TEXT:America. East and West. The pioneering spirit of Americans has busted the continent wide -open. Lewis and Clark's heroic expedition through the Rockies uncovers a route to the West's most valuable commodity...beaver. Their pelts, frontier hard currency. Traded by Native Americans for guns, knives, salt. And they're a high-fashion luxury for the rich. They've been hunte d nearly to extinction in Europe. Here they're everywhere. Millions of them. The freezing Rocky Mountain water makes the beaver pelts thicker, warmer, more expensive than other fur. New iron traps from New York foundries make catching them easier. Baited with the beaver's own scent glands, they're drawn to their death.

October 1823. 300 eager trappers roam the Rockies, searching for their fortune. One in five won't make it out alive. Trapping's harsh, hungry work. 6,000 calories a day are needed to survive the extreme conditions -- three times what we eat today. Jedediah Smith is the greatest hunter of all. 24 years old. He walks up to 1,000 miles in the Rockies each year. Traps 600 pelts in a season -- three years' pay back East. Smith is a devout Christian. Doesn't drink, doesn't smoke. Bible and gun are constant companion. He's smart, works with the Native Americans. The Crow show him ancient shortcuts, sell him horses, nurse his sick men back to health. Wilderness survival.

For millennia, the tribes of North America have adapted themselves to live in any condition, from arid plains to harsh mountain pass. Jed Smith uses their knowledge and his skill to open up the West for vast fur -trapping profits. He'll die a rich man. But today he's not the hunter. He's the hunted.

译文:美国，无论东部还是西部，极具探索精神的美国人足迹早已遍布这片大陆。路易斯和克拉克跨越落基山的英勇探险，发现了西部最具价值的商业资源，海狸。海狸皮毛是边区的硬通货，印第安人用它来交换刀枪和食盐，同时它们也是权贵们向往的时尚奢侈品。在欧洲，海狸基本被猎杀殆尽，但在这里海狸无处不在，数不胜数。冰冷的落基山泉让海狸的皮毛更为厚实，暖和，比起其他皮毛更为贵重。纽约工厂生产的新型捕兽铁夹使得捕获海狸更为容易，被同类的气味所诱上了钩的海狸只有死路一条。

1823年10月，300名猎人在落基山中穿梭搜寻着他们的猎物，他们中有五分之一将无法生还。捕猎是极耗费体力的工作，每人每天要消耗六千大卡的热量用来抵御恶劣的环境，是现代人摄入热量的三倍。杰迪戴亚·史密斯是猎人中的佼佼者，年仅24岁。他每年要在落基山走上1000英里，每季能捕获600条海狸皮，相当于在东部3年的收入。史密斯是一名虔诚的基督徒，不吸烟，不喝酒，圣经与枪是身边的必备之物。他非常聪明，深谙与印第安人的相处之道。克罗族印第安人带他熟悉各种捷径，卖给他马匹，帮他照顾生病的同伴，他在荒野中得以维生。

千年来，北美的原始部落早已学会了适应各种恶劣的环境，从荒芜的平原到艰险的山路。杰迪·史密斯利用印第安人的经验与自己的技能开始了在西部一本万利的皮毛生意，他去世时已富甲一方。但这一天他却不是猎人，而成了猎物。