illinois. located on the illinois river, today, it is one of the largest cities in the state and home to the headquarters of caterpillar. >> it came from when the owner to tested his tractor as it was moving through the field, and the press was there. one of the reporters of that, said it look like a caterpillar moving across the field. everyone starting calling the machines caterpillars. announcer 2: but it was known as the whiskey capital of the world. >> whiskey was king in the early 1900s. there was 73 different distilleries and 43 breweries, not at the same time, but that many. announcer 2: with the help of our comcast cable partners, over the next 90 minutes, we explore peoria's history. we begin with a trip down the illinois river on board the spirit of peoria. >> sing it if you know it. join in if you know it. everybody, sing along. >> ♪ irene good night irene good night good night irene good night irene i will see you in my dreams ♪ welcome aboard the spirit of peoria. i am the resident historian or riverlorian for the spirit of peoria. this was built in 1988 but modeled after both built in the 1880's. we even went as far to go to old antique stores and purchase old pieces of steamboats and use them in our boat, but we are on on authentic paddlewheel boat. that big wheel is our only source of power. not many boats can claim that. most of the boats that appear to be paddlewheel's actually have a little turbine or propeller on the back and that is what propels them. let's go on a quick tour through history. if you think about it, the spirit of peoria is a time machine. and as we are traveling up and down the illinois river we are , traveling back and forth through the layers of history. so if you look over my right shoulder here this is all that , is left of alfresco park. alfresco park 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. and 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 the roller coaster, and then melted them down to make bombs and bombers for the war effort to collect more scrap metal. and so, sad for me, that what brought 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 mountains to the appalachian mountains, this ocean covered much of the midwest. from ohio to kansas, you will find limestone as part of the bedrock. and the bedrock of these bluffs are ordovician or devonian limestone depending on which layer, 300 million to 400 million years old. about 200 million years ago as the water ran off, there were huge swaps that covered much of illinois. the mud settled and compressed to form coal. 2/3 of illinois is coal bearing. and we have more coal underground in illinois if you measure it as energy than all of the oil fields of saudi arabia added up together. in northern and southern illinois, it is deep coal. but here in central illinois surrounding peoria, it is much -- the coal is much closer to the surface, and some of the largest strip mines in the world are here in illinois. this gravel point downstream, we believe that is where father marquette docked his canoe in 1673. that is more than 100 years before we were a nation. father marquette was the first european to paddle his canoe down the mississippi heading towards the gulf. he didn't quite get that far. he was warned by the arkansas indians that the spanish controlled the gulf, so he turned up the illinois. he docked here and became the first european to land here in what is now peoria. peoria was a french outpost for more than 130 years. almost as long as the americans have been here. so there was a french village here for quite some time. and in our war with england, the french sided with the americans. and there are actually some fur trappers living here who acted as a double 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. and peoria was a place where those frenchmen lived that communicated to the americans. actually, george rogers clark won those battles along the mississippi. and when peoria became an american outpost, it was a fort named fort clark. fort clark was designed by general long. you have heard of longmont colorado and the longmont expedition? when the americans moved in in the war of 1812, which some people call the second american revolution, our territorial governor ninian edwards brought troops up, and he burned the french village. he chose to not only burn the village, burn the church, burn the warehouse, he arrested all of the men and left the women and children to fend for themselves in the wilderness. the pottawatomie chief go mow, whose village was at the north end of this lake saw the fire, he heard the commotion. he came and rescued the french women and children, loaded them into canoes, took them to st. louis where they could be reunited with their husbands. i tell you this 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 their property. that is when peoria became an american city. now when most people think about peoria, they think about caterpillar. we are the world headquarters of the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. and caterpillar plays important -- a very important role in peoria industrial history. but caterpillar wasn't the major first manufacturer in town. this property here today is owned by komatsu, a japanese manufacturer. but before komatsu 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. and 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. and so he spent a year designing farm implements. and then 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. you can look in behind the green, you see a couple of red brick buildings. that is all that is left of averyville. but robert avery not only built a factor, had dozens of patents, but built a town and became the mayor of averyville which was eventually incorporated into peoria. from pr you plow works -- peoria plow works and today komatsu, there is no doubt they bought property year to compete with caterpillar, who is still the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. add 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. so as we move closer to downtown peoria, this little marina is the beginning and ending of one of my favorite stories. once we became an american outpost, the steamboat was invented. and as the first steamboat headed down the mississippi river, everything changed. when the first steamboat arrived in peoria, it was called the liberty, and it docked south of downtown where liberty street is today. within a dozen years, more than 100 steamboats a year were pulling in at peoria. and 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 germans sailed to new orleans and took a steamboat up the mississippi, up 