Aerial.America.S01E06.Vermont
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00:00Perhaps no other state is as fiercely independent as Vermont, the Green Mountain State, founded
00:09by an unruly bunch of Yankees known as the Green Mountain Boys.
00:14No other state is as green in its trees, mountains, and quest for conservation.
00:22It was the first state in the Union to abolish slavery, but also the state whose Native Indian
00:29population would all but disappear.
00:33The state whose lakes and land were first explored by the French, but settled by the
00:38English.
00:40Today, its Great Lake still harbors a monster older than Nessie of Loch Ness.
00:47Its land is home to some of the most pristine farmland in the nation.
00:53Its woods, the inspiration for the great American poet Robert Frost, who perhaps best
00:59described Vermont as the road less traveled.
01:05This northern state of stony fields, red-painted barns, and sugar maples is still a place where
01:12mad rivers run beneath covered bridges.
01:17Vermont shows us an America young, green, and full of promise.
01:47From the time the glaciers melted over 10,000 years ago, this vast body of water has defined
02:08the land and life around it.
02:11Lake Champlain, 120 miles long and, in some places, 12 miles wide.
02:25It lies deep in a valley carved by glaciers, with the Adirondack Mountains to the west
02:31and the Green Mountains to the east.
02:36Today, the skeletal remains of beluga whales are evidence that the lake was once a part
02:42of a salty inland arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
02:53The lake takes its name from the great French explorer Samuel de Champlain, known as the
02:58Father of New France.
03:06In 1609, he headed south on the lake from Canada, and was likely the first European
03:12to set foot on Île-le-Mont.
03:20Under these waters lies the Shazy Reef.
03:24Scientists claim it's the world's oldest reef, where corals first appeared.
03:31Formed half a billion years ago, it was part of an ancient ocean which covered most of
03:36the eastern North American continent.
03:40Until the 20th century, the only clues to the reef's scientific importance were the
03:44odd markings in the beautiful black limestone from the island's quarries.
03:53This stone was used in the construction of Radio City Music Hall, the Brooklyn Bridge,
03:58and the National Gallery of Art.
04:02Early quarry workers never knew that the strange marks on the rock were marine fossils half
04:08a billion years old.
04:15Given the great age of the lake, it's no surprise that mystery lurks deep within these
04:21waters.
04:23They are home to an elusive creature known as Champ, America's very own Loch Ness Monster.
04:33The first sighting of Champ took place in 1609, when a member of the Champlain expedition
04:38noted a 20-foot serpent with a horse-shaped head and body as thick as a king.
04:49There were dozens more Champ sightings before the first appearance of Nessie, the Loch Ness
04:53Monster, 50 years after Champ's debut.
04:57But perhaps it's not surprising to find strange creatures in places like this.
05:05Lake Champlain and Loch Ness are quite similar.
05:09Both are deep freshwater lakes created 10,000 years ago, perfect hideouts for shy monsters.
05:18While Champ's existence is yet to be proven, his legend has been a boost for tourism.
05:29The next two islands of Lake Champlain, North and South Hero, were once named Two Heroes,
05:36in honor of Ethan and Ira Allen, brothers who helped to found Vermont.
05:47In 1779, Vermont gave these islands in tribute to the Allens and their associates, popularly
05:53known as the Green Mountain Boys.
05:59How the boys earned their name and became so beloved is also the story of how an early
06:04colony became known as Vermont.
06:07One of the smallest states in America, Vermont is a land rich in lakes, rivers, and mountains,
06:15particularly the Green Mountains, which dominate the state.
06:20Early French explorers named the land Vert, meaning green, and Mont, meaning mountain,
06:27thus Vermont, or Vermont.
06:31Today, Ethan Allen's homestead lies east of Lake Champlain, amid the spectacular Vermont
06:38scenery he fought to defend.
06:41In the 1700s, colonial boundaries were determined by royal land grants made in England.
06:48But the notoriously vague borders led to bitter disputes between New York and New Hampshire,
06:53who both claimed the land of Vermont's fertile Champlain Valley.
06:59To protect their land from the hated Yorkers, two fiercely independent New Hampshire landowners,
07:05Ira and Ethan Allen, formed a militia called the Green Mountain Boys.
07:10The boys defied New York's threat to drive Vermont's settlers off the fields and into
07:14the Green Mountains to the east.
