federalists moving west and south. what do you think that puts in lee's mind? >> at 8:00, the duke university professor talks about america's cold war immigration policy toward refugees. not just political refugees but as anti-communists who are prototypical american as they fight communist oppression abroad. and we have an obligation because they are anti-communists. >> saturday afternoon, both former republican senators from kansas during the 1970's through the 1990's talk about their years in congress. >> when bob was leader and i worked under him, we were in the senate 18 years together. bob was leader for six of those years. >> 10. >> know, when i was in the house -- no, when i was in the house. both really work with your committee chairman, and you made sure that you were working together. i think that is what we need again. the 19840, presidential debate between president ronald reagan and former vice president walter mondale. >> we were warned five days before explosives were on their way and were not taken. the terrorists have won each time. the president told the terrorists he was going to retaliate. he did not. >> we are not going to simply kill some people to say we got even. we want to know when we retaliate that we are retaliating with those who are responsible for the terrorist acts. terrorist acts are such that our own united states capitol in washington has been bombed twice. >> for our complete american history television schedule, go to c-span.org. all weekend long, american history tv is joining our comcast cable partners to showcase the history of the orient, illinois. to learn more -- p.r. you -- peioria, illinois. we continue with our look at the history of peoria. >> ♪ >> join in if you know it. everybody, sing-along. nighte, good irene, good night irene, good night, irene i will see you in my dreams ♪ >> welcome aboard the spirit of p.r. you -- peoria. i am the resident historian for the spirit of peoria. it is an authentic powder will boat built in 1988 but modeled after boats built in the 1880." antique stores and purchased pieces of old steamboats and used them in our vote. we are an authentic powder will boat. that big wheel is our only source of power. not many boats can claim that. most that appear to be paddleboats have a turbine or propeller on the back and that is what propels them. let's go on a quick tour through history. the spirit of peoria is a time machine. as we are traveling up and down the only river, we are traveling back and forth through the layers of history. if you look over my right shoulder, this is all that is left of alfresco park. it used to be kind of like coney island or six flags. they had a huge ferris wheel, a roller coaster that came out over the river. it was the place to be until the depression when people did not have the economic resources. and then with world war ii and the need for metal, tragically, they cut down the old ferris wheel and roller coaster and melted them down to make bombs and bombers for the war effort to collect more scrap metal. what broughtat people such great joy helped to destroy europe. along much of the illinois river, these bluffs tell the story of the ancient geology of this land. 300 million years ago, this was a shallow sea. from the rocky mount's to the appalachian mountains, this ocean covered much of the midwest. from ohio to kansas, you will find limestone as part of the bedrock. the bedrock of these blessed -- bluffs are 300 to 400 million years old. as thelion years ago water ran off, there were huge swaps that covered much of illinois. the mud compressed to form coal. 2/3 of illinois is coal bearing. underground inal illinois if you measure it as energy than all of the oil fields of saudi arabia added together. in northern and southern illinois, it is deep coal. in central illinois surrounding peoria, it is much closer to the surface and so some of the largest strip mines in the world are here in central illinois. downstream, went believe that is where father canoe ine docked his 1673. more than 100 years before we were a nation. father marquette was the first european to paddle his canoe down the mississippi heading toward the gulf. he did not get that far. indiansarned by the that the spanish controlled the gulf, so he turned and came up the illinois. he docked here making him the first european to land in what is now peoria. peoria was a french outpost for more than 130 years. almost as long as the americans have been here. there was a french village here for quite some time. in our war with england, the french sided with the americans. there are actually some for trappers living here who acted agent, a spy, conveying important information about the movement of british troops so that the americans could better defend themselves. most people don't think about the american revolution being fought here in illinois, but the furthest western battles were along the shore of the mississippi. peoria was a place where those frenchmen lived that communicated to the americans. those rogers clark won battles along the mississippi. when peoria became an american outpost, it was a fort named for clark -- fort clark. it was designed by general long. when the americans moved in in the war of 1812, which some people call the second american revolution, our territorial governor brought troops up and burned the french village. he chose to not only burn the village, burn the church, burn the warehouse, he erected all of the men and left the women and children to fend for themselves in the wilderness. villagean chief who is was at the north end of this lake saw the fire, he heard the commotion. the french women and children, loaded them into canoes, and took them to st. louis where they could be reunited with their husbands. i tell you the story because the french land claims were tied up in court for more than 50 years. even abraham lincoln as a young lawyer played a role in the french land claims, where finally the original french were paid reparations because the