Aerial.America.S06E04.Indiana
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00:00It calls itself the Crossroads of America, but when you leave Indiana's highways, that's
00:08when you discover the true heart of this Midwest state, the richness of its land, surprising
00:16pristine shores, and towering monuments in its urban core.
00:20It's a state full of surprises, but it's also played an important role in the nation's history.
00:29It was in Indiana that a savvy frontiersman outsmarted the British to help nearly double
00:34the size of the nation, and it's where Native tribes suffered a humiliating defeat in a
00:41key battle of America's Indian Wars.
00:45Abraham Lincoln called its soil, the place that grew the bread that formed my bones.
00:51But Indiana is also where sports legend Larry Bird first played hoops, and where the future
00:58King of Pop first thrilled fans in a once booming steel town as one of the Jackson Five.
01:05When Indiana's home teams go to battle, there's nothing quite like Hoosier hysteria, just
01:11as there's no sound like the roar of one of the biggest, fastest, and loudest events in
01:16professional sports.
01:18It's much more than just a crossroads, it's the heart and soul of the American Midwest.
01:26This is Indiana.
01:56Every Memorial Day for more than 100 years, thousands have flocked to the city of Indianapolis
02:11to take part in one of the greatest spectacles in professional sports.
02:17This city isn't just the state capital, it's also the racing capital of the world, home
02:25of the legendary Indianapolis 500.
02:31When race day arrives, hundreds of thousands pack these bleachers at the Indianapolis Motor
02:35Speedway, waiting to hear the words, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.
02:42That's the signal for the 33 Indy 500 drivers to fire up their cars, put pedal to the metal,
02:51and kick off what's known as the greatest spectacle in racing.
02:57Specially designed IndyCar race cars can reach speeds of more than 230 miles per hour.
03:03They're some of the fastest cars in the world.
03:09The first 500 mile race was run here in 1911 and drew 90,000 people.
03:15They cheered on Ray Haroon as he roared to victory in his bright yellow and black Marmon
03:20Wasp, a car that he helped design and build right here in Indianapolis.
03:25Haroon averaged 75 miles per hour.
03:29His legendary Wasp is now on display along with 30 other Indy 500 winning cars here in
03:35the Hall of Fame Museum, which stands right in the middle of the speedway.
03:40A few things have changed since that first race besides the top speeds.
03:48The crowd has grown to about 300,000 and now millions more watch on TV.
03:55And the purse has ballooned from around $30,000 to more than $14 million.
04:04Famously known as the brickyard, the Indy track was once paved with more than 3 million
04:09bricks.
04:10Today, just this one strip of the original bricks remains to mark the race's start and
04:15finish line.
04:19Indianapolis may be famous for one of the biggest professional sporting events on earth,
04:24but it's also America's amateur sports capital.
04:29Indianapolis' victory field has been called the best minor league ballpark in America.
04:34This downtown park seats over 14,000 and is home to the Indianapolis Indians, the AAA
04:40affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
04:43One of Indianapolis' greatest amateur sports victories was even turned into a Hollywood
04:48hit, the film Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman.
04:54The real story happened here at the Hinkle Fieldhouse and starred the Milan High School
04:59Indians.
05:02The film depicted the team as underdogs, but in real life, they were anything but.
05:07The Indians were actually a winning team and made it to the Final Four in 1953.
05:12The next season, they were fighting for the state championship against their rivals, the
05:16powerful Muncie Central Bearcats.
05:20The game was tied when Bobby Plunk, with just 18 seconds left, made the 14-foot game-winning
05:26shot and Milan beat Muncie 32-30.
05:31The win is known as the Milan Miracle.
05:35The movie Hoosiers was filmed here, where that match was played.
05:47Plenty of professional athletes have passed through this fieldhouse since then, including
05:51Indiana's local hero, NBA star Larry Bird.
05:56He played college ball here as a forward with the Indiana State Sycamores before joining
06:01the Boston Celtics.
06:04After retiring from the Celtics, the three-time MVP came home to Indiana.
06:09He joined the NBA's Indiana Pacers as head coach in 1997.
06:16Today, the team's home stadium is Bankers Light Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
06:24At the beginning of his professional career, Larry Bird jokingly called himself the Hick
06:30from French Lick.
06:33That's the name of the rural southern Indiana town where Bird grew up.
06:38French Lick lies 100 miles south of Indianapolis.
06:43This small hill town sits right on the edge of the 200,000-acre Hoosier National Forest,
06:48the largest piece of protected forest land in the state.
06:55Bird's family had a hard time making ends meet and lived in this modest house right
07:00near French Lick Creek.
07:03They were practicing jump shots on a hoop mounted on the family's garage.
07:08Bird first showed signs of greatness just a few blocks away at Springs Valley High School.
07:19French Lick is named for its mineral springs, where wildlife once came to lick dried salt.