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 those germans settled here in peoria. and with the advent of steamboats not only more people, , but more goods, more industry. not only did the industry began -- begin to flourish, but it meant we had ready access to the world market. because those steamboats could carry those goods on down to new orleans, and they could sail around the world. as we come into downtown peoria it is hard to avoid that it is , -- avoid peoria as the whiskey capital of the world. it is the buckle of the corn belt. along this river was a lot of oak the best for making barrels. it was settled by german and irish immigrants who knew how to brew, new how to this bill, and more importantly, how to drink. and i german and irish, so i can am say that. we could have this beautiful water filtered by that limestone percolating out of the ridges. so it became the whiskey capital of the world. it was an important part of pure growthpeoria's economically. when we come into downtown, it's wonderful to see the new developments, to see the restaurants that are being built, and to see festival park here, where almost every weekend there is some new wonderful festival. probably the new museum is what we are most proud of of late. it is a brand-new museum here on the riverfront that celebrates peoria history, and next to it is the caterpillar experience, where you can experience caterpillar history. like a lot of river towns, pr you turn its back on the -- peoria turn its back on the river for a time. there was urban decay. but there has been a real resurgence downtown. one of the things that i love to say is history is everywhere you look if you simply open your eyes and take the time to look. but particularly here in peoria, historyyers and layers -- of history, from the ancient geology, the layers of history, from the layers of american indians to the french explorers, there are rich layers of history and something to be proud of, really in any town, but particularly here in peoria. ♪ announcer 1: all weekend long, joiningn history tv" is our comcast cable partners to showcase the history of pr you, illinois.eoria, we continue now with our look at the history of pr he a -- peoria. pre a is a good --peoria is a good bellwether for the country. if you look at the county in particular, it has fluctuated back-and-forth between republican and democrat, but it is a good cross-section of the country. it is a good microcosm for the country. you have some urban, rural, big manufacturing, small manufacturing, and what i call good common sense midwestern people. i say all the time people in my peorict, and people in a are a good reflection of that. they love their country. we are not always happy with government, but those kind of attributes reflect peoria, illinois. it does have a rich history going back to abraham lincoln. he represented nine counties during his one term in the house to 1849.epresentatives those are in my congressional district today, so i am proud to tell people i represent the district abraham lincoln represented the one term in congress. doesn't get any richer than that in terms of history. bob michaels server 38 years in this seat. he was a house minority leader for 12 of those years, fought in world war ii, served under ronald reagan or eight years and then four years with george w. bush. ronald reagan, who spent obviously his life growing up in illinois, he lived -- there is a great book that talks about the seven homes he lived in. he was born into applico not far , from here. he was in my mouth, illinois and not far from here. he was raised in dixon. he attended eureka college. great college 30 miles from here. went there on a football scholarship. they have a great organization over there, the ronald reagan foundation. it really is a tribute to his formative years there at the college, and it is a great museum and history over there. and then you also couple that with edward derksen, senate minority leader from deacon just across the river. had a great career, very involved with the civil rights movement, helped to pass that as a republican. so rich history in this district. , i am well that aware of that, and i am proud of , telling i love people them about abraham lincoln and ronald reagan and edward derksen. also mentioned the fact that my dad served in the seat for 14 years, did a great job. you know he carved his own path. ,like all those other people that i mentioned too. and he took a path of bipartisanship, working with the other side. he focused on constituent service and being a real strong vocal advocate for his district in washington, d.c. does it play in peoria? they used to market things here in peoria because it represented kind of the midwest part of the country but also it reflected that, if they can play in peoria, it can play anywhere. i think you look at those men that served area. in this area. they had a great effect. obviously abraham lincoln, you know is at the top of the list , in terms of what he did for this country. obviously we have a beautiful museum in springfield, illinois that reflects that. ronald reagan, you know, the years that he spent growing up here, those midwestern values and roots, religion played a deep role in his life, particularly with his mother, and you know how that formed him -- formed who he was later in life. but there is some about the midwest and kind of the agrarian values that are here that i think helps those men and is reflected with people that i represent today. >> welcome to peoria, illinois. this city was once known as the whiskey capital of the world. wilsonk with h. wayne talk about how prohibition changed peoria. those who know: the history of the aria even slightly know something, caterpillar is the big 20th-century employer here. that is prior to prohibition, most people know this was the whiskey capital of the world. they may not know the details, but they know that whiskey was king in the 1800s and early 1900s. the heyday was especially 1880 -- 1880 40 year period to 1920, a 40 year period. this was the southern suburb of burtonsville. there were 73 distilleries and 43 breweries, not the same time, but a total of that many in peoria. youre currently in the pr riverfront museum, located in downtown pr you -- peoria. this is called the street, and represents the history of pr you when the people first came to the city, then goes through the various stages of the growth of the city, most importantly becoming the whiskey capital in the 1800s. .eoria started with brewing distilling came in 1843. it was primarily because of the quality of the water. the bluffs on the illinois river here have water