[00:06.50]READING
[00:07.42]GOING WEST
[00:09.09]In the spring of 1845, father read a book about California.
[00:13.95]This account of the wonderful land beyond the Rocky Mountains gave him the idea to move there.
[00:14.02]Less than half a year later we packed all our things onto a wagon and left our farm.
[00:18.72]It was not easy to decide what to decide what to take and what to leave behind.
[00:21.86]By the middle of October we set off for our journey across the continent: a journey of about a year,
[00:27.34]across more than 2,500 miles.
[00:29.62]We traveled with many other families.
[00:31.81]Most wagons were drawn by oxen, but ours hand a team of horses.
[00:35.39]We traveled through four states and decided to spend the winter before moving on.
[00:39.54]In the spring we continued our journey westward.
[00:42.26]Our first destination was Indian Cree in Kansas, which was then the frontier.
[00:46.44]This was the meeting place for people moving to the west.
[00:49.55]April 12, 1846, was chosen as the day when all should be ready to start.
[00:54.15]We left traveling with a group of 45 wagons.
[00:56.57]We traveled by day.
[00:57.12]At night, when we camped, our wagons were driven to form a circle all around the camp fire.
[01:01.77]The journey through the mountains and desert in the central part of the continent was most trying part.
[01:06.27]Sometimes the wagons had to be lifted and pulled up, where there were no roads.
[01:10.71]Passing through the desert, we came out into the Salt Lake Valley, which looked beautiful to us.
[01:15.30]We took the road around the lake and after traveling a short time came to the Salt Lake desert.
[01:20.01]On November 4, 1846, we entered the desert and soon lost our way.
[01:24.53]We had to travel about ninety miles without water or grass for the animals to eat.
[01:28.94]We called this the “long drive”.
[01:31.00]The landscape was dry and barren.
[01:33.36]Water that was shown on the map proved to be salty ponds and not drinkable.
[01:37.35]The patches of grass were never found, and the long walk through the sand was hard on the oxen.
[01:41.98]We could not ride the wagons and had to walk beside them.
[01:45.06]I carried my younger son, who was only four, most of the way.
[01:48.58]The cattle became tired and weak.
[01:50.94]The animals dragged their legs, too weak to pull their burden,
[01:54.20]and their tongues hung out in desperate need of water.
[01:56.45]Yet, our water supply was so low that we dared not share it with the beasts.
[02:00.76]As the animals could no longer pull the wagons, we burnt them and packed the oxen with our supplies.
[02:05.43]Now we were on our feet with another 500 miles to go.
[02:08.96]For many weeks we had been accustomed to seeing horses and oxen suffering from heat, thirst and starvation.
[02:14.71]Now things got worse.
[02:16.25]For miles both sides of the road were lined with dead animals and abandoned wagons.
[02:20.56]Lying around them were chains, guns tools, bedding, clothing, and many other articles.
[02:25.08]The owners had left everything－and hurried on to save themselves.
[02:28.26]In anxiety of reaching a place of safety,
[02:30.72]no one stopped to look or help.
[02:32.05]In fact, the situation was so desperate that, in most cases, no one could help another.
[02:36.65]Each could only try to save himself and his animals.
[02:39.81]We called it Death Valley.
[02:41.40]I was so weak and tried that I got onto my knees and started moving across the sands on all fours.
[02:47.02]A young man in our group suggested that I stay behind with the children, and wait for help.
[02:51.46]I knew what was in his mind.
[02:53.08]So I got up and said “No, I won’t give up.”
[02:55.82]I knew that giving up meant a shallow grave in the sand.
[02:58.83]At three o’clock in the morning of Christmas Day we reached the edge of the desert.
[03:02.93]The animals almost ran.
[03:04.57]They must have smelt the water.
[03:05.99]Not long after this, we reached a running stream.
[03:08.78]Farmers who saw us stared at us
[03:10.84]They could hardly believe what they saw: people who looked like walking skeletons.
[03:12.88]When we saw the valley with fat cattle and horses,
[03:14.95]we though we had reached the promised land!