07:16Instead, the Green Mountain Boys fought off the Yorkers, but in the end, neither New Hampshire
07:22nor New York was able to control the land, and the boys helped establish the Republic
07:28of Vermont.
07:32Perched on the edge of the lake lies Burlington, no, not the Coat Factory, but Vermont's largest
07:38city, with a population of just 40,000.
07:43Despite its small size, it's a cosmopolitan town.
07:48In its heyday as a port city in the steamship era, it attracted some famous visitors, including
07:56the author Charles Dickens.
07:59Today, the pretty little town of Burlington, as Dickens described it, still captivates
08:05visitors.
08:12The town center with a church street marketplace is a bustling mix of cafes and shops, and
08:25the lake attracts swimmers, and most of all, sailors, who love Champlain's gusty winds.
08:38Moving inland lie Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield, the two highest mountains in Vermont.
08:49Over the hump and down into the valley, just three miles away, is the 45-acre Shelburne
08:56Museum, a village of historic buildings that hold the finest collection of Americana in
09:03the country.
09:08Known as the Smithsonian of New England, the village holds over 100,000 artifacts, from
09:16cigar store Indians to a full-sized carousel.
09:25One of the town's stranger sights is the 220-foot Ticonderoga, a graceful relic from the golden
09:32age of steamship travel.
09:36She made her last voyage overland, mooring here in 1955.
09:42Today, she offers visitors a glimpse into the elegant life of travel aboard a 19th-century
09:47steamship.
09:51Nearby is Shelburne Farms, an estate of nearly 400 acres with several buildings.
09:59One of the most impressive is the breeding barn.
10:03The farm was created in 1886 by Lila Vanderbilt and William Seward Webb as a model agricultural
10:10estate.
10:11Today, it operates as a non-profit working farm teaching conservation.
10:27For over a hundred centuries, Native Americans called the Abenaki traveled Vermont's waterways
10:33in birchbark canoes.
10:40The Winooski, from an Abenaki word meaning wild onion land, is one of Vermont's most
10:46important rivers, running 90 miles from the Green Mountains west to Lake Champlain.
10:59This was the waterway used by generations of Abenaki to reach their largest settlement,
11:05Missisquoi.
11:13Here they lived as farmers and hunters until the arrival of Europeans, whose diseases and
11:19wars would bring an end to the Abenaki way of life.
11:31Today, the area is preserved as a wildlife refuge.
11:42And while 2,500 Abenaki still live here around the lake, much of their heritage is lost.
11:55Moving east to Richmond, here, one of the most unusual buildings in the state stands
12:02as a testament to Vermont's credo of religious freedom.
12:06It's known as the Old Round Church.
12:10Although it appears round, it's actually 16-sided.
12:15As the story goes, 16 men built the church, and the 17th built the belfry.
12:23One theory for its shape is that, if the church has no corners, there's nowhere for
12:28the devil to hide.
12:33In time, the round church became the town hall.
12:37Here, annual town meetings, a Vermont tradition, were held for 160 years.
12:46At one point, Henry Ford tried to buy the church and move it to Michigan, but the town's
12:52answer was a very firm no.
12:58Just off the interstate, heading north, is Waterbury, a town that holds a special place
13:03in the hearts of ice cream fans.
13:07This is the home of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory, the culmination of an amazing American
13:13success story.
13:17Back in 1978, after taking a $5 correspondence course in ice cream manufacturing, Ben Cohen
13:24and Jerry Greenfield opened Ben & Jerry's first ice cream store in Burlington.
13:30Today, from this building, thousands of gallons of Jerry Garcia and Chunky Monkey make their
13:38way to fans across the state and all over the world.
13:45For over 30 years, Ben & Jerry's has been known as a phenomenally successful business
13:50with one of the best corporate reputations in America.
14:08Winter in Vermont is a time of deep snows and Wilson Bentley.
14:14The most famous son of the little town of Jericho, was a man born very much in the right
14:20place at the right time.
14:23In 1885, Bentley combined the new technology of photography with a microscope to study
14:30the snowflake.
14:34Snowflake Bentley, as he became known, was the first person to discover that no two snowflakes
14:39are alike.
14:46Today, much of what we know about snow is based on his research.
15:01In the 20th century, snow became a gold mine for the 200-year-old town of Stowe, located
15:08on Mount Mansfield.
