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Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America.

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879.

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Michael Portillo

Alison Kreps

FremantleMedia UK

George Boyle

Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 4: Portage la Prairie to Saskatoon

Portage la Prairie to Saskatoon

BBC Two - Great American Railroad Journeys, Series 4, Portage la Prairie to Saskatoon

Michael discovers how a British boy transformed himself into an indigenous naturalist.

Michael Portillo strikes west across Manitoba into the province of Saskatchewan. Michael discovers how a middle-class British boy transformed himself into an influential indigenous naturalist.

Steered by his 1899 Appleton’s Guide, Michael Portillo strikes west across Manitoba into the province of Saskatchewan. High above the prairie at Riding Mountain, Michael discovers how a middle-class British boy from Hastings transformed himself into an influential indigenous naturalist called Grey Owl.   

Deep in the prairie, Michael finds a network of railways that once served the wheat farmers of Saskatchewan and learns how communities grew up around the grain elevators used to load the crop on to rail wagons. The Wheatland Express welcomes a new recruit to the sidings on the afternoon shift. 

At Manitou Beach, Michael reaches the Dead Sea of Canada, a 14-mile lake three times saltier than the ocean. A Yellow Quill First Nations elder tells Michael about the healing properties of the water, and Michael tries it for himself. 

Michael digs into Canada’s indigenous past at the country’s longest-running archaeological excavation, discovers an Englishman, whose work earned him the title Canada’s Wheat King, and, in the cultural hub of Saskatoon, Michael learns how to make a traditional Saskatoon berry pie. 

North east of the South Saskatchewan River at Batoche, Michael reaches the battlefield, where in 1885 the French-speaking Métis people and their indigenous allies lost their struggle against Canadian control.

Great American Railroad Journeys: Series 4

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