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Season 10

101 Slickrocks and monuments in the Four Corners

Nowhere else in the world offers a more graphic view of deep forces of geology at work than the Four Corners portion the Colorado Plateau. The arid climate, the peculiar volcanoes, the powerful forces of erosion, and the clashes of Earth’s tectonic plates makes for the highest concentration of national...

102 Ancient peoples of the Colorado Plateau

More than a thousand years before the arrival of Europeans in the southwestern U.S. native peoples were establishing their occupation of the Colorado Plateau. They learned early how to derive a living in a dry climate where winters were bitter and summers torrid. And they left behind proof of their...

103 The wild and explosive past of northwest New Mexico

For thousands of years, New Mexico’s northwestern quadrant has been home to a wide variety of native peoples. The places they chose to live are a showcase of the powers of volcanoes and erosion. These natural monuments help define the territories these people have chosen and have become symbols for...

104. The Northern Jaguar Preserve: Where the great cats roam freely

A little over one hundred miles south of the U.S-Mexico borders in the state of Sonora, international conservation groups have discovered the ideal habitat for jaguars, mountain lions, and ocelots. Through their efforts, former cattle ranches in some of the roughest country in North America now belong to these top...

105 The Salton Sea. Life and death in an inland ocean.

For more than a thousand years, the Salton Sink In southeastern California has been home to the largest body of water in the state. It is there because the San Andreas Fault is tearing southern California apart and the bottom is dropping out. Three hundred years ago, it was Lake...

106 Whales and their offspring in San Ignacio Lagoon

For millennia, gray whales have made an annual pilgrimage from the cold, rich marine waters in the Gulf of Alaska to the warm, protected waters of San Ignacio Lagoon. The calm bay sits on the west coast of Baja California. There the mother whales feel safe from predators and givebirth...

107. As the waters of Lake Powell recede

The Colorado River was dammed at Glen Canyon in the early 1960s. The resulting reservoir, Lake Powell, is the second largest reservoir in the United States. As a prolonged drought grips the southwestern United States the lake is shrinking. The falling water levels reveal a wonderland of canyons from angles...

108 Colon’s Spain and the quest for western lands.

Christopher Columbus set out from Huelva, on Spain’s southwest coast, in 1492 in a quest to chart unknown lands with hoped-for riches. With him he brought three ships and a cultural impact that changed the world forever in the space of thirty years. Huelva and its surrounding area reveal a...

109 Christopher Columbus, his time and his plans.

Columbus spent nearly a decade in Spain lobbying for his expedition. More than anywhere else, he remained in Huelva, a port on Spain’s southwestern coast. With him on his voyages he brought the heritage of his surroundings and their many assumptions. His quest shaped his mission and the sailors he...

110 1492: Americans discover Europe.

Americans, perhaps thirty million strong, did not submissively accept the rule of Europeans. Their resistance and reception of the foreigners varied greatly. We visit Dominican Republic, where Columbus established a beachhead and then to the Mexican port of Veracruz where Hernán Cortés landed 28 years later. We follow his route...

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