07:26French trappers and traders set up an outpost here in 1729.
07:31Then, over a century later, in 1845, a doctor named William Bowles opened the French Lick
07:37Springs Hotel and promoted the area's mineral water for its healing properties.
07:43A few years later, another doctor opened a competing hotel just a mile away in a town
07:48that was renamed West Baden after Germany's famous spa.
07:53Its giant red dome became the region's star attraction.
07:58Called the Eighth Wonder of the World, it was the largest free-span dome ever built
08:02when it opened in 1902.
08:05In the Roaring Twenties, French Lick was one of the country's most famous party towns,
08:10home to clubs, hotels and illicit gambling.
08:16Today, a new casino in French Lick has made it, again, one of the state's biggest attractions.
08:22Indiana is now one of the top four gambling markets in the nation.
08:31But the heart and soul of Indiana's economy isn't the fortunes that cross its gaming tables.
08:37It's the richness of its soil.
08:40Close to 60% of Indiana land is devoted to farming.
08:45Farmers here produce a wide variety of crops that feed the nation and the world,
08:50including vast fields of soybeans.
08:53They are also major producers of corn.
08:56And every year, 270 million pounds of it ends up as popcorn.
09:02One of the state's biggest producers is family-owned Pop Weaver,
09:05founded by Reverend Ira Weaver in 1928.
09:10Today, the process is state-of-the-art.
09:13Scientists have discovered that corn kernels pop best when they have 14% moisture.
09:20That's why batches of corn are loaded into dozens of individual silos.
09:25Each silo is specially designed to allow air to be blown across the kernels
09:29to dry them until they have the perfect moisture level.
09:35Then they're loaded into trucks, ready for cleaning, sifting, sorting, packaging and, finally, popping.
09:43Once, Ira Weaver shucked and bagged his own crop
09:47and delivered it to customers in a horse-drawn carriage.
09:50Now, his popcorn is sold in 90 countries worldwide.
09:56About the same time that Ira Weaver was getting into the popcorn business,
10:00another Hoosier was making history by launching a crime wave
10:03that would turn him into America's public enemy number one
10:07and into a major story for Hollywood.
10:11This heavily guarded concrete wall surrounds one of Indiana's maximum security prisons.
10:20The state's Pendleton Correctional Facility is home to almost 1,800 prisoners at any given time.
10:27But back in 1924, it was known as the Indiana State Reformatory
10:32and housed a man who was about to become one of America's most notorious criminals.
10:37A legendary gangster named John Dillinger.
10:44He was born in Indianapolis and was a teenager when his father moved the family to Mooresville.
10:50He was hoping farm life would straighten out his delinquent son.
10:54It didn't work.
10:58By the time Dillinger was 21, he was locked up doing 10 to 20 years
11:02for robbing and assaulting a Mooresville family.
11:05He entered jail as a petty thief, but when he was released in 1933,
11:10his harsh and lengthy prison sentence had turned him into a hardened and bitter criminal.
11:19Within weeks, he and his gang were captivating the American public
11:23with brazen bank robberies and prison breaks
11:26that sealed his fate as one of America's most notorious gangsters.
11:31In January 1934, Dillinger was finally caught, arrested,
11:35and sent here to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana.
11:40The front part of this building was the sheriff's house.
11:43The large building in back was the jail where Dillinger was locked up.
11:48The charges against him included murder for the death of a police officer
11:51killed in a shootout during a bank robbery.
11:54At the time, the prison was still open.
11:57Sheriff Lillian Hawley is reported to have said,
12:00I know he's a bad baby and a jailbreaker, but I can handle him.
12:05Dillinger, on the other hand, had no intention of staying in Crown Point.
12:10Within two months, he managed to escape by threatening guards
12:13with a fake wooden gun stained black with shoe polish.
12:17He then grabbed some real guns, locked the guards in a cell,
12:20and took them to the jail.
12:23He then grabbed some real guns, locked the guards in a cell,
12:26and ran out the front door, making his getaway in Sheriff Hawley's own car.
12:34But by crossing the Indiana state line, Dillinger committed a federal crime,
12:39and the FBI were soon hot on his tail.
12:43The U.S. Attorney General at the time called him public enemy number one.
12:48And less than five months later, Dillinger was dead,
12:51killed by FBI agents and a hail of bullets outside a Chicago theater.
12:56Actor Johnny Depp played the role of Indiana's famous gangster
12:59in the 2009 film Public Enemies.
13:03The real Dillinger is buried here in Indianapolis in Crown Hill Cemetery.
13:12Even today, he still ranks high on the list of famous Hoosiers.
13:17But the one who made the biggest mark on the nation was Abraham Lincoln.
13:23In 1816, Lincoln's family moved from Kentucky to this piece of land
13:27near Little Pigeon Creek in southern Indiana.
