JAYFORCE

The legendary documentary film producer Ken Burns brings us the real story of “The West” in eight parts for PBS America. Might be able to get to see this on-demand from your local cable provider. You can definitely see it on Netflix.

The series explores the region from the times of the earliest Native Americans to the 20th century. Monday’s episode, The People (to 1806), looks back to the emergence of a new world with the arrival of the first Europeans. On Tuesday, Empire upon the Trails (1806- 1848) tells the story of the Americans who headed west, following the fur trade into the mountains, fighting for self-determination in Texas or seeking a better life along the Oregon Trail. In Speck of the Future (1848-56) on Wednesday, the landscape changes dramatically with the discovery of gold in California. The Gold Rush brings the whole world to the West as prospectors scramble for a share, littering the hills with mining towns and creating the West’s first metropolis. But in the push to strike it rich, many are violently displaced. Conflict comes to the West in Thursday’s episode, Death Runs Riot (1856-68). In Utah, federal troops march against Mormon polygamy while along the Rio Grande oppressed Mexican Americans rebel. The war between North and South unleashes brute savagery in the West, leaving behind an army prepared for total war against the native peoples of the plains.
– PBS America

– @ojones1