15:13At over 4,000 feet, it's the tallest mountain in Vermont, and the views from the summit
15:19are well worth the four-hour hike to the top.
15:27In 1900, the first skier slid down the mountain on skis made from staves from a barrel.
15:36And skiing really took off with the creation of the country's first rope tow in 1934.
15:43Today, Stowe is one of the best ski mountains in New England.
15:50And although these hills aren't alive with the voice of Julie Andrews, they are home
15:54to the famous von Trapp family.
15:59Their story of a daring escape from Nazi-occupied Austria inspired the movie, The Sound of Music.
16:06Here, the family began the country's first cross-country ski center, the 2,400-acre Trapp
16:17family lodge.
16:24The location, overlooking meadows, a valley, and the Green Mountains, has a distinctly
16:30Austrian air.
16:37Six miles north of Stowe, travelers arrive at a dense, dark forest, and a gorge known
16:45as Smuggler's Notch.
16:49Although this narrow pass had long been known for smuggling, it became the scene of an historic
16:54clash between politics and business during the War of 1812.
17:03Despite America's ban against trade with Canada, Vermonters defied the law and smuggled beef
17:09through the Notch to sell in British Canada, while other Vermonters fought to keep the
17:15British troops at bay.
17:18For both sides, it must have been tough.
17:22In summer, the steep road forges a winding path through the mountains, but in winter,
17:28snow makes it impassable and the Notch is closed.
17:33And just like the old Yankee yarn, when a visitor asks the way to the ski area at the
17:38Notch, the local's answer may be, you can't get there from here.
17:47In fall, the sugar maple, Vermont's state tree, turns the hills a fiery red, setting
17:54the hills ablaze with color.
17:58In spring, when the maples produce their sap, Vermont's sugaring season begins.
18:05One glance at the foliage, surely one of nature's most extravagant displays of color, explains
18:11why Vermont is invaded by thousands of visitors every fall.
18:27In the Green Mountains lies the town of Montgomery, covered bridge capital of Vermont.
18:39Like many, the bridges invoke nostalgia for a simpler time, but in the 19th century,
18:46they were a remarkable engineering achievement that helped facilitate the growth of a young
18:50nation.
18:54Battered by winter ice and snow, wooden bridges deteriorated quickly, lasting maybe 15 years.
19:02But building a cover to protect the massive structural beams could extend the life of
19:07a bridge by over 100 years.
19:15In the 1870s, 10,000 covered bridges spanned the American landscape.
19:21Today, just 750 remain, with over 100 of them in Vermont.
19:31These covered bridges still stand in Montgomery, most of them still in use.
19:57West of the Green Mountains lies the splendid isolation of the Northeast Kingdom.
20:04It was named when a senator from Vermont was struck by the area's natural splendor and
20:09said, this is such beautiful country up here, that it should be called the Northeast Kingdom.
20:23In fall, when the trees are ablaze in every shade of yellow and red, this could be the
20:29most beautiful place in America.
20:33Here, forested hills open into one-church villages and gorgeous lakes.
20:43The largest, Lake Willoughby, is shaped like a Nordic fjord, formed by glaciers that carved
20:50out U-shaped valleys and spectacular cliffs.
20:54The lake covers nearly 1,700 acres.
21:02The northeastern frontier was settled later than other places in Vermont, and most towns
21:08have populations in three figures.
21:12But the land sustains a way of life that has long since disappeared from most parts of
21:20the country.
21:23And yet, there are downsides.
21:25In the kingdom, backroad travelers are warned to beware of moose, the most dangerous animals
21:33in the northern woods.
21:35Moose don't just dent cars, they total them.
21:43Further south is the quintessential Vermont town of Craftsbury.
21:49It was founded in 1788 by Ebenezer Crafts, a Revolutionary War veteran.
21:56Like many New England towns, Craftsbury retains its historic Town Common, a Yankee tradition
22:02from colonial times.
22:06Back then, a common space in the village center was set aside for grazing sheep and cattle.
22:14While the days of free-ranging livestock are gone, the tidy green commons remain.
22:21In the crisp light of autumn, the skies in the northeast kingdom seem bluer, the fields
22:27greener, and the trees exquisite.
22:33Each fall, the foliage surrounding the town of Peacham becomes one of the most photographed
22:38scenes in New England.
22:42Peacham's rolling hills, red barns, and white-steepled church have made it the setting for the films
22:49Ethan Fromme, Where the Rivers Flow North, and The Spitfire Grill.