that is filtered in that limestone, and that was perfect for brewing and distilling. it became back then before filtration, it became a good place to have brewing and distilling, distilleries. transportation was critical back when breweries and distilleries were first built, the illinois river was a prime transportation mode here. so the passage would come up and down the river and carry the whiskey to and fro as it was produced. water and transportation, and the workforce. the irish had been a big immigration, and the irish came here, and they were good workers . the combination of those three things made it a good place for distilling and brewing. i think it is important to remember that brewing and distilling are not about alcoholism. they are about the economy, they are about jobs, they are about people working to support a family. a lot of distillers had cattle yards next door, cooper's next-door, steam workers, ironworkers, ice makers. there were a lot of people who generated income because of the wealth of the distillers and the brewers. when you talk economy, you are talking in the early days of peoria you're talking distilling, and you're talking brewing. the success of the distilleries and brewers attracted immigrants. the irish are the first wave to come here. they were strong workers. the german brother quality drew -- brutal techniques into your .ou -- into peoria a group by leaps and bounds during the whiskey era. growth of the city is one way to measure that. you can also measure it through money. what facilities were built? there were many that dotted the landscape here, beautiful architecture built with money. the grant opera house where, abbott, the person -- where, abbott, the prison who played in peoria, all of that was made possible because of whiskey money. there was an interesting mix of people in peoria and that time. there was a woman named lucy wilkinson king was opposed to liquor. she was very prominent in the wctu. try as she might, this was still the whiskey capital of america, and so it was difficult for a woman like lucy king to fight against the money that was made in peoria. liquor licenses alone in one year generated $160,000 for the city of peoria. lucy king was the most famous of the peorians opposed to alcohol, but the most famous of all came from kansas, carrie nation. she was invited to peoria. after her speech, she went to the golden palace, a bar owned by pete west. pete was doing quite well with his whiskey. she came in and she saw the painting, a very famous french artist, but the painting is called bigger and nymphs. it is currently in the basement bar of all places, called richards in downtown peoria, and is a seder in the middle -- satyr in the middle, not fully-clothed. she threatened with her hatchet to tear that painting apart. we are talking a large, large painting. he said, the story goes, i will give you $50 if you leave the painting alone. there were various organizations that tried to push prohibition. the prohibition party was formed in 1869. the women's christian temperance union was formed in 1864. it wasn't until this lady got behind the effort that there was serious not given to prohibition. the man behind the anti-league was wayne wheeler. he thought up a title. he had a religious background, but he was fervent about his thoughts whiskey and beer was not good for america. the way he went about killing the distilling industry, and i use that term killing intentionally, was that he said, i am not going to stop the brewers, the distillers, but i can get people elected to office who will be opposed to it. so he would run campaigns for congressmen and legislators, those two up were opposed to the brewing and distilling industries would get elected. because liquor generated so much income for the united states government, they had to find another source of funding. personal income tax went into effect in 1813. then there was the boot control act which said, you can't use foodstuffs to brew or distilled liquor. then came the 18th amendment, and to enforce the 18th amendment, because it said you cannot transport alcoholic bedrooms -- beverages, but they needed another act. it was a combination of four things that enabled the government to say, no more liquor. most people prefer to prohibition as the enactment of the 18th amendment. for many in peoria at that time, the 18th amendment wasn't a law, it was merely a suggestion. they really didn't think you could stop the flow of liquor in peoria that was true. moonshiners existed, there was a big black market of liquor in peoria. there were what we call soda partners in peoria. they were selling more than just soda. they were license. many of them included gambling. the city of peoria lost a lot of money in terms of fees that liquor establishments are paying to the city. in order to make after that, a mayor by the name of edward wilson woodrow said, i will didg jobs to peoria, and he with gambling. people would come from outside the area and take advantage of the two boards and things of that nature and gambling. on sportingamble events, boxing matches, things of that nature. and of course there was the moonshine. you combine gambling and moonshine, it was a wild time. woodruff did bring jobs. people looked the other way, at least those people looked the other way. woodruff was elected several different times, not consecutively from 1903 to 1941, the longest serving mayor in on consecutive terms in our history. historians will look back and jobs withe created gambling, and he was out front about that, but it also brought the nefarious type of person into the city, and many regret that reputation peoria had with alcohol, moonshine, gambling and prostitution. prohibition ended in 1933, and there was an attempt to bring alcohol production back to peoria. most notably hiram walker. the great distillery prior to prohibition, hiram walker built on that same site. it became the largest distillery in the world, opening its first there'll, its first barrel was ready in 19 84. some of the other breweries that 1920 try tor to reopen, but the only successful one in a long-term was the hiram walker distillery -- distillery. there was another famous one, amber lynn beer was a flagstaff product. they reopened and stayed until 1954. and past was here. -- pabst was here. that was the end of the whiskey era in peoria although post-prohibition, nothing compared -- compared to pre-prohibition. announcer 2: c-span is visiting peoria, illinois to learn about its history. our next stop is the peoria riverfront museum. we toured the exhibit on the ever-changing illinois river. ann schmitt: we are in the