America the Beautiful: Wild Frontier (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - America the Beautiful: Wild Frontier - full transcript
(neighing)
narrator: This is
a land of legends...
Frontier icons...
And the creatures that
still put the wild
into the wild west.
(whip crack)
now, go where the buffalo roam.
(elk bugles)
discover the living symbols
of America.
And the drama at play
across South Dakota.
Climber: It's really nice
up there.
Narrator:
From the black hills...
Climber: Woo-hoo!
Narrator: To the badlands.
(bird screeches)
♪
♪
♪
Step back in time.
These are the black hills and
the badlands of the wild west.
Towering spires.
Sweeping plains.
(grass rustling)
♪
And a land of lumbering nomads.
(grunting)
(grunting)
buffalo.
Officially known as bison.
Names mean little to
America's largest land animal.
♪
♪
♪
About 1,300 run wild
in South Dakota's
Custer State Park.
They eat grasses on the go,
and can grow to a ton.
♪
Most of the year,
the gals hang with the gals,
and the guys with the guys.
But late summer is
a mixed social.
And this big bull
owns the dance floor.
♪
♪
Other males may spread
a sexy scent.
(snorting)
but none of them can match
the moves of the boss.
He has it pretty good until
the end of the breeding season.
Then...
(horse whinnies)
there's a posse coming his way.
(horse whinnies)
a showdown.
It's a band of cowboys
and cowgirls with one aim.
(buffalo snorting)
to get these wild buffalo
into a corral.
It's roundup time.
(whip cracks)
(horse whinnies)
(hollering)
they need to bring in nearly
all 1,300 head of buffalo.
It's a once-a-year event,
where they get to check
on the health of the herd.
(whip cracks)
(horse whinnies)
(hollering)
buffalo only barely survived
decades of slaughter
in the 1800s.
Their numbers dropped from
60 million to less than 1,000.
This herd is wild.
But it gets just enough tender,
loving care to keep it viable.
(horse whinnies)
for those on horseback, it's
the biggest ride of the year.
(whip cracks)
woman: Yah!
Narrator: The roundup
takes a full day.
But they must get the buffalo
to the corrals before dark.
(whip cracks, hollering)
(snort)
the cowhands ride through
an area of South Dakota
known for
its stunning landscapes.
♪
The southwest corner
of the state is framed
by the eroded bluffs
of the badlands to the east,
and the black hills
national forest to the west.
This iconic wild west terrain
stretches all the way
to the town of deadwood,
and nudges into Wyoming.
The green is Custer State Park
in the south, 71,000 acres.
The ten-mile muster
from top to bottom
will take them from
sunup to sundown.
Wherever they move,
in their wake, clouds of dust.
And not-so-little reminders
that something big was here.
Let's call 'em buffalo cakes.
And not like little cupcakes,
no bite-sized
bison biscuits here.
This is more like a 12-layer
'get out of my way,
here I come' cake.
For some tiny critters,
these are mountains,
and tasty ones at that.
Within hours of a bison cake
hitting the ground,
beetles move in
to scoop the poop.
They bore into the depths
of the dung.
But not so deep that
they can't be pecked off
by a probing western meadowlark.
♪
It's a prairie party.
The black hills takes the cake,
uses it as fertilizer,
and gets the gift of green.
One animal has this prairie
in its blood and in its name.
The prairie dog.
(squeaking)
these rabbit-sized rodents
are all about kinship.
Each family has a dad, a mom
or two, and three or four pups.
♪
♪
Grooming is strictly
a family affair.
They'll kiss to find out
who's kin and who's not.
It can get confusing.
(squeaking)
immediate family is
only the beginning
of their social network.
From two to a hundred families
get together to form a town.
Each family takes up
an acre or two.
They're the quintessential
wild west settlers,
complete with scouts,
and most importantly, lookouts.
(chirping)
eagles, badgers and ferrets
all hunt prairie dogs.
(chirping)
so does this guy.
A hungry coyote.
A quarter mile out
and closing in.
♪
(chirps)
one prairie dog lookout
spots the coyote
and alerts all of prairie dog
town with a distinctive call.
