Season 1

1. The Great Encounter

2006-10-31

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.

2. Confronting the Wilderness

2006-11-07

Trade rivalries eventually pushed the French south. Following the great Mississippi River, they laid claim to a land on behalf of their King - Louisiana.

3. Conquering the Swamps

2006-11-14

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.

4. Across the Sea of Grass

2006-11-21

Beyond the Mississippi, the explorers found the trees giving way to immense grasslands: the rolling prairies ablaze with a mass of flowers.

5. Into the Shining Mountains

2006-11-28

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.

6. Living on the Edge

2006-12-05

The Southwest of the continent is mostly desert - harsh, hot, inhospitable landscapes where plants and animals have developed very special means of survival.

7. The First and Last Frontier

2006-12-12

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.

8. Searching for Paradise

2006-12-19

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.