illinois river encounter here at the peoria riverfront museum. this gallery talks about the illinois river both from a historical perspective and also about the river as a means of transportation and a big part of our economy. the gallery begins with a historical look at both how the river was formed 15,000 years torrent, andn kiki the people who lived here in prehistoric times. the ken kiki torrent was a geological event 15,000 years ago. at that time, this was an eight period of great racer -- glaciation. there was a glacier lake around what is now chicago and michigan. and that glacial lake burst its dam. so most of the water would have come through the base or over-the-top. and it rushed down the illinois river valley, carving out a starved rock. even people who are from peoria or from illinois don't realize why there is this canyon like structure there. it was from the phenomenally waterul rush of glacial waterpl coming down what is now central illinois and carving out these canyons. people who live here, there are a number of different periods. here indians, who lived about 12,000 years ago, and then the archaic group, and the groupware most known for here in terms of prehistoric people, that is mississippian culture. these indians lived to from about 1000 years ago to 5000 years ago, and you see a great representation here on the wall of an item called the p aurea falcon. unfortunately, the actual falcon is in chicago right now for it is a copper headdress about this yard -- this large that was unaware earthed. the best theory is that it was part of a headdress because of where it was found and the burial materials that it was included in. i'll see what it indians in the mississippian culture that followed them were wonderful farmers, and to make use of the crop that you cultivate, you have to be able to store them. this is where pottery comes into the picture. both of those groups made traditionpottery, a that continues today, and you can see examples of the pottery in the exhibit as well. what we are looking at here is a representation of the illinois waterway. really steps in the river. from the elevation of lake michigan down to where it meets the mississippi river, there is a 160 foot drop. in order to make it easier for large ships to travel to illinois, a series of locks were built in the 1900's. in the 1840's, they were growing cities but they were still relatively small. the population of chicago in the early 1840's was 20,000. something would happen in illinois to change that dramatically. in 1848, the michigan-illinois canal was built. and that connected the mississippi river to lake michigan. after the illinois and michigan canal was open, the size of chicago more than tripled in one decade. which is absolutely phenomenal. and at the same time, it telegraphs came and that allowed us to grow as well. there was such demand for transportation that another system had to be developed. so an initiative was started just before the start of the 20th century. to reverse the flow of the chicago river. unprecedented. and i don't think it would have happened except for a scare. you know how the public can be scared and that move things along. there were a lot of cholera outbreaks in chicago because of sanitation problems. and the fear of another outbreak gave the project enough push to dam off the rivers. they chicago river flowing into lake michigan. river --kelly might river flowed into lake michigan. and the public drinking supply came from there. so they reverse the flow. and they created the shipping canal. and that connected lake michigan to the river. and it sent all of the waste downriver. unfortunately, it went downriver as well. the illinois waterway wasn't really completed for another couple of decades. they needed to create these dams to allow large ships to move with greater facility up and down the river. there are eight locks. and the largest ones are near chicago where a single lock can have a trap of as much as 40 feet. as you get further down the river, the locks only bring you down another 10 feet. so every vote that leaves chicago on the way to the gulf of mexico will pass through as well. the river here was frequently used by paddleboat and steamboat for leisure trips around the area. at the base of main street, just one block north of us, we now have a wonderful park and in the early 1900's, it was a shallow bank into the river. and that is where these boats parked or docked. i don't know if you would say docked because they just ran up onto the sand. and then the planks came out from the bow onto the land. and that is how passengers came in and out. at any given time, there was a dozen of these boats at least, docked there at the base of main street. and this is a representation of the columbia, which was one of the boats. on july 5, the columbia met with disaster. it had been taking a group of people from a social club from pekin up to the heights, the alfresco park. and as they returned in the fog, he hit a tree stump, underwater. and the vessel sank. and there were almost 500 people on board the columbia that night and 87 lost their lives. and it was the worst boat disaster on the illinois river. this is a replica of columbia made by rod, above it, you see part of the whole that was recovered. and it has the ship's name on it. and in front of it, in front of the model, it is a clock that was also recovered from the wreck. the rest of the ship is still at the bottom of the river. right here, we are looking at sheet 39 of the navigational start for the illinois river. if you look carefully, in the middle of the river, you see what looks like a highway. and that is a highway for the illinois shipping canal. it is nine feet deep. always. it has maintained by the army corps of engineers. and it snakes through the river. and if you look outside the window at the end of the gallery and you see barges going along, they are always in the same spot. right in the middle of the highway. it is an essential part of the economy, moving materials by barge is very economical compared to moving them by some eyes on the road. so this is a vital link in our economy. i think a lot of people take the illinois river for granted. even though we live along the banks and we enjoy the fruits of the river being here, both recreationally and from the economic importance to the region, but people don't really appreciate its integrated history, the role it plays and the unprecedented engineering feats of 1848. i don't think people really realize what a tremendous feet that was and how deeply it impacted us. both positively for an economic standpoint and in a negative way for the