(chirping)
(chirping)
yips and jumps may tell
other prairie dogs
even more than you think.
They may spell out the location,
size and speed
of the approaching threat.
♪
♪
They scramble to get
the kids to safety.
(chirping)
♪
♪
These lookouts wait until
everyone is safe to take cover.
♪
But the coyote is
a patient hunter.
He's willing to wait
for his supper.
It's a frontier standoff.
♪
The creatures of South Dakota's
badlands and black hills
are persistent.
The coyote quietly
changes position,
hoping a prairie dog
will pop out of its den.
(chirp)
some pop up farther away,
but never close to him.
♪
For nearly an hour
it's a game of whack-a-mole...
Without a single whack.
Then...
(hooves thundering)
the roundup.
The coming commotion forces
the coyote to move on.
The buffalo charge right over
prairie dog town.
A hoof in a hole would bring
down one of these giants.
But somehow they seem
to avoid them.
This annual roundup has been
going for more than 50 years,
and no one has ever
seen a buffalo
step in a prairie dog hole.
(snorting)
these cowhands now have
all but a few dozen
of their buffalo together.
♪
It's still seven miles to the
corrals of Custer State Park.
At a normal buffalo mosey,
that'd take several hours more.
So they give them
another little giddy-up.
(whip cracks)
(hollering)
(horse neighs)
(hollering)
(hollering)
(whip cracks)
once the big guys
pass by prairie dog town,
the lookouts give
a very specific signal.
(chirps)
(chirping)
these chirps,
while stretching up high,
spell it out:
The coast is now clear.
Resume life as normal.
♪
But stay alert.
There are still threats
harder to combat.
Snakes can follow them
down their burrows.
♪
And aerial attacks can be
hard to see coming.
♪
This is a golden eagle.
♪
♪
And he wants prairie dog
for dinner.
(chirping)
the golden eagle is one
of the world's largest raptors.
They've been known
to take down prey
much larger than themselves.
He is the giant
of South Dakota's skies,
and the prairie dogs
below know it.
(chirping)
(chirping)
quick chirps alert most
of the town to the new threat.
(chirping)
it's hard to hide a wingspan
of almost eight feet.
♪
(chirping)
♪
(chirping)
even a fearless blackbird
tries to force him out.
But the golden eagle
has speed on his side.
He can dive at
up to 200 miles an hour,
close to
peregrine falcon speeds,
making him the second fastest
animal on the planet.
♪
♪
It's not good news
for a distracted rodent
who's missed the alert.
Golden eagle versus prairie dog.
♪
South Dakota sees
this scenario every day.
♪
♪
The king of the sky takes
a bite of the prairie.
♪
And saves some to share
with his mate.
♪
♪
The population of prairie dog
town is minus one.
♪
♪
♪
The colony as a whole will
endure for years to come.
♪
More than 100 other species
share their habitat.
♪
And some,
like the burrowing owl,
will even move in
on their old homes.
Burrowing owls
live in the ground
and line their holes
with bison dung
just to attract beetles
for dinner.
They only weigh
six or seven ounces,
not much more than a baseball.
But down here, close to the
ground, they rule the roost.
These two are a couple,
and they've selected a hole
to call home.
The female stays put and
prepares to lay her eggs.
She sends the male out
to bring home the bacon.
♪
There are a lot of insects
to choose from
in the thick of the prairie.
Grasshoppers are
rich in protein...
And worth a chase.
♪
♪
♪
Deeeee-licious.
And like any good snack,
one is just never enough.
♪
♪
♪
But he's forgotten something.
Or rather, someone.
(chirping)
he's meant to bring
that bacon home.
♪
Share and share alike.
Burrowing owls don't dig
their own holes out here.
They rely on prairie dogs,
who leave behind burrows
with nurseries,
sleeping quarters, bathrooms,
and 30 or more entrances each.
Craters at some of the doorways
protect against flooding.
And in the black hills,
just a little farther below,
nature has made even larger
and more elaborate tunnels.
♪
South Dakota has some of
the longest caves in the world,
including wind cave,
the first cave to be protected
as a national park.
A whopping 140 miles of it
have been mapped.