[03:19.36]Our days of hardship had come to an end.
[03:21.82]INTEGRATION SKILLS
[03:25.39]Reading
[03:26.39]HEROES OF THE NORTH
[03:27.98]Our program today is about the eightieth anniversary of the Anchorage -to-Nome dog sled race.
[03:33.05]My Parks, can you tell us something about the history of the race?
[03:35.87]The first race wasn’t a competition,
[03:38.35]but it was a race against time.
[03:39.94]Eight years ago, it was front-page news all over the world,
[03:43.16]but outside Alaska most people have now forgotten how twenty brave people and their dogs saved hundreds of people from death.
[03:48.80]What happened?
[03:50.00]Nome was only a small city of about 1,430 souls.
[03:53.58]One day, in the winter of 1925, Dr Curtis Welch discovered that some children had a terrible disease for which he had no medicine.
[04:00.27]The nearest hospital lay, 1,000 miles away.
[04:03.64]Thank you. We have here with us Miss Welch, who is granddaughter of Dr Welch.
[04:08.34]Miss Welch, can you tell us something more?
[04:10.30]On January 21, a man came to my grandfather asking him for help.
[04:14.74]His children were very sick
[04:16.25]The mother thought they had the flu,
[04:18.06]because their throats had become red and painful.
[04:20.41]Their temperatures were very high, and breathing shallow.
[04:23.23]The following day they died.
[04:25.29]What sickness was it?
[04:26.70]A few days later he discovered that several children were sick.
[04:29.66]They all had diphtheria, a disease that spreads very fast.
[04:33.21]If untreated, it would produce a produce a powerful poison that would kill the patient.
[04:37.02]Dr Welch had enough vaccine for perhaps five people.
[04:40.31]The only way to prevent a catastrophe was to get more as quickly as possible.
[04:44.49]Where could they get it?
[04:45.80]There was widespread relief when it was discovered that a hospital in Anchorage in Anchorage had a good supply of 300,000 units.
[04:51.99]But the question was how to deliver it to Nome fast.
[04:54.55]Was that a problem?
[04:56.01]In 1925, nothing got to Nome quickly.
[04:59.07]The sea was frozen, while the only two planes had been stored.
[05:02.44]So, what was to be done?
[05:04.09]The only way would be a relay of dog teams over the 674 miles between Nenana and Nome.
[05:09.36]Twenty drivers would carry the vaccine in a relay race.
[05:12.13]The Arctic winter is very cold, but these were all tough men.
[05:15.66]Each team covered a distance of 18 to 53 miles.
[05:18.35]Every minute counted.
[05:19.65]It was thought that the trip could take up to 13 days to complete.
[05:22.97]How was the vaccine brought to Nenana?
[05:24.96]The doctor in Anchorage wrapped the medicine in quilt and tied it up.
[05:28.67]A train took the packet from Anchorage to Nenana.
[05:31.33]So the real race against time started from Nenan, right?
[05:34.70]Yes, We could only pray that the medicine would arrive on time.
[05:37.84]Eighteen drivers rode day and night for five days through snow storms and the temperature was more than 30 degrees below zero.
[05:44.71]The last driver faced a terrible storm, but he knew that lives were at stake.
[05:48.81]Reaching the end of his trip, he found the next drive asleep.
[05:51.84]Time would be lost waking him.
[05:53.46]Twenty-one miles away people were dying, so he kept going.
[05:56.64]Did he get there on time?
[05:58.18]He did, but when the team arrived before dawn,
[06:00.41]there was no one to greet them-almost the whole town was sleeping.
[06:03.30]But relief soon spread through Nome like the golden rays of the dawn itself.
[06:06.81]The dogs were so tired that they could not even bark.
[06:09.16]The children of Nome were saved!
[06:10.62]Yes! The drivers had covered almost 700 miles in little more than 127 hours.
[06:16.99]But the real heroes should not be forgotten.
[06:19.03]In December that year a bronze sculpture of a dog was placed in New Your City’s Central Park
[06:23.76]a memorial to all who risked their lives to save those of others |