WESTERN SKETCHBOOK

foreign [Music] San Francisco's picturesque fog the Pacific Oceans caress partly reveals man's realized dream of his mighty Golden Gate Bridge Titanic steel Towers stabbed at the top of the sky but gave up after 746 feet between these towers as spiders spin gossamer webs between Twigs man spun 80 000 miles of husky steel wire woven into two cables it supports the six-lane highway effectively linking Peninsula bound San Francisco with all trade Outlets North of the Golden Gate from the top of the South Tower cars appear as Miniatures as they shuttle swiftly over the great spans suspended 220 feet above the water [Music] an inbound freighter from across the Pacific cleaves the powerful seven knot tidal current that surges restlessly about the bridge abutments [Music] the man on the cable is 700 feet above the ship to give you an idea how big everything is and San Francisco forms a motion picture background for the great span between the towers Outward Bound for parts of the world ships glide swiftly under the Great Bridge where land traffic hung on Sky hooks is a safe 200 feet above their tallest masts man's dream in steel although a Triumph of engineering reality is still a dream picture in the Ageless setting of The Beautiful Golden Gate the surging Waters of the mighty Columbia River are again tamed by this Dam at The Dalles Oregon water backed up by the great concrete and steel barrier forms a 25-mile Long Lake which is obliterated famed cilido Falls traditional fishing grounds of Northwest Indians the many Falls of celilo have vanished forever under these Placid Waters which have made ancient history of a more ancient industry all right you see it here filmed before the rocks and channels were engulfed Indians fishing for the mighty salmon no one knows when the red Men first started fishing at this historic spot tribal Legends tell that their forefathers fished here since forever under a treaty signed in 1885 Indians were granted rights to fish here perpetually perpetually proved to be too long a Time when Northwest power requirements made necessary the construction of the Dow's Dam the treaty came to an end many ingeniously constructed scaffolds platforms and ramps were built on the Rocks as well as overhead tramways to get the salmon to shore each fall the Northwest tribes that held fishing rights gathered at solilo an excited anticipation of their annual salmon Harvest as the Big Fish Head Up river to spawn [Music] here was simple huge Nets on Long poles that could reach into favorite salmon runs and the fishermen was in business Tribal Law decreed that fishermen must be tied to rocks or platforms yeah here's a Whopper someone latch on here and help before the fish gets the Indian [Music] these big Chinooks sometimes weighed as high as 50 pounds this was really fishing thousands were caught daily during the Run foreign they're so strong and slippery that it took a sharp blow on the head to subdue them so they could be handled each salmon was quickly killed as soon as it was caught even the kids could catch them no more to the Indians fish at solilo they were paid 18 million dollars to settle the treaty rollicking White Water shouts no longer the Roar of the falls at celilo is stilled forever [Music] horses helped make a new winter sport at Ketchum Idaho gateway to famous Sun Valley while skiers zipped down the upper slopes Western folk in the valley take to ski-going chariots Ben Hur never saw anything like this [Music] horsepower up front too it's like a three-ring circus complete with announcer and loudspeaker these snow jockeys don't spare the horses and it's a toss-up who has the most fun people or horses they're off again amid flying snow it's a lickety-split slam bang Affair enough to please any cowboy [Music] Yep this is a race too but something's wrong our second man is trying this race on the seat of his pants but he's still driving iron pants gets another chance riding the seat of your pants doesn't count you have to ride in the Chariot to win a trophy like this something on this mile-long freight train may be going to your house but from the time the merchandise is loaded in a freight car until it reaches you the car may have been shuffled in and out of a number of trains how do they do it so that the car reaches its proper destination watch this eastbound train is headed into the radar classification yard at North Platte Nebraska the layout of parallel tracks might be called a freight car sorter outer our train will be taken apart and cars will be moved into other trains headed east north and south a diesel switch engine couples onto the end of the train mechanical hands reach out to say howdy friend as automatic couplers meet in a hand clasp of Steel now the train is slowly and carefully pushed up along incline you're about to see how Union Pacific combines the ancient law of gravity with a modern science of electronics to break up the drain and sort the cars to combine them into new trains railroad men called the top of the incline the hump it is here that the cars are uncoupled to Coast gently down the East incline onto a pre-designated track which already contains other cars headed for the same general destination [Music] governing the operation are handled from the tower oiled and inspected as they roll by the pits with a list to guide him this man tells the switchman over the loudspeaker how many cars to one couple at a time the cars rolled swiftly down the incline toward the Sorting tracks as they roll radar flashes their speed back to the Tower other electronic devices weigh each car and compute the distance it must roll to be coupled into the waiting train an electronic brain considers all these factors and under the watchful eye of a towerman tells the retarders exactly how much to slow the car so that it couples gently at just the right Speed without a jar to the cargo [Music] modern railroading is increasingly using modern science to build efficient surface transportation in a modern age Electronics today play an important part in keeping the freight of the nation moving swiftly and economically over the steel Highway [Music] thank you this Exquisite 125 year old Juniper is called a bonsai tree originally developed by the Chinese Bonsai is an art practice for over 900 years by skilled Japanese horticulturists each bonsai tree is unusual because of the fact that the tree spends its entire lifespan which may be several centuries growing in a shallow vessel with a limited amount of soil each bonsai tree has different characteristics and must be pruned accordingly [Music] one of the leading exponents of the art of bonsai is Mr K Omi of San Francisco trained in the art by his father what was a hobby in Japan over 30 years ago is now a business in this country 100 years old this Chinese juniper is still only eight inches high the Weeping Red Pine behind Mr Omi is 400 years old and has a foot of growth for each 100 years about to prune as a member of the Ole Aster family and is about 25 years old [Music] every tree is shaped according to its natural living characteristics in order to produce a creation of aesthetic value bonsai trees generally carry Tendencies to remain small but are not stunted they receive careful attention and are removed from the pots every few years so that the roots may be pruned before replacing them in the shallow dish yes Bonsai is really an art to produce an eye-appealing miniature tree like this takes years of training and practice this tree is only one of over a thousand in the Omi collection and as the years go by the trees increase in value it's an ancient art with modern appeal foreign [Music]