Aerial America: Recent Episodes
Smithsonian Channel
If you fly over the Great Plains today, giant squares of land immediately stand out. Many of these are the 160-acre plots forged out of the prairie by 19th-century pioneers, a legacy of the Homestead Act of 1862.
The Civil Rights movement was defined by seismic events that all took place in the South: the murder of Emmett Till, Rosa Parks refusing to leave her bus seat, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Selma-to-Montgomery march
Separated from their mainland cousins for 10,000 years, kodiak bears have become the largest subspecies of brown bear on Earth. Here's what it takes to feed them.
Cheyenne Bottoms is the nation's largest inland marsh, an area of over 60 square miles. It's also the favored resting spot of many species of migrating birds, from pelicans to 27 species of ducks.
From actor Paul Newman to astronaut Neil Armstrong, Ohio is home to some of the most influential and recognizable people in history.
There's something about New York City that Hollywood can't resist, since the early 1900's the city has served as the setting for thousands of films.
Next to Virginia's wonder of the natural world, the 200 foot tall Natural Bridge, sits Foamhenge, a replica of Stonehenge made entirely out of styrofoam.
One of Yellowstone's most popular attractions, the Grand Prismatic Spring is home to some of the earliest forms of life on Earth.
In 1957, the Little Rock Nine, as they came to be known, returned to Arkansas' Little Rock Central High School day after day, facing angry crowds opposed to desegregation.
For many climbers, Mt. McKinley presents the alluring chance to reach the top of our continent. But the dangers involved in doing so are very real and sometimes very sudden.
This ordinary small town holds extraordinary significance for aviation: it's home to Elvis' private jet, an airplane demolition yard, and the most famous aircraft that no one's ever seen.
Puerto Rico's agricultural economy was once dominated by sugar plantations. Today, the same fields hold everything from corn and rice to bananas, plantains, and mangoes.
Hawaii was born around 40 million years ago, from sea volcanoes and the shifting Earth.
From a secret underground command center carved out of the Rocky Mountains, the North American Aerospace Defense Command used to watch the skies for Soviet missiles and prepare for a nuclear attack.
Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi River fueled the imagination of a young boy named Samuel Clemens. The world would later know him as Mark Twain.
Third generation stunt pilot and Minnesota's favorite daredevil, John Mohr, attempts astonishing aerial acrobatics in his 1943 Stearman biplane.
Home of Amelia Earhart and the first commercially produced plane in the country, Kansas has earned its reputation as the capital of flight.
Though tragic, if it hadn't been for the Great Fire of 1871, it's unlikely Chicago would have had the opportunity to redesign the city with the modern skyline it has today.
The early 19th-century discovery of lead in Wisconsin attracted miners from Cornwall. The peculiar, makeshift dwellings they slept in gave the state its nickname.
While Thomas Edison is best-known for inventing the lightbulb, it's often forgotten that he also set up the world's first movie studio, in Fort Lee, NJ.
Where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil and where the first juke joints started playing a new kind of American music, Clarksdale is the birthplace of Delta Blues.
In the early 1980s, an Indian guru named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh arrived in the town of Antelope, Oregon and set up a commune for his followers. It was the beginning of an extraordinary sequence of bizarre events.
Entering the Indiana State Reformatory in 1924 as a petty thief, John Dillinger left as a hardened and dangerous criminal. Countless bank robberies and prison breaks later, he soon sealed his fate as one of the nation's most notorious criminals.
Near the turn of the 20th century, Alaska lured thousands of eager prospectors in search of precious minerals to its bountiful mountains. What many found was far more treacherous.
In an unwelcome environment, building an eco-friendly house is a major challenge. But architect Mike Reynolds thinks he's found a design solution in his innovative "Earthships."
As everyone knows, Washington, D.C. is named after the first U.S. president. But do you know how he chose its location?
The tiny town of Forks, Washington became known for its teenage vampires thanks to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. And HBO's True Blood established Natchez, Mississippi as another vampire haven.
The waters of Lake Erie may be peaceful today, but in the early nineteenth century they were filled with battleships.
Unhappy wives flocked to Reno in 1931. It was easier to get divorced in Reno that anywhere else in the country - and that turned the little city into the capital of unhappy couples.