23:02First settled in 1776, Peacham is still a small town, complete with an old town store
23:09built in 1842, that still does a roaring trade.
23:18It even offers rooms for rent.
23:24Close by is Peacham Cemetery, final resting place of its townsfolk for over 150 years.
23:33Here, in the shade of red maples, a gravestone tells the tragic story of three generations
23:39of a Vermont family.
23:42One spring in the 1800s, a grandmother, her daughter, and eight-year-old grandson froze
23:48to death as they walked into town.
23:57Hard to imagine today, when stretching out on all sides of the village, are peaceful
24:02open valleys and endless farms.
24:06A land best described by the Vermont poet Robert Tristam Coffin, Vermont's a place where
24:12barns come painted red as a strong man's heart, where stout carts and stout boys in freckles
24:20are highest forms of art.
24:30Central Vermont has long been defined by its massive granite quarries, source of the near
24:36flawless stone used in gravestones and buildings all over the world.
24:44For over a century, granite was the rock on which the fortunes of the nearby city of Berry
24:49rose and fell.
24:52Even today, Berry is an industrial city built by generations of immigrants.
25:01Berry's Rock of Ages quarry runs a quarter mile long and 450 feet deep, the largest in
25:07the world.
25:13In the late 1800s, generations of European stonecutters arrived to work in the quarries.
25:27In just one decade, granite brought so many people to Berry that the town's population
25:32grew from 2,000 to nearly 7,000.
25:45Tons of granite and marble from across the state was carried by rail to Washington, D.C.
25:51for construction of the Jefferson Memorial and the Supreme Court.
26:05Just outside Berry is one of the most fantastic displays of granite to be seen.
26:11The Hope Cemetery covers 85 acres of monuments that date back to 1895, many of them carved
26:23by master stonecutters early in the 20th century.
26:35Just west of Berry is Vermont's state capital, Montpelier.
26:40With a population of just 10,000, it's the smallest in the nation.
26:47The statehouse is known for its gold leaf dome, bearing aloft a statue representing
26:51agriculture, a monument to Vermont's farming industry.
27:01The area around the statehouse is known for its varied architectural styles, ranging from
27:13a Greek Revival courthouse to the Gothic design of the Episcopal Church, made of Vermont granite.
27:28Just north of the capital is the town of Plainfield, home to the progressive Goddard College.
27:39Here in the 1960s, the school was home to some of the most vocal opposition to the Vietnam War.
27:47In time, the school's bohemian reputation turned Plainfield into a mecca for communes
27:53and hippies, some of whom are still here.
28:02Goddard College is based on the free school concept, what they describe as progressive
28:07education for creative minds.
28:15Dr. William H. Macy and playwright David Mamet are two of Goddard's free-thinking alumni.
28:25Mamet, known for his edgy, rapid-fire dialogue, is friends with Macy, who frequently acts
28:30in Mamet's films.
28:44Moving south, to the fertile farmlands of the Mad River Valley, is the great Jocelyn
28:50Round Barn, one of the very few remaining round barns in Vermont.
28:56Based on a shaker design, the barns epitomize the shaker rule of craftsmanship.
29:01Let it be plain and simple, of good and substantial quality, unembellished by any superfluities
29:12which add nothing to its goodness or durability.
29:19Round barns are the model of practicality.
29:23Hay was stored on the top floor, horses and cows kept on the middle floor, and the ground
29:34level was reserved for cows' manure, where it could be easily removed.
29:38All in all, a most practical design for a working farmer's barn.
29:51This gently sloping land of the Mad River Valley is the heart of Vermont's historic
29:56farmland.
29:58Here, small towns and covered bridges trace the path of Vermont's earliest farmers.
30:08European colonists first settled here in 1790.
30:11Then, farms were small, yielding just enough to feed a family.
30:18Over time, the farms grew, raising grain, beef, and sheep.
30:25It's hard to imagine the perseverance it took to farm here.
30:31The valley averages 10 feet of snow a year, and has the shortest growing season in the
30:36state, less than four months.
30:40And yet, throughout history, Vermonters have made their living by farming.
30:52Today, the major landmark in the small village of Waitsfield is the Great Eddy Bridge, which
30:58spans the Mad River, the oldest operating covered bridge in the state.
