Explore how exploitation of the land changed the face of North America
Learn how exploitation of the land changed the face of North America, as presented...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
(SINGING) --rolling river, oh, Shenandoah, I can't get near you. Away, away, I am bound away, cross the wide Missouri.
SPEAKER 1: Once this was an untouched land. An incredible land.
An untouched land. An incredible land. And we changed its face.
There was timber in the north country and we left vast tracts cut over, burned over. In the south, rich crop lands. And we left farm after farm gutted and eroded. West was the grass. Buffalo and blue stem as high as buffalo's flanks. From Jamestown to the present, we changed the face of a continent for good or for bad and we're still at it.
From Union Point, Georgia, to Hobart Mills, California, the work of hands and machines is changing the land. But what does erosion control in Georgia or a big dam going up in the Dakota hills have to do with city folks? Look at it this way. 200 years ago, most Americans knew about the land. They lived close to it. They worked it. Then came steam power. And steam meant factories and factories meant cities. And today, most Americans know next to nothing about the land. And yet, we're all closer to the land than we think.
Wander around the country. Check up on the Iowa topsoil, the forested hills of New England. Look to the land.
(SINGING) On Springfield Mountain there did dwell a lovely youth, I knew him well. This lovely youth one day did go down to the meadow for to mow.
Things seem to be prospering around here. New England villages cleanly tailored as ever. That tidy looking country. But let's take a closer look. Here's a good place to stop. Auction going on. Wonder what's the trouble.
SPEAKER 2: Now, do I hear 7? 7.50? Over here. Who'll say 7.50? Do I have 7.50? 7.50 there. $8 over here. Do I hear 9? $9? Do I hear $9? Who'll bid $9? Do I hear 9? All done. Sold. All right, we've got--
SPEAKER 1: The county agent's always a good man to talk to. Ask him about things past and present in this section of New England.
SPEAKER 3: That's a big question, isn't it, Charlie?
CHARLIE: Sure is.
SPEAKER 2: $5, do I hear 6?
SPEAKER 3: Take this farm here, for example. Lots of prosperous farms all over New England, but this one's being auctioned off today.
SPEAKER 2: Do I hear $8?
SPEAKER 3: Furniture, kitchen plates, the old family pictures. Family settled here about 175 years ago. Plowed down the rocky slopes that never should have been plowed. The land played out. Hasn't been much of a living out of it for years.
SPEAKER 2: New England rocking chair. Do I hear 14? There's a young man with 14. Do I hear 15? Do I hear 15? You won't be sorry.
SPEAKER 3: Up on the big hills back 100 years or more, they were cutting down the trees. And the old time logger operated on the policy of cut out and get out. And then along the rivers, the factories came. Pouring out industrial wastes. Wool scourings process water from paper and textile mills. Fish and wildlife killed. Recreation for city folks spoiled. Drinking water for cities polluted. And yet, in spite of the scars of 200 years, Connecticut Valley looks rich and is rich even though we've got problems, same as any other section of the country.
SPEAKER 1: Let's look at another section of the country. Cross a couple of state lines, past the rich fields of the Pennsylvania Dutch country. Let's look south.
(SINGING) Boll Weevil and the little black bug come from Mexico they say, come all the way to Alabama just looking for a place to stay, just looking for a home, just looking for a home.
Boll weevil south, south of gullied cotton lands old plantation mansions. That was your picture of the south 20 years ago. But with this visit, things look different. The south grows green. Things have changed. Stick around. Maybe you'll find some answers. Hitch another ride. Give a fellow a lift?
SPEAKER 4: Sure. Hop in. Move over, Jamie.
SPEAKER 1: As you drive along talking about this and that, you piece together this man's story.
SPEAKER 4: I had a good cotton farm in Alabama, Dallas County. My father had it before me and his father before him. I'd always expected my son to have it one day. Giddy up. But that's not the way things turned out.
[GUN FIRING]
Giddy up.
[GUN FIRING]
Jamie, like to go over and see what's up?
JAMIE: Gee, that'd be wonderful.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 4: About the last time Jamie would be seeing this old place. Belonged to a family used to own all the land around here. There it is Jamie.
JAMIE: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 4: A big dam was going up in the valley. A mighty big one. A lot of land was to be flooded. Our land, too. Cause we got a good price for our place. That helped some. But didn't make it any easier to leave my farm, dam or no dam. I always liked farming. Guess I was born to it. Got it from my father.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We were on the move. And so was the south from the looks of things. Cotton used to grow out there. But the land washed and wore out. Now it's first rate pasture for beef cattle. Cotton's still important to the south, of course, but with a lot of changes. A lot of tractors, mechanical cotton pickers. Same goes for factories. You see spanking new ones all over. Could have worked here. A lot of other places. But I wanted to try a few things before we finally settled.
