[applause] and, of course, thank you to all of you at home for watching, i want to thank one more time our sponsors, good night fox nation. thank you. ♪ ♪ they didn't expect to see what they saw. when they saw it, they could never forget it. >> ahead up was hired to lead a team in the northwest territories. 32 men headed west.he they werre to e not here to

protect yellowstone. they were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress, gold interests, railroads, congress. powerful people wanted this land for themselves. but something happened during the their month journey slowly but surely their missioned changed. so as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of yellowstone national park, we look back in time at t the eventsess that lead tomagica the preservation of this magical place.

sometimes i think about the things i'm going to miss most when i have to walk away.

not just my family that i'll think of, but the books that i'll never read. the music i never hear. sometimes the stories that i wish i would have known. most of us walk through life and myself i dotted same thing, without really getting below the surface. when i was younger, i saw pictures of yellowstone and i thought could there be a place like this in the worldmusi . [water re the rivers cuh the mountains that were so

high, the animals you could see them by the thousands. i remember when i got my first glimpse of the mountains, i haddi had to make a breath, i read what it took for yellowstone to be here so that we could all enjo was a story they suddenly wanted to share. i think everyone in their life at some point thinks, i want to change the world. but it is rare to come across a true story of people who did. 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. but these pioneers, they came up with a new idea. a new way of finds value in the land. i want to see what they saw. i want to see what changed them

you know i heard it was 150 anniversary of yellowstone national park, first thing i thought, how does a park have anniversary? what actually happened here 150 years ago? so i started looking into it. just an amazing story. back in the early 1870s all of the land you see here was claimed up by miners.ir stories abou wayt this b place started making their way back east.

eventually congress got wind of it, you guys ready? congress commissioned haden to investigate yellowstone. he recruited some of the best geologists, and cardo graphers and geal gists in the world, he brought along a photographer and a painter. to document the finding. 32 men headed west. their mission was two-fold in search for mineral exploits that could benefit the american people to find

a path to build a railroad. they weri c -- they were connecting the mississippi river to the pacific ocean.ey w they werere e not here protect yellowstone, they were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress, but something happened during, something happened during, that three this place it did something to them.t su got inside orelyf them. slowslowly but insurance started toyeah change their mindings, that's why it's still here, yeah, she's still here.

>> the haden expedition resulted in creation of the national park system. yellowstone the first.illi now theron se are over 4,000 world wide.ro antectedd over 2 million square miles of pristine nature that are protected from destruction. those are some big boots to fill. but i'm walking in the shadow of the pioneers. following thtwo joure trail they blazed as detailed in two journalists kept[livel by the expedition and 10 laters that haden, him self wrote. does yellowstone look the same today as they described in the journals 150 years ago? let's find out.

the explorers first look at yellowstone was the morning of july 16, collecting fossils on one of thee mountainriver, peaks of the gala tin range. they looked south and saw the yellowstone river, winding through the valley in the distance, they knew they had arrived.is th run off from the snowy mountain peaks, yellowstone river is the lifeblood of the park.ree- nearly 700flow miles from end-to-end. it is the longest free-flowing river in america.

no dams have ever been built on it, leaving yellowstone every bit as wild and untamed as it was when haden first saw it. the yellowstone moves east and south through this part of the park. before branching off to a 40 mile long trib -- tribtary called the lamar river. the mecca of the north american wildlife. lamar valley is often

referred to as the a the american sarin getty. as they flood into a one mile wide, 20 mile long wildlife corridor, they are followed by predators of all shapes and sizes. oh no... for the gifts you won't forget. happy holidays from mercedes-benz. see your mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional offers.

emn music] [birds chirping] the wildlife in lamar valley seem to have an impact on the hayden expedition. the wildlife in lamar valley seemed to have an impact on the haden expedition, journal refer to viability of mining the area. but on the other hand, they wrote about the abundance of elk and deer and run ins with yellowstone'sa alpha

predator, the grizzly bear, over 700 live within the park's borders today. it is a healthy population. and it takes 22,000 pounds of meat each day to keep them all fed. these elk are not volunteering for the job. but this hungry bear doesn't care. ♪ ♪

the herd has the advantage of speed. and the bear can't keep up his chase for very long. but in the chaos, a calf gets separated from the herd . the calf opts to hide. and the grizzly searches.