31:07Although just 8% of the people of Waitsfield still work in farming, the landscape is beautifully
31:13preserved, especially along Route 100, ranked as one of the ten most scenic roads in America.
31:24The road winds north for 200 miles along the rugged spine of the Green Mountains, across
31:31some of the best scenery in the state.
31:34And best of all, there are no garish billboards to spoil the view.
31:40Road signage has been banned here since 1963.
31:47The Green Mountain Range is the most prominent natural feature of Vermont, and the Green
32:03Mountain National Forest covers more than 400,000 acres and stretches almost the entire
32:10length of the state.
32:15Here, the scenery ranges from rugged wilderness to quiet villages.
32:25Within this land are thousands of historic sites spanning the history of Vermont, including
32:32the early homes of the Abenaki tribe, the Native Americans who settled here 12,000 years ago.
32:45The forest also travels through three alpine ski areas and 900 miles of trails for cross-country
32:51skiing and hiking.
32:57Hidden beneath the forest's brilliant fall canopy lies the appropriately named Long Trail,
33:03which travels the length of the Green Mountains.
33:07Also known as Vermont's footpath in the wilderness, it is the oldest long-distance hiking trail
33:12in the United States and unfolds for 270 miles from one end of Vermont to the other.
33:21The Long Trail was also the inspiration for the famed Appalachian Trail, which links the
33:26mountains of the eastern United States from Maine to Georgia.
33:33West of the Long Trail lies the perfectly preserved home of Rudyard Kipling.
33:40He called it Nolaka.
33:45Believe it or not, Kipling wrote The Jungle Book here in Vermont.
33:52Although set in India, it was written in these green hills where he and his wife lived happily
33:59for four years.
34:04Nolaka is a Hindu word loosely translated as a jewel beyond price.
34:13He described his green shingled farmhouse as three miles from anywhere and wonderfully
34:19self-contained.
34:21And its design, he wrote, is long and narrow, to resemble a ship, appears to be riding on
34:27a hillside like a little boat on the flank of a wave.
34:34It has been restored by the British Landmark Trust, a foundation that restores historic
34:40British properties, not as museums, but as unconventional guest homes.
34:46Nolaka, the perfect literary getaway.
34:53Here is the Moosalamu region of the Green Forest, covering 22,000 acres of wilderness.
35:03Perched in the midst of the forest is the Blueberry Hill Inn, a restored lodge originally
35:09built by loggers in 1813.
35:15Forty-five miles of trails stretch out from the inn into the forest, but the favorite
35:21is the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail.
35:27The path is a perfect monument to the poet, surrounded by the woods which inspired so
35:33much of his work.
35:37As visitors hike or ski the route, they can stop to read his poems posted along the trail.
35:43Among them, Whose woods these are I think I know,
35:47His house is in the village though.
35:50He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.
35:58In 1920, 44-year-old Robert Frost moved from New Hampshire to Vermont, as he put it, to
36:05seek a better place to farm and especially grow apples.
36:13Apparently he found it.
36:15For the next four decades, Frost lived mainly in Vermont, writing much of his verse in this
36:21log cabin near Ripton, a small town in the heart of the Green Mountain Forest.
36:28He ended his Pulitzer Prize winning poem, New Hampshire, with the ironic words,
36:33At present, I am living in Vermont.
36:37Today, Ripton, with a population of just 550, is still a very small town, dominated by Middlebury
36:46College, which owns the land and the log cabin where Frost worked.
36:56From 1921, when he first spoke at the school, Frost returned every summer for 42 years in
37:03support of the Writer's Program.
37:16Another artist found his voice in southwestern Vermont.
37:20This little town of Arlington was, for 14 years, home to the famed American artist,
37:26Norman Rockwell.
37:28After leaving New York City, Rockwell described moving to Vermont as having fallen into utopia.
37:41Here in small town Vermont, Rockwell created some of his best work, portraits which captured
37:48both the heroic and humble in human nature.
37:53Nestled in the hills north of Arlington is the charming town of Manchester Centre.
37:59Many visitors are drawn to Hildyne, the home built by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Prince
38:06William and Queen Anne of England.
38:09Hildyne is one of the most beautiful places to visit in the world.
38:13It's a place where you'll find a lot of things to see and do.
38:17Many visitors are drawn to Hildyne, the home built by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President
38:23Abraham Lincoln.