And that's just a small fraction
of its estimated footprint.
On the ceiling,
rare honeycomb-like mineral
formations called boxwork.
95 percent of the world's
known boxwork is here.
Also bubbling formations
called cave popcorn.
♪
And a kid favorite, cave snot.
♪
♪
This cave was long explored
by native americans
and revered as sacred.
But it's two settlers, brothers,
who are credited with having
found wind cave in 1881.
That was a time when
the black hills and badlands
became a draw to many a legend.
♪
♪
Just north, deadwood was
a famous wild west town.
Buried here, Wild Bill Hickok,
a lawman, a gunfighter
and a gambler.
He was killed
while playing cards.
His last poker hand
lives on in infamy,
aces and eights,
forever known...
(gunshot)
as the deadman's hand.
♪
♪
Nearby, the famous granite
faces of four U.S. Presidents
attract more than
two million tourists
to Mount Rushmore every year.
♪
Today, just under
Abraham Lincoln's chin,
visitors with their
own stately beards.
More than four score
and seven mountain goats
scale the slopes
of mount Rushmore.
They munch on just about
any greenery up here.
These rock climbers aren't
native to South Dakota,
but descended from six animals
that broke loose from a zoo
in the 1920s.
♪
And less than 20 miles away,
another monument takes shape
that suits mountain goats
just as well.
It's taken more than 70 years
to get the crazy horse memorial
this far.
(jackhammering)
with many more lifetimes to go
before completion.
(jackhammering)
♪
♪
It stands to be the largest
sculpture in the world
when complete... 563 feet high.
It's a tribute to
a native american warrior
who resisted oppression
till his dying day.
He gestures southeast,
towards the great plains and
plateaus of the black hills.
♪
♪
When crazy horse rode
this unfenced land,
it looked much like it does now.
♪
♪
Wide open spaces.
Hills checkerboarded
with pines and meadows.
♪
That all eventually
flatten into plains.
♪
Perfect for one of the most
enduring and iconic creatures
of the wild west.
(horse whinnies)
(whinnying)
(whinnying)
the badlands and black hills
of South Dakota
are the perfect backdrop for a
creature emblematic of freedom.
(whinnying)
an 11,000-acre sanctuary here
holds around 500 mustangs,
with new foals every spring.
(snorts)
paleface here was born
just a week ago.
One day he'll likely
start his own herd,
and will never feel
the weight of a saddle
or the pull of a bit.
(whinnies)
all he has to do for now
is keep up with mom.
But that's quite an effort.
(neighing)
these mustangs may travel more
than 10 miles a day, grazing.
They carve trails
between their waterways
and their favorite grasslands.
In the 1800s as many
as two million wild horses
roamed the united states.
Now around 750,000 remain.
Horses were absent
from north America
for more than 10,000 years,
until the Spanish reintroduced
them in the 1500s.
Now, once again,
they are part of the land,
part of the culture.
Both those roaming the prairie
and those used to work it.
(snorting)
(whinnies)
(bison grunting)
the cow folk have their sights
on the rest of the bison
they need to bring in.
Then...
Some make a break for it.
(horses neighing)
buffalo have gored and killed
horses in the past,
one just a few years ago.
The cowhands must rely
on intimidation.
(whip cracks)
(bellowing)
(whip cracks)
it's a game of
bluff the buffalo.
(whip cracks)
those whips never hit them,
but the sound is enough
to get them going
in the right direction.
(whip cracks)
now the cowhands can
herd the group as one.
They just have to weed out
some hangers-on.
♪
♪
This is a native american
creature that would feel
just as at home
on Africa's Serengeti.
♪
The pronghorn likes
lots of room to roam.
About 50,000 of them thrive
in South Dakota.
But the young are vulnerable.
Even an eagle could
take down this newborn.
Mom keeps junior close.
And there's no relaxing
for the lead males.
There's always some young buck
who thinks he's better.
♪
♪
That's where those prongs
get put to use.
They're fixing for a fight.
♪
♪
Face to face with
foot-long horns.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
The lead male wins the day
and the girls.
♪
♪
His young will
inherit his genes,
which include a super skill.
