service, i hope you guys enjoyed your ride, okay? >> you did a fine job. >> thank you. you've been watching our weekly seary, american artifacts on c-span3 american history tv. you can view this and all our other programs online at c-span.org/history. >> thursday marks the 100th anniversary of the national park service. tonight we bring you a number of national park service tours from our american artifacts and real america programs. some of the sites include congress hall in philadelphia. the manakasee battlefield and the appomattox courthouse and that starts on american history tv. ♪ ♪ 100 years ago president woodrow wilson signed a bill creating the national park service and thursday we look back on the past century of these care takers of america's natural and historic treasures. beginning at 10:00 eastern and throughout the day we take you to national park service sites throughout the country as recorded by c-span. at 7:00 p.m. eastern we are live from the national park service's most visited historic home and the robert e. lee memorial at arlington national cemetery. join us with your phone calls as we talk to robert stanton and brandon byes and the former site manager that would oversee the upcoming restoration of the mansion, slave quarters and grounds. thursday, the 100th anniversary of the national park service live from arlington house at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. next on american history tv's reel america, from 1935, the land of the giants. this 24-minute interior department film documents the efforts of the civilian conservation core to develop california's national and state parks during the great depression. the film promotes the value of the ccc and shows the details of daily life for the men in the work camps. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the home of the california was the first state park state. back in 1865 the federal government gave her the yosemite valley until it went back to uncle sam to become part of the yosemite national park. at the turn of the century she made a second effort buying 9,000 acres of redwood forest and creating california redwood state park. redwoods, the tall, tapering giants of the tree world are largely responsible for the fact that the golden state has a state park system, one of the finest in the existence. during the world war an extraordinary organization the save the redwoods league was brought into existence and they save as much as possible of the virgin redwood forest. out of the work of this league were the movement for a series of parks to contain liberal samples of the best of california's natural beauty. 3 to 1 californians voted in 1929 in favor of a bond issue of $6 million for parks. the bond act required that if that $6 million had been spent and for it, california has obtained mountain and sea, forest and desert, canyon, stream and waterfall with the majestic world, carpeted with the giant fern from which tree trunks rise 300 feet to the sky are found in state parks and saved forever from the axe to fear those who behold them with awe and reverence. california redwood state park consisting of 10,000 acres mostly redwood forest and the 2 1/2 hours distance from san francisco and santa cruz county was the first state park to be established when the golden state set out determinedly to create a system of state-owned recreational areas second to none. it is a magnificent monument to those stately giants of the forest world. >> the park is splendidly equipped to serve the requirements of the visiting public and in the summer season is constantly thronged with pleasure seekers. becoming of the civilian conservation core, speeding up a program of continued development which will take many years to complete. additional roads and trails are needed. it must be remembered that the park covers 16 square miles. the trail building isn't easy for there are timbered canyons to be encircled and traversed and real mountains to be climbed. >> bridges are being put in, constructed entirely of bold, native material. timbers are easy to procure and therefore, inexpensive. the conservation core under the expert direction they are given are able to handle every detail of the work. a park as large as this one as well known and intensively used are in a park equipment in a rather big way. there are lots outdoor cooking and camp stoves and the yards with which they are built with much of the labor done with conservation enrollees are fabricating plants. the camp equipment are designed by drafts men and engineers attached to the camps. the chief aim in design is that of fitness in relation to forest environment. >> along the south fork of the river and its tributaries and in the redwood highway are outstanding beauty spots of stream and valley landscape. though long established as a popular resort for visitors from humboldt county, humboldt state park has always needed just the kind of work that was made possible flew the inauguration of the ecw plan for the army of the civilian core workers. it was imperative that the beauty of the area as a whole be preserved by extending the boundary of original lands comprising the park. >> clearing dense undergrowth for fire prevention and freer growth provides lumber for practically any kind of construction job which may be desirable. the conservation core boys make everything from heavy bridge timbers to park signs. many of the trails being built have exceptional scenic beauty. they wind for miles over fern-clad slopes to reach the mountaintops. around the core camp sites, the traffic setup by the new work projects using tractors, trucks and other heavy machinery make constant work necessary. increasing the telephone communication system is an invaluable conservation measure which the enrollees are contributing. timber fires have nearly the chance they had some years ago. >> here are some of the most impressive and earliest known groups of big sequoias. the stanislaus river one of the many kl cal mountain streams flows near the groves. in forests where necessary fitting provides the poles, the extension of telephone and telegraph systems is not difficult. miles of fire lanes are being cut. trenching and the improvement. >> the san jacinto mountains in riverside county have a southern representation of a condition characteristic of the sierras. here are more than 50 square miles of beautiful wilderness, virgin timber and rugged mountains and one towering peak that rises well over two miles. the summit of the range has an impressive view of the surrounding county from hundreds of miles around and so weirdly and mysterious barren on this amazingly fertile california. in recent years there seems to be an awakening of wild life outdoors and people are not merely riding around in comfortable conveyances. packed trains in the national parks are more popular than ever before. san jacinto is one area where the beauties of nature will never unfold themselves completely when they see as scenic sightseeing as automobiles. here there will be miles, and one