Christophe, the older boy and I, got a job planting pine seedlings on worn out cotton land. Farmers were taking and planting pine as a crop. It was a good crop as I found out. From the pine forest, I went to work in a pine mill. growers would never cut more each year than would grow back each year.
SPEAKER 1: Once this was an untouched land. An incredible land.
An untouched land. An incredible land. And we changed its face.
There was timber in the north country and we left vast tracts cut over, burned over. In the south, rich crop lands. And we left farm after farm gutted and eroded. West was the grass. Buffalo and blue stem as high as buffalo's flanks. From Jamestown to the present, we changed the face of a continent for good or for bad and we're still at it.
From Union Point, Georgia, to Hobart Mills, California, the work of hands and machines is changing the land. But what does erosion control in Georgia or a big dam going up in the Dakota hills have to do with city folks? Look at it this way. 200 years ago, most Americans knew about the land. They lived close to it. They worked it. Then came steam power. And steam meant factories and factories meant cities. And today, most Americans know next to nothing about the land. And yet, we're all closer to the land than we think.
Wander around the country. Check up on the Iowa topsoil, the forested hills of New England. Look to the land.
(SINGING) On Springfield Mountain there did dwell a lovely youth, I knew him well. This lovely youth one day did go down to the meadow for to mow.
Things seem to be prospering around here. New England villages cleanly tailored as ever. That tidy looking country. But let's take a closer look. Here's a good place to stop. Auction going on. Wonder what's the trouble.
SPEAKER 2: Now, do I hear 7? 7.50? Over here. Who'll say 7.50? Do I have 7.50? 7.50 there. $8 over here. Do I hear 9? $9? Do I hear $9? Who'll bid $9? Do I hear 9? All done. Sold. All right, we've got--
SPEAKER 1: The county agent's always a good man to talk to. Ask him about things past and present in this section of New England.
SPEAKER 3: That's a big question, isn't it, Charlie?
CHARLIE: Sure is.
SPEAKER 2: $5, do I hear 6?
SPEAKER 3: Take this farm here, for example. Lots of prosperous farms all over New England, but this one's being auctioned off today.
SPEAKER 2: Do I hear $8?
SPEAKER 3: Furniture, kitchen plates, the old family pictures. Family settled here about 175 years ago. Plowed down the rocky slopes that never should have been plowed. The land played out. Hasn't been much of a living out of it for years.
SPEAKER 2: New England rocking chair. Do I hear 14? There's a young man with 14. Do I hear 15? Do I hear 15? You won't be sorry.
SPEAKER 3: Up on the big hills back 100 years or more, they were cutting down the trees. And the old time logger operated on the policy of cut out and get out. And then along the rivers, the factories came. Pouring out industrial wastes. Wool scourings process water from paper and textile mills. Fish and wildlife killed. Recreation for city folks spoiled. Drinking water for cities polluted. And yet, in spite of the scars of 200 years, Connecticut Valley looks rich and is rich even though we've got problems, same as any other section of the country.
SPEAKER 1: Let's look at another section of the country. Cross a couple of state lines, past the rich fields of the Pennsylvania Dutch country. Let's look south.
(SINGING) Boll Weevil and the little black bug come from Mexico they say, come all the way to Alabama just looking for a place to stay, just looking for a home, just looking for a home.
Boll weevil south, south of gullied cotton lands old plantation mansions. That was your picture of the south 20 years ago. But with this visit, things look different. The south grows green. Things have changed. Stick around. Maybe you'll find some answers. Hitch another ride. Give a fellow a lift?
SPEAKER 4: Sure. Hop in. Move over, Jamie.
SPEAKER 1: As you drive along talking about this and that, you piece together this man's story.
SPEAKER 4: I had a good cotton farm in Alabama, Dallas County. My father had it before me and his father before him. I'd always expected my son to have it one day. Giddy up. But that's not the way things turned out.
[GUN FIRING]
Giddy up.
[GUN FIRING]
Jamie, like to go over and see what's up?
JAMIE: Gee, that'd be wonderful.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 4: About the last time Jamie would be seeing this old place. Belonged to a family used to own all the land around here. There it is Jamie.
JAMIE: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 4: A big dam was going up in the valley. A mighty big one. A lot of land was to be flooded. Our land, too. Cause we got a good price for our place. That helped some. But didn't make it any easier to leave my farm, dam or no dam. I always liked farming. Guess I was born to it. Got it from my father.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We were on the move. And so was the south from the looks of things. Cotton used to grow out there. But the land washed and wore out. Now it's first rate pasture for beef cattle. Cotton's still important to the south, of course, but with a lot of changes. A lot of tractors, mechanical cotton pickers. Same goes for factories. You see spanking new ones all over. Could have worked here. A lot of other places. But I wanted to try a few things before we finally settled.
Christophe, the older boy and I, got a job planting pine seedlings on worn out cotton land. Farmers were taking and planting pine as a crop. It was a good crop as I found out. From the pine forest, I went to work in a pine mill. growers would never cut more each year than would grow back each year.