In the midst of the biggest crises of his presidency, John F. Kennedy always knew there was one place he could go to collect his thoughts alone: his decadent family summer home in Hyannis Port.
Blazing down back roads and running from the law, notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde fled many crime scenes on these Arkansas roads.
Since hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, groups like Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation and Habitat for Humanity have rebuilt the homes of thousands of residents.
Much of the water in the US comes from the Rocky Mountains, so mineral mines nearby must take extra precautions not to pollute the drinking water of milllions.
More than half a century ago, civil rights leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for equality in Montgomery, inspiring a national movement through acts of nonviolence.
Every year, fans make the pilgrimage to Elvis Presley's hometown to see his birthplace and parade their classic Rock and Roll cars around town.
Pennsylvania's Amish population maintains its religious practices and austere way of life, tending some of the most productive farmland in the country.
First conquered in 1992, the climb up the east side of a 300-foot rock pillar named "Monkey Face" has become the ultimate rock-climbing challenge.
In the wilderness of Wyoming, there's a magnificent pillar of ancient lava so unique, that even geologists are at odds on exactly how it was formed.
In September of 1974, author Stephen King and his wife checked into the Stanley Hotel. During his stay there, King came up with the idea for The Shining.
Historically feared by humans, brown bears were once aggressively hunted in the contiguous U.S. Because of this, 95% of these majestic creatures live in Alaska.
Idaho has more wild and remote public lands than any state outside of Alaska. Covering 2.3 million acres, The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area stretches right across the heart of Idaho.
In 1898, the mayor of Los Angeles, Fred Eaton, came up with an audacious plan to drive up the value of local real estate. He would secretly divert the water from an entire river valley in the north to the city.
Two of the biggest pioneers in U.S. railroad history were brothers, Oakes and Oliver Ames. And while they were later found out to be criminals, a large granite pyramid would later be erected in southern Wyoming, in their honor.
As more and more settlers began to pour into California throughout the 1840s, the local Mexican authorities regarded them with suspicion. This would set off a chain of events culminating in the Bear Flag Revolt.
Nearly a third of world's orange juice comes from Florida's expansive orange groves and successful processing plants.
In 1971, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight launched their own sportswear company, Nike, named after the Greek god of victory.
In 1836, Narcissa Whitman and her husband Marcus joined a group of missionaries traveling west along the Oregon Trail. It was the first time a woman--or a wagon--had ever attempted the trip.
Soaring over Utah, it's easy to imagine that you've left Earth and have stepped onto another planet.
With gardens, skylights, and the famous dome room, Jefferson designed his home to be more than a place to live; it was his architectural legacy.
The Badlands of South Dakota are filled with the fossils of fascinating and surprising prehistoric animals: saber-toothed cats, large-headed pigs, and even the first camels.
The white beaches on the Florida Panhandle make up what's known as Florida's forgotten coast; its sandy beaches and natural beauty have remained trapped in time.
Kentucky's State Penitentiary has been serving up justice since 1889 - a time when family feuds, like the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feuds, were settled with violence and blood.
In 1859, when an American farmer shot a pig on an island that both Britain and America claimed, a twelve-year-long standoff known as the Pig War began.
In the middle of Flamenco Beach lies an abandoned U.S. army tank covered in graffiti -- a remnant of a time when the U.S. valued Puerto Rico for its strategic military value.
In the 19th century, many people believed that landscapes like the Grand Canyon were shaped by volcanoes and earthquakes. But one American geologist named John Newberry had different ideas.
Alaska's Bagley Icefield is a gargantuan pool of solid ice that spans 120 miles. It produces many glaciers, including the massive Bering Glacier, which deposits 6.5 trillion tons of water a year into the Gulf of Alaska.
It took more than 14 years for Mount Rushmore to be completed. During it's construction, unstable stone forced the the sculptor to dynamite Jefferson's original face.
As many as 500,000 tule elk once roamed the coast of California, but they were hunted to extinction in the mid-1860s. Or so we thought...
Pebble Beach, one of the most famous and pristine golf courses in the world, was developed by Samuel F.B. Morse in the early 1900's.
The Florida Everglades are home to a patchwork of ecosystems in a constant state of change--so much so, they look different from one year to the next. Here's how this magnificent floating landscape came to be.