13:31At the time, it was still a wild place,
13:34covered with forests of hickory, maple, and oak.
13:38Today, the site is home to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.
13:43A reconstructed log cabin now stands near the site
13:46where Lincoln's father, Thomas,
13:48built a similar frontier home for his family of four.
13:52And it's here that Nancy Hanks Lincoln died
13:55when her son was just nine years old.
13:59Lincoln would later say,
14:01All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
14:08Four of the family's original 160 acres
14:12have been turned into a living historical farm
14:14that offers a glimpse of what life was like
14:16for Indiana's early settlers like the Lincolns.
14:21Though he was just a boy,
14:23Abraham helped his parents cultivate this land
14:25and fashion their farm out of the forest.
14:28This was the very spot, he later said,
14:30where grew the bread that formed my bones.
14:35Not far from the old Lincoln farmhouse
14:37is this memorial to the nation's 16th president.
14:41On the walls are 13-foot-tall sculpted limestone panels
14:44depicting key moments in Lincoln's life.
14:49In 1830, when Lincoln was 21,
14:51his family left Indiana to try farm life
14:54on the prairies of Illinois,
14:56a state that would soon claim him as its own,
14:58calling itself the Land of Lincoln.
15:05But as the Lincolns were moving on,
15:07new settlers were arriving in Indiana.
15:11In 1830, those who lived here in the village of New Pekin,
15:14a former Southern Indiana stagecoach stop,
15:16celebrated their first Independence Day.
15:20And they've been doing it every year since,
15:22making New Pekin the site
15:24of the longest consecutive Fourth of July celebration
15:27in the nation.
15:29There are more than 200 entries each year,
15:32with everything from farm tractors
15:34to fire trucks
15:36to classic cars
15:38to the high school marching band.
15:40Just about everybody in the area participates,
15:42whether they're in the parade
15:44or cheering from the sidelines.
15:49But long before the land that's now Indiana
15:51was part of an independent nation,
15:53it was home to an ancient and mysterious culture.
15:58Its members settled here,
16:00on the banks of the Ohio River,
16:02which now flows along Indiana's southern border
16:04with Kentucky.
16:07These earthworks
16:09at Angel Mound State Historic Site
16:11were once the heart
16:13of a thriving community
16:15called the Mississippian Culture.
16:17Up to 1,500 people lived here
16:19beginning around 1,000 A.D.
16:23The town covered about 100 acres
16:25and was a center for government,
16:27trade and religion.
16:29Archaeologists believe
16:31that the community's most important buildings
16:33were constructed on top of the largest mounds.
16:36They may have been temples
16:38or homes of a village chief.
16:40The Mississippian people
16:42were the first in North America
16:44to build permanent communities
16:46of thousands of people
16:48and do extensive farming.
16:50They grew corn
16:52to help them survive
16:54Indiana's cold winters.
16:56But around 1400 the Mississippian people
16:58left the area,
17:00moving further west
17:02along the Ohio River.
17:05But new people followed in their footsteps.
17:07The Miami
17:09was the primary Native American tribe
17:11that inhabited the land
17:13that would later become Indiana.
17:15Thanks to its riches,
17:17many others migrated here too
17:19including the Kickapoo,
17:21Pottawatomie, Delaware and Shawnee.
17:23All were members
17:25of the Algonquin Nation.
17:29But trouble started brewing
17:31when Europeans arrived.
17:34First the French,
17:36then the British
17:38and then the Americans
17:40who began fanning out
17:42to settle the West.
17:44All of them coveted Indian land.
17:46By the time of America's War of Independence
17:48the British were still in control
17:50of a vast region
17:52that stretched south
17:54from the Great Lakes
17:56all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
17:58But the Americans wanted this land
18:00so they could expand their settlements west.
18:02Hamilton encouraged the region's Indian tribes
18:04to raid American settlements.
18:06Little did Hamilton know
18:08he was about to be outsmarted
18:10by a frontiersman named
18:12George Rogers Clark.
18:14In the summer of 1778
18:16Clark and a small force
18:18of about 175 men
18:20set out down the Ohio River.
18:22Their mission
18:24was to seize British-controlled outposts.
18:26The approaching winter
18:28didn't stop them.
18:30They trekked nearly 200 miles in the cold
18:32sometimes wading up to their necks
18:34in freezing water.
18:36Finally
18:38on the night of February 23rd, 1779
18:40they crossed the Wabash
18:42and arrived here
18:44in the town of Vincennes
18:46where Hamilton had his base
18:48in a fort that no longer exists.
18:50Clark instructed his soldiers
18:52to surround the British fort
18:54and then light fires
18:56so they looked more like an army of 500.
18:58It was a brilliant strategy that worked.
19:00Hamilton agreed to lay
19:02down his arms.
19:06Clark met Hamilton here
19:08at St. Francis Xavier Church
19:10one of Vincennes' oldest
19:12landmarks today.
