All language subtitles for The West - s01e07 - The Geography of Hope (1877-1887)

[ TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ]

CONFIDENCE GOES
A LONG WAY TOWARD SUCCESS.

AND THE CONFIDENCE
OF THESE WESTERNERS IS SUPERB.

I HAPPENED,
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1883,

TO BE IN THE CITY OF BISMARCK,
IN DAKOTA,

WHEN THIS YOUNG SETTLEMENT

WAS LAYING THE CORNERSTONE
OF ITS CAPITAL.

THE TOWN WAS THEN
ONLY SOME FIVE YEARS OLD,

AND WAS GAILY DECORATED
FOR THE OCCASION.

IN ONE OF THE SPEECHES

IT WAS PROVED THAT AS BISMARCK
WAS THE CENTER OF DAKOTA,

DAKOTA THE CENTER
OF THE UNITED STATES,

AND THE UNITED STATES
THE CENTER OF THE WORLD,

BISMARCK WAS DESTINED
TO BE THE METROPOLITAN HEARTH

OF THE WORLD’S CIVILIZATION.

HOWEVER, THE FEATURE
OF THE CEREMONIAL

WHICH STRUCK US EUROPEANS MOST

WAS THE SPOT CHOSEN
FOR THE CAPITAL.

IT WAS NOT IN THE CITY, NOR
EVEN ON THE SKIRTS OF THE CITY.

IT WAS NEARLY A MILE OFF,
ON THE TOP OF A HILL

IN THE BROWN
AND DUSTY PRAIRIE.

"WHY HERE?" WE ASKED.

"IS IT BECAUSE YOU MEAN
TO ENCLOSE THE BUILDING

IN A PUBLIC PARK?"

"BY NO MEANS,"
WAS THE ANSWER.

"THE CAPITAL IS INTENDED TO
BE IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY."

"IT IS IN THIS DIRECTION
THAT THE CITY IS TO GROW."

IT IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE

FROM THE PACIFIC
TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

MEN SEEM TO LIVE
IN THE FUTURE

RATHER THAN IN THE PRESENT.

THEY SEE THE COUNTRY
NOT MERELY AS IT IS,

BUT AS IT WILL BE 20,
50, 100 YEARS HENCE --

LORD JAMES BRYCE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]

[ DRUM BEATS,
CHANTING CONTINUES ]

[ MORE VOICES ADDED
TO CHANTING ]

Narrator: BY 1877, THE
AMERICAN CONQUEST OF THE WEST

WAS NEARLY COMPLETE.

FOR EVERY INDIAN IN THE WEST,
THERE WERE NOW NEARLY 40 WHITES.

AND AS THE INDIAN WARS
DREW TO A CLOSE,

THE LAST OBSTACLES TO AMERICAN
DOMINATION DROPPED AWAY,

AND THE COUNTRY READIED ITSELF
TO ASSERT CONTROL

OVER THE ENTIRE REGION.

BETWEEN 1877 AND 1887,

4 1/2 MILLION MORE PEOPLE
CAME WEST.

ALMOST HALF SETTLED
ON THE WESTERN PLAINS,

CREATING NEW TOWNS IN A REGION

ONCE THOUGHT TOO HARSH
FOR HUMAN HABITATION --

BISMARCK AND CHAMPION,

EPIPHANY, WAHOO, AND NICODEMUS.

SOME CAME SEEKING FREEDOM,
LAND OF THEIR OWN,

AND OPPORTUNITIES
THEY COULDN’T FIND IN THE EAST.

WHILE OTHERS FOUND IN THE WEST
A PLACE TO CHANGE THEMSELVES,

BECOME SOMEONE ELSE, START OVER.

BUT AS MORE AND MORE
AMERICANS ARRIVED,

THERE WAS LESS AND LESS ROOM
FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T CONFORM.

INDIANS WERE EXPECTED
TO CHANGE OVERNIGHT...

TO FORGET THEIR OLD WAYS,
AND MAKE THEMSELVES OVER

IN THE IMAGE
OF THEIR CONQUERORS.

THE CHINESE, WHO HAD DONE MORE
THAN ALMOST ANYONE

TO CONNECT THE WEST
TO THE REST OF THE NATION

WOULD BE TOLD
THAT THEY WERE NO LONGER WELCOME

ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES.

MEXICAN-AMERICANS WERE
OVERWHELMED BY THE NEWCOMERS,

EVEN IN TOWNS THEY HAD LIVED IN
FOR CENTURIES,

WHILE THE MORMONS WERE FORCED TO
SURRENDER PART OF THEIR RELIGION

IN ORDER TO SAVE THE REST OF IT.

BUT EVEN AS AMERICANS
TRIED TO TAME THE WEST,

THEY PREFERRED TO REMEMBER
A GAUDIER VERSION

FULL OF VIOLENCE, ADVENTURE,
AND MOST OF ALL, ROMANCE --

A WILD WEST.

AND YET, BETWEEN 1877 AND 1887,

AMERICANS WOULD COME
TO LEARN FIRSTHAND

JUST HOW WILD THE WEST
COULD REALLY BE,

AND THAT NO CONQUEST
COULD EVER BE COMPLETE.

Man: THE WEST
IS ABOUT POSSIBILITIES.

AND SOMETIMES,
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS

OF ONE GROUP’S POSSIBILITIES

IS GOING TO BE THE ENDING OF
POSSIBILITIES FOR ANOTHER GROUP.

AMERICANS AREN’T WRONG
IN SEEING THE WEST

AS THE LAND OF THE FUTURE,

OF SEEING A LAND IN WHICH
ASTONISHING THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

WHAT THEY OFTEN ARE WRONG ABOUT

IS THAT THERE’S NO PRICE
TO BE PAID FOR THAT,

THAT EVERYBODY CAN SUCCEED,
OR THAT EVEN WHAT SUCCEEDS

IS NECESSARILY THE BEST
FOR EVERYONE CONCERNED.

THE WEST IS MUCH
MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.