In 1850, hundreds of migrant ships arrived in San Francisco harbor, fueled by gold rush. But many of these ships weren't needed after that and were simply sunk, making the city a maritime archaeologist's dream.
After Spanish conquistadors crossed the Rio Grande In the 1500s, they built a string of native missions in an area that would later become San Antonio.
The railroad tracks that crisscross West Virginia pass through the state's mountains - an engineering feat made possible by the steam-powered drill, or, according to legend, a man named John Henry.
In 1862, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. For just eighteen dollars, the law entitled men over twenty-one to claim 160 acres of land, provided they farmed it successfully for five years.
New-Agers have been coming to Sedona for years because of its mysterious spiritual energy, but they weren't the first to believe in its religious power.
On November 6th, 1805, the Columbia River finally brought Lewis and Clark to their journey's end at the Pacific coast.
The deadliest battle of the Civil War took place on this small piece of farmland that has become known simply as Gettysburg.
On this Rhode Island beach, the mansions and the sunshine are reserved for socialites and high society - from the Astors to the Wideners, these are the homes of America's oldest and richest families.
With fields full of pumpkins and forests full of ghosts, this New England state might be the perfect place for tricks and treats.
Tucked away from modernity, New Castle gives us a glimpse of what American life used to look like.
The Sundance Film Festival kicks off every January in Park City, Utah - it's now one of the largest independent film festivals in the world.
Set in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, New Vrindaban is home to the largest Hare Krishna community in America. It's also known as "America's Taj Mahal."
Ice age airflow and modern-day man have shaped, altered and even devastated Nebraska's lands.
Del Webb was a real estate mogul with a dream - of creating a new kind of village where senior citizens could grow old in comfort and style.
Ernest Hemingway first visited Sun Valley in 1939 and moved to Idaho permanently in 1960. Hemingway was often spotted in town at the Sawtooth Club, when he wasn't writing, hunting, or fly-fishing.
It's incredible to think that St. Louis's Gateway Arch, a modern architectural marvel designed by Eero Saarinen, was built out of a federal grant set up to address unemployment during the Depression.
The Port of Miami is as well known for its connection to the drug trade as Miami Beach is for its wild parties.
Built in 1932, the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower sits atop Mount Greylock, the state's highest peak.
Route 66 might be all-but obsolete now that interstate highways traverse the country, but during the 1920s and 30s, it was the "Mother Road," leading desperate Americans out to the promising west.
From bungee jumping off the Royal Gorge Bridge to trekking up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway, Colorado is the ultimate vacation destination for adventurers everywhere.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the forced relocation of over 15,000 Cherokee people--a third of whom died during the journey to Oklahoma.
Almost a month after 200 Texan rebels were defeated at the Battle of the Alamo, the rebel army got its revenge, earning Texas its independence.
Some of the biggest country music recording artists from Loretta Lynn, to Patty Loveless, to Naomi and Wynonna Judd had humble beginnings in Kentucky.
What do a Garrison Keillor sketch, Bavarian beer-brewing immigrants and a place where chickens are right to be nervous have in common? Find out.
Experience Glacier National Park's awe-inspiring peaks, untouched forests, pristine alpine meadows, and breathtaking lakes.
Farmers have turned Kansas' fertile land from prairie to crop fields, making the state America's breadbasket; it's now first in the production of sorghum, second in wheat, and seventh in corn.
Carmel, California, is home to thriving marine population and breathtakingly gorgeous coasts. No wonder the actor wanted to run it.
Long before settlers set foot in Indiana, many Native American tribes lived there undisturbed. But trouble started brewing when Europeans and Americans arrived and fought for control of the land.
Beale Street in downtown Memphis was officially declared the "Home of the Blues" by an act of Congress in 1977.
Covering 1,700 square miles, Utah's Great Salt Lake is the biggest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere.
The waterfalls of Hawaii's Mount Wai'ale'ale are so picturesque, abundant, and untouched, Steven Spielberg shot parts of his original dino thriller there.
Many ridiculed Secretary of State William Seward for purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867. But he turned out to be quite the shrewd businessman.
The old mill town of Lowell was named for an industrial pioneer who helped give birth to Massachusetts' and America's industrial age.
