Frontiers (1962)

[Music] west of the Rockies east of the Sierra The Inter Mountain West Utah and Idaho at its heart two states that hold within their borders everything that men think of when they think of the west the wind cold and Clean from the mountains of the northwest [Music] the wind warm and dry in the Southwest desert men traveled west across the plains to conquer this land a hard land and it changed their lives Hard Men and they Chang the land tapping its resources shaping things to suit their own [Music] needs a place called Promontory in Northern Utah not much to look at now but back in 1869 a railroad was completed here the first transcontinental line rails from the East and the West joined by a golden [Music] spike the isolation of the West was broken here the Last Frontier seemed to disappear [Music] a place called Silver City in the hills of Idaho not much to look at now but 100 years ago gold and silver seem to pour from the mountain [Music] sides when the loads ran out men said that the Last Frontier had [Music] disappeared before long they found they'd just begun to scratch the surface no part of the nation has such a wealth of raw resources just barely touched this is how the West is being conquered [Music] today at the very beginning before men came and left their Mark the shape of this land was carved by the wind [Music] when the first man crawled in among the rocks for shelter he cut his own image into the stone [Music] he built a home and made a record of his [Music] life today in the Southwest desert the life of the Navajo seems to grow from that early record [Music] the valley where they tend their flocks is still shaped by the wind the Sandstone butes are much the same as they were when the first explorers from the outside world passed this way back in [Music] 1776 father Escalante and his party seeking a route through to California [Music] 30 years later Lewis and Clark cut their Trail through the wild forests of northern Idaho seeking a way to the Pacific Lewis and Clark took the measure of this country and on their heels came Traders and Trappers drawn by a fortune in [Music] Furs in 20 years the streams were trapped out but the territory had been opened the time had come for men who meant to settle and [Music] stay the Mormons were the first first trekking a thousand miles across the plains to find a land that no one else [Music] wanted 1,000 miles until Brigham Young said this is the place [Music] in little more than a hundred years they built this city in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake [Music] from the very first the city had been planned with a temple at its heart a garden echoing with the voice of the Tabernacle [Music] Choir will be [Music] from this place Pioneers went down through Utah into a Barren desert they scraped their Farms out of the Wilderness planting an orchard raising a [Music] cabin not a friendly land but they stayed with it they put down roots and made it their [Music] own today when they build a steakhous the center of any Mormon Community the men on the job are doctors and lawyers clerks and storekeepers giving their own time [Music] they build as their fathers did remembering Isaiah's prophecy the Wilderness and the solitary Place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and Blossom as the rose the Mormons first and soon there were others new settlers turning the desert green with their [Music] planting this is The Inter Mountain West today men damning a river to water the desert changing the face of the land to suit their own [Music] [Applause] needs turning a Frontier Trail into a highway turning the youngest the most energetic part of the country into a modern industrial [Music] region like the early Pioneers industry has traveled West the jet age has opened up New Frontiers new jobs to be tackled new skills to be learned new challenges to be met in the University research lab the future begins in many places and one of them is the college campus in the schools of Idaho and Utah young people are learning to explore everything from the world of nuclear physics to the world of the Arts [Music] right the this was once a wagon train stop on the old Oregon Trail fur Traders once made a rendevu here a town called Boise the capital of Idaho today The Inter Mountain West can be this too quiet stable a settled way of [Music] life but no matter how subtle your town may be you're never very far from the frontier Wilderness Travel a few miles and you become a weekend pioneer with nothing but a primitive Trail to follow you begin to feel that Adventure may still be possible not many men have seen this part of the country [Music] you stop for a while and build a little world of your own it's been a long time since anyone fish this [Music] dream you're never very far from the frontier never very far from the world of raw resources that have made the wealth of this [Music] [Applause] region great stands of Idaho Pine floated down the river to the saw mills on their way to becoming paper and Pulp veneer and plywood pressed logs and lumber [Music] [Music] oil in the Utah [Laughter] desert salt harvested from the Waters of the Great Salt Lake [Music] car loads of minerals zinc and uranium potach and phosphate silver and Lead iron and coal this will be turned into bars of [Music] copper this will be steel from one of the world's most efficient Mills [Music] processing plants built close to the source of raw material manufacturing plants turning it into a finished product tractors bulldozers heavy machinery exported to the [Music] world a great industrial region but something else too a playground a Pioneer wagon has given way to the family [Music] car Canyons that held back the first explorers have become a national park [Music] mountains that held back the early settlers are covered now with ski tracks [Music] Marshland that seems so forbidding to the Pioneers is now a duck Hunter's Paradise [Music] in a country of little rain this is the most important resource of all water pouring down from the melted snow filling the streams and [Music] rivers the water is there waiting to be [Music] harnessed the land is there too richer than it looks all it needs is [Music] irrigation a homestead farmer in Idaho grubs out the Sage Brush knowing that water is on its way once he has water he can start to build his [Music] house get his first crop of potatoes into the [Music] ground in a few years the Homestead Family Pioneers a farm out of wasteland even the youngest has a job to [Music] do one thing comes first here you learn how to set the primer pipes that siphon irrigation water onto your land [Music] water can change a man's life if he knows how to change its [Music] course the early planting is finished and with plenty of water spring comes easy to the land [Music] regular as Clockwork new Lambs in the spring [Music] before long the Sheep herder has taken his flock up to the meadow grass in the mountains guarding against coyote and bear as they move from one feeding ground to [Music] [Applause] another the cattle rancher has brought his heard up to the summer [Music] range on a summer evening there is quiet music in the mountains most of the sheep herders up here are basks they still remember the songs of their Homeland in the north of Spain [Music] spring summer and at last the end of summer crops are ready to be taken in the fields of wheat are ready for the Reapers [Music] the final Harvest of a long season's labor the homesteaders land is green with beat taps a mountain of sugar beats ready for the factory with processing plants built close to the Harvest agriculture becomes a manufacturing industry a crop of beets is turned into sugar everyone's first stop at the County Fair [Music] when it comes time for the 4 competition youngsters with something to show do their best to seem calm but you can feel the tension mounting in the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] air in this part of the country County Fair means Rodeo [Music] go Bo [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in this part of the land holiday has many [Music] sounds an Indian festival in Utah a basque celebration in [Music] Idaho w [Music] Pioneer Day in Salt Lake City the sound of men marking a [Music] [Music] holiday the sound of men commemorating their past the story of this land is the story of men opening up New [Music] Frontiers The Inter Mountain West a land where the Last Frontier the world of Natural Resources is still being conquered this is still a land for pioneers h [Applause]