conservation camp was established way up in the clouds and lumber had to be carried up on the backs of horses and burros. the traveler can enjoy a constantly changing panorama of fern-covered ledges and which nature alone can create. >> there's a lot of work to establishing the kind of camp in which more than 200 people can live for an undefinite period, winter and sumner comfort and with safety to their health. >> in this mountain county, the same rocks that have grading difficult have their vifrtue wherever building strength is essential. >> building additional trails is a part of the enrollee's work in san jacinto. they have rock walls in awe-inspiring chasms. they are quarried right on the job. the first chow call of the day in most conservation core camp is at the early hour of 6:00 in the morning. no one is late for breakfast. his appetite won't let him. looks like ham and eggs. lunch is sometimes served in the field where the boys frequently work many miles from camp and the camp administrators insist the workers have hot food three times a day and dinner is served at 4:30 in the afternoon. every man, his own dish washer. rub rubikon point is on the shores of lake tahoe and one of the highest and largest of the seattle lakes and the lake itself because bodies of water this size are rarely found at such high altitudes are in the pacific coast section. here is an expanse of 193 square miles of cold, crystal clear water and perched over a quarter high in the mountains. many of the motion picture celebrities from southern california have cottages along its shores and with the easy motoring distance of sacramento, and san francisco, it attracts many visitors. camp sites, particularly around rubikon point proper with its sandy beach are popular. the conservation core boys are doing much of their work in the forests cutting new trails and establishing additional camp sites. sometimes they find it necessary and a period of usefulness and are interfering with the development of the park as a whole. one of those not infrequent examples of eroded rock is a point of interest. it is called the balanced rock. not enough is known of the civilian conservation or conservation of civilians part of this unique nationwide recovery plan. more than a million young men and war veterans have been participants and few of them have failed to absorb benefits of even greater value to them and the mere employment and money they have been given. these boys here are being taught many things about tree and plant life, insect pest control and so on which they can apply in later life. >> prairie creek and humboldt county is a magnificent redwood park. the sandy beach add materially to the region. think of the peace of a camp like this where trees lift themselves 300 feet from the springy turf with the incense of redwood, pine and fir. at patrick's point, for ofs give way to meadows and meadows in turn to the sea. one stretch the beach is being cleaned from debris to prime ocean brathing. undergrowth is deep and work is being carefully done to preserve it. >> one of the interesting activities of the boys here is the making of redwood signs to mark trails and places of interest. unusual talents among widely r varied lines are being uncovered among the enrollees. >> from roads along the tumultuous big sur river there are vistas of rapids, waterfalls, stately forests and lofty mountain peaks. just before it plunges into the pacific, the big sur traverses a beautiful valley about 250 feet above sea level. they're comprised in this outstanding state park area variously named from the big sur river, and fiver's woods and fiver's point which is in the same vicinity. mountain streams are unusually swift and powerful. when they start from the ocean destination with the elevation much greater with the atlantic seaboard. they move with speed and determination. the distances they traverse are relatively short. their drop is much more precipitated and they're really a part of one great waterfall from the peaks of the sierras to the expansive and powerful pacific. the park is in monterey county about 30 miles south of carmel with its western boundary about 6 miles from the junction of the big sur and the pacific ocean. it is on a fine state highway and easily accessible to travelers en route between los angeles and san francisco. they're each about 3500 feet high. sycamore and big sur are mountain canyons well worthy of the name. the juan iguera creek falls are of exceptional beauty and there are inspiring groves of redwoods. generally speaking building construction work is confined to structures incident of the program being carried out. barracks and administration buildings are usually built for them before they arrive in camp. this garage with their tractors, trucks and so on is for conservation core construction. much of the trail and road work being done requires nothing more than the good old pick and shovel and in some instances the most modern of motorized equipment is being used. there are seasons of the year when the big sur becomes quite unruly and an important part of the work is on the riverbed easing the flow water at flood tide. with 200 active young americans on hand good baseball is an almost inevitable result. miles of babbling beirooks, jus the sort of place people from the coast like so well. >> roads and trails open up new spots frequently require retaining walls and bridges. unfortunate circumstance at cuyamaca, and to keep steam shovels and trucks busy for days. useful and attractive incense cedar, careful choice of the trees which are already dead or are being crowded to death is helping, not hurting the forests. cedar is comparatively easy, splitting into good, clean rails which have splendid, lasting qualities. the fence you see being erected is near the core calf. grasshopper is in the beautiful meadows which abound in the park. they are effectively stopped with the diet of poisoned brand. here are the boys who are doing the job, answering the bugle or assembly before the day's work begins. on the ancient pile known as morro rock the old club is being expanded and developed in a manner that will make it attractive and useful to everybody. the conservation core camp will be established near the site of the old cabrillo country club colony. a fine, natural beach is being improved for bathing and the old wooden pier is being replaced with a new pier of modern, masonry construction. roads near the beach are being relocated to provide picnic grounds and parking areas. there will be the usual outdoor ovens, freshwater outlets, tables and benches. the state park commission is interested in a paurly conservation measure. the development of a wild refuge. banks are being built to shut out the organizations that criss-cross in inlets in the bay and they will make small lakes and lagoons to attract water fowl. russian goats in mendocino county is another of california's parks fronting on the pa sick. the shoreline is sharply cut by inlets in whichan

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