♪ OH, DOWN ON ME ♪

♪ DOWN ON ME ♪

♪ LOOK LIKE EVERYBODY ALL ’ROUND
THE WORLD DOWN ON ME ♪

IN A FIT OF MADNESS
I ONE DAY SAID TO THE MAN

I WAS RENTING FROM,
"IT’S NO USE."

"I WORKS HARD
AND RAISES BIG CROPS,

"AND YOU SELL IT
AND KEEPS THE MONEY,

AND BRINGS ME MORE
AND MORE IN DEBT.

"SO, I WILL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE
AND TRY TO MAKE HEADWAY

LIKE WHITE WORKING MEN."

SO, I TOLD MY WIFE
AND SHE SAYS,

"LET US TAKE TO THE WOODS
IN THE NIGHT TIME."

WELL, WE TOOK TO THE WOODS,
MY WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN,

AND WE WAS THREE WEEKS
LIVING IN THE WOODS

WAITING FOR A BOAT.

THEN A GREAT MANY MORE
BLACK PEOPLE CAME,

AND WE WAS ALL TOGETHER
AT THE LANDING.

BEFORE LONG,
THE GRAND TOWER HOVE UP,

AND WE GOT ON BOARD.

SAYS THE CAPTAIN,
"WHERE IS YOU GOIN’?"

SAYS I, "KANSAS" --

JOHN SOLOMON LEWIS.

Narrator:
IN 1877, THE LAST FEDERAL TROOPS

WERE WITHDRAWN FROM THE SOUTH.

RECONSTRUCTION COLLAPSED,

AND NEW STATE LAWS
BEGAN TO RESTRICT

THE RIGHTS OF FREED SLAVES.

AFRICAN AMERICANS
FOUND THEMSELVES ONCE AGAIN

IN THE POWER
OF THEIR FORMER MASTERS.

SOME FAVORED EMIGRATING
TO LIBERIA, IN AFRICA,

OR NORTHWARD INTO CANADA.

TO OTHERS, THE OPEN SPACES
OF THE WEST

SEEMED TO OFFER
MORE IMMEDIATE HOPE.

CONDITIONS MIGHT BE BETTER
A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW,

WHEN ALL THE PRESENT
GENERATION’S DEAD AND GONE, But

NOT AFORE, SIR,
NOT AFORE.

AND WHAT’S GOING TO BE
A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW

AIN’T MUCH ACCOUNT TO US.

THE WHITES HAS THE LANDS
AND THE SENSE,

AND THE BLACKS
HAS NOTHING BUT THEIR FREEDOM.

AND IT’S JUST LIKE A DREAM
TO THEM --

PAP SINGLETON.

Narrator:
BENJAMIN "PAP" SINGLETON

WAS AN EX-SLAVE FROM TENNESSEE

WHO BELIEVED HIMSELF APPOINTED
BY GOD TO RESCUE HIS PEOPLE.

HE HAD BECOME CONVINCED THAT
THERE WAS NO FUTURE FOR BLACKS

UNLESS THEY LEFT THE SOUTH

AND FORMED THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT
COMMUNITIES IN THE WEST.

Woman: KANSAS
SEEMED LIKE AN IDEAL PLACE

FOR PEOPLE
WHO WERE DISILLUSIONED

WITH THE BLACK CODES THAT
HAD BEEN PASSED IN THE SOUTH,

THE MEANNESS
OF THE KU KLUX KLAN,

THE MEANNESS
OF THE SHARECROPPERS

WHO REALLY WEREN’T SHARING
THE WAY THEY HAD AGREED.

AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE
WHO PAID $5,

FIVE BUCKS TO PAP SINGLETON
TO COME UP THE RIVER

TO A NEW LIFE IN KANSAS.

Man: THE WEST HAS ALWAYS BEEN
SEEN AS A PLACE OF OPPORTUNITY,

AND THIS WAS CERTAINLY AS TRUE
FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT

AS FOR ANYBODY ELSE.

SINGLETON AND OTHER LEADERS
WEREN’T NECESSARILY DOING IT

FOR PURELY ALTRUISTIC REASONS.

LIKE A LOT OF GREAT WESTERNERS,
THEY WERE SPECULATORS IN LAND

AND HOPED TO MAKE
THEIR FORTUNES.

BUT THEY DID HAVE A VISION
OF A PLACE

WHERE PEOPLE OF COLOR
COULD BREATHE FREE,

COULD BE A PART OF THE WEST

AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS
THAT THE WEST HAS COME TO MEAN,

BOTH AT THAT TIME AND SINCE.

Narrator: THE BLACK EMIGRANTS
CALLED THEMSELVES "EXODUSTERS,"

BECAUSE,
LIKE THE OLD TESTAMENT HEBREWS,

THEY BELIEVED THEIR SALVATION
LAY IN REACHING A PROMISED LAND.

SOON, BLACKS WERE SCATTERED
ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS,

AND THEIR HOPEFUL LETTERS HOME

WERE BEING READ ALOUD
IN BLACK CHURCHES.

THEN, IN THE SPRING OF 1879,

A RUMOR RACED THROUGH
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

THROUGHOUT THE DEEP SOUTH

THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
HAD SET ASIDE ALL OF KANSAS

FOR FORMER SLAVES,

PROVIDING EVERY BLACK FAMILY
THAT COULD GET THERE

WITH FREE LAND AND $500.

IT WASN’T TRUE,

BUT IT WAS ENOUGH TO CONVINCE
SOME 6,000 PEOPLE TO START WEST.

SOME WENT BY RIVERBOAT
AS FAR AS ST. LOUIS.

OTHERS, TOO POOR
TO PAY THEIR PASSAGE,

WALKED THE WHOLE WAY.

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR
IN THE MORNIN’ ♪

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ ALL AROUND
THE CENTER OF GOD ♪

[ HARMONICA PLAYS ]

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR
IN THE MORNIN’ ♪

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ ALL AROUND
THE CENTER OF GOD ♪

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ SHINE LIKE A STAR
IN THE MORNIN’ ♪

♪ SHINE, SHINE, SHINE ♪

♪ ALL AROUND
THE CENTER OF GOD ♪

GOVERNOR’S MANSION,
TOPEKA, KANSAS.