19:14He demanded unconditional surrender.
19:16To send a clear
19:18message about what could happen to the British
19:20if they refused, Clark
19:22brutally and publicly
19:24executed five members of Hamilton's
19:26first Indian raiding parties
19:28using Indian axes or tomahawks.
19:32Terrified and outsmarted
19:34Hamilton surrendered
19:36and marched his troops out of town
19:38the next day.
19:40A few years later in 1783
19:42at the Treaty of Paris
19:44the British would ultimately cede
19:46to the United States an expansive land
19:48west of the Appalachians that was nearly
19:50as large as the original 13 colonies.
19:52Today
19:54an impressive granite memorial to George
19:56Rogers Clark celebrates his role
19:58in securing this vast new
20:00piece of territory for American
20:02settlement.
20:08In
20:101787 a large piece
20:12of the land that Clark helped secure
20:14became America's northwest territory.
20:16It would
20:18ultimately end up being the states of
20:20Ohio, Michigan,
20:22Illinois,
20:24Wisconsin, and Indiana.
20:26It was
20:28land that nearly doubled the size
20:30of the United States at the time.
20:36But this area was still
20:38Indian land and tribes
20:40were soon under increasing pressure
20:42as more and more Americans began
20:44migrating west.
20:46In order for Indiana to qualify
20:48for statehood, the governor of the
20:50Indiana Territory, William
20:52Henry Harrison, encouraged settlement
20:54every way he could.
20:56Harrison felt that Indiana's land
20:58belonged to America and that
21:00Native Americans were only in the way.
21:02He pushed through multiple
21:04treaties, convincing tribal
21:06leaders to sign away tens of millions
21:08of acres. But a Shawnee
21:10chief named Tecumseh
21:12refused to comply.
21:16Tecumseh and his brother
21:18were disturbed by the increasing numbers
21:20of settlers encroaching on Indian land.
21:22They believed that the only hope
21:24for the tribes was to unite.
21:26In 1808,
21:28they founded a village here
21:30on the banks of the Wabash River
21:32called Prophetstown and
21:34invited other tribes to live here
21:36and join in resistance against the government.
21:38These buildings are replicas
21:40of just a few of the dwellings
21:42that once blanketed this vast field.
21:44In 1809,
21:46with the Treaty of Fort Wayne, Harrison
21:48convinced several other tribal leaders
21:50to sign over three million acres
21:52of their land for just two cents
21:54an acre.
21:56It was the last straw for Tecumseh.
22:00He decided to retaliate
22:02by vowing to attack white settlers.
22:04But Harrison got word of the plan
22:06and decided to launch his own
22:08preemptive strike while Tecumseh
22:10was away recruiting other tribes to his cause.
22:12On November 6, 1811,
22:14Harrison and about 1,000 troops
22:16pitched camp near Prophetstown
22:18here on the nearby Tippecanoe River.
22:20Early the next morning,
22:22Tecumseh's brother,
22:24known as the Prophet,
22:26decided to strike,
22:28convincing his warriors
22:30that his own special powers
22:32would make them victorious.
22:34They hit Harrison's troops hard
22:36in what was a bloody battle,
22:38but the Indians were unable to deal them
22:40the quick, decisive blow
22:42the Prophet had promised.
22:44Disillusioned,
22:46many warriors left the battlefield.
22:48Two days later,
22:50Harrison's soldiers moved in
22:52and burned Prophetstown
22:54to the ground.
23:00The Battle of Tippecanoe
23:02would be a turning point
23:04in the Indians' doomed quest
23:06to hold onto their land.
23:10Tecumseh continued his fight
23:12against white settlement,
23:14but was killed two years later
23:16in 1813 by another force,
23:18which happened to be led
23:20by Harrison himself.
23:24By 1816,
23:26Indiana was being prepared
23:28for statehood
23:30here in the territorial capital
23:32of Corridon.
23:34Inside this stone marker
23:36is the trunk of a famous tree
23:38known as the Constitution Elm.
23:42It was under the boughs
23:44of this once stately elm
23:46that 43 delegates met in June 1816
23:48to draft the state's first constitution.
23:52Months later,
23:54the state's first capitol building
23:56opened in the center of town,
23:58and then on December 19, 1816,
24:00Indiana was finally admitted
24:02as the 19th state of the nation.
24:08Thanks to its rich soil
24:10and the many natural waterways
24:12that wind through its fields,
24:14outsiders have been drawn
24:16to the land that's now Indiana
24:18for centuries.
24:22That's how one of the most
24:24unique towns in America,
24:26called New Harmony,
24:28got its start.
24:30Back in 1814,
24:32a German spiritual leader
24:34named Johann George Rapp,
24:36along with 300 followers,
24:38purchased 20,000 acres
24:40here on the banks of the Wabash River.
