Backtrack History

When five cowboy brothers stumbled on staggering cliff dwellings of the ancient Ancestral Puebloans in a remote corner of Colorado, their curiosity turned into a passion. That passion ignited a chain reaction that led to the creation of a controversial power entrusted to the President of the United States through the Antiquities Act.

In 1692, two little girls started acting strangely. After examining them, the town's doctor gave a diagnosis that sent shockwaves through the community: witchcraft. Soon, a local slave woman was put on trial as a suspected witch. She pleaded guilty. And in her testimony, she admitted not only was she a witch, but others lurked in the town as well. Fear gripped Salem and the paranoid hunt was on. Soon, former friends and neighbors were being marched to the gallows to hang as convicted witches.

Charles Darwin was a known and well-respected scientist in 19th Century England. But few knew that for 20 years, he'd been holding back a theory that would radicalize our understanding of Biology and the history of life on Earth. He held it back because he knew all too well how intensely it would clash not only with the scientific thought of the day, but especially with religious belief. It has been a source of controversy from the moment he finally published his theory in his famous book, On the Origin of Species.