Eighty million years ago, western Kansas was underwater; the remains of what lived in the sea then turned into chalk, eventually eroding into the large rocks that now tower over the flat countryside.
The breathtaking beaches and quaint seaside cottages of Martha's Vineyard make it a dream vacation destination for many of its visitors - some of which include presidents, celebrities, and even one famous, fictional shark.
Forbidding mountains were no match for Daniel Boone. When he was hired by a wealthy businessman to forge a trail through the Cumberland Gap, he emerged on the other side of the mountain two weeks later.
For the Osage Nation of Missouri, signing an 1808 peace treaty with the U.S. government was the beginning of a path to betrayal and broken promises.
While Yellowstone has a reputation for beauty and leisure, it can also be a dangerous place. One man, Truman Everts, discovered this firsthand in 1870 when he became lost there for 37 days.
Wisconsin's Aztalan State Park is home a mysterious pyramidal mound built by the prehistoric Native Americans who once lived there. Excavations of the site have yielded intriguing, and grisly, findings.
Yellowstone is steeped in Native American tradition, with the region seen as the ancestral home of tribes like the Blackfeet, Shoshone and Umatilla.
Every year, people are injured or killed at Yellowstone with distressing regularity: from the two women who tried to take a selfie with an elk, to victims of bear attacks, to people falling into the thermal pools.
Many of president Lyndon B. Johnson's most important policies--from the Civil Rights Act to Medicare--were influenced by his modest upbringing in Central Texas.
Built during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, the Yukon and White Pass Railway is a stunning sight. Given its speedy, two-year construction, this narrow gauge railroad, with its sky-high beams, is quite the marvel.
Cotton is the crop that has shaped Georgia's landscape and economy for hundreds of years.
Lynchburg, Tennessee is home to the oldest registered distillery in the US and its world-renowned whiskey - Jack Daniel's.
Southern California is home to some of the most extreme landscapes on the planet--none more so than Death Valley where, in 1913, the temperatures reached a world-record high of 134 degrees fahrenheit.
A large portion of Indiana's economy relies on an invaluable crop: corn. Popcorn plants like Pop Weaver have perfected the production of our favorite movie snack down to a science.
Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, called Kentucky his home. Today, in the town of Rosine, musicians gather every Friday night to honor Monroe's legacy.
Tabasco sauce got its start after the Civil War, when Edmund McIlhenny of Avery Island, Louisiana, began fermenting his red pepper plants in order to make a spicy sauce.
On September 8th, 1974, famous daredevil Evel Knievel climbed into a steam-powered rocket and attempted to blast across Idaho's Snake River Canyon.
Georgia may be known for its peaches, but this four-story water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina was designed as a giant peach to let the world know that South Carolina produces the most peaches in America.
It's hard to imagine a better outcome than the one engineered by George Washington crossing the Delaware River in 1776 with 2,400 troops. This is how he did it, and then won the Battle of Trenton.
The northern tip of Wisconsin's Door Peninsula, less than 2 miles wide, is a secluded home to numerous wineries, wheat fields and picturesque lighthouses.
At the heart of South Carolina's Grand Strand lies Myrtle Beach, the state's most famous coastal town.
Two of the most well-known Pennsylvania pioneers have become household names, with factories that continue to produce two classic American products - Hershey's chocolate and Yuengling's beer.
Custer's Last Stand took place at the Little Bighorn River, where he led over two hundred soldiers into battle against thousands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.
In 1788, a British mariner passed by the majestic, snow-covered mountains of northwest Washington - the peaks seemed the perfect dwelling place for Greek gods, so he named them the Olympic Mountains.
When Nebraska was a territory, Omaha had served as it's capital, but after statehood a town called Lancaster was chosen instead and renamed, Lincoln.
William "Buffalo Bill" Cody wasn't just a famous showman, he was also a frontier scout, Pony Express rider, prospector, guide, and Union soldier in the Civil War.
One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most beloved properties, Taliesin, was inspired by Wisconsin's natural beauty. But its history is mired in tragedy.
Marching through Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant focused his efforts on the city of Vicksburg. Surrounding and firing upon the city for weeks on end, he forced its citizens to the brink of starvation.
J.S. Lovering Wharton built this house on a rock off the coast of Rhode Island because, as legend has it, he wanted a place where no one could bother him.