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

she wins this round ofalli hide-and-seek. mom calls out tong] find her off spring. this is life in the lamar val valley. ahhaden and his men were not here for wildlife watching, so they had to move on, pushing further into the unknown

>> 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, that was to keep going. but as they headed south, they started to hear a roar in the distance.you imagine making youcomer camp right here, having no idea what would be waiting for you come sunrise. riveyou'r for long enough, you are bound to run into a waterfall. one that haden party fo found on their way was a found on their way was a monster. 308 feet tall, over 60 thousand gallons of waterfall over its lower falls every second.

you know the sheer sight and sound of the cascading water was almost too perfect for the lead geologist to put into words. standing about, i thought how utterly impossible that would be to describe to anothers sensations inspired byscene wa such a presence. a grander scene was never witnessed by mortal eyes. now, how in the hell are we going to get down that? >> they didn't have fancy climbing gear. no harnesses. just ropes made of elk elk h hyde that were

known for snapping when they got wet, they made the 308 foot decent in just over twoerfa hours. theyll r had arrived in the canyon. and what a magnificent canyon it is. carved by the river for the last 160 thousand years, the grand canyon of the yellowstone is a work in progress. today it is 24 miles long. 1200 feet in depth. and 4,000 feet wide. tomorrow it will be a little bigger.ak every daens thy it gets deeper d wider as hydrothermal activity weakening the rock that lines it. that rock is rich in iron

deposits, which ex oxidize overtime, giving the canyon stunning yellow colors that swirl in its walls, the mini tary tribe named river, yellow rock river, the trackers and fur traders yellowstone. but at the end of the day, you know you have a team behind you that can help you. not having to worry about the future makes it possible to make the present as best as it can be for everybody.

for children fighting critical illness, you can make the stars align. because when we come together, hope and joy will shine. help us make every wish come true. ♪ ♪

>> welcome to fax news live, i am ashley strohmier in new york, millions of wannabe holiday revelers stuck at home or airports, arctic blast, that brought heavy snow, record lows and high winds to u.s. is head out bulives in its wake chaos for travelers. airlines say it will take a while to get the stranded passenger 250ss to their destination, ice in the north and florida waters south created -- floodwaters down south created treacherous road ways. >> britain's king charles iii remembering his mother queen elizabeth ii on this

holiday. i'm ashley strohmier, back to yellowstone, one-fifty . >> at the edge of the canyon the hills rise up and drop back off to a centrage back off to a centrage centralling --glac cens sprawling basin, when the water drained, it left 50e squarepionee miles of subalpine grass lands that would come to bhayden ve named after the by nears. this is haden valley. -- after the pioneers, this is haden valley. his

torya stunning open range to behold. and home to one of the most iconic animals in u.s. history, the great american bison.are weighing up to athe ton, standing 6 feet tall at the hump, these are the largest mammals in north america.ri dge and the yellowstone herd are only pure descendants left of the asian bison who migrated to america 400,000 years ago.

in july and august, right when the haden party was making their way down these hills, dust fills the air in the valley. g thruntine bison run is under wa. female bison tend to mate with the most dominant bulls. [f thisoreb modeling behavior by the males is a display of power and aggression during mating season, these bull will lose to 400 pounds. it is an interesting ritual. but highly effective.f becausthese e in yellowstone the bison are 3 thriving and

every year more and more ofre the woolly has h giantses roam e valley, mother nature has her own way of balancing the eco system, the bison here are f formidable. in haden valley the hapateak valley wolf pack runs the show. and bison steak is on their me menu. at 19 wol wolves strong, the pack is a course to be the reckonedir t with. they fought off numerous

attempts from other packs to steal their territory. ye with thellow flourishing population of over 500 wolves living in the yellowstone eco system, it is certain they will be it, and a new pack will reign supreme over the valley, it is part of the national ebb and flow of life.