americans had illegally destroyed their village and claimed the property. that is when peoria became an american city. when most people think about peoria, they think about caterpillar. we are the world headquarters of the world largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. caller color -- caterpillar plays important role in peoria industrial history. it was not the first major manufacturer in town. this property today is owned a japanese manufacturer. before it built these modern steel buildings, this was the home of the peoria plow works. they were bought by robert avery. robert avery was a civil war veteran who spent the last year of the war at andersonville, without a doubt one of the worst prisoner of war camps in american history. while they're at andersonville, he would draw in the dirt pieces of farm equipment, as he wrote later, to keep his sanity. he knew he had to turn his mind to hope. he spent a year designing farm implements. after the war, he built one of the largest manufacturing operations in the midwest. at its peak employing nearly 4000 men along this stretch of the river. behind the green, you see a couple of red brick buildings. that is all that is left of averyville. robert avery not only built a factor, had dozens of patents, but built a town and became the which wasveryville eventually incorporated into peoria. they boughtdoubt property year to compete with caterpillar, who is still the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. i love to brag about caterpillar because when a lot of american manufacturing is moving overseas, caterpillar built their new world headquarters here and has invested in their local plant, working with union labor, and is still the number one employer in this area because of their commitment to the local labor force. as we move closer to downtown peoria, this marina is the beginning and ending of one of my favorite stories. once we became an american outpost, the steamboat was invented. as the first steamboat headed down the mississippi river, everything changed. when the first steamboat arrived in peoria, it was called the liberty and docked south of downtown where liberty street is today. within a dozen years, more than 100 steamboats a year were pulling in at peoria. peoria multiplied by 10 every couple of years. everybody knows about ellis island and the statue of liberty and new york harbor. but what a lot of people don't know is just as many irish and many irish and germans sailed to new orleans and took a steamboat up the mississippi, of the illinois and the missouri and the ohio to settle the midwest. there was a time when new orleans was mostly irish and a lot of those irishmen came here. a lot of germans came and settled. . onlythe steamboats, not more people, but more goods, more industry. not only did the industry began to flourish, but it meant we had worldaccess to the market. the steamboat could carry those goods to new orleans and they could sail around the world. , it isome into downtown hard to avoid that it is the whiskey capital of the world. it is the buckle of the corn belt. german andled by irish immigrants who knew how to this bill, ando more importantly, how to drink. i am both german and irish, so i can say that. percolatingwater through the region. peoria became the whiskey capital of the world. it does have a rich history. when we come into downtown, it's wonderful to see the new developments, the restaurant being built, and the festival park, where every weekend there is summit new wonderful festival. probably the new museum is what we are most proud of of late. next to it is the caterpillar experience -- that is a place where you can experience caterpillar history. peoria turned its back on blight for a wild. ria has had a real resurgence downtown. what i like to say is history is everywhere you look if you open your eyes and take the time to look. a,rticularly here in peori those layers of history, from the natural geology, the layers of history, from the indians, the french explorers, there are rich layers of history and something to be proud of, really in every town, but particularly here in peoria. >> this weekend, we are featuring the mystery of peoria, illinois. andn more about peoria other stops on our cities tour at c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. >> initially, when i was trying to come up with my documentary for student ham, i was a little daunted because there were so many different elements i was trying to put into it, and it was a lot of information to try to communicate in seven minutes. but then i took a step back and realized it really is a visual essay and i have been riding essays through high school, so it became a little less daunting as i looked at it from the perspective of gathering information, and instead of riding the information, i am filming it. i would urge anybody thinking of making a piece for studentcam to reach out to as many different people as they could to get a lot of interviews, as many different perspectives, because there are experts out there that are so much more knowledgeable about the subject than you are. as many people as you can get in your piece, the more credibility you are going to have. just a high school student trying to solve a massive problem. it turns into you are contributing useful information by compiling these different perspectives. >> the theme -- what is the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to tackle in 2017? students can work alone or in a group of up to three to produce documentaryminute on the issue selected. include some c-span programming and opposing opinions. the $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded the between 150 students and 53 teachers and the grand prize of $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. this year's deadline is january 20, 2017. marker calendars. for more information, go to our website studentcam.org. >> each week, american history tv's american artifacts takes you to museums and historical