The Real Wild West Season 1

A four-part series revealing the real history of the Wild West. Beyond gunslingers and lawmen, we meet the diverse pioneers who shaped a country. From Black and Hispanic cowboys, female homesteaders, immigrants, and tribal leaders, this is the definitive story of the American West.

S1 E1 - Into the Wild

Young historians, guides and descendants tell the untold stories of the Wild West. From the rich and overlooked history of the Native Americans who were there long before the “west was won” to the Lewis and Clark expedition guided by 16-year-old Sacagawea and the trickle of frontiersmen that becomes a flood of settlers seeking furs, gold, a free homestead, and a new start in a new land.

S1 E2 - Wars for the West

Manifest Destiny. The U.S. provokes a war with Mexico, taking California and much of the Southwest. The United States is forged in wars and now stretches coast to coast. The next great flashpoint isn’t about land, but slavery, with abolitionists fighting to stop its spread to the new territories, leading to the Civil War. Once over, the full power of the U.S. military turns to the western frontier where newly freed black cowboys and buffalo soldiers find purpose in the West. Meanwhile, the US government violently forces Native American tribes onto reservations.

S1 E3 - Boom and Bust

The new West is land of unprecedented opportunity. In less than a century, millions of prospectors rush to gold fields. Boomtowns appear overnight and a transcontinental railroad, built through mountains of solid granite, allow travelers to cross the country in only seven days. It is a century of ambition, greed, fame, and fortune. Of economic engines and technological marvels that change the country and the world.

S1 E4 - Mayhem and Myth

The Wild West is born out of the desperation following the Civil War. Outlaws rampage and rob while lawmen become legends. It’s a time drenched in boozin’, gamblin’ and womanizing. Although the mountain man, outlaw and lawman, Native Americans and cowboy seem like eternal archetypes, the famed Wild West looked a lot different than what we see in movies. The man responsible? Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show creates the myths of the West, and Hollywood begins turning facts into fiction.