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Stately white homes, palm tree-lined streets, ships waiting in the harbor (0:09); “Discovery Goes to Key West” (0:37) in this episode of Discovery ’70 (0:57), the award-winning program for young people produced hosted by Bill Owen and Virginia Gibson.
Gibson and Owen stand at the end of U.S. Highway 1 that starts in Fort Kent, Maine, and ends in Key West, Florida (1:06). Cars pass; the camera zooms in on an “END” sign (1:41). The highway was once a railroad. Old photos show the former railroad (1:46), its steam train (1:50), workers and equipment (1:55), and Henry Flagler, the man who inaugurated the project (2:15). The train crosses the sea (2:28).
Pirates like Black Cesar (2:43) and Henry Morgan (2:47) preyed on sunken ships near Key West (2:51). A ship sinks, its men struggle onshore (2:57).
An overhead illustration of the town (3:22). John Simonton purchased Key West from a Spaniard in 1822. Men in horse-drawn carriages (3:33), and on the porch of a Johnson’s drugstore (3:38). Key West homes (3:42) were often built of cypress or madera mahogany. A car turns on Duval Street (3:58). The U.S. Naval Station (4:06), there since 1823, helped disperse the pirates.
Men load and unload large buckets of shrimp (4:19). Trawlers in the harbor (4:41). They use large black nets (4:53), and continue unloading their catch. A close-up of their shrimp (5:18). A man sorts lobster (5:25); more lobster brought up in a trap (5:43).
Large birds sit atop a display of fish (5:51), as sport fishermen look on. Charter boats go out to stalk giant marlin, tarpon, sailfish, and smaller varieties too. There hangs even one shark (6:12). People take a good look at the shark (6:19). A young boy touches its rough skin (6:26). Fishermen comprise an important segment of the tourists there. Tourists ride the Conch Train (6:36), which goes by the island’s attractions and historical sites.
Of these are Civil War-era fortification constructions, such as West Martello Tower (7:09), and Fort Jefferson, a six-sided fort on Garden Key, one of the Dry Tortugas islands (7:19). They were named by Ponce de Leon, who found sea turtles on their beaches.
A lighthouse, the Garden Key Light (7:50). Fort Jefferson’s long-range cannons (8:45). Footage shows the astounding engineering of the fort (9:02). It was the most ambitious project attempted at the time by the Corps of the United States Engineers.
During the Civil War, Fort Jefferson was used as a prison. Sergeant Harrison Herrick, of the 110th New York Volunteers, kept a diary describing life there. Black-and-white visuals accompany the diary excerpts: illustration of the fort and a ship (12:09); grainy photo of the American flag (12:18); line drawings of mustached soldiers (12:26); illustrations of soldiers next to cannons (12:54); a soldier reads a letter (13:02); men gathered around a newspaper (13:12); they rejoice at the news of General Lee’s capture (13:21); soldiers fire cannons to celebrate the victory (13:26).
Illustrations show John Wilkes Booth assassinating President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., and fleeing on horseback (14:05). Dr. Samuel A. Mudd (14:31) was arrested for treating Booth, and spent four years there (14:43). He was pardoned in 1869. Today, Fort Jefferson is no longer a prison, but is part of Dry Tortugas National Park.
Virginia stands in front of the Audubon House, which contains works by John James Audubon, famous ornithologist and painter of birds (15:20). His beautiful paintings at 15:48.
Mario Sanchez (16:06) uses a mallet to chisel into his woodcut art (16:14). His childhood experiences in Key West provide the subjects for his works, which portray colorful funerals with large marching bands (17:56); dancing and drumming in the street (18:32); goats pulling people in carts like horses (18:58); and his father reading books to cigar makers (19:13). Key West used to be the cigar capital in the world, but today the industry has gone. Two elderly cigar makers work in a small shop, once called “buckeyes” (19:52).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
30 июл 2024