Five hundred passionate Civil War reenactors gather every year to live in period tents, wear costumes and play out every step of the little-known Battle of Port Hudson.
A harbortown at heart, Portland Maine has a rich history in everything from prose to Prohibition.
Carved by the epic force of melting glacial ice, Niagara Falls instills awe in its visitors through its natural majesty and its raw power.
The famous Hollywood sign was built in 1923--but not to publicize the growing film industry. In fact, it was constructed to advertise a new residential development with a different name.
For twenty years, the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Davis blazed trails for African Americans as the U.S. Army's first peacetime regiments of black troops.
What the farmers who settled Oklahoma's lands didn't know was that the years of plentiful rain were only a brief segment of a cycle that would bring drought, dust storms, and devastation.
In the 1960s, the Salton Sea was home to a thriving resort town frequented by celebrities like Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys. Today, it is a ghost town, suffering from a high toxin levels in the water.
The world's biggest dam at the time of its construction, Hoover Dam solved the problem of the overflowing Colorado river with sleek design and brilliant American engineering.
The struggle for local Native American tribes of California to hold on to their lands came to a head at Lava Beds National Monument, in 1873. There, 60 members of the Modoc tribe managed to hold off 600 U.S. soldiers.
In the northern Arizona desert, an imposing-looking crater shows the impact of an ancient meteor crash. Until the 1960s, it was mistakenly believed to be a volcanic crater.
In the late 1700s, more than 60 million bison roamed the Great Plains. Over the years, demand for fur and meat drove their numbers down until, by the end of the 19th century, there were just a 1,000 left.
America is one of the most breathtaking and diverse geographical places on Earth. From monuments to mountains and canyons to coastlines, take a speedy aerial tour through our country's most stunning sites.
Sand dunes, salt plains, and toxic soils: the vast "deserts" of Oklahoma are more than unusual.
Over five hundred mountains in West Virginia have been destroyed because of new mining techniques used by coal companies in the Appalachians.
When a Minnesota boy named Bob Zimmerman began playing folk music in coffeehouses, he changed his stage name and went on to become the musical genius known as Bob Dylan.
Wyoming was the first state to allow women the right to vote in 1870, and when Congress threatened to derail Wyoming's statehood unless the right was revoked, the state refused to back down.
Ranchers, cowboys and gunslingers dominated the Wild West, and in the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid proved that he was one of the most ruthless and cunning outlaws around.
In 1992, Christopher McCandless set off to test if he could survive alone in the wilds of Alaska. It didn't go as planned.
In 1880, John Muir boldly hiked to the icy summit of one of Washington State's most recognizable landmarks. He would later go on to became one of nature's greatest advocates.
One of America's greatest highways is barely visible from the ground. It's only from the air that you can pick out the remains of the Oregon Trail.
Lewis and Clark first met Sacajawea and her French husband Toussaint Charbonneau in the Dakota Territory. The couple joined the expedition, acting as translators and guides.
The Horse Whisperer, shot in Montana and starring Robert Redford, tells the story of a troubled family, a troubled horse, and the horse whisperer who brings them together.
Scientists still don't entirely comprehend the 1.5 billion year history of the Grand Canyon; it's a story of erosion that has created one of the most breathtaking sites in America.
If you think Niagara Falls is breathtaking, wait until you experience Idaho's Shoshone Falls, the "Niagara of the West."
Originally home to the first NASA space station and post-WWII's Operation Paperclip, quaint Huntsville, Alabama is etched in history as 'Rocket City.'
The engineers working on 3 World Trade Center in New York are among the most daring around. Not only do they operate their machinery up to 1,000 feet above street level, they do it without a safety harness.
Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, Harpers Ferry is the site of legendary abolitionist John Brown's historic raid on the US armory in 1859.
Kentucky's Old Crow Bourbon Distillery is the birthplace of the spirit favored by Mark Twain and President Ulysses S. Grant.
Every day, a group of detainees leave Rikers' Island prison in New York. Not to go to court, but to volunteer for an unusual job: digging graves.
A giant 2.2-acre terrarium, Biosphere 2 was hailed as a marvel of modern science - until the scientists who volunteered to live inside it were embroiled in scandalous rumors of sex and deceit.