24:42They were separatists
24:44from the German Lutheran Church
24:46and wanted a place
24:48where they could freely
24:50practice their faith.
24:52They called themselves Harmonists,
24:54and their new town Harmony.
24:56The Harmonists were
24:58intensely spiritual
25:00and celibate.
25:02They believed that Christ
25:04would come at any moment,
25:06and that new converts,
25:08not children,
25:10would allow their community
25:12to grow.
25:14Faith was at the heart
25:16of everything the Harmonists did,
25:18which is why they planted
25:20a labyrinth on the south edge
25:22of town for peaceful contemplation.
25:24They were also
25:26extremely industrious.
25:28Within just a few years,
25:30Harmony was not only
25:32sold, including this stone
25:34granary.
25:36What they made here,
25:38from boots and harnesses
25:40to wagons and whiskey,
25:42was sold as far away
25:44as New Orleans.
25:46But after a decade,
25:48Rapp decided to sell Harmony
25:50and take his followers
25:52to Pennsylvania
25:54so they weren't so isolated
25:56and could be closer
25:58to other German immigrants.
26:00New settlers were pouring
26:02into the state.
26:04By 1825,
26:06with the state's population
26:08growing, government officials
26:10started looking for a more central
26:12location for the capital.
26:14They chose a permanent site
26:16right in the middle of the state
26:18and named it Indianapolis.
26:20The new capital needed
26:22a new statehouse.
26:24The first one had to be torn down
26:26due to shoddy construction.
26:28It wasn't until 1888
26:30that a grand new state building,
26:32made from Indiana limestone,
26:34was towering over town.
26:36But the heart of Indianapolis
26:38today isn't its capital building.
26:40It's this stunning obelisk,
26:42the Soldiers and Sailors Monument,
26:44built to honor Indiana
26:46veterans of the Civil War.
26:48It was the first memorial of its size
26:50in the nation to recognize
26:52the sacrifices of the common soldier.
26:54A bronze statue of victory
26:56Today, this is Indiana's
26:58official memorial to all
27:00the Hoosiers who served in conflict
27:02up until World War I.
27:04Soldiers it calls the Silent Victors.
27:06Together with its circle,
27:08fountains, and other sculptures,
27:10it provides Indianapolis
27:12with a stunning centerpiece.
27:14For years, this spire was the tallest
27:16thing in the city, but today
27:18skyscrapers soar above the
27:20Indianapolis skyline.
27:22The tallest is Chase Tower
27:24at 49 stories. It looks out
27:26over a city known for its unique
27:28public spaces.
27:30Indianapolis is located on the White River.
27:32Once upon a time,
27:34lawmakers here had high hopes of connecting
27:36the city to a canal system they planned
27:38for the entire state.
27:40The canal became obsolete before it was finished,
27:42but industrious Hoosiers
27:44turned what had already been built
27:46into an urban oasis.
27:48Today, that canal is the
27:50centerpiece of Indianapolis'
27:52150-acre White River State Park.
27:54On summer days,
27:56anyone can paddle right through
27:58the heart of the city
28:02or follow the canal walking path
28:04as far as the world-renowned
28:06Indianapolis Museum of Art.
28:08Founded in 1883,
28:10it's one of the largest
28:12and oldest art museums in the country.
28:14Many of its most
28:16famous works are outside
28:18in an art park known
28:20as 100 Acres.
28:24It's built on the site of a former
28:26quarry.
28:28Some of these works are best seen
28:30from the air.
28:32It's art that's meant
28:34to be climbed on,
28:36played with, and even
28:38lived in. This
28:40fiberglass pod is known as
28:42Indianapolis Island and was
28:44created by artist Andrea Zittel.
28:46Each summer, one or
28:48two artists commit to living in this
28:50floating fiberglass pod
28:52in order to explore what it means to live
28:54alone on an island
28:56right in the middle of a modern city.
29:00Hoosiers are proud of a lot of things
29:02in their state, but nothing tops
29:04their football team, the Indianapolis
29:06Colts.
29:08They play here at Lucas Oil
29:10Stadium, designed in the style
29:12of a vintage field house right in
29:14downtown Indy.
29:16Back in the 1980s,
29:18the Colts were a Baltimore team,
29:20but owner Robert Ursay was
29:22arguing with state officials.
29:24He thought the Colts should have a new stadium.
29:26Baltimore said no,
29:28but Indianapolis just
29:30happened to have a brand new one,
29:32right here in the heart of the city,
29:34and it was in need of a team.
29:36So, in March 1984,
29:38in the dead of night,
29:4015 moving vans secretly loaded up
29:42the team's gear and headed
29:44right here to Indiana.
29:46The covert operation is known
29:48as the Colts' Midnight Ride.
29:50People in Indiana
29:52are keen on competition,
29:54whether it's the NFL, the Indy 500,
29:56or Big Ten basketball.