Pronghorn can dash
up to 60 miles per hour.
♪
Only one land animal on earth
is faster: The cheetah.
♪
There are no cheetahs
around here.
But a fast-moving cousin.
♪
This bobcat is on the hunt.
Dashing through the black hills
of South Dakota,
a mighty predator.
In winter, when food is scarce,
this bobcat will
take down an animal
eight times his own weight.
Today the sun is shining on one
of his favorite meals: Rabbit.
♪
A rabbit hunt calls
for a specific strategy.
The bobcat keeps on the move.
He slinks as close as he can
without attracting attention.
♪
He needs to creep
within striking distance.
♪
He pushes his luck too far.
He finds a smaller target
and uses a new strategy.
For a ground squirrel,
bobcats hide and wait
for just the right time
for an ambush.
♪
♪
♪
♪
Then it's down
to speed and luck.
♪
(squeaking)
♪
Luck for the cat,
not the ground squirrel.
His work is done for the day.
Not so for the cowhands.
(hooves thundering)
(horses neighing)
(hollering)
they turn most of the 1,300
bison toward the corrals.
(hollering)
they can smell home now,
but it may not be quite
the quiet country welcome
they expect.
(horn honking)
♪
More than 20,000 people
have driven in
to see the annual roundup.
(snorting)
(horse whinnies)
♪
♪
(hollering)
♪
The cow folk turn the bison
in toward the corrals
for a new game.
This one is called
'buffalo shuffalo.'
the cowhands stack the deck.
They let just a few in
at a time,
and force them forward
with a tractor.
Only one is allowed
through the chute at a time,
no matter how much they protest.
The adults get a quick check.
Man: I got 8544.
Narrator: An ear tag.
Man: Coming out!
Narrator: And off they go.
The calves are in
for a much rougher deal.
♪
♪
The cowboys of Custer State Park
hit the young buffalo
with everything at once.
They are ear tagged, dewormed,
tested for disease,
and branded.
It's a tough game,
but it's over fast.
Then a new deal.
They're returned to the corral,
soon to be released
with the herd.
♪
Thousands of people come to see
this unique annual event,
but it's not all
one-way viewing.
One creature comes here
every year
specifically to see the people.
Driver: Hi.
(brays)
(brays)
(brays)
narrator: These wild burros
in Custer State Park
move in from across the plains.
(braying)
they know where
there are tourists,
there'll be free handouts.
These cheeky freeloaders
are known for miles around
as the beggin' burros.
Visitors feed them
at their own risk.
They're friendly,
but still wild animals.
Some working donkeys were
set free last century
and left to find their own way.
(braying)
they've survived and thrived
in the black hills now
for generations.
(braying)
these burros are descended
from pack animals
that used to help hikers
climb nearby peaks,
peaks that still
attract visitors today.
♪
They call these needles.
Granite outcrops
eroded by wind and water
for millions of years.
Whether you call them pillars
or spires, it's all the same.
Some just call them a challenge.
♪
♪
♪
♪
These towers of rock are among
the most photographed
and climbed structures
in America.
♪
♪
Climbers name their areas
and their routes:
Totem pole, ten pins,
monster, chopping block.
This needle is called
shipyard rock.
Climber: Yeah, that is
really nice up there.
♪
♪
Narrator: Some of the outcrops
here are nearly 500 feet high.
Climber: Now another one.
A succession to deal with.
Right up there.
Ha ha ha!
She says, 'yeah, screw that.'
team high five! Woo!
Narrator: Enough to take
your breath away.
♪
♪
Climber: Wow. Gorgeous day.
Cool breeze, but.
Narrator: The reward:
A bird's-eye view
of this spectacular landscape.
♪
The black hills and the badlands
have long been
the home of the brave
and the land of the free.
♪
(horse neighs)
(hollering)
the buffalo roundup
is now complete.
(whip cracks)
the cowhands open the gate.
♪
The herd returns to the prairie,
free for another year.
(screech)
they join a wild mix of animals,
from the mighty elk...
(elk bugles)
...To the minute dung beetle.
For them, the black hills
and badlands
aren't so bad after all.
This is their home...
Just how they like it...