After his arrival in Omaha in 1892, Tom Dennison - nicknamed the "Grey Wolf" - controlled the city's street's for more than 30 years.
When millionaire John D. Rockefeller Jr. first visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1926, he vowed to preserve the awe-inspiring land, and began secretly buying thousands of acres to open a national park.
The challenges and thrills that come with reaching the summit of Denali, the highest peak in North America.
In season, cranberry bogs dot the Massachusetts topography, their bright red pools especially eye-catching from above. These striking marshes produce much of the berries that go into juices, jams, and sauces across the nation.
Manhattan is home to one of America's best urban ideas: public parks. Learn how Central Park, the first of its kind, was given a completely visionary design that's since influenced cities around the country.
The famous American painter Georgia O'Keeffe found inspiration in New Mexico, repeatedly painting its natural and manmade landmarks.
Fly over the mansion William Randolph Hearst built and George Bernard Shaw deemed, "The place God would've built if he had the money."
In 2011, a one of the deadliest tornadoes in the history of the U.S. hit Joplin, MO. But almost 200 years earlier, another devastating natural disaster rocked the state.
The University of Missouri boasts the oldest journalism program in the world. Its famous former students include Tennessee Williams, Sam Walton, and Brad Pitt, among many others.
In 1847, two Missouri slaves launched a remarkable lawsuit for their freedom. The Dred Scott case would go all the way to the Supreme Court, and its outcome lead the nation closer to Civil War.
Theodore Roosevelt made his was to North Dakota to hunt bison, it wasn't long before he fell in love with the wild, western land.
Wisconsin's fortune was built on timber and fur, and its plentiful natural resources helped bolster the burgeoning U.S. economy during the 19th century.
In 1978, a rock shop owner scouring the plains of Montana discovered the skeletal remains of a complete unknown type of dinosaur.
Fearing that Louisiana's snowy egret was on the verge of extinction, Edward Ned McIlhenny founded the Bird City wildfowl refuge on Avery Island in 1895.
Spend some time indoors with the Telluride Film Festival. Then embrace the Colorado outdoors at some of the most breathtaking ski resorts and hiking trails in the world.
The winding roads, charming towns, and picturesque Mabry Mill make the Shenandoah Valley one of the most scenic parts of Virginia.
In the 1920s, one of Atlantic City's famous landmarks -- Lucy the Elephant -- was rumored to be a signal post for incoming bootleggers hoping to thwart Prohibition.
The National Mall attracts an unbelievable amount of visitors each year. Here's what they come to see.
Nearly 300,000 people gather every Memorial Day to witness the legendary Indianapolis 500, one of the greatest spectacles in U.S. racing.
Dog-sledding in public parks, a furry winter festival, and a playful take on the Running of the Bulls are just a few ways Anchorage residents celebrate their incredibly frosty home.
In 1539, the Spanish began building a fort in San Juan to fend off attacks from European rivals. The fort was known as "El Morro," and as the attacks on it multiplied, so too did its defenses.
From the air, it's clear that Washington, DC, is no ordinary city. Its landmarks stand as a historic tribute to our nation's incredible history.
Michigan is the birthplace of both Ford's Model-T and the legacy of the American auto industry.
Founded by Spaniards four whole decades before Jamestown, St. Augustine, Florida, is our oldest town.
The first pilgrims who settled in Plymouth suffered a brutal winter, facing disease and exposure in a new land. But the following spring, members of the Wampanoag tribe paid them a visit that would result in an enduring American holiday.
In 19th-century Illinois, tensions between settlers and local Native American tribes led to a series of escalating confrontations. The violent culmination of these conflicts drove Sauk leader Black Hawk and his tribe out of the state.
In 1791, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton needed to establish an "industrial city" to power the nation's economy. He found the perfect place in northern New Jersey.
Tall tales take on a life of their own when witnesses past and present begin to describe the grandeur of Yellowstone. But her imminent eruption is no stretch of the truth.
The University of Michigan's football stadium is called the "Big House" because it's the biggest in the country, and even with 109,901 seats, its biggest games are always sold out.
Pittsburgh's glass industry put it on the map, but it's steel that makes it one of America's great industrial cities, and its 446 bridges that make it the bridge capital of the world.
