America's National Parks Podcast

In 1881, Jesse and Tom Bingham heard a whistling noise coming from a beach-ball-sized hole in a rock formation near Hot Springs, South Dakota. Wind was blowing out of the hole, just as it does today, with such force that it blew off Tom's hat. As the story goes, a few days later, when Jesse returned to show the phenomenon to some friends, the wind had switched directions and his hat was sucked in. The hole was the only natural entrance to a cave...a massive one. We now understand that the movement of the wind is caused by the difference in atmospheric pressure between the cave and the surface. The place was dubbed the Wonderful Wind Cave, before it became only our seventh National Park of the United States. On today's episode of America's National Parks: three eras of Wind Cave National Park: It's first explorer, the Lakota origin story, and a teenager lost for 37 hours.  Show notes and more info at NationalParkPodcast.com/Wind-Cave

When we left off last time Meriwether Lewis had just looked over the crest of the largest mountain range he had ever seen (or summited), hoping to see the Columbia River, and an easy path to the Pacific Ocean. Instead, there were mountains as far as the eye could see.  Canoes were useless now, and the Corps of Discovery would need horses. It was Sacagawea's moment.  Show notes and National Park Service resources at NationalParkPodcast.com/corps-of-discovery-2.  

In 2018, America is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act as well as the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The 1968 National Trails System Act created and protected trails that celebrate outdoor adventure, such as the Appalachian Trail and trails that allow us to walk through history, such as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. To celebrate this anniversary, on the America’s National Parks Podcast we’re sharing with you a two-part episode following one of our National Historic Trails — The Journey of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery from 1804 to 1806 in their quest to explore the newly expanded United States, and search for a route to the Pacific Ocean. Show notes and more info at nationalparkpodcast.com/corps-of-discovery.

On a Sunday in November of 1864, John Wilkes Booth first made the acquaintance of Dr. Samuel Mudd. The men discussed a horse sale, and Booth was invited to spend the night at Mudd's home. On December 23, the two men met again, by accident, on a street in Washington, DC. Four months later, John Wilkes Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln. He broke his left leg in the process, leaping to the stage at Ford's Theater. He and his getaway man David Harold knocked on the door of Dr. Mudd at four in the morning for assistance. Mudd set, splinted, and bandaged the broken leg. The two stayed with Mudd for about 12 hours, as the doctor's handyman made a pair of crutches. Within days Dr. Mudd was arrested and charged with conspiracy and with harboring Booth and Harold during their escape. Though he had met Booth on at least two prior occasions, Mudd told authorities he did not recognize his patient. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, one vote shy of the death penalty. Mudd was imprisoned in Fort Jefferson, in what is today Dry Tortugas National Park, an isolated Gulf of Mexico island fort. He attempted escape but failed before an epidemic of yellow fever broke out on the island. The fort's physician died, and Mudd took over the care sick. Due to his efforts, he received a full pardon from President Andrew Johnson and was released from prison a hero. In 1936, a film was made loosely based on Mudd's story called THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, and then 2 years later it was adapted into a radio drama, starring Gary Cooper as part of the Lux Radio Theater. On today's episode of America's National Parks, we're playing for you that program, which we've remastered and edited lightly.  

One of the world's great natural wonders rises from the heart of New Mexico's Tularosa basin. Great wave-like dunes of baby powder-like gypsum sand engulf 275 square miles of desert. Towering mountains ring the spectacular white dunes, crowned with electric blue skies, prismatic sunsets, and mystic moonlit nights. Half a million visitors from all over the world enjoy this beautiful place each year. It's featured prominently in commercials, feature films, fashion catalogs, and music videos. And its neighboring military base has been host to some important events in American history. On this episode of America's National Parks, three short stories from the glistening dunes of White Sands National Monument: A spirit from the 16th century who roams the dunes after sunset, searching for her lost love, a legendary gunslinger of the southwest, and a daring record-setter who made high-altitude aviation safer.  Show notes, music credits, a transcript and more are available at nationalparkpodcast.com/whitesands

In 1914, four influential men — Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs — loaded their automobiles with camping gear and embarked on the first of several historic road trips. They called themselves the “Vagabonds,” and they toured places like the Everglades, the California coast, and the forests of Vermont for two weeks nearly every summer for 10 years. The white-bearded Burroughs chronicled one such trip — the Vagabond journey to the Great Smoky Mountains — in a chapter of his book "Under the Maples."  Show notes, music credits, and more at www.nationalparkpodcast.com/vagabonds.