environment. the important story that we are trying to tell now is the effort that is underway to try to restore the river as much as possible. for its biodiversity and it is a wonderful part in our complex and important ecosystem. >> there is a legacy of the illinois river, of the phenomenal productivity and diversity. people have been on the landscape for 12,000 years, harvesting the abundance of the illinois river. we have lost some of that with commercialization of the river, pollution of the river. development in the upland's and development on the floodplains. but i think there is a new interest in restoring some of the natural diversity and resources that are so important to communities. a century ago, the illinois river was especially productive. address the most productive fishery in north america. it was the most productive muscle stream in north america. and it was renowned for recreational hunting and also for commercial hunting. and the reason had little to do with the river and more with the broad floodplain. the rivers are not that productive, that the floodplains are productive. so the flat area along the edge of a river that is oftentimes flooded, therefore, they call it a floodplain, it can be very productive. that is where the plants grow. they provide habitats and organisms and food for organisms that are eaten by other organisms. one of the big changes in the illinois waterway and river was when we started diverting waste from chicago in the early 1900s. in the 1900s, they opened the sanitary and ship canal which diverted waste away from lake michigan down the river and into the illinois river. and there was a lot of untreated invisible waste. a lot of untreated industrial waste. the slaughterhouses in chicago were dumping the refuge into the river. so it created an oxygen demand. to break down that organic matter, human waste, waste from the slaughterhouses, it takes a lot of oxygen as the bacteria starts eating that stuff up. and as the oxygen was pulled out of the water, the upper river became anoxic. the fish left and a lot of the animal communities did really poorly for quite some time. so in the 1900's, the sanitary and ship canal was opened. and within 20 years, it devastated the river. and your area was doing its part to add to the refuge. it doesn't sound like a good idea but it was cheap and easy then. and so it helped to develop these cities, have they didn't have to worry about getting rid of their sewage. they just dumped it in the river. and so sewage had a detrimental effect on the river. because of the magnitude of the problem. all the people on the floodplains were dumping the sewage in the river. with the clean water act in the 1970's, we started focusing and effort on cleaning what went into the river. and we spent billions of dollars on waste treatment and it has had a huge impact. water quality still isn't what we wanted to be. there are still some challenges, the last 10% is the toughest and most expensive. but we have stopped 9% of the -- 90% of this pollution problem. the day in and day out, much better than what it was in the 1970's. and we have seen a response from the fish communities along the river. there are a lot of places that have the assets that we have so it is tough to compete. but there are a lot of places that don't have a river like the illinois river, which has so much potential. so i think if we continue to do good inns for the ecology of the river and wildlife and fish continue to come back, as we develop recreational activities along the river and educate the public with how important the river has been in the past and even more so, how important it can be in the future, i think it will be more important than it ever was. >> on october 16, 1854, abraham an attorney, delivered an hour-long speech in. reappeared he spoke about slavery in the newly created territories of kansas and nebraska. the 18 54 kansas and nebraska act allowed settlers to decide on the issue of slavery despite an agreement in the missouri compromise banning slavery north of the 36 parallel. his speech helped land -- helped lay the groundwork for his political future. up next, with the help of our comcast cable partners, we visit bradley university about a stop on the underground railroad. lucy pettengill ,ere devout christians abolitionists who moved to peoria in 1854. in 2015, the peoria historical society obtained the pettengills , which contained documents about their lives. ms. meyn: in researching the lives of moses pettengill, i was very fortunate to find the last living descendent of the family in concord, new hampshire. " 2014, bob killian of the your area historical society" went out to conquer, new hampshire, where we had an opportunity to look at the material the family had, that she had in her possession. it had been with the family for many years, and then in june of last year, 2015, bradley university provided this room where i began the process of cataloguing the entire collection. at this point, i had 38 boxes of paper documents and am currently working on the extensive collection of photographs that were passed along. both lose photographs and some and very old albums. this is a page from an autobiography that moses pettengill wrote later in life. it is interesting because it talks about his work on the underground railroad and this is what he says. it was his privilege to aid several fugitives from bondage on their way to freedom. in one case, he aided his sleigh from st. louis who was put into a dry goods box and his wife and children in a box and they were sent by a farmer to a mr. weill at jersey go, illinois -- illinois, some 50 miles before they were let out of the boxes. then he questioned what they endured, no tongue can tell. the father and husband got free, but the mother and children were retaken and sent back by brutal men. moses heard about peoria, illinois from a man who had been there and moses was eager to see for himself. on arrival, they found a village of 150 people, mostly newcomers with 30 log cabins and frame buildings. though a mere village post at the time, he thought that peoria was a beautiful town, and he predicted it would become a great city. this is one of many photo albums we found in the pettengill collection. we are fortunate to have the first photograph of a younger moses pettengill and his wife lucy. they are in their 40's, perhaps early 50's. we are used to seeing moses at this stage of his life, as an older gentleman. so having the younger photo really was very special for us. in november, moses opens the first hardware store in peoria. he owned a lumberyard, a spice mill factory, manufacturing of