LAST SATURDAY, I HAD A CALL

FROM A DELEGATION
OF 100 LEADING COLORED MEN

FROM THE STATES OF MISSISSIPPI
AND ALABAMA.

THEY SAID THAT THEY
HAD RATHER DIE

IN THE ATTEMPT TO REACH THE
LAND WHERE THEY CAN BE FREE,

THAN TO LIVE AND DIE
IN THE SOUTH ANY LONGER --

GOVERNOR JOHN P. ST. JOHN.

Narrator: BY 1880, MORE
THAN 15,000 AFRICAN AMERICANS

HAD MIGRATED TO KANSAS.

MOST OF THEM SETTLED ON FARMS
AND IN SMALL COMMUNITIES

LIKE JUNIPER TOWN, DUNLAP,
RATTLEBONE HOLLOW,

AND NICODEMUS.

Man: WHEN I LANDED
ON THE SOIL OF KANSAS,

I LOOKED ON THE GROUND AND
I SAYS, "THIS IS FREE GROUND."

THEN I LOOKED ON THE HEAVENS,
AND I SAYS,

"THEM IS FREE
AND BEAUTIFUL HEAVENS."

THEN I LOOKED
WITHIN MY HEART,

AND I SAYS TO MYSELF, "I WONDER
WHY I WAS NEVER FREE BEFORE?"

I SAID, "LET US HOLD
A LITTLE PRAYER MEETING

ON THE RIVERBANK."

IT WAS RAINING, BUT
THE DROPS FELL FROM HEAVEN

ON A FREE FAMILY,

AND THE MEETING
WAS JUST AS GOOD AS SUNSHINE.

WE WAS THANKFUL TO GOD,

AND WE PRAYED FOR THOSE
WHO COULD NOT COME.

I ASKED MY WIFE, DID SHE KNOW
THE GROUND SHE STANDS ON?

SHE SAID, "NO."
I SAID, "IT IS FREE GROUND."

AND SHE CRIED FOR JOY.

Man: THE WEST HAS ALWAYS BEEN,
AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE,

A PLACE WHERE THERE’S
A STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE,

AND WHERE NATURE
STRIKES HEAVY BLOWS AT YOU.

BUT I THINK THAT’S PART
OF THE WEST.

THAT’S GEOGRAPHY.

AND I THINK PART
OF THAT CONQUERING OF THE WEST

SEEPED INTO
THE AMERICAN CHARACTER.

IN MANY WAYS, THE WEST
HAS BEEN A GEOGRAPHY OF HOPE

FOR THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE.

Narrator: FOR 40 YEARS,
AS AMERICANS MOVED WEST,

THE WESTERN PLAINS OF KANSAS,
NEBRASKA, AND THE DAKOTAS

WERE PASSED OVER.

WITH BETTER LAND
AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE,

THEY WERE CONSIDERED
TOO DRY FOR HOMESTEADING.

BUT NOW, THE HUNGER FOR LAND

REACHED EVEN INTO
THESE INHOSPITABLE PLACES.

THE RAILROADS AND THE STATES
OUTDID THEMSELVES

TO LURE NEW SETTLERS.

Man: IT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST
CON JOBS IN HISTORY.

THEY HAD A PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN
IN NEBRASKA

THAT I THINK WAS SPENDING
A MILLION BUCKS A YEAR

BACK WHEN YOU COULD BUY A FANCY
FIVE-COURSE DINNER FOR $1.25.

I MEAN, IT WAS ADVERTISING.

THEY HAD THEIR OWN MAGAZINES,
BROCHURES,

THEY HAD JOURNALISTS
ON THE TAKE.

I MEAN, IT WAS A PHENOMENON.

AND IN ORDER TO SELL IT,
THEY DESCRIBED THESE, YOU KNOW,

BEAUTIFUL REGIONS WHERE YOU
COULD RAISE A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST

OF PRACTICALLY ANYTHING, AND

SUMMER LINGERED
INTO NOVEMBER,

AND BY FEBRUARY,
IT WAS ALREADY SPRING --

AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
NEBRASKA, AND PLACES LIKE THAT!

Narrator: AS IT HAPPENED,
THE 1870s AND EARLY 1880s

WERE UNUSUALLY WET YEARS
IN THE WEST.

THE PRAIRIES, PLOWED AND PLANTED
FOR THE FIRST TIME,

YIELDED BUMPER CROPS.

PROMOTERS MADE THE MOST OF IT.

"THE PLAINS MIGHT ONCE HAVE
BEEN DESERT-LIKE," THEY SAID,

"BUT NO LONGER."

THE CLIMATE ITSELF, THEY
PROMISED, HAD CHANGED FOR GOOD,

AND IT WAS THE VERY PRESENCE
OF SETTLERS THAT HAD CHANGED IT.

THE PLOW WILL GO FORWARD.

GODSPEED THE PLOW.

BY THIS WONDERFUL PROVISION,

WHICH IS ONLY MAN’S MASTERY
OVER NATURE,

THE CLOUDS
ARE DISPENSING COPIOUS RAINS.

THE PLOW
IS MORE POWERFUL IN PEACE

THAN THE SWORD IN WAR.

THE INSTRUMENT WHICH SEPARATES
CIVILIZATION FROM SAVAGERY

AND CONVERTS A DESERT
INTO A FARM OR GARDEN.

TO BE MORE CONCISE,
RAIN FOLLOWS THE PLOW --

CHARLES DANA WILBER.

Narrator: WITHIN 10 YEARS,
NEARLY TWO MILLION PEOPLE

MIGRATED FARTHER
ONTO THE PLAINS.

THE POPULATIONS OF COLORADO
AND NEBRASKA DOUBLED.

SOUTH DAKOTA’S, MONTANA’S,
AND WYOMING’S TRIPLED.

BUT AS IT TURNED OUT,
RAIN DID NOT FOLLOW THE PLOW.

THE WET YEARS CAME TO AN END.

MANY PLACES
ON THE HIGH PLAINS EMPTIED

JUST AS QUICKLY AS THEY HAD
FILLED WITH HOMESTEADERS.

BUT SOME STUBBORNLY HUNG ON.