29:58But sometimes,
30:00they also go to battle
30:02for nature.
30:04Here on the shores of Lake Michigan,
30:06one of those battles was over a
30:08stretch of shoreline known as the
30:10Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
30:12Indiana has the
30:14smallest shoreline of any of the Great Lakes states,
30:16and this 15-mile stretch
30:18of it happens to be one of the state's greatest
30:20natural treasures.
30:22It covers 15,000
30:24acres of dunes, forests,
30:26hiking trails, and some of the
30:28best beaches on Lake Michigan.
30:30Three
30:32million people visit the lakeshore each
30:34year, more than any other destination
30:36in Indiana.
30:38Locals
30:40cherish this stretch of sand,
30:42especially because it
30:44almost disappeared.
30:46Back in the
30:481800s, a 200-foot-high
30:50dune known as the Hoosier Slide
30:52soared over the shore,
30:54but that dune doesn't exist
30:56anymore. It was carted away
30:58for glass manufacturing,
31:00trainload by trainload by companies like
31:02the Ball Brothers of Muncie, Indiana,
31:04who used the sand to make glass jars
31:06for canning. So starting
31:08in 1899, local
31:10dune lovers began waging a fight to
31:12protect this amazing stretch of coast.
31:14The battle
31:16lasted almost 70 years,
31:18until 1966,
31:20when Congress authorized the creation
31:22of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
31:24Today,
31:26it's a popular spot for visitors
31:28from near and far.
31:30They all come to enjoy this wild shore
31:32and the views it offers
31:34of one of America's Great Lakes.
31:38But
31:40giant industry
31:42also thrives on Lake Michigan.
31:44Right at the end of the dunes
31:46soar the towering chimneys
31:48of one of Indiana's many steel mills.
31:50This one is owned by
31:52the largest steel company in the world,
31:54ArcelorMittal.
31:56Its five blast furnaces
31:58turn iron ore, coke, limestone,
32:00and scrap into about
32:029.5 million tons of raw steel
32:04a year.
32:06It's part of a
32:08string of mills that line Indiana's
32:10tiny coast, just as they have
32:12for more than 100 years.
32:14They reach right up through
32:16East Chicago. East Chicago,
32:18Indiana, that is,
32:20which actually lies just south of
32:22Chicago itself.
32:24Back in the
32:261910s and 20s, factory jobs
32:28lured tens of thousands of immigrants
32:30to this area.
32:32Many lived in slums
32:34and tenements.
32:36But a few
32:38lived here, in an oasis
32:40of clabbered homes, grassy yards,
32:42and swimming pools.
32:44This is Marktown,
32:46founded in 1917 by steel mill
32:48owner Clayton Mark.
32:50It's one of only a few planned towns
32:52for American workers that are still
32:54standing today.
32:56Mark believed that a stable
32:58and clean living environment would
33:00make a more productive workforce,
33:02so he built this neighborhood
33:04for his workers.
33:06Today, nearby industries
33:08have grown and pretty much surrounded
33:10Marktown. But it's still
33:12home to about 500,
33:14and is on the National Register of Historic
33:16Places.
33:20Indiana's early 20th century
33:22steel boom was so big,
33:24companies also helped create entire
33:26cities. Nearby
33:28Gary, Indiana, was one of the biggest.
33:30By the 1950s,
33:32almost 200,000 people lived
33:34and worked here, in what was a
33:36thriving boom town, less than
33:3830 miles from downtown Chicago.
33:40It was also the birthplace
33:42of the King of Pop, Michael
33:44Jackson.
33:46In the 1950s, Michael Jackson's
33:48father, Joe, worked here
33:50at Gary's U.S. Steel Plant,
33:52which is still in operation today.
33:54When his shifts were over,
33:56he headed home to the family's tiny
33:58bedroom house. His son,
34:00Michael, born on August 29,
34:021958, grew up
34:04here with his eight brothers and sisters.
34:08Joe was a musician,
34:10and Michael would later say that their house was always
34:12bursting with music.
34:14Today, a steady stream
34:16of Michael Jackson's fans still stop
34:18by the house to see where the King of Pop
34:20got his start.
34:24A few blocks away,
34:26Michael attended the one-story
34:28Garnett Elementary School,
34:30and often dashed home to rehearse with his brothers.
34:32It was here
34:34at Roosevelt High School in 1966
34:36that the Jacksons won a citywide
34:38talent show with their signature
34:40Jackson Five dance moves and
34:42perfect coordination.
34:44When it came time to perform their
34:46first paid gig, they did it right
34:48here in Gary, at Mr. Lucky's
34:50Lounge. The pay wasn't
34:52much, but the crowds loved
34:54them. When the Jackson Five
34:56hit the big time in 1969,
34:58they moved to Los Angeles with a
35:00Motown Records contract.