Originally just a lone saloon for worn out miners, Denver is now the state capitol and most populous city in Colorado, with a tradition of modern architecture and an iconic airport.
Adorned with over 44,000 pounds of copper, the South Carolina statehouse has a long and weathered past.
Mustangs aren't native to the hills of the American west, but today they run rampant throughout Nevada.
Ever since the first gold flakes were discovered nearby, Charlotte has been a bustling metropolis and the financial epicenter of North Carolina.
For centuries, travelers have visited popular Grand Canyon monuments like the Osiris Tower and the Temple of Ra. But where do these ancient Egyptian names come from?
In the 1940s and 50s, Hollywood's biggest stars considered Malabar Farm an ideal getaway.
In their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, the Wright brothers made aviation history with their Model B flyer.
In an already violent city, Al Capone stood apart. And he proved it in 1929, when his men executed a rival gang in what's now known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
In 1881, 17-year-old Kate Shelley braved a stormy Iowa night to warn an incoming train about a bridge that had given away.
The death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in an Iowa cornfield became known as "The Day the Music Died" after the 1971 Don McLean song.
The swampy, cypress-covered Francis Marion National Forest was once an escape route for a controversial figure in America's fight for independence.
Each year, mushers drive a pack of 16 dogs through the rough wilderness between Anchorage and Nome in honor of a famous Alaska medical emergency.
To prepare for an 90-mile, 8-week research trip across Alaska, apprentices in Juneau's Icefield Research Program must first learn how to survive in the wild.
Where the first American mafias, Louis Armstrong, and chef Emeril Lagasse started out, New Orleans remains the soul of Louisiana.
Started by mobsters and ruled by Wall Street, the Las Vegas strip has become the capitol of extravagance...and bad behavior.
In 1828, John Jacob Astor built a trading post on the Missouri River. Business was so profitable that it only took four decades for Astor to become America's first multimillionaire.
As a precocious 3-year-old in small-town Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey learned how to entertain an audience when she was encouraged to recite bible passages to her church.
Surrounded by four of America's Great Lakes, Michigan has more freshwater shoreline than any other state. Each of its shores has its own unique landscape, from forests, to beaches, to giant walls of sand.
In 1942, one thousand families were pushed out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee as part of The Manhattan Project - the US government's top secret initiative to engineer an atomic bomb.
There are about 30,000 square miles of glaciers in Alaska, many of which have been melting rapidly. The largest, the Bering glacier, deposits 6.5 trillion gallons of water a year into the Gulf of Alaska
There are 50 active volcanoes in Alaska, two of which blow their tops every year. But nothing compares to the 15 cubic kilometers of magma that spewed from this volcano in 1912.
From the Smithsonian's Rock and Soul Museum, to the Stax Museum of American Soul, to the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis is a city rich in music, art, culture.
Every windmill in this huge windfarm will need to be put together piece by piece in a delicate procedure that takes the power of a machine and the precision of human hand.
Every year on the anniversary of the most horrifying act of domestic terrorism in America, people gather to remember the Oklahoma City Bombing at a memorial built on the site of the attack.
Colorado's Maroon Bells are some of the most photographed mountain peaks in the world, but climbers know that they're also unbelievably dangerous.
Settled by Puritans in the 1630s, Boston has grown from a humble city on a hill to a modern metropolis.
The crumbling foundations of the remains of the Branch Davidian compound tell the story of a few fateful weeks in North Texas in 1993.
Despite its dry desert landscapes, Utah is a land of endless surprises, and Glen Canyon is one of them, rivaling Arizona's Grand Canyon for sheer majesty.
Charles Lindberg's dreams of flight took off at a young age, when an airplane flying over Little Falls, Minnesota captured his imagination.
Folk hero Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox Babe come from Bemidji, Minnesota - a town that's still proud of its lumberjack roots.
In 1947, when a local rancher claimed to have found a flying saucer in his field, Roswell became the center of conspiracy theories and a tourist destination for anyone in search of little green men.
A home to wild animals, a source of power, and an occasionally destructive force -- the Mississippi river, with all of its burdens and blessings, is the heart of the state.
Years after the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor, the devastation is still visible from the air.
The waters surrounding North Carolina's Ocracoke Island may look peaceful, but these perilous waters have a history of pirates, shipwrecks and headless ghosts.