Untamed...
And a living symbol
of America's great frontier.
♪
narrator: This is
a land of legends...
Frontier icons...
And the creatures that
still put the wild
into the wild west.
(whip crack)
now, go where the buffalo roam.
(elk bugles)
discover the living symbols
of America.
And the drama at play
across South Dakota.
Climber: It's really nice
up there.
Narrator:
From the black hills...
Climber: Woo-hoo!
Narrator: To the badlands.
(bird screeches)
♪
♪
♪
Step back in time.
These are the black hills and
the badlands of the wild west.
Towering spires.
Sweeping plains.
(grass rustling)
♪
And a land of lumbering nomads.
(grunting)
(grunting)
buffalo.
Officially known as bison.
Names mean little to
America's largest land animal.
♪
♪
♪
About 1,300 run wild
in South Dakota's
Custer State Park.
They eat grasses on the go,
and can grow to a ton.
♪
Most of the year,
the gals hang with the gals,
and the guys with the guys.
But late summer is
a mixed social.
And this big bull
owns the dance floor.
♪
♪
Other males may spread
a sexy scent.
(snorting)
but none of them can match
the moves of the boss.
He has it pretty good until
the end of the breeding season.
Then...
(horse whinnies)
there's a posse coming his way.
(horse whinnies)
a showdown.
It's a band of cowboys
and cowgirls with one aim.
(buffalo snorting)
to get these wild buffalo
into a corral.
It's roundup time.
(whip cracks)
(horse whinnies)
(hollering)
they need to bring in nearly
all 1,300 head of buffalo.
It's a once-a-year event,
where they get to check
on the health of the herd.
(whip cracks)
(horse whinnies)
(hollering)
buffalo only barely survived
decades of slaughter
in the 1800s.
Their numbers dropped from
60 million to less than 1,000.
This herd is wild.
But it gets just enough tender,
loving care to keep it viable.
(horse whinnies)
for those on horseback, it's
the biggest ride of the year.
(whip cracks)
woman: Yah!
Narrator: The roundup
takes a full day.
But they must get the buffalo
to the corrals before dark.
(whip cracks, hollering)
(snort)
the cowhands ride through
an area of South Dakota
known for
its stunning landscapes.
♪
The southwest corner
of the state is framed
by the eroded bluffs
of the badlands to the east,
and the black hills
national forest to the west.
This iconic wild west terrain
stretches all the way
to the town of deadwood,
and nudges into Wyoming.
The green is Custer State Park
in the south, 71,000 acres.
The ten-mile muster
from top to bottom
will take them from
sunup to sundown.
Wherever they move,
in their wake, clouds of dust.
And not-so-little reminders
that something big was here.
Let's call 'em buffalo cakes.
And not like little cupcakes,
no bite-sized
bison biscuits here.
This is more like a 12-layer
'get out of my way,
here I come' cake.
For some tiny critters,
these are mountains,
and tasty ones at that.
Within hours of a bison cake
hitting the ground,
beetles move in
to scoop the poop.
They bore into the depths
of the dung.
But not so deep that
they can't be pecked off
by a probing western meadowlark.
♪
It's a prairie party.
The black hills takes the cake,
uses it as fertilizer,
and gets the gift of green.
One animal has this prairie
in its blood and in its name.
The prairie dog.
(squeaking)
these rabbit-sized rodents
are all about kinship.
Each family has a dad, a mom
or two, and three or four pups.
♪
♪
Grooming is strictly
a family affair.
They'll kiss to find out
who's kin and who's not.
It can get confusing.
(squeaking)
immediate family is
only the beginning
of their social network.
From two to a hundred families
get together to form a town.
Each family takes up
an acre or two.
They're the quintessential
wild west settlers,
complete with scouts,
and most importantly, lookouts.
(chirping)
eagles, badgers and ferrets
all hunt prairie dogs.
(chirping)
so does this guy.
A hungry coyote.
A quarter mile out
and closing in.
♪
(chirps)
one prairie dog lookout
spots the coyote
and alerts all of prairie dog
town with a distinctive call.
(chirping)
(chirping)
yips and jumps may tell
other prairie dogs
even more than you think.
