America’s National Parks Podcast

Piracy, the act of seizing a ship or its cargo from its lawful owners, has been a plague since people first set sail on the high seas. By the Elizabethan Era, English piracy entered a Golden Age, as pirates plundered its coastal waters unchallenged. As Spain gradually increased its wealth through its own savagery in the New World, English pirates feasted on Spanish ships, eventually spreading piracy to the Carribean Sea.

On this episode of America's National Parks, Pirates, and their role in the creation of America, immortalized at National Park Service units up and down the East Coast.

In fact, there are so many stories of piracy and privateering in today's National Parks, that choosing just one was difficult, so we settled on two centered around Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site - with many more to touch on in a future episode.

Show notes and more info at http://nationalparkpodcast.com/pirates-and-parks

Two years before the creation of our first National Park, Truman Everts got lost in Yellowstone. He lost not one, but two horses. He set not one, but two forest fires. He waited out a mountain lion in a tree. He slept in a bear's den. He fell through the crust of a hot spring and burnt his hip. He keeled over into his campfire while hallucinating. He spent 37 days making bad decision after worse, and he survived. 

On this episode of the America's National Parks Podcast, we present our abridged version of Everts' 10,000-word essay, which shocked the nation - complete with the sounds of Yellowstone from the National Park Service's archives. 

Show notes and more info are available at nationalparkpodcast.com/37-days-yellowstone.

At the southern tip of Florida lie the Everglades, a crucial ecosystem to America and the world. Everglades National Park has spent its entire life under siege, with Marjory Stoneman Douglas out front as its chief warrior. 

Show notes, a full transcript, and music credits for this episode can be found at http://nationalparkpodcast.com/

Deep within Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, one can find so much more than rock formations. The shale-capped mass of 400 known miles of caverns holds the history of America, told by the Black enslaved cave guides that made it one of the country's top tourist attractions, then and now. 

Useful Links:

In Kentucky, a Family at the Center of the Earth A 2014 in-depth interview with Jerry Bransford and New York Times reporter Kenan Christiansen.

bransfordmemorial.com

Jerry Bransford’s dream is to build a memorial in the Bransford cemetery at Mammoth Cave as a tribute to all the past slave guides and the entire Bransford family, especially Mat and Nick. He also would like to pass on his stories and memories to his future descendants utilizing the cemetery and memorial. You can the website to contribute, and it's also full of much more detailed information on the Bransford family history at Mammoth.

Ranger Lore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks – Jerry Bransford Discusses Family Legacy

A YouTube interview with Jerry Bransford about visiting Mammoth as a child with his family:

Mammoth Cave National Park Website

Info on all of the cave tours, camping, and other activities at Mammoth Cave National Park.

Show notes, a full transcript, and music credits for this episode can be found at http://nationalparkpodcast.com/mammoth-cave-national-park.

Welcome to the America's National Parks Podcast. In the coming weeks, we'll begin to explore our nation's treasures, their history, their people, and their stories. Until then, listen to this, our "episode zero," a preview of sorts.

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