Man:
THERE’S NO QUESTION IN MY MIND

THAT THE SETTLERS
ARE THE REAL HEROES.

YES, YES INDEED.

IN THIS HARSH COUNTRY --
MUCH OF IT HARSH AND FORBIDDING

AND DEMANDING, TOUGH COUNTRY --

THE FACT THAT PEOPLE
COULD GO THERE,

AND ESTABLISH COMMUNITIES, AND
MAKE A LIVING FOR THEMSELVES,

AND BUILD UP SOCIETY,
I THINK THAT WAS A REAL TRIUMPH.

Man: IN A YEAR’S TIME,
A HOMESTEADER WOULD ENCOUNTER

A CATALOGUE
OF METEOROLOGICAL DISASTERS.

IN THE SPRINGTIME, THERE WOULD
BE THE FLOODS AND THE TORNADOS

THAT WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT
TO GET INTO THE FIELDS

TO PLANT A CROP.

ONCE THE CROP WAS PLANTED,

YOU MIGHT GO FOR SIX,
EIGHT WEEKS AT A TIME

WITH NO RAIN AT ALL.

AND THEN, IT WAS BAD ENOUGH
THAT THE RAIN WAS HALF

OF WHAT THE HOMESTEADER MIGHT
HAVE EXPECTED IN HIS HOMELAND --

HERE, IT WOULD FALL
ALL IN ONE DAY

AND FLOOD OUT THAT WHICH
HAD MANAGED TO SURVIVE

THROUGH THE DROUGHT.

THERE WERE THE GRASSHOPPER
STORMS AND THE WIND STORMS.

HAIL STORMS WOULD POUND
A CROP INTO THE GROUND,

IN SOME CASES,
FREEZING A CROP IN JULY,

WHEN YOU THOUGHT
THERE WAS NO CHANCE

OF ANYTHING HAPPENING
LIKE THAT AT ALL.

IN THE FALL, AT HARVEST TIME,
FIRE COULD TAKE IT

AS THE FIRES
SWEPT ACROSS THE GRASSLANDS.

THROUGH THE WINTER, IT WOULD BE
A MATTER OF SURVIVING THE COLD.

AND THEN IN SPRING, YOU STARTED
THE WHOLE MESS ALL OVER AGAIN.

WE LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE SITTING
IN FRONT OF THEIR SOD HOUSES,

AND WE THINK "WHAT SQUALOR,
LIVING IN A DIRT HOUSE."

WE SEE WOMEN
IN MAYBE AN ELEGANT DRESS,

BUT WITHOUT SHOES ON

AND WE THINK,
"THESE PEOPLE WERE POOR."

BUT WHAT I SEE IS PRIDE.

WHAT THEY’RE REALLY SAYING IS,
"LOOK HOW RICH WE ARE.

"WE’RE STINKING RICH.

"OUR MUSKMELONS ARE THIS BIG.

"WE HAVE TWO HORSES.

WE HAVE A COW, AND THERE SHE
IS, PEGGED RIGHT BACK THERE."

THEY’RE SHOWING US
THAT THEY MADE IT.

THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE
EMBARRASSED BY THEIR SITUATION.

THEY ARE DRENCHED IN PRIDE.

♪ AH, NEBRASKA LAND ♪

♪ SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪

♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL
I STAND ♪

♪ AND I LOOK AWAY
ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪

♪ AND I WONDER WHY
IT NEVER RAINS ♪

WHAT’S REMARKABLE TO ME
IS THAT THEY WERE SINGING.

AND THAT THEY WERE LAUGHING
WHILE THEY WERE SINGING.

"BUT WE’VE REACHED THE LAND
OF DESERT SWEET,

"WHERE NOTHING GROWS
FOR MAN TO EAT.

"THE WIND, IT BLOWS
WITH FEVERISH HEAT

ACROSS THESE PLAINS,
SO HARD TO BEAT."

BUT THAT’S NOT A SAD SONG.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BLUES
WHEN I SAY IT,

BUT IT WAS A SONG
OF LAUGHTER AND REJOICING,

’CAUSE THEY WERE LAUGHING
AT THEMSELVES

IN THIS CRAZY SITUATION
THEY WERE IN.

"WE DO NOT LIVE,
WE ONLY STAY,

’CAUSE WE’RE TOO POOR
TO MOVE AWAY."

♪ WE HAVE NO WHEAT
WE HAVE NO OATS ♪

♪ WE HAVE NO CORN
TO FEED OUR SHOATS ♪

♪ OUR CHICKENS
ARE SO VERY POOR ♪

♪ THEY BEG FOR CRUMBS
OUTSIDE OUR DOOR ♪

♪ IN NEBRASKA LAND ♪

♪ SWEET NEBRASKA LAND ♪

♪ UPON THY BURNING SOIL
I STAND ♪

♪ AND I LOOK AWAY
ACROSS THE PLAINS ♪

♪ AND I WONDER WHY
IT NEVER RAINS ♪

[ HORN PLAYS SOFTLY ]

Man:
THE NOBLEST PART OF THE WEST

IS THE FACT THAT IT
GAVE HOPE TO PEOPLE

IN WAYS THAT WE HAD NOT
BEEN ABLE TO HAVE BEFORE.

IT WAS A FORCE IN THE SHAPING
OF THE NATIONAL CHARACTER,

AND AN IMPORTANT ONE.

AND I THINK WHEN AND IF
WE EVER LOSE THAT SENSE OF HOPE

THAT THE WEST HOLDS FOR US,

WE WILL HAVE LOST
BY JUST THAT MUCH

OUR SENSE OF OURSELVES
AS AMERICANS.

BUT, WHAT WE DID
WHEN WE CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI

AND ENTERED THIS LAND
AND TOOK IT AS OUR OWN

WAS TO TURN OUR BACKS
ON OUR OWN BEST HISTORY.