[dad] charlie did not die from an overdose. charlie was poisoned. [mom] no other family should go through this. it's just horrific. [female narrator] go to safe dot pharmacy. use the free tool. learn if the online pharmacy you're using is safe. ♪ [solemn music] [birds chirping] [river burbling] [otters squeaking] [birds chirping] [river burbling] [gentle music]

[gentle music continues] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ these guys by the time they

got here, they must have known they found paradise. how could you not, you know, wild game everywhere. geology everywhere. maybe it was right here where they started to change why in th the hell would you build a railroad through all of this? during the expedition, hayden was lending letters back to the north pacific railroad company, giving abo themut l updates. at some point his tone change and his communications became lessirds abou chit logistics, more about the beauty all around. maybe it was a day just like this right here in this spot that got to him

whether the seeds of doubt crept into their minds or not, hayden and his team were determined to explore as much of this alien world as possible.ing sothe they headed in further. following the river. to the lake that feeds it. 20 miles akr across,14

miles wide, yellowstone wake is the largest high elevation lake in north america. it is 110 miles of coastline provide unlimited fresh drinking water to every species in the park during the summer. in winter, the liquid water is trapped below a sheet of ice, three feet thick. holes in the frozen surface mark spots with warm water gushes up from below as geysers, and hot springs it's the the result of

yellowstones active geologist, it's what givesplac life to ale onl of the park's life to ale onl of the park's geothermal activity, it is like this alien world looks like no other place on earth. and the curiosities are end less.

[somber music] mammoth hot springs, formed over thousands of years >>traveled mammoth hot springs formed over thousands of years. it cooled as it seeped out of the limestone. depositing calcium carbonate, algae in the warm pools turn the stone shelvesrash ining] traveler teen, red, green, brown and orange. ♪ ♪

spring took up most space in spring took up most space in the hayden expedition . a mes -- mesmerizing sight where water bubbles up from the earth's crust. at 189 degrees in the center, it's too anything to live. giving it the deep blue cbblue collar of -- color of pure water, as the water spreads across the surface it cools, allowing b bacteria flourish.

each ring of color is a departm different type of bacteria. there are other life forms that have adapted to the geology here. bison migrate to the south in the winter. where heat melting the snow exposes the grass below. cliff swallows come every spring to make condos from the hot mounds, the gee olall jegee g.

you know you have a team behind you that can help you. not having to worry about the future makes it possible to make the present as best as it can be for everybody.

[solemn music]

[wind faintly howling] [fire crackling] you know, it's amazing how much they all knew so long ago. >> it's amazing how much they all knew so long ago. they must have all felt the ground moving and hear the rockslides in the distance at nightfalling, they alle knew something wasout wh pushing from down below, it took another0 hundred years to figure out what was really going on down there. >> we know there is a volcano down there. a magma chamber 37 miles long, 18 miles wide. ic tinextending 5

miles down to earth's crust, scientists estimate an eruption could sendin thousandg musis of cubic miles s horock andckwa molten glass into the atmosphere. creating a cloud of of dust and debris so thick that no one on earth would see the sun for years. that volcano has only erupted 3 times over the last two million years, so it's unpredictable. one you can set your watch by. people come from allest on over the world.

it's the most visited feature in yellowstone. this is faithful.ar nameth its eruptions, old faithful wis a crack in the earth, and yellowstone searing geothermal heat keeps it hot. 24 hours a day, filling the chamber with steam pressure, a pressure that builds and builds and roughly every 90 minutes -- after months of exploring, the hayden teamthis had someon we some oasf the most

dazzling sights in the pro world, thespecy knew immediately, this was a special place. bu thet then e thenty came acros two prospectors who laid claim to the entire area.ma they wergical e going to dig for gold, build a hotel and market the water as some sort of magical healing potion. potion. the thought of it must have d hayden. he knew it would be destroyed soon, that his children's children would never see it unless he did "it i it. it requires no stretch ofhi ths watee imaginination to see these place in future with

invalids drinking the water. he knew if he could protect yellowstone, to find a way yellowstone, to find a way it would rank with any l curiosity that the world could produce, his words. imagine the pressure hayden must have been feeling. gold interests. congress. railroad barons. powerful people wanted this land for themselves. he knew the fight would be up hill. but he also knew that when you have an idea, and bluff believe in it strongly enough, you can change the world. ♪ ♪

>> christmas is a time toosed come together, our family feasts of crackling with contention, enough, right now we're settle things once and fa lala . >> this is the great christmas debate ♪ ♪ i'm f tom shillue your host, we have two teams t playing fowor bragging rightsr and cash for charity, red h team and greenav team, green