In the mountains of western Arkansas, there's a place where rain waters are absorbed through crevices in the earth's surface, then warmed and enriched with minerals, percolating deep underground. The water then flows back to the surface in steaming hot springs, filling the cool mountain air with steam in the winter. It's a place that humans have been using for millennia for rest, relaxation, and healing. It's also our first piece of federally protected recreation land. On this episode of America's National Parks, the American Spa — Hot Springs National Park. Show notes and more info at nationalparkpodcast.com/hotsprings

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted — it was the "deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, generating “about 500 times the force that the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” it killed 57 people and thousands of animals and lopped 1,300 feet off the top of the mountain. Still, there's another volcano that is much more concerning to volcanologists. On this episode of America's National Parks, Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park, and its namesake volcano’s potential for mass destruction.

The shape of the southwestern edge of Texas is carved by The Rio Grande river, as it tranquilly flows bringing life to some of the most remote regions of the country. Here, the Rio takes a giant turn north, a Big Bend creating the heel in Texas's shape. The Rio Grande represents something else, though, it's the border between the United States and Mexico, and at a border crossing, one man welcomed Americans to our southern neighbor through songs that floated among the canyon. On this episode of America's National Parks, Victor Valdez, the singing man of Boquillas, and Big Bend National Park. Show notes, music credits, and more at nationalparkpodcast.com/bigbend.

July 31st of each year is set aside by the International Ranger Foundation as World Ranger Day to honor park rangers around the globe who are on the front line in the fight to protect our natural heritage. It's also an opportunity to pay tribute to rangers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. To honor this past Tuesday's World Ranger Day, on this episode of America's National Parks we're highlighting three stories of National Park Service rangers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Everyone knows America's legendary origins — 13 colonies fighting off the tyranny of the British Empire to form our Union — but did you know there was, if only for a brief time, an extra-legal 14th colony? If that blows your mind, you'll be even more astounded to find out its name ... it was called Transylvania. It was made possible by a famous name, too, a man called Daniel Boone. On this episode of America's National Parks, The Transylvania Purchase, a land which laid its gateway at a gap in the Allegheny Mountains, now known as Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where the borders of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee meet. More information, music credits, and a transcript are available at nationalparkpodcast.com/14thcolony

On his 22nd birthday, in 1880, Theodore Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days after his daughter was born, his wife and mother died on the same day in the same house. Distraught, he escaped to a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. On this episode of America's National Parks, the 26th President of the United States, and his time in North Dakota, in an area now known as Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Resources, music credits, and a transcript are available at nationalparkpodcast.com/roosevelt.

Over the past century, the United States has led the world in dam construction. There are at least 90,000 dams over six-feet tall in this country and over 2 million shorter than six feet. More than a quarter have passed their 50-year average life expectancy; by 2020, that figure will reach 85 percent. On average, we have constructed one dam over 6 feet tall every day since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On this episode of America's National Parks, the removal of the dams on the Elwha River in Olympic National Park. And if you think it just takes a little dynamite, it doesn't.  Show notes and music credits at nationalparkpodcast.com/elwha.

Strange weather patterns set in 1947 in the state of Maine, as a quick and early spring thaw preceded months of endless rain. Finally, at the end of June, the sun broke through the clouds as temperatures climbed bringing about a warm summer. Mother nature had apparently used up all the rain in the spring, as the state went through 108 days without any appreciable rain. Everything became exceedingly dry in the hot sun and water supply dwindled. Recognizing the dangers of the dry conditions, officials began implementing preventative measures. By the second week of October, a Class 4 state of danger was declared, and Fire watchtowers, normally closed at the end of September, were reopened by the State Forest Service. Mountain Desert Island, home to a glorious National Park, reported the worst drought conditions on record. On this episode of America's National Parks Podcast, Acadia National Park, and the year Maine burned. Show notes and music credits available at nationalparkpodcast.com/acadia-national-park.

If there's one place in our travels that has seemed a nearly hidden gem -- a place where hardly anyone goes, yet is full of incredible beauty -- it's the confluence of the northern tip of Grand Canyon National Park, where miles of the Colorado River are protected before they enter the canyon, and the southern tip of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It's a serene place called Lee's Ferry, where the Colorado gently winds through vermillion cliffs. Rafters hit the first rapid here to begin the 88-mile journey to Phantom Ranch, the historic camping oasis nestled nearly a mile below the rim of the Grand Canyon. Wild horses roam the hills and can be spotted frolicking in the riverbed. But alongside the glorious beauty of the red rock set against the dark river and blue skies, long before it was the launching point for Grand Canyon rafters this historic place was the gateway to Arizona. It's the only place along the river for 700 miles that the riverbanks are directly accessible by land, making it an ideal crossing point, and today, the only place where you can get down into the deep cuts of the Colorado without hiking in. On this episode of America's National Parks, Lee's Ferry, part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.