35:06Not long after, the steel companies
35:08began leaving Gary, Indiana too,
35:10taking their business overseas.
35:12And as the
35:14jobs fled, so did Gary's
35:16population.
35:18This city, which had been one of
35:20Indiana's greatest, slipped into
35:22decline.
35:24Remnants of Gary's golden
35:26age can be seen in its architectural
35:28ruins. Its massive
35:30Methodist church on Washington Street
35:32was once the heart of the community.
35:34Now it lies dilapidated
35:36and abandoned.
35:38It's been featured in movies like
35:40Nightmare on Elm Street and Transformers
35:423.
35:44Broadway Avenue was once Gary's
35:46bustling commercial center, with thriving
35:48shops, crowded restaurants,
35:50and the famous Palace Theater.
35:52Today, just about
35:54every store on this block has closed,
35:56and the roofs of most of its
35:58downtown buildings have fallen in.
36:06One of the biggest symbols
36:08of this steel town's decline
36:10is the Ambassador Apartment Building.
36:12It used to be home to
36:14steel company managers and executives.
36:16Now, it's being
36:18reclaimed by nature.
36:22But today, the city of
36:24Gary is hoping for a comeback.
36:28Its new
36:30mayor has big plans to revitalize
36:32Gary's downtown and its neighborhoods.
36:36Michael Jackson's block
36:38is one of the first on the list.
36:40But while Gary may be an
36:42example of what can happen when booming cities
36:44fall on hard times,
36:46Indiana is also home to one of the
36:48best examples of a thriving small town
36:50in America.
36:52A place where workers build the engines
36:54that power some of the nation's most
36:56popular pickups.
37:00At first glance,
37:02Columbus, Indiana might seem like
37:04any other small American town.
37:06That is, until you cross
37:08its very unique Robert N. Stewart
37:10Bridge, a fully suspended
37:12bridge that was actually the first of
37:14its kind in North America.
37:16This architecturally
37:18innovative gateway is a fitting
37:20entrance to a town that's practically
37:22a museum of modernist architecture.
37:26It all began
37:28with J. Irwin Miller, head of the
37:30Cummins Engine Company.
37:32Cummins diesel engines have
37:34powered every Dodge Ram light-duty pickup
37:36since the late 1980s.
37:38Today, Cummins
37:40is the largest employer in Columbus.
37:44Miller was almost as passionate about
37:46modern art and architecture
37:48as he was about diesel technology,
37:50as can be seen in the company's
37:52corporate headquarters, designed
37:54by Pritzker Prize-winning architect
37:56Kevin Roche.
37:58He also famously believed in doing things
38:00right. Mediocrity,
38:02he used to say, is expensive.
38:04So, beginning in the mid-1950s,
38:06Miller offered,
38:08through his Cummins Foundation,
38:10to pay for first-rate architects
38:12to design the town's public buildings.
38:14The idea took off,
38:16and today, the city is
38:18filled with dozens of structures
38:20commissioned under the foundation.
38:22The very first architect
38:24that Miller lured to town was
38:26Eliel Saarinen, who brought the
38:28clean lines of modernism to Columbus
38:30in 1942 with the
38:32First Christian Church.
38:34This building,
38:36with its geometric design
38:38and its own 166-foot-high
38:40free-standing bell tower,
38:42was one of the first modernist churches
38:44in America.
38:46The city's architecture attracts
38:48visitors from all over the world,
38:50but few ever get to see it from the air.
38:54There's no better way to appreciate
38:56the sleek, triangular lines of City Hall
38:58than from above.
39:00Next door is
39:02probably the prettiest lock-up in America,
39:04the elegant Bartholomew
39:06County Jail, crowned
39:08by a wire-mesh dome for outdoor
39:10recreation. Not far
39:12away is this AT&T
39:14switching station, which has been
39:16redesigned with colorful intake and exhaust
39:18pipes to cool the equipment inside
39:20the building.
39:22Today, thanks to its impressive downtown
39:24buildings, the American Institute of
39:26Architects ranks Columbus
39:28as one of the top six architecturally
39:30important cities in the country.
39:32But
39:34Indiana itself also has
39:36a rich mix of architectural treasures,
39:38old and new.
39:40One of the most impressive
39:42lies just 130 miles west of
39:44Columbus. It's a place
39:46called St. Minerid Arch Abbey.
39:48Built in
39:501907, St. Minerid
39:52is now home to 95 Benedictine
39:54monks, whose lives are dedicated
39:56to prayer and work.
39:58The monastery dates back to
40:001854, when Swiss monks
40:02came at the request of a local priest,
40:04who needed help serving Indiana's growing
40:06German-speaking Catholic community.
40:08Soon, the monks
40:10were teaching theology to students.
40:12Today, St. Minerid
40:14is also a seminary
40:16and a theology school.