THERE IS VERY LITTLE
THAT IS PRESUMABLY DEAR

TO THE AMERICAN PSYCHE

IN TERMS OF THE CONSTITUTION,

IN TERMS OF CIVIL RIGHTS,
IN TERMS OF OUR HIGHEST IDEALS,

THAT WAS NOT AT ONE TIME
OR ANOTHER

SYSTEMATICALLY VIOLATED DURING
THE HISTORY OF THE WEST --

AND SOMETIMES IN WAYS THAT
HAD NEVER BEEN MATCHED BEFORE,

AT AN INTENSITY,
AT A LEVEL OF VIOLENCE,

AT A LEVEL OF THOUGHTLESSNESS.

THE FARTHER MY PEOPLE
KEEP AWAY FROM THE WHITES,

THE BETTER
I SHALL BE SATISFIED.

THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE WICKED.

I WANT YOU TO TEACH MY PEOPLE
TO READ AND WRITE,

BUT THEY MUST NOT BECOME
WHITE PEOPLE IN THEIR WAYS.

IT IS TOO BAD A LIFE.

I COULD NOT LET THEM DO IT.

I WOULD RATHER DIE AN INDIAN
THAN LIVE A WHITE MAN --

SITTING BULL.

[ NATIVE AMERICANS CHANTING ]

Narrator:
BY THE SPRING OF 1881,

THE INDIANS
OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS

HAD ALL BUT LOST THEIR STRUGGLE
TO REMAIN FREE.

ONLY SITTING BULL AND FEWER
THAN 200 OF HIS FOLLOWERS,

MANY OF THEM MEMBERS
OF HIS OWN FAMILY,

REMAINED DEFIANT IN CANADA.

BUT ON JULY 19, 1881, HE LED
A HANDFUL OF HIS HUNGRY PEOPLE

SOUTH ACROSS THE BORDER
AND GAVE UP.

Sitting Bull:
I SURRENDER THIS RIFLE TO YOU

THROUGH MY YOUNG SON,

WHOM I NOW DESIRE TO TEACH
IN THIS MANNER

THAT HE HAS BECOME A FRIEND
OF THE AMERICANS.

I WISH HIM TO LEARN
THE HABITS OF THE WHITES,

AND TO BE EDUCATED
AS THEIR SONS ARE EDUCATED.

THIS BOY HAS GIVEN
MY RIFLE TO YOU,

AND HE NOW WANTS TO KNOW HOW
HE IS GOING TO MAKE A LIVING.

Narrator: SITTING BULL
STILL WANTED THE RIGHT

TO CROSS BACK AND FORTH
INTO CANADA AT WILL,

TO LIVE ON THE LITTLE MISSOURI
NEAR THE BLACK HILLS,

AND TO HUNT WHEREVER HE WISHED.

THE ARMY GRANTED NONE
OF SITTING BULL’S REQUESTS.

THEY EVENTUALLY ORDERED HIM

TO GO TO THE STANDING ROCK
RESERVATION,

HUNDREDS OF MILES TO THE EAST
IN NORTH DAKOTA,

AND LIVE THERE
AS HIS PEOPLE LIVED.

AT STANDING ROCK, HE WAS
REUNITED WITH HIS DAUGHTER,

AND WEPT TO SEE AGAIN
THOSE WHO HAD BEEN WITH HIM

AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN.

Man: THE LIFESTYLE
OF THE LAKOTA PEOPLE --

THAT CHANGED SO MUCH.

HERE YOU HAD
THIS FREE-ROAMING PEOPLE

THAT WERE DEPENDENT UPON
THE BUFFALO FOR A WAY OF LIFE,

AND ALL A SUDDEN NOW THEY’RE
CONFINED IN THESE SMALL AREAS,

THEY’RE LIVING OFF OF RATIONS,
AND PEOPLE ARE STARVING.

IT’S ALMOST LIKE BEING
IN A PRISON CELL.

EVEN THOUGH RESERVATIONS
WERE A PRETTY GOOD SIZE,

THE IDEA OF COMPACTING PEOPLE
INTO THAT AREA AND SAYING,

"YOU CAN’T MOVE
OUTSIDE OF THIS AREA,

"YOU CAN’T TRAVEL
OUTSIDE OF THIS AREA,

AND IF YOU DO
YOU NEED A PASS" --

THE WHOLE IDEA
OF CONFINING LAKOTA PEOPLE

WAS SO DEVASTATING TO THEM.

IT WAS LIKE BEING CONFINED
TO...A TINY ISLAND

WITH NO WAY TO NAVIGATE

AMONG THIS ENORMOUS SEA

OF WHITE STRANGERS.

Narrator: EVERY TWO WEEKS,

A FEW SCRAWNY STEERS WERE
BROUGHT TO THE RESERVATION

WHERE MEN, WHO ONLY A FEW YEARS
EARLIER HAD HUNTED BUFFALO

ON THE OPEN PLAINS,

NOW SHOT CATTLE FOR THEIR FOOD.

[ GUNSHOT ]

[ NATIVE AMERICANS CHANTING ]

ANY INDIAN WHO SHALL ENGAGE
IN THE SUN DANCE,

SCALP DANCE, OR WAR DANCE

SHALL BE DEEMED
GUILTY OF AN OFFENSE,

AND UPON CONVICTION THEREOF
SHALL BE PUNISHED

BY WITHHOLDING OF HIS RATIONS,
NOT EXCEEDING 10 DAYS --

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

Narrator: LIKE INDIANS
ON ALL THE OTHER RESERVATIONS,

THE LAKOTAS WERE ORDERED

TO GIVE UP THEIR LANGUAGE
AND SPEAK ENGLISH,

ABANDON THEIR FAITH,

PUT BEHIND THEM
ALL THEIR RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.

LAKOTA MEN WERE RECRUITED
TO SERVE AS POLICE,

EMPOWERED
TO HELP KEEP THE PEACE

AND TO ENFORCE THE NEW RULES.

Woman: WELL, THE IDEA WAS,
IF WE COULDN’T PRAY,

IF WE COULDN’T BEHAVE
THE WAY WE DO --

HAVE OUR SOCIAL CUSTOMS --

AND WE COULDN’T SPEAK,

WE’D VERY QUICKLY
BECOME WHITE PEOPLE,

AND WE WOULD NO LONGER BE
A MILITARY PROBLEM.