bar soap, and a school, the pettengill seminary. he bought two parcels of land and constructed this building, and reading his intent when you in starting it -- the world has need of educated christian women. the more, the better. the seminary was located in your eoria, thep illinois. it did not last very long. it did close in 1910. this had been a life's dream. over the years he had donated land and financially helped to support many schools, including the chicago theological seminary and also wheaton college. moses and lucy also worked to organize a church. this is the 75th history book for the first congregational church and on the inside, we have a photograph of moses. he was one of the big four in terms of leadership, and here is the first church building here in. 28 by 50 feet, and at the top, it had a belfry where they had a small bronze church bell. it became known as the first bell heard in peoria for god, freedom, and land. the insight slavery sentiment was on the rise, not only in illinois, but across this young country at the time. the american anti-slavery society was organized and in its declaration, it called for immediate emancipation. how do we do this? the plan was to establish societies, local societies across the country where speakers would tell the truth about slavery and anti-slavery literature could be distributed, and so the far west began to establish in different communities not only local communities and cities, but in the states as well. they established one in peoria. the first attempt was 1843. they were mobbed and adjourned and did not accomplish their goal. on the anniversary of the first attempt, they were successful. abolitionists sought immediate emancipation and the time in which there would be no slaves and all this land. moses felt that way, too. and at the end of the first attempt to establish an anti-slavery society here were unsuccessful, he said to his men the next day, gentlemen, i expect to live to see the time when there shall not be a slave in all of this land. and he did live to see that time. this is the home that served as the underground railroad station here. it is located at jefferson and liberty streets in downtown peoria. it is a two-story brick structure. whether people knew that their home was a station on the underground railroad, we really don't know. the research is not come across anything but one bit of testimony from a man who speaks of walking by the house and having seen fugitive slaves in the basement through a window. the house served as a station for the underground railroad here in peoria is no longer there. today the civic center of peoria stands on this property and on this site is a commemorative sculpture by artist preston jackson. the house is listed in the national underground network, the freedom program of the national park service. this is the last home that moses built in peoria, illinois. it was finished in 1868. at the time it was the countryside. it was four acres of land. it still stands today. during the turn of the century, a colonial revival porch was installed on the front. today, the structure is known as the pettengill morron house, operated as a museum. another legacy is the congregation in itself survived -- the church building was destroyed in 1936, but the congregation in 1937, through a federation agreement united with the second presbyterian church. they came together after all of those years and formed the first federated church of peoria. and there is a second bell, a much larger bell and it was run on the occasion of every union victory. moses pettengill died november 9, 1983. 1883. this is a book published in 1884 with testimonials to his remarkable character and life here in peoria. it has this image of moses pettengill in the front. in the introduction to this memorial book, we read "only the good are truly great. judged by this standard, moses pettengill was truly a great man. to aid others, particularly the young, was his delight. not only were his funds used liberally in a multitude of ways, but his advice given in the most pleasant way possible was up often more value than the money given. the narration of some thrilling experience drawn from his own experience, always an example of the blessedness of doing good." >> american history tv is that the caterpillar visitor center in peoria, illinois. inside we will meet lee forburgh, who will give us a tour of the caterpillar visitor center. lee: you are in the orient, peoria, illinois in the caterpillar visitor's center. caterpillar has been in illinois for almost 90 years. it has employed people. there have been generations of people who have worked at cat. it has been pretty significant within the community. caterpillar was really formed by two families in northern california. what you are looking at is an exhibit. it is on c.l. best. his life and legacy. he was one of the founders of scatter will are -- of caterpillar, and he was called of the tractor industry. one of the stories we like to tell, he was an apprentice for his father, and we have some of those things on exhibit that kind of tell that story. one of my favorite things i like to tell people -- this was a drill press that was actually owned by daniel best. he had a little -- you would say shed behind the family house where he would come up with ideas and invent things, and this drill was actually used in that shed. the other thing on the bottom is a drawing of a steam tractor. this was pre-gasoline and tractors were powered by steam. c.l. best started working for his dad by the age of nine. he would go on sales trips to california. around the age of 18, he started designing his own tractors. that is one from about 1900. this is from the time of the birth of a lot of early machinery, and people wanted to capture that. now you would e-mail a picture to someone. back then, you would buy a postcard. these are best steam tractors that are working in the state of california, mainly in the agricultural industry, although some also worked in the forestry the pacific northwest. this was the company after he broke away and quit working for his father. he formed this company, it was a start up company. if you think about it in these terms -- he was president of the company, he was the head of design for the tractors, the head of manufacturing. he kind of did it all. they were around from 1910 and really kind of struggled until they hit their home run with the machine called the best 60. people have argued it is the forerunner of the modern tractor of today. it was called a 60, it was 60 horsepower. it was one of the first used not just for agricultural projects. it was used for