[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. ♪ [solemn music] - they didn't expect to see what they saw, and, when they saw it, they could never forget it. [solemn music] ferdinand hayden was hired to lead a team into the northwest territories. [solemn music] the 32 men headed west. [solemn music] they weren't here to protect yellowstone. they were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress.

gold interest, railroad barons, congress. powerful people wanted this land for themselves, but something happened during their three-month journey, 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. [solemn music] [dramatic music]

[waterfall rumbling] [waterfall continues rumbling] [birds chirping] [gentle music] [gentle music continues] sometimes i think about the things that i'm gonna miss the most when i finally have to walk away. [gentle music]

[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] and sometimes the stories that i wish i would have known. most of us walk through life, and myself, admittedly, i do the same thing, without really getting below the surface. [gentle music] when i was younger, i saw pictures of yellowstone, and i thought, could there be a place like this in the world? [dramatic music] where these rivers cut through these mountains that were so high. [dramatic music] [water rumbling] and the animals, you could see them by the thousands.

[dramatic music] i remember, when i got my first glimpse of the mountains, [dramatic music] i had to take a breath. i began to understand what was so special about it, [hawk screeches] 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. [suspenseful music] i think everyone in their life, at some point, thinks, "i want to change the world," but it's rare to actually come across a true story of people who did. [suspenseful music] [pickaxes clanging] this was a time in america where all people cared about was what they could extract from the land and what they could get out of it.

[suspenseful music] but these pioneers, they came up with an entirely new idea, a new way of finding value in the land. [suspenseful music] i wanna see what they saw. i wanna see what changed them. [suspenseful music] [water rumbles] [animal squeaks] [kevin chuckles] [dramatic music] [tires rumbling] [foreboding music] [foreboding music continues] [foreboding music continues]

[car door slams] you know, when i heard it was the 150th anniversary of yellowstone national park, the first thing i thought was, how does 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 was being claimed up by miners. the stories about this place started making their way back east. eventually, congress caught wind of it.

are you guys ready? [gentle music] [gentle music continues] congress commissioned ferdinand hayden to go investigate yellowstone. he recruited some of the best geologists, cartographers, and zoologists in the world. he also brought along a photographer and a painter to document their findings, and the 32 men headed west. [dramatic music] their mission was two-fold, to 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] they weren't here to protect yellowstone. they were here to tear it to shreds in the name of progress, but something happened during that three-month journey. this place, it did something to him, it got inside him, and, slowly but surely, started to change their minds, and that's why it's still here. yeah, she's still here. the hayden expedition resulted in the creation of the national park system,

yellowstone being the first. [lively string music] now, there are over 4,000 worldwide and over two million square miles of pristine nature that are protected from destruction. [lively string music] 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. [lively string music] does yellowstone look the same today as they described in these journals 150 years ago? [lively string music] let's find out. the explorers' first look at yellowstone

was on the morning of july 16th. [vibrant music] collecting fossils on one of the mountain peaks of the gallatin range, they looked south and saw the yellowstone river, winding through its valley in the distance. they knew they had arrived. [river water rumbling] [vibrant music] 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] [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. [gentle music] 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] [animals grunting] [dramatic music continues] lamar valley is often referred to as the american serengeti. [dramatic music] [animals braying] the abundant tall grasses and endless supply of fresh water

is everything the prey species in the area could ask for. [dramatic music] [birds chirping] and as they flood into a one-mile-wide and 20-mile-long wildlife corridor, they're followed by predators of all shapes and sizes. [dramatic music] [animals grunting] [wolf howls] [bear roars] ho ho ho! not again... 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. [gentle music] 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. [tense music] the grizzly bear. [tense music] [bear grunts]

over 700 live within the park's borders today. it's a healthy population, and it takes 22,000 pounds of meat each day to keep them all fed. [bear growls] [tense music] these elk aren't volunteering for the job, but this hungry bear doesn't care. [birds chirping] [bear growls] [tense music] [tense music continues] [tense music continues]

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

[birds continue chirping] if she moves, she'll be an easy meal for the grizzly. [birds chirping] [bear grunting] [tense music] [bear growling] [tense music continues] [birds chirping] [bear grunts]

she wins this round of hide-and-seek. mom calls out to find her offspring. [elk calling] [calf cries] [somber music] this is life in the lamar valley. [somber music] hayden and his men weren't here for wildlife watching, so they had to move on, pushing further into the unknown. [somber music] [somber music continues]

[somber music continues] [somber music continues] [somber music continues] [somber music continues] 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. [waterfall roaring] imagine making your camp right here, having no idea what would be waiting for you come sunrise. [waterfall roaring] you know, when you follow a river for long enough, you're bound to run into a waterfall. [waterfall roaring] the one that the hayden party found in their way was a monster. [dramatic music] [waterfall roaring] 308 feet tall. over 60,000 gallons of water fall over its lower falls every second. [dramatic music] [waterfall roaring]

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] "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." now, how in the hell are we gonna get down that? [lively music] [waterfall roaring] 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. [lively music] [waterfall roaring] they had arrived in the canyon. [triumphant music] [waterfall roaring] and what a magnificent canyon it is. [triumphant music] [waterfall roaring] 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. tomorrow, it'll be a little bigger. 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 mi tse a-da-zi, which means yellow rock river. when trappers and fur traders came, they interpreted that as yellowstone. [waterfall roaring]

my name is joshua florence, and one thing i learned being a firefighter is plan ahead. you don't know what you're getting into, 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.