SO THE IDEA WAS
"CORRUPT THEM FROM THE INSIDE."

YOU KNOW, "MAKE THEM GIVE UP
WHO THEY ARE."

"IF THEY DON’T TALK
THEIR LANGUAGE,

THEY WON’T PRACTICE
THEIR CULTURE AND RELIGION."

Man: WHAT AMERICANS
WERE TRYING TO DO INITIALLY

WAS TO MOVE INDIANS
OUT OF THE WAY.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME,

THEY’VE PROMISED INDIANS
A PERMANENT EXISTENCE.

RESERVATIONS
WERE GOING TO BE A PLACE

IN WHICH INDIAN PEOPLES
WERE GOING TO BE ALLOWED

TO SLOWLY ADJUST TO THE LARGER
WHITE SOCIETY AROUND THEM.

Narrator: THE LAKOTAS LIVED
IN LOG CABINS NOW,

AS WELL AS TEPEES,

AND THEY WERE EXPECTED
TO FARM.

EVEN SITTING BULL FOUND
HIMSELF AT WORK, HOE IN HAND.

IN AUGUST OF 1883, A DELEGATION
OF UNITED STATES SENATORS

VISITED STANDING ROCK
WITH A PLAN FOR OPENING

PART OF THE RESERVATION
TO WHITE SETTLEMENT.

SITTING BULL PROTESTED BITTERLY.

Sitting Bull:
DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

I WANT TO TELL YOU
THAT IF THE GREAT SPIRIT

HAS CHOSEN ANYONE TO BE
THE CHIEF OF THIS COUNTRY,

IT IS MYSELF.

Man: YOU WERE NOT APPOINTED
BY THE GREAT SPIRIT.

APPOINTMENTS ARE NOT MADE
THAT WAY.

YOU HAVE NO FOLLOWING,
NO POWER, NO CONTROL,

AND NO RIGHT TO ANY CONTROL.

IF IT WERE NOT
FOR THE GOVERNMENT,

YOU WOULD BE FREEZING AND
STARVING TODAY IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Narrator: JUST ACROSS
THE GRAND RIVER FROM HIS CABIN,

SITTING BULL COULD SEE THE SPOT

WHERE HE HAD BEEN BORN INTO
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD.

TO FILL THE EMPTY HOURS,
HE COMPOSED HIS OWN SONG.

"A WARRIOR I HAVE BEEN,"
HE SANG.

"NOW IT IS ALL OVER.

A HARD TIME I HAVE."

UNLEARNED AS YOU MAY
THINK US TO BE,

WE ARE NOT WHOLLY IGNORANT
OF YOUR HISTORY.

WE CHINESE ARE TAUGHT
TO BELIEVE THAT YOUR GOVERNMENT

IS FOUNDED AND CONDUCTED UPON
PRINCIPLES OF PURE JUSTICE,

AND THAT ALL OF EVERY RACE
AND CREED

ARE HERE SURELY PROTECTED

IN PERSON, LIBERTY,
AND PROPERTY--

CHUNG SUN.

Narrator: IN OCTOBER OF 1871,

AN EAGER AND AMBITIOUS YOUNG
CHINESE MAN NAMED CHUNG SUN

ARRIVED IN THE WEST.

HE CARRIED $600 WITH HIM,
AND DREAMED OF STARTING

A TEA PLANTATION
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY,

HE FOUND HIMSELF CAUGHT UP
IN A RIOT IN LOS ANGELES.

[ GLASS SHATTERS ]

IT STARTED AS A QUARREL BETWEEN
TWO CHINESE MEN OVER A WOMAN,

BUT QUICKLY TURNED
INTO AN ARMED STRUGGLE

BETWEEN THE SMALL
CHINESE COMMUNITY

AND THE REST OF THE CITY.

BEFORE IT WAS OVER,
AT LEAST 23 CHINESE IMMIGRANTS

HAD BEEN HANGED, OR STABBED,
OR SHOT TO DEATH.

CHUNG SUN WAS BEATEN
AND ROBBED OF HIS SAVINGS.

THERE WERE MORE THAN
300,000 CHINESE IN THE COUNTRY

BY THE TIME CHUNG SUN ARRIVED,

HELPING TO BUILD
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD,

RUNNING LAUNDRIES
AND RESTAURANTS,

PLANTING VINEYARDS,

AND OPERATING FISHING FLEETS
UP AND DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST.

BUT WHEN DEPRESSION STRUCK,

WHITE WORKERS CAME TO BLAME
THE CHINESE FOR THEIR TROUBLES.

WE INTEND TO TRY
AND VOTE THE CHINAMAN OUT,

TO FRIGHTEN HIM OUT,

AND IF THIS WON’T DO,
TO KILL HIM OUT.

AND WHEN THE BLOW COMES,

WE WON’T LEAVE A FRAGMENT
FOR THE THIEVES TO PICK UP.

THE HEATHEN SLAVES
MUST LEAVE THIS COAST,

IF IT COSTS 10,000 LIVES --

DENIS KEARNEY,
THE WORKINGMEN’S PARTY.

Narrator: ANTI-CHINESE VIOLENCE
BROKE OUT ALL ACROSS THE WEST.

IN ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING,
WHITES MURDERED 28 CHINESE.

IN TACOMA, STATE MILITIA MEN

HAD TO BE CALLED IN
TO RESTORE ORDER.

THE CHINESE IN SEATTLE
WERE ROUNDED UP,

PUSHED ONTO BOATS,
AND FORCED OUT TO SEA.

THE LOS ANGELES RIOT
HAD LEFT CHUNG SUN PENNILESS.

BUT HE HADN’T GIVEN UP.

HE MADE HIS WAY NORTH TO
THE LITTLE TOWN OF WATSONVILLE,

WHERE HE MANAGED TO FIND A JOB
DIGGING DITCHES,

AND LAYING A GAS LINE
FOR $1.50 A DAY.

Chung Sun: BEING A MAN
OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE,

I’M CAPABLE OF OTHER WORK
THAN DIGGING IN THE STREETS.