They may spell out the location,
size and speed
of the approaching threat.
♪
♪
They scramble to get
the kids to safety.
(chirping)
♪
♪
These lookouts wait until
everyone is safe to take cover.
♪
But the coyote is
a patient hunter.
He's willing to wait
for his supper.
It's a frontier standoff.
♪
The creatures of South Dakota's
badlands and black hills
are persistent.
The coyote quietly
changes position,
hoping a prairie dog
will pop out of its den.
(chirp)
some pop up farther away,
but never close to him.
♪
For nearly an hour
it's a game of whack-a-mole...
Without a single whack.
Then...
(hooves thundering)
the roundup.
The coming commotion forces
the coyote to move on.
The buffalo charge right over
prairie dog town.
A hoof in a hole would bring
down one of these giants.
But somehow they seem
to avoid them.
This annual roundup has been
going for more than 50 years,
and no one has ever
seen a buffalo
step in a prairie dog hole.
(snorting)
these cowhands now have
all but a few dozen
of their buffalo together.
♪
It's still seven miles to the
corrals of Custer State Park.
At a normal buffalo mosey,
that'd take several hours more.
So they give them
another little giddy-up.
(whip cracks)
(hollering)
(horse neighs)
(hollering)
(hollering)
(whip cracks)
once the big guys
pass by prairie dog town,
the lookouts give
a very specific signal.
(chirps)
(chirping)
these chirps,
while stretching up high,
spell it out:
The coast is now clear.
Resume life as normal.
♪
But stay alert.
There are still threats
harder to combat.
Snakes can follow them
down their burrows.
♪
And aerial attacks can be
hard to see coming.
♪
This is a golden eagle.
♪
♪
And he wants prairie dog
for dinner.
(chirping)
the golden eagle is one
of the world's largest raptors.
They've been known
to take down prey
much larger than themselves.
He is the giant
of South Dakota's skies,
and the prairie dogs
below know it.
(chirping)
(chirping)
quick chirps alert most
of the town to the new threat.
(chirping)
it's hard to hide a wingspan
of almost eight feet.
♪
(chirping)
♪
(chirping)
even a fearless blackbird
tries to force him out.
But the golden eagle
has speed on his side.
He can dive at
up to 200 miles an hour,
close to
peregrine falcon speeds,
making him the second fastest
animal on the planet.
♪
♪
It's not good news
for a distracted rodent
who's missed the alert.
Golden eagle versus prairie dog.
♪
South Dakota sees
this scenario every day.
♪
♪
The king of the sky takes
a bite of the prairie.
♪
And saves some to share
with his mate.
♪
♪
The population of prairie dog
town is minus one.
♪
♪
♪
The colony as a whole will
endure for years to come.
♪
More than 100 other species
share their habitat.
♪
And some,
like the burrowing owl,
will even move in
on their old homes.
Burrowing owls
live in the ground
and line their holes
with bison dung
just to attract beetles
for dinner.
They only weigh
six or seven ounces,
not much more than a baseball.
But down here, close to the
ground, they rule the roost.
These two are a couple,
and they've selected a hole
to call home.
The female stays put and
prepares to lay her eggs.
She sends the male out
to bring home the bacon.
♪
There are a lot of insects
to choose from
in the thick of the prairie.
Grasshoppers are
rich in protein...
And worth a chase.
♪
♪
♪
Deeeee-licious.
And like any good snack,
one is just never enough.
♪
♪
♪
But he's forgotten something.
Or rather, someone.
(chirping)
he's meant to bring
that bacon home.
♪
Share and share alike.
Burrowing owls don't dig
their own holes out here.
They rely on prairie dogs,
who leave behind burrows
with nurseries,
sleeping quarters, bathrooms,
and 30 or more entrances each.
Craters at some of the doorways
protect against flooding.
And in the black hills,
just a little farther below,
nature has made even larger
and more elaborate tunnels.
♪
South Dakota has some of
the longest caves in the world,
including wind cave,
the first cave to be protected
as a national park.
A whopping 140 miles of it
have been mapped.
And that's just a small fraction
of its estimated footprint.