40:20If a colossal Catholic abbey
40:22is a surprising outcrop in the Indiana
40:24farmland, so are these
40:26sacred Buddhist monuments,
40:28called stupas, tucked among the trees
40:30in Bloomington, Indiana.
40:34This is the
40:36Tibetan-Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center,
40:38founded by the Dalai Lama's
40:40older brother.
40:42When the People's Republic of China invaded
40:44Tibet in 1950, he
40:46escaped and settled in the United States,
40:48eventually becoming a professor of
40:50Tibetan studies at Indiana University.
40:52Founded
40:54in 1979, this center
40:56is devoted to preserving Tibetan
40:58culture and religion, which is under
41:00siege inside Tibet.
41:02Religion
41:04has played an important role in
41:06Indiana's history and
41:08education.
41:10Here in South Bend
41:12is one of the most prestigious
41:14schools in the country,
41:16the University of Notre Dame.
41:18Its long list of famous alumni
41:20include former Secretary
41:22of State Condoleezza Rice,
41:24football greats Joe Montana and
41:26Newt Rockne, and several NASA
41:28astronauts.
41:30The centerpiece of the university
41:32is its famous Golden Dome,
41:34and is why graduates of Notre Dame are called
41:36domers.
41:38The 19-foot statue of the
41:40Virgin Mary on top is based
41:42on one in Rome, commissioned by
41:44Pope Pius IX.
41:50With its doors open to all
41:52faiths, Indiana has attracted
41:54people from near and far.
41:56One reason is that it's easy
41:58to get to from just about anywhere.
42:02Indianapolis lies
42:04at the heart of America's highway system.
42:06Major arteries radiate
42:08out from this city like giant spokes.
42:10Fourteen interstates cross
42:12through Indiana, more than through
42:14any other state.
42:16They're one reason that 65% of Americans
42:18live within just a day's drive of
42:20Indianapolis, and why Indiana
42:22is known today as the
42:24Crossroads of America.
42:26Many of the cars
42:28and trucks that ride in this impressive network
42:30of American highways are made right
42:32here in the state.
42:34Here at the General Motors plant
42:36in Fort Wayne, more than
42:381,400 Chevy and GMC trucks
42:40roll out of the assembly line each day.
42:44When each truck is finished,
42:46it's filled with three gallons of gas
42:48and takes a test drive around this
42:50quarter-mile track.
42:52If it passes the test,
42:54the finished truck rolls onto the giant car lot
42:56and waits its turn to be shipped
42:58off to markets in one of these train cars.
43:08While trucks may be the vehicles
43:10of choice for many Hoosiers,
43:12it was a story about bicycle racing
43:14that gave many Americans their first taste
43:16at Indiana, thanks to the
43:181979 Academy Award-winning film
43:20Breaking Away.
43:22It starred Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern
43:24and was filmed here in Bloomington.
43:28The coming-of-age movie
43:30tells the story of four local teens
43:32who are adrift after high school
43:34and decide to compete against their
43:36Indiana University rivals in the
43:38annual Little 500 bicycle race.
43:40The actual event,
43:42modeled on the Indy 500,
43:44takes place here at the Bill Armstrong
43:46Stadium on the Indiana University
43:48campus.
43:50In the film, Dave,
43:52played by Dennis Christopher, manages
43:54to win the race with his feet taped
43:56to the pedals so he won't give up.
44:00Founded in 1820,
44:02Indiana University is one of the
44:04top public schools in the country.
44:06IU is also one
44:08of the top places for college sports
44:10with 24 national
44:12championship teams and some
44:14140 individual NCAA
44:16titles.
44:18All of its teams are known by the state's
44:20name, the Hoosiers.
44:22No one knows where this term actually
44:24came from, though there are dozens
44:26of legends. The one
44:28most likely is that back in the 1800s,
44:30Hoosier referred to
44:32the rough-hewn frontier folk who
44:34first settled in Indiana.
44:36Today, Hoosiers
44:38is likely the most widely used
44:40nickname of any state in the nation.
44:44Hoosier football is played
44:46here at Memorial Stadium,
44:48and IU's rivalry with another Indiana
44:50football team, Purdue University's
44:52Boilermakers,
44:54is one of the most heated in Big Ten
44:56college sports.
44:58There's no question
45:00that Hoosiers are industrious
45:02and proud of their state
45:04and their accomplishments.
45:06Whether they're mining riches from this
45:08Indiana earth,
45:10growing a bounty of vegetables on their
45:12verdant farmland,
45:14building some of the greatest architecture in America,
45:16or racking up
45:18NCAA championships on the basketball
45:20court.
45:22And whatever the origin of their
45:24nickname, Hoosiers
45:26wear it proudly as a symbol
45:28of the rugged individualism
45:30and independent spirit that built
45:32this state,
45:34Indiana.
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