38:34In the mid-1800s, the mineral water of Manchester village became a draw for wealthy travelers
38:40who came to take the waters, which were thought to have healing properties.
38:48Moving west to the Connecticut River Valley is Woodstock, considered by many as the prettiest
38:57small town in America.
38:59A large part of the credit for that title is due to the efforts of Lawrence Rockefeller
39:04and his wife, Mary French.
39:06There are no phone or power lines to spoil the village landscape, since Rockefeller saw
39:11to it that the lines were buried.
39:15For 60 years, the couple worked to preserve the town, due in large part to the work of
39:21Mary's grandfather, Frederick Billings.
39:24He and his wife built the town's centerpiece Woodstock Inn and Resort in 1969.
39:32As well as deep pockets, the Rockefellers were known for their commitment to conservation,
39:38an interest that first took place in Vermont.
39:45Just down the river from Woodstock is one of Vermont's stunning natural wonders,
39:51the Queechee Gorge.
39:53This dramatic 165-foot-high and mile-long gorge was created some 13,000 years ago by glaciers.
40:03Today, there are stunning views from the Trestle Bridge, built in 1911,
40:08and miles of hiking trails winding past waterfalls.
40:12To the south is the historic village of Grafton.
40:15Founded in 1763, Grafton thrived through the 1800s, with sheep farms and mills.
40:22In 1830, its population peaked at nearly 1,500 people and 10,000 sheep.
40:31In the early 1900s, the town's population declined,
40:36its population peaked at nearly 1,500 people and 10,000 sheep.
40:44The days of sheep farming are gone, but many of Grafton's historic buildings still stand.
40:52This classic four-story white clapboard inn, known as the Old Tavern, was first built in 1801.
41:00Today, it's one of the oldest operating inns in America.
41:05The Old Tavern that once served stagecoach passengers and their horses still hosts guests today.
41:16A major part of the town's renaissance was financed by investment banker Dean Mathey, who once summered in the area.
41:24He created the Wyndham Foundation, dedicated to restoring Grafton's historic buildings.
41:36But the town is best known for its cheddar cheese business, which began in 1892.
41:45Today, the Grafton Village Cheese Company makes one of the finest cheddars in the world.
41:53Fast forward from the 1800s to the roaring 20s, and look down at the bucolic home of author Sinclair Lewis and journalist Dorothy Thompson.
42:07These 300 acres combine the land of two farms into a property the couple christened Twin Farms.
42:15They bought the land in 1928, a year after Lewis' novel Elmer Gantry was published.
42:24The couple fell in love with Vermont and invited their literary friends to visit.
42:30One described the fall foliage as,
42:34Like a couple of million drunken rainbows in a brawl.
42:46Later, after the couple separated, Dorothy wrote Lewis that Twin Farms was,
42:52Beautiful, hospitable, and unpretentious.
43:04Our final destination is the small hill town of Plymouth Notch, the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge.
43:11Here in 1923, as Vice President Calvin Coolidge was helping his father harvest the hay,
43:16he received word of the death of President Warren Harding.
43:24Coolidge was immediately sworn in as President of the United States,
43:28and was appointed Vice President of the United States.
43:31He received word of the death of President Warren Harding.
43:38Coolidge was immediately sworn in as the 30th President of the United States by his father, a notary public.
43:50Today, the hillside farm is an historic site.
43:54The President is buried in the town's cemetery, with seven generations of Coolidges.
44:00When asked why he wished to be buried in such humble surroundings, he replied,
44:05We draw our presidents from the people. I came from them. I wish to be one of them again.
44:24Silent Cal, as Coolidge was known, had a reputation as a man of very few words.
44:30But after a devastating flood, he gave comfort to his fellow Vermonters with these simple yet eloquent words,
44:38It was here that I first saw the light of day. Here that I received my bride. Here my dead lie.
44:47I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery, and invigorating climate.
44:52But most of all, because of her indomitable people.
45:00Aerial Vermont tells the story of these indomitable people who farmed its stony fields,
45:07braved snow-covered mountains to settle its valleys, and kept the land intact.
45:14Here, conservation of America's earliest landscapes began and prospered.
45:20A state begun by the fierce independence of its earliest heroes, whose spirit inspired a president,
45:28and a poet, whose words best describe Vermont's gift.
45:33I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
45:49I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
45:54I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
45:59I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
46:04I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
46:09I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
46:14I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
46:19I chose the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.