On the ceiling,
rare honeycomb-like mineral
formations called boxwork.
95 percent of the world's
known boxwork is here.
Also bubbling formations
called cave popcorn.
♪
And a kid favorite, cave snot.
♪
♪
This cave was long explored
by native americans
and revered as sacred.
But it's two settlers, brothers,
who are credited with having
found wind cave in 1881.
That was a time when
the black hills and badlands
became a draw to many a legend.
♪
♪
Just north, deadwood was
a famous wild west town.
Buried here, Wild Bill Hickok,
a lawman, a gunfighter
and a gambler.
He was killed
while playing cards.
His last poker hand
lives on in infamy,
aces and eights,
forever known...
(gunshot)
as the deadman's hand.
♪
♪
Nearby, the famous granite
faces of four U.S. Presidents
attract more than
two million tourists
to Mount Rushmore every year.
♪
Today, just under
Abraham Lincoln's chin,
visitors with their
own stately beards.
More than four score
and seven mountain goats
scale the slopes
of mount Rushmore.
They munch on just about
any greenery up here.
These rock climbers aren't
native to South Dakota,
but descended from six animals
that broke loose from a zoo
in the 1920s.
♪
And less than 20 miles away,
another monument takes shape
that suits mountain goats
just as well.
It's taken more than 70 years
to get the crazy horse memorial
this far.
(jackhammering)
with many more lifetimes to go
before completion.
(jackhammering)
♪
♪
It stands to be the largest
sculpture in the world
when complete... 563 feet high.
It's a tribute to
a native american warrior
who resisted oppression
till his dying day.
He gestures southeast,
towards the great plains and
plateaus of the black hills.
♪
♪
When crazy horse rode
this unfenced land,
it looked much like it does now.
♪
♪
Wide open spaces.
Hills checkerboarded
with pines and meadows.
♪
That all eventually
flatten into plains.
♪
Perfect for one of the most
enduring and iconic creatures
of the wild west.
(horse whinnies)
(whinnying)
(whinnying)
the badlands and black hills
of South Dakota
are the perfect backdrop for a
creature emblematic of freedom.
(whinnying)
an 11,000-acre sanctuary here
holds around 500 mustangs,
with new foals every spring.
(snorts)
paleface here was born
just a week ago.
One day he'll likely
start his own herd,
and will never feel
the weight of a saddle
or the pull of a bit.
(whinnies)
all he has to do for now
is keep up with mom.
But that's quite an effort.
(neighing)
these mustangs may travel more
than 10 miles a day, grazing.
They carve trails
between their waterways
and their favorite grasslands.
In the 1800s as many
as two million wild horses
roamed the united states.
Now around 750,000 remain.
Horses were absent
from north America
for more than 10,000 years,
until the Spanish reintroduced
them in the 1500s.
Now, once again,
they are part of the land,
part of the culture.
Both those roaming the prairie
and those used to work it.
(snorting)
(whinnies)
(bison grunting)
the cow folk have their sights
on the rest of the bison
they need to bring in.
Then...
Some make a break for it.
(horses neighing)
buffalo have gored and killed
horses in the past,
one just a few years ago.
The cowhands must rely
on intimidation.
(whip cracks)
(bellowing)
(whip cracks)
it's a game of
bluff the buffalo.
(whip cracks)
those whips never hit them,
but the sound is enough
to get them going
in the right direction.
(whip cracks)
now the cowhands can
herd the group as one.
They just have to weed out
some hangers-on.
♪
♪
This is a native american
creature that would feel
just as at home
on Africa's Serengeti.
♪
The pronghorn likes
lots of room to roam.
About 50,000 of them thrive
in South Dakota.
But the young are vulnerable.
Even an eagle could
take down this newborn.
Mom keeps junior close.
And there's no relaxing
for the lead males.
There's always some young buck
who thinks he's better.
♪
♪
That's where those prongs
get put to use.
They're fixing for a fight.
♪
♪
Face to face with
foot-long horns.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
The lead male wins the day
and the girls.
♪
♪
His young will
inherit his genes,
which include a super skill.
Pronghorn can dash
up to 60 miles per hour.
