continue to play a key role. >> join american history tv saturday for all day, live coverage of the world war i centennial symposium from norfolk, virginia. you will hear from scholars about the war that inaugurated the 20th century. craig and include lee sean mcmeekin. that is next saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. eastern here on american history tv. camhe 2015 c-span student

video competition is underway, open to middle and high school students to create a documentary on the same "the three branches and you." talking about how a branch of government has affected you or your community. fore are 200 cash prizes students and teachers totaling $100,000. to get started, go to studentcam.org. c-span has toured cities across the country, exploring american history. up next, a look at a recent visit to colorado springs, colorado. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. is soden of the gods park magnificent. many of the people do not realize it is a city park. it has national significance and a world-famous view. the fact that we are a natural landmark, i really love the

description of the garden of the gods park as being perhaps the most striking contrast between mountains and plains in all of north america. , the historyistory of the earth is almost like an open book here in colorado springs. what we're seeing here is the lagoons,of sand dunes, the bottom of an ocean, and even glacial gravels that have occurred from the last 3 million years. if you walk through the visitor center out into the park, it is like a walk back in time. you can gohalf-mile, 300 million years ago. the first people that we know of in the pikes peak region were the utes. this was their homeland. the hope pike's peak area was their homeland. they would circumnavigate pike's

peak as part of their seasonal journey because in the summer, they could find plenty of game and bison and elk on the west side of the mountain. aspaul would approach, -- fall would approach, they would make their journey back to this area, colorado springs. you can think of the red rocks providing shelter and some warm areas. have been dated to 300,000 years ago. the journey continued for many centuries. 1800s, the pressures of the huge united states and people heading westward certainly made a huge, tumultuous impact on the native people. did negotiate with the u.s. government to keep part of their homeland in colorado.

only ind to live not the reservation in western colorado but all over the state and the nation. then we had the pike's peak goldrush. that gold was found in cherry creek in the denver area. pike's peak is such an amazing landmark that it became the pike's peak or bust goldrush. that theyors knew would need to be a supply town. they created an area to set up a small town. they were just stunned by the beauty of these appended rocks -- upended rocks. they said, this is a place for people to assemble and we should call it the garden of the gods. that name stuck. it has been the garden of the gods ever since. this has been -- this is truly an extraordinary city park. >> in 1909, charles perkins gave

this gift to the city of colorado springs and said it should remain free forever. the whole story of the park is a gift that follows after our palmer, who provided a large system of our existing parks department today. charles perkins liked that philosophy. charles perkins was a friend of general palmer's. and he owned the burlington railroad, probably speculated on developing some of this land. because palmer was so engaged in wanting to make certain he had the right environment, he adopted his same philosophy. when it came time to do something with this property, it was easy for him to make the expandn that they would

the park and it would be forever free to the people. it stays that way today. unusual for a city parks and recreation department to have to take on something that has national significance. .his has always been a draw people come here for two natural reasons in addition to health and other things. they come for pike's peak, america's mountain, and they come for the garden of the gods. those are the natural reasons. and it remains that way from before 1909, when charles perkins made the gift. he realized that this would always be important to the people. we keep that functioning today. over 150 parks. this is a park that is most significant because it is a national draw. it is unusual to have to maintain something i guess --

something like this with the same kind of dollars that you would pledge to a neighborhood park. the foundation was established by a benefactor of this park to create a system for the visitor center to be owned by the foundation and the profits from the visitor center would go to maintain the garden of the gods park. we are very proud of that effort. it is so significant. they attempted to make this a national park. they were chided combine -- they were trying to combine garden of the gods and pike's peak. there was too much privately-owned land between the two. it was set aside by congress. park.the second national

yellowstone certainly captured that. but this remains a draw. in excess of 2 million people. when you get that kind of attention, you know the economic benefit to our region to have that kind of visitation come here, to see our natural resources. >> find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next, on-line at c-span.org/localcontent. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. c-span veteran's day coverage egins tuesday morning at 8:30 eastern during washington journal with an interview with

american legion executive verna jones. then at 10:00, the annual uso joint chiefs of staff chairman martin dempsey. from arlington national cemetery for the wreath aying ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns. after noon, mental health issues for veterans and medal of honor ceremonies. >> each week, american artifacts takes you to museums and historic places to learn what artifacts reveal about american history. this smithsonian's national museum of the american indian opened in 2004 on the national mall in washington, d.c. we visit the nation to nation exhibit. for treaties between the united states and native americans. the curator explains that in the

late 1700s, the fledgling federal government may treaties with the muskogee and the six nations of the iroquois. she also describes how the relationship between the government and the native peoples has changed and endured. >> i'm suzanne -- i'm cheyenne and muskogee and a founder of the national museum of the american indian. i'm guest curator, probably so, of the nation to nation exhibit and general editor for the book of the same title. i first proposed the nation to nation exhibit in 2003. and i was thinking just a few months ago that we would just never get to the end of it. today, i'm thinking it has only been 11 years.