BUT MY PHILOSOPHY TEACHES ME

ANY USEFUL WORK IS
MORE HONORABLE THAN IDLENESS.

I SHALL THEREFORE,
WITH PATIENCE,

CONTINUE TO DIG WITH AN ABIDING
HOPE FOR SOMETHING BETTER.

Narrator: BUT WHEN THE DITCH
WAS FINISHED,

CHUNG SUN
COULD NOT FIND ANOTHER JOB.

NO ONE WOULD HIRE HIM.

A NEW CALIFORNIA LAW MADE
HIRING A CHINESE WORKER ILLEGAL,

PUNISHABLE BY FINES
AND JAIL TERMS.

THEN, IN 1882, WESTERN
POLITICIANS AND LABOR UNIONS

MANAGED TO PERSUADE CONGRESS TO
PASS THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT.

Man: FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,

THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO
EXCLUDE A GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS

ON THE BASIS OF RACE.

AND IT SET A PRECEDENT NOW,
BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME

YOU HAVE THIS NEW THINKING
INTRODUCED.

WELL, WE CANNOT ONLY DETERMINE
WHO COULD BECOME CITIZENS

IN THIS COUNTRY,

BUT WE COULD DETERMINE WHO
COULD COME TO THIS COUNTRY.

Narrator: THE YEAR BEFORE
THE EXCLUSION ACT PASSED,

NEARLY 40,000 CHINESE
ENTERED THE UNITED STATES.

THE NEXT YEAR,
JUST 23 WERE ALLOWED IN.

BUT CHUNG SUN HAD
HAD ENOUGH OF AMERICA.

HE SET SAIL FOR HOME.

Chung Sun:
I HOPE YOU WILL PARDON

MY EXPRESSING
A PAINFUL DISAPPOINTMENT.

THE ILL-TREATMENT
OF MY OWN COUNTRYMEN

MAY PERHAPS BE EXCUSED
ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE,

COLOR, LANGUAGE, AND RELIGION,

BUT SUCH PREJUDICE CAN ONLY
PREVAIL AMONG THE IGNORANT.

IN CIVILITY AND POLITE MANNERS,
AMERICANS ARE WHOLLY WANTING,

AND ARE VERY
PROPERLY STYLED BARBARIANS.

[ TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ]

Narrator:
AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING,

ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1883,

A 24-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK
ASSEMBLYMAN

STEPPED DOWN FROM THE TRAIN
AT THE LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER

IN THE HEART
OF DAKOTA TERRITORY.

HE HAD ALREADY EARNED A
REPUTATION FOR HIMSELF BACK EAST

AS A NOISY
BUT ENERGETIC REFORMER.

NOW, HE HAD COME WEST
TO BUILD HIMSELF UP

AFTER A BOUT OF CHOLERA,

AND HE WAS DETERMINED
TO SHOOT A BUFFALO

BEFORE THE SPECIES DISAPPEARED.

HIS NAME
WAS THEODORE ROOSEVELT,

AND HE SEEMED
THE QUINTESSENTIAL DUDE --

SHRILL, NEAR-SIGHTED,
HARVARD-EDUCATED,

WHEEZING WITH ASTHMA,

AND INSISTENT UPON
BEING CALLED "MR. ROOSEVELT."

STILL, DESPITE DAY AFTER DAY
OF COLD RAIN SO FIERCE

THAT EVEN HIS SEASONED GUIDE
URGED HIM TO ABANDON THE CHASE,

HE FOUND AND SHOT HIS BUFFALO.

ROOSEVELT FELL IN LOVE
WITH THE WEST,

AND WITH THE PROSPECT OF
QUICK RICHES IT SEEMED TO OFFER

VIRTUALLY FREE OF CHARGE.

HE WAS JUST ONE OF HUNDREDS
OF EAGER ENTREPRENEURS

HOPING TO CASH IN ON THE BEEF
BOOM ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

EVERYTHING SEEMED TO SUGGEST
IT WAS A SURE THING.

Man: A GOOD-SIZED STEER,

WHEN IT IS FIT
FOR THE BUTCHER MARKET,

WILL BRING FROM $45 TO $60.

THE SAME ANIMAL AT ITS BIRTH
WAS WORTH BUT $5.

HE HAS RUN ON THE PLAINS
AND CROPPED THE GRASS

FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
FOR FOUR OR FIVE YEARS,

AND NOW WITH SCARCELY
ANY EXPENSE TO ITS OWNER,

IS WORTH $40 MORE

THAN WHEN HE STARTED
ON HIS PILGRIMAGE.

Narrator: ALL ONE NEEDED TO DO
WAS BUY A HERD

AND TURN IT LOOSE ON GRASSLANDS
THAT SEEMED AS LIMITLESS

AS THE PROFITS THEY PROMISED.

"COTTON WAS ONCE CROWNED KING,"

WROTE A WESTERN NEWSPAPER
EDITOR,

"BUT GRASS IS, NOW."

FORTUNE-SEEKERS FROM ENGLAND,
SCOTLAND, AND EUROPE

INVESTED AFTER READING
NEWSPAPER STORIES

THAT PROCLAIMED ROUTINE PROFITS
OF 40 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR.

MARSHALL FIELD, THE CHICAGO
DRY GOODS KING, BOUGHT A HERD.

SO DID WILLIAM K. VANDERBILT,
THE RAILROAD MAGNATE,

AND JOSEPH GLIDDEN, THE MAN
WHO MANUFACTURED BARBED WIRE.

RICH MEN’S SONS FROM THE EAST

WERE NOTHING NEW
AS FAR I WAS CONCERNED.

THE RANGE IN THE ’80s
WAS AS FULL OF THEM

AS A DOG’S HAIR OF FLEAS.

AND SOME OF THEM
WERE GOOD FELLOWS,

AND SOME WERE DAMN FOOLS --

TEDDY "BLUE" ABBOTT.

Narrator:
BUT FOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT,

THE WEST WAS MUCH MORE
THAN A CHANCE TO GET RICH.

IT WAS ALSO A CHANCE TO ESCAPE
THE SORROWS OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE.