♪
Only one land animal on earth
is faster: The cheetah.
♪
There are no cheetahs
around here.
But a fast-moving cousin.
♪
This bobcat is on the hunt.
Dashing through the black hills
of South Dakota,
a mighty predator.
In winter, when food is scarce,
this bobcat will
take down an animal
eight times his own weight.
Today the sun is shining on one
of his favorite meals: Rabbit.
♪
A rabbit hunt calls
for a specific strategy.
The bobcat keeps on the move.
He slinks as close as he can
without attracting attention.
♪
He needs to creep
within striking distance.
♪
He pushes his luck too far.
He finds a smaller target
and uses a new strategy.
For a ground squirrel,
bobcats hide and wait
for just the right time
for an ambush.
♪
♪
♪
♪
Then it's down
to speed and luck.
♪
(squeaking)
♪
Luck for the cat,
not the ground squirrel.
His work is done for the day.
Not so for the cowhands.
(hooves thundering)
(horses neighing)
(hollering)
they turn most of the 1,300
bison toward the corrals.
(hollering)
they can smell home now,
but it may not be quite
the quiet country welcome
they expect.
(horn honking)
♪
More than 20,000 people
have driven in
to see the annual roundup.
(snorting)
(horse whinnies)
♪
♪
(hollering)
♪
The cow folk turn the bison
in toward the corrals
for a new game.
This one is called
'buffalo shuffalo.'
the cowhands stack the deck.
They let just a few in
at a time,
and force them forward
with a tractor.
Only one is allowed
through the chute at a time,
no matter how much they protest.
The adults get a quick check.
Man: I got 8544.
Narrator: An ear tag.
Man: Coming out!
Narrator: And off they go.
The calves are in
for a much rougher deal.
♪
♪
The cowboys of Custer State Park
hit the young buffalo
with everything at once.
They are ear tagged, dewormed,
tested for disease,
and branded.
It's a tough game,
but it's over fast.
Then a new deal.
They're returned to the corral,
soon to be released
with the herd.
♪
Thousands of people come to see
this unique annual event,
but it's not all
one-way viewing.
One creature comes here
every year
specifically to see the people.
Driver: Hi.
(brays)
(brays)
(brays)
narrator: These wild burros
in Custer State Park
move in from across the plains.
(braying)
they know where
there are tourists,
there'll be free handouts.
These cheeky freeloaders
are known for miles around
as the beggin' burros.
Visitors feed them
at their own risk.
They're friendly,
but still wild animals.
Some working donkeys were
set free last century
and left to find their own way.
(braying)
they've survived and thrived
in the black hills now
for generations.
(braying)
these burros are descended
from pack animals
that used to help hikers
climb nearby peaks,
peaks that still
attract visitors today.
♪
They call these needles.
Granite outcrops
eroded by wind and water
for millions of years.
Whether you call them pillars
or spires, it's all the same.
Some just call them a challenge.
♪
♪
♪
♪
These towers of rock are among
the most photographed
and climbed structures
in America.
♪
♪
Climbers name their areas
and their routes:
Totem pole, ten pins,
monster, chopping block.
This needle is called
shipyard rock.
Climber: Yeah, that is
really nice up there.
♪
♪
Narrator: Some of the outcrops
here are nearly 500 feet high.
Climber: Now another one.
A succession to deal with.
Right up there.
Ha ha ha!
She says, 'yeah, screw that.'
team high five! Woo!
Narrator: Enough to take
your breath away.
♪
♪
Climber: Wow. Gorgeous day.
Cool breeze, but.
Narrator: The reward:
A bird's-eye view
of this spectacular landscape.
♪
The black hills and the badlands
have long been
the home of the brave
and the land of the free.
♪
(horse neighs)
(hollering)
the buffalo roundup
is now complete.
(whip cracks)
the cowhands open the gate.
♪
The herd returns to the prairie,
free for another year.
(screech)
they join a wild mix of animals,
from the mighty elk...
(elk bugles)
...To the minute dung beetle.
For them, the black hills
and badlands
aren't so bad after all.
This is their home...
Just how they like it...
Untamed...
And a living symbol
of America's great frontier.
♪