Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 When you descend into the valleys of Yellowstone, it can seem like a very peaceful world.
00:09 But deep under these mountains, rivers, and forests is one of the largest and most destructive
00:16 volcanic forces on the planet, a giant plume of rising magma known as the Yellowstone Hotspot.
00:25 For the past two million years, this supervolcano has been responsible for catastrophic eruptions
00:33 so powerful they've covered much of the continent with ash.
00:38 But it's also what has given birth to many of the wonders of Yellowstone's landscape.
00:45 In 1870, one man suddenly found himself lost and all alone in this forbidding world.
00:57 His name was Truman Everts, and he was anything but a mountain man.
01:02 He had been the Internal Revenue Officer for Montana, but was unemployed when he got the
01:08 chance to take part in the first major expedition into the Yellowstone region on horseback.
01:14 What happened to him here would soon be a warning to others about the risks of exploring
01:19 this remote volcanic land.
01:23 It all began in thick forests on the south side of Yellowstone Lake, when Everts somehow
01:29 got separated from his fellow explorers.
01:32 Soon after, his horse bolted, along with almost all of his supplies and his gun.
01:38 By nightfall, he was completely alone in this wild landscape of lakes and trees.
01:46 All he had left was a couple of knives, an opera glass, and the clothes on his back.
01:57 Over the coming days, his fruitless search for his companions brought him to this river
02:03 and the shores of Heart Lake.
02:07 This is still one of the most remote areas of Yellowstone National Park today.
02:16 Everts spent most of one night high up in a tree, trying to escape a hungry mountain
02:21 lion that growled and paced the earth below him.
02:25 In the days that followed, he suffered a remarkable series of misfortunes.
02:32 He managed to lose both his knives. Not far from the lake, he slept near some thermal
02:39 pools to stay warm.
02:42 But one night, in his sleep, he rolled onto a steaming vent and scalded one of his hips.
02:50 He even escaped a raging forest fire that he had started himself by accident, and had
02:55 burned off much of his hair.
03:00 Every day, he got more and more delirious, and old friends started speaking to him.
03:08 One of these phantom companions encouraged him to forge on until he reached the Yellowstone
03:13 River.
03:20 It was on his 37th day alone in the wilderness that Everts suddenly heard a voice calling
03:25 his name.
03:28 It was a bounty hunter known as Yellowstone Jack.
03:32 When Everts was finally rescued, he weighed just 90 pounds, and was what one man later
03:38 described as nothing but a shadow.
03:41 At first, he was mistaken for a small, mangy bear.
03:47 Everts published an account of his survival, which he called "37 Days of Peril."
03:54 Many questioned how much of it was true, but it succeeded in painting a picture of Yellowstone
03:59 as a strange and frightening place, which only inspired others to want to come and see
04:05 it for themselves.
04:07 [music]
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04:09 [music]
04:09 (upbeat music)
04:11 [music]