IN 1884, WHEN HIS MOTHER
AND WIFE DIED

WITHIN HOURS OF ONE ANOTHER,

HE DEALT WITH HIS GRIEF

IN LONG, SOLITARY RIDES
ACROSS THE BADLANDS.

Roosevelt: NOWHERE ELSE DOES ONE
FEEL SO FAR OFF FROM MANKIND.

THE PLAINS STRETCH OUT

IN DEPTHLESS
AND MEASURELESS EXPANSE,

AND AS HE JOURNEYS OVER THEM,

THEY WILL FOR MANY MILES

BE LACKING
IN ALL SIGNS OF LIFE.

BLACK CARE RARELY SITS
BEHIND A RIDER

WHOSE PACE IS FAST ENOUGH.

Narrator: OVER THE COURSE
OF THREE SUMMERS

ON HIS DAKOTA RANCHES,
ROOSEVELT ROUNDED UP CATTLE,

HUNTED DOWN RUSTLERS, AND
REVELED IN THE RUGGED LANDSCAPE

AND EQUALLY RUGGED LIFE.

Roosevelt: LIKE ALL AMERICANS,
I LIKE BIG THINGS --

BIG PRAIRIES,
BIG FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS,

BIG WHEAT FIELDS, RAILROADS,
AND HERDS OF CATTLE, TOO.

I AM MYSELF AT HEART AS MUCH
A WESTERNER AS AN EASTERNER.

Narrator: IN THE WEST, ROOSEVELT
HAD TRANSFORMED HIMSELF.

"HERE," HE SAID LATER,
"THE ROMANCE OF MY LIFE BEGAN."

♪ No tiene dicha luna ♪

♪ si no estás tú ♪

Man: IT WAS THE CUSTOM
OF THE TOWN OF LOS ANGELES,

AND ALL OF THE FAMILIES
OF THE EARLY SETTLERS,

FOR THE OLDEST MEMBER
OF THE FAMILY

TO RISE EVERY MORNING

AT THE RISING
OF THE MORNING STAR,

AND AT ONCE
TO STRIKE UP A HYMN.

FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE,
STREET TO STREET,

THE SINGING SPREAD

AND THE VOLUME OF
MUSICAL SOUND SWELLED,

UNTIL IT WAS AS IF
THE WHOLE TOWN SANG.

Narrator: TO THE CASUAL VISITOR,
LOS ANGELES IN THE 1870s

SEEMED MUCH AS IT HAD BEEN
WHEN THE UNITED STATES

HAD TAKEN CALIFORNIA
FROM MEXICO IN 1846 --

AN OLD, HISPANIC FARMING TOWN

WITH A POPULATION
OF FEWER THAN 10,000 PEOPLE.

BUT LIFE
FOR ITS NATIVE INHABITANTS

HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO CHANGE.

BULLFIGHTS AND BEAR BAITING
HAD BEEN OUTLAWED.

BASEBALL HAD BECOME
THE CITY’S MOST POPULAR SPORT.

POLITICAL POWER
HAD LONG SINCE PASSED

FROM THE OLD CALIFORNIO FAMILIES
INTO THE HANDS OF ANGLOS.

THEN, THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC
RAILROAD AND ITS COMPETITOR,

THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA,
AND SANTA FE,

BUILT THE FIRST RAILROAD LINES
INTO LOS ANGELES

AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN
A FARE WAR.

FOR A TIME,
PASSENGERS COULD MAKE IT

ALL THE WAY TO LOS ANGELES
FROM ST. LOUIS

FOR AS LITTLE AS $1.

Man: THE PURITY OF THE AIR
OF LOS ANGELES IS REMARKABLE.

VEGETATION DRIES UP
BEFORE IT DIES

AND HARDLY EVER SEEMS TO DECAY.

MEAT, SUSPENDED IN THE SUN,
DRIES UP, BUT NEVER ROTS.

THE AIR, WHEN INHALED,
GIVES TO THE INDIVIDUAL

A STIMULUS AND VITAL FORCE

WHICH ONLY AN ATMOSPHERE
SO PURE CAN EVER COMMUNICATE.

Narrator: NOW, EASTERNERS
AND MIDWESTERNERS

DRAWN BY REPORTS
OF WARM SUNSHINE AND CHEAP LAND

BEGAN ARRIVING
IN LARGER AND LARGER NUMBERS --

120,000 IN 1887 ALONE.

SPECULATORS POURED IN -- SO
MANY THE HOTELS RAN OUT OF BEDS,

AND RENTED THEM BATHTUBS
TO SLEEP IN.

IN JUST 2 1/2 YEARS,

60 NEW TOWNS WERE FOUNDED
IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

BY 1890, THE ANGLO POPULATION
OF LOS ANGELES

WAS FIVE TIMES LARGER THAN IT
HAD BEEN JUST 10 YEARS BEFORE,

AND THE TOWN’S
MEXICAN-AMERICAN HEART,

NOW KNOWN AS THE BARRIO,
HAD BEEN SURROUNDED.

Man: THE CHANGE WAS SO DRASTIC,

WE HAD TO TURN INWARD

AND FIND THE STRENGTH
WITHIN OUR FAMILIES --

A CIRCLE OF SAFETY TO
PRESERVE OUR TRADITIONAL WAYS.

AND ONE WAY TO DO THAT IS TO

FALL BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY,

INTO THE FAMILY,
INTO THE BARRIO,

AND TRY TO HANG ON TO WHAT
YOU HAVE OF YOUR HISTORY.

THERE’S MUSIC,
PEOPLE WALK IN THE STREETS,

PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER --

YOU BELONG IN A BARRIO,

AND YOU’RE PROUD OF YOUR BARRIO.

WHAT’S OUTSIDE IS AN ALIEN LAND,

WHERE THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN
MAKES A DIFFERENCE,

WHERE THE WAY YOU SPEAK
MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

IN THE BARRIO,
THAT DOESN’T MATTER, YOU KNOW?

YOU’RE ACCEPTED.

AND OUT THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD.

I TELL YOU THAT MORMONISM

IS ONE GREAT SURGE
OF LICENTIOUSNESS.

IT IS THE BROTHEL
OF THE