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.

譯文:美國，無論東部還是西部，極具探索精神的美國人足跡早已遍布這片大陸。路易斯和克拉克跨越落基山的英勇探險(xiǎn)，發(fā)現(xiàn)了西部最具價(jià)值的商業(yè)資源，海貍。海貍皮毛是邊區(qū)的硬通貨，印第安人用它來交換刀槍和食鹽，同時(shí)它們也是權(quán)貴們向往的時(shí)尚奢侈品。在歐洲，海貍基本被獵殺殆盡，但在這里海貍無處不在，數(shù)不勝數(shù)。冰冷的落基山泉讓海貍的皮毛更為厚實(shí)，暖和，比起其他皮毛更為貴重。紐約工廠生產(chǎn)的新型捕獸鐵夾使得捕獲海貍更為容易，被同類的氣味所誘上了鉤的海貍只有死路一條。

1823年10月，300名獵人在落基山中穿梭搜尋著他們的獵物，他們中有五分之一將無法生還。捕獵是極耗費(fèi)體力的工作，每人每天要消耗六千大卡的熱量用來抵御惡劣的環(huán)境，是現(xiàn)代人攝入熱量的三倍。杰迪戴亞·史密斯是獵人中的佼佼者，年僅24歲。他每年要在落基山走上1000英里，每季能捕獲600條海貍皮，相當(dāng)于在東部3年的收入。史密斯是一名虔誠的基督徒，不吸煙，不喝酒，圣經(jīng)與槍是身邊的必備之物。他非常聰明，深諳與印第安人的相處之道。克羅族印第安人帶他熟悉各種捷徑，賣給他馬匹，幫他照顧生病的同伴，他在荒野中得以維生。

千年來，北美的原始部落早已學(xué)會(huì)了適應(yīng)各種惡劣的環(huán)境，從荒蕪的平原到艱險(xiǎn)的山路。杰迪·史密斯利用印第安人的經(jīng)驗(yàn)與自己的技能開始了在西部一本萬利的皮毛生意，他去世時(shí)已富甲一方。但這一天他卻不是獵人，而成了獵物。