[solemn music] [river burbling] [river continues burbling] at the edge of the canyon, the hills rise up and drop back off into a sprawling basin. 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 subalpine grasslands that would come to be named after the pioneers. [gentle music] this is hayden valley. [uplifting music] a stunning open range to behold,

and home to one of the most iconic animals in us history, the great american bison. [uplifting music] weighing up to a ton and standing six feet tall at the hump, these are the largest mammals in north america. [uplifting music] 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, [uplifting music] [foreboding music] [bison grunting] [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. [foreboding music] [bison grunting] the bison run is underway. [foreboding music] [bison grunting] female bison tend to mate with the most dominant bulls. [foreboding music] [bison grunting] this wallowing behavior by the males is a display of power and aggression. [foreboding music] during the mating season, each bull will lose around 200 pounds, dedicating all his time and energy to performing for the potential mates. [foreboding music] [bison grunting] 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] 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. [tense music] [wolves howling] and bison steak is on their menu. [tense music] [wolves barking] at 19 wolves strong, the pack is, of course, to be reckoned with. [tense music] [wolves howling] and they have fought off numerous attempts from other packs to steal their territory. [tense music] [wolves bark]

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. [somber music]

[solemn music] [birds chirping] [river burbling] [otters squeaking] [birds chirping] [river burbling] [gentle music]

[gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] [water burbling] [gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] i mean, 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 their mind about this place. why in the hell would you build a railroad through all of this? 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] [river burbling] maybe it was a day just like this right here in this spot that got to him. [gentle music]

[gentle music continues] [ominous music] [thunder booming] [ominous music continues] [thunder rumbling] [somber music] [birds chirping] [wolf cubs howling]

[gentle music] [river burbling] whether the seeds of doubt had crept into their minds or not, 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. [gentle music] [birds chirping] [gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] 20 miles across and 14 miles wide, yellowstone lake is

the largest high-elevation lake in america. [gentle music] its 110 miles of coastline provide unlimited fresh drinking water to every species in the park during the summer. [gentle music] in winter, the liquid water is trapped below a sheet of ice three feet thick. [gentle music] [water burbling] holes in the frozen surface mark spots where warm water gushes up from below, as geysers and hot springs rage beneath the lake's peaceful surface. [gentle music] [water burbling] it's the result of yellowstone's active geology. it's what gives life to all the park's geothermal activity.

it's why this alien world looks like no other place on earth. [somber music] [water burbling] and the curiosities it offers are endless. [somber music] [camera clicking]

[somber music] 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. [dramatic music] algae in the warm pools turn the stone shelves in the travertine terrace red, green, brown, and orange. [dramatic music] [water crashing] [dramatic music continues] [gentle music] [water burbling] [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] a mesmerizing site where water bubbles up from the earth's crust. [gentle music] at 189 degrees in the center, it's too hot for anything to live, giving it the deep blue color of pure water. as the water spreads across the surface, it cools, allowing thermophilic bacteria to flourish. [gentle music] [water burbling]

[gentle music continues] each ring of color is a different type of bacteria that thrives at a different temperature, but bacteria aren't the only lifeforms that have adapted to the unique geology here. [gentle music] [bison grunting] bison migrate to the thermals in winter, where heat melts away the heavy snow, exposing the grass below. [gentle music] [birds chirping] cliff swallows come every spring to make condos out of the pocked sandstone mounds left behind by the dormant hot springs of the past. the ever-morphing geology of yellowstone built these homes. all they have to do is move in. [gentle music] [birds chirping] my name is joshua florence,

and one thing i learned being a firefighter is plan ahead. you don't know what you're getting into, 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.

[solemn music]

[wind faintly howling] [fire crackling] 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. they all knew something was pushing from down below. it took another a hundred years to figure out what was really going on down there. [wolves howling] [foreboding 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. [foreboding music]

scientists estimate an eruption could send thousands of cubic miles of rock and molten glass into the atmosphere. [foreboding music] [shockwave booms] creating a cloud of dust and debris so thick that no one on earth would see the sun for years. [foreboding music] [birds chirping] [water burbling] 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. [choir singing in foreign language] one you can set your watch by. [choir vocalizing] [geyser roaring] people come from all over the world to stand with eyes wide and mouths hung open. [choir vocalizing] [geyser roaring] it's the most visited feature in yellowstone.

[choir vocalizing] [geyser roaring] this is old faithful. [choir vocalizing] [geyser roaring] [suspenseful music] named for the consistency of its eruptions, old faithful is a crack in the earth above an underground reservoir, 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] [geyser rumbling] [geyser roars] [gentle music] after months of exploring, the hayden team had seen some of the most dazzling sites in the world. they knew immediately this was a special place,

but then they came across two prospectors who had laid claim to the entire area. [gentle 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. [somber 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. [somber music] 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 must have been feeling. gold interest. [dramatic music] congress. [dramatic music] railroad barons. [dramatic music] powerful people wanted this land for themselves. [dramatic music] 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] [birds squawking]

[dramatic music continues] [wolves barking] [elk braying] [water burbling] [dramatic music continues] [thunder rumbling] [elk calls] >> christmas is supposed to be a time to come together but crackling with contention? i say enough. right here right now. this is the great christmas debate. ♪ i am your host we have two teams playing for bragging rights and a cash prize for charity we have the green team and the red team