road building, mines,lding of dams, projects such as hoover dam. this looks like a traditional agricultural seat. this is probably from 1913, 1914, and at that time, best was making combine harvesters, mainly in the western states, specifically in california. other time you see here, there is a little day timer, which is interesting. the merger happened in the back half of 1925 -- that was probably the same year. the name caterpillar came from when benjamin holt tested his prototype tractor. as it was moving through the the tracks were moving up and down, and the press was there shooting the event and one of the reporters said, "that machine looks like a caterpillar moving across the field." holt was so successful with this machine, everyone started calling these machines caterpillars. the holt manufacturing company was the largest producer of tracked by tractors. they invented it. they had been around for quite a while, whereas cl best was younger. holt moved to peoria in 1909. holt was three times larger than best. but best, because they had a more modern product line, was three times more profitable. holt and best merged in 1925 to form caterpillar. these are actually greased pumps from a best 60 track type tractor. best's colors were black and red. you see this is a representation of a best grease pump, probably 1924, but after the merger, that same tractor was sold on the new caterpillar product line, and it reflects the great colors that caterpillar had of the time. a lot of people think our iconic yellow started immediately. it didn't. it actually came down in that was 1931. down theion came dowt actuallye line in 1931. the reason, our machines were by the roadside and helping build dams, and safety became a huge part of that industry. so, they made the tractors yellow for a safety feature. this is the track type tractor. this is where c.l. best had his most important innovations, making improvements to the track design. you say, what is the point of that? our machines are still powered by the track. thanks he had improvement on were things related to the track into the things that made it move and made it more efficient. one thing i think that makes this exhibit unique from any other exhibits that have been done on best is we worked with the best family, specifically c.l. best's grandson, daniel best, to make this all happen. what you are looking at here are artifacts from the best family, and they were ranchers in northern california. they loved doing family events such as hiking and horseback riding. this was a saddle used by c.l. best. he was a prolific fisherman. one of the things they would do, they would ride through national parks. such as yosemite. they would pack it in. they would bring horses. they would film these events. we have snippets of the film displayed right here with this exhibit. i think what it tells you -- not only about best, but even caterpillar, they were very generational. again, we were formed by two families, and even in peoria, a we have had many families who have worked at caterpillar, and it really kind of lets you in on that experience. what you are looking at is the case on the 60 tractor. this was c.l. best's game changer. it really made his business evolve into not only just a global business, but it allowed them to be on the same footing as holt, and they never would have been able to do the merger. without having this tractor, which is maybe one of the best tractors in the history of the industry. it ran from 1919 up until the 1930's. it was replaced by diesel machines. our first diesel machine was built on a frame of a 60 tractor. a few things you are looking at here, this is a patent book. c.l. best was very prolific. the track shoe. this is a patent for a track shoe. our track shoes are very much the best ever invented. is the cover for a 60 tractor. this other marketing piece shows on the world,or to show you that these tractors were sold across the world. after the merger of holt and best, c.l. best became our first chairman. he was our longest-running chairman and probably one of the most rare things we have in this exhibit, and the most meaningful to caterpillar, is you will see his 50-year service pin, which was donated to us by his grandson dan. cl best was the first person to have 50 years of service a caterpillar. we still have this tradition today. as little as a couple years ago, we had an employee who actually had 65 years of service. ms. wall, we call this our andwall,while, this shows you all of the projects or representations of the projects cat products have worked on, starting with the panama canal. some of my favorites, teddy roosevelt was at the panama canal. he was there and operated some of the products. the golden gate bridge being built. our products, we like to tell people, have been on every continent. a lot of people do not know that our products worked on antarctica in the 1950's. they still work on antarctica. a lot of things you do not see on the wall, which are my favorite projects the holt , manufacturing company, their projects actually built soldier field in chicago, which is still there today. best's machines held the letters of the hollywood sign. and it's really exciting to know that you are part of these big projects and making changes like this across the world. the contributions of c.l. best really lead into today -- when ever you see our machines or our tractors on the side of the road, you look at the tractors and the design of those tractors and how they work really go back to his innovation, which was a over ago. 100 to me, if there is not staying power -- there is that. is staying power, that is it herit. >> comedian richard pryor was born in peoria, illinois. he was raised in his grandmother's brothel. peoria erected a statue in his life. -- in his honor. our peoria, illinois tour continues with a visit to the usda research center credited with mass-producing penicillin. >> this was in the height of world war ii. they needed something to cut down on bacterial deaths. peoria had the answer. we are at the usda research center, the place that brought you mass-produced penicillin. alexander fleming had been a surgeon during world war i. he saw firsthand how much people were dying needlessly from infections. when the war was over, he went back to st. mary's, where he dedicated his life in the search for antibiotics. there is a rumor that he had to go out for a weekend in the countryside. i don't know if this is true or not. he left early on a friday afternoon. he did not finish washing up the dishes. he came back on monday. he started going through the dishes one by one. he noticed there was a growth on one of the plates. the bacteria were lysing around the colony of penicillin. he found it was sufficiently interesting. he isolated the fungus and tested it more. there was quite a bit of excitement. this was the first time antibiotics had been discovered. a very famous natural products chemist from london took up the next step, the isolation of work purification of penicillin. there is a mold called penicillium that makes penicillin, the chemical that saves lives. he worked on it for three years. to make a long story short, at the end he said "nope, can't be done. penicillin goes poof every time you start to get it purified." in 1932, he said it was impossible. in 1938, another took up the search again. he had been researching antibiotics, looking for a compound that would stop bacterial infections. he had gotten zero, zilch. someone in the lab said, why don't we try this mold idea from alexander fleming? amazingly, it only took a couple of months before they purified the penicillin. at this point, they needed to know is penicillin was effective. they tested it in mice and rats. they doped the mice. half were treated with penicillin. half were not treated. eight hours later, they started dropping, the untreated mice. they started dropping. the next day, all of the untreated penicillin -- all of the untreated mice had died. all of the treated mice had survived. he now felt it was time to take penicillin to the next level. he co-opted a doctor who would try therapy with penicillin. a policeman in london had gotten a scratch on his face. it had become infected. he was hospitalized. they performed surgery to try to cut out the infected area. he just kept getting worse. finally, when he was on his deathbed, 48 hours -- sorry, eight hours to live, they said ok. bring on the penicillin. let's see what you can do. they did. they brought it in and started infusing him. within four to five hours, he was awake. the therapy went on for almost three days. then, they were out of the world's supply of penicillin. the guy relapsed and died. the problem with penicillin was it took so many people so much time to create a therapeutic dose. in the lab, it took six people three weeks to make one dose. at that rate, penicillin is really cool, but not much use. there were very smart people in the lab. they said, dosage is based on body weight. why are we wasting penicillin on grown-ups when we could waste it on children? they chose four children that were sick, waited until they were ready to die, brought in the penicillin and healed them -- this time there was enough there. this was big news. this was in the height of world war ii. the germans were bombing every night. london was a mess. so was all of southern england. there was no way that he and his crew could make the penicillin. having decided it was not possible, he got a grant from the rockefeller foundation to take his invention to america, talk to pharmaceutical companies there, and try to get interest in developing it. he went to the national research council in washington, d.c. they sent a telegraph to peoria saying "could you set up this experiment for these guys to work on this problem?" the next morning, the telegraph came back that said "you bet." the reason for sending the project to peoria was we had a brand-new facility that hadn't started. it was not interfering with ongoing work. we had the best minds in the world for looking at nutrition. also we had very good people for looking at different variants of fungus. that is why they came to peoria. they got on the train. a few days later, they arrived in peoria. they brought the mold with them in their pockets. the first thing that was done was they tested different media to see what the mold liked and didn't like. in four months, they increase productivity 100 times. going from one unit per mil, which was what was originally gotten, and then by changing the media, they grew 100 units per mil. this was astounding. the search went on, because making it was good. it was $20 per unit per therapeutic dosage. that was a big amount of money at the time. so, they went on in a search. they looked at everything they could. they looked at fruit from the local markets. they looked at soil brought back united statesntal from around the world where the military air carriers were flying. strangely enough, they hit pay dirt. dr. raber, who was in charge of the search, wrote in his notebook that in august of 1943, a housewife brought in a moldy cantaloupe. he tried it, and it was immediately 25 times the baseline. they picked mutants. it was 100 times the baseline. they got really excited and sent harbor, to cold spring the university of wisconsin, where it was mutated by uv and xray mutation. they got a mold out making 1000 times the original amount of penicillin. so, the united states government knew there would be penicillin. they argued very eloquently for the pharmaceutical companies to gear up. before we have a product, gear up, get ready to produce. before the war heated up in 1944, the production strain of penicillin was released to them. between january and june of 1944, they were making millions of dosages per month. so there was a stockpile of 20 million. it was a miracle. the finding of penicillin, the commercialization of it, had a deep impact. all of the people here were superstars all of a sudden. this was before they had superstars. flory, chain, and alexander fleming won the nobel prize. in world wardured ii. this was legend. it was a huge finding. this saved so many lives away from the battlefield. battlefield. it is tremendous. the government decided ars, the agricultural research service, should not the and competition -- be in competition with industry. so, poof. they pulled the plug on us. redirected us. we have a collection of fungi that is world-renowned that started the search for a better penicillin. >> this weekend, we are featuring the history of peoria, illinois. learn more about peoria and other stops on the cities tour at c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. with the supreme court back in action, we have a special webpage to help you follow the court. go to c-span.org, select supreme court near the right-hand top of the page. once there, you will see a calendar for the term, a list of all justices him and with supreme court on demand, appearances by the court justices at c-span.org. clarence thomas was sworn in as the oc it justice of the print or 25 years ago this month. up next, senators robert kerry and strom thurmond reacts the confirmnate vote to him, 52-48. it included testimony by anita

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