Season 1
8 episodes · 2006
1The Great Encounter
From Chesapeake Bay, the largest and most prolific estuary in North America, to the seemingly endless deciduous woods of the Appalachian Mountains, lies a rich tapestry of natural habitats, unparalleled in Europe. Yet many of the colonists starved to death.
2Confronting the Wilderness
Trade rivalries eventually pushed the French south. Following the great Mississippi River, they laid claim to a land on behalf of their King - Louisiana.
3Conquering the Swamps
The vast Spanish territory of Florida once stretched as far as the Mississippi. The wealth of this land was its wildlife, which thrived in sub - tropical swamps.
4Across the Sea of Grass
Beyond the Mississippi, the explorers found the trees giving way to immense grasslands: the rolling prairies ablaze with a mass of flowers.
5Into the Shining Mountains
The explorers searching for a safe trail through the Rocky Mountains found themselves locked in a maze of steep wooded valleys, rushing torrents, and harsh climates threatening storms and avalanches.
6Living on the Edge
The Southwest of the continent is mostly desert - harsh, hot, inhospitable landscapes where plants and animals have developed very special means of survival.
7The First and Last Frontier
Alaska, the northernmost mainland of America was the gateway for the native peoples that, 10,000 years ago, came from Asia to the New World.
8Searching for Paradisefinale
California's plant and animal communities were unrivalled elsewhere on the North American continent. But Americans soon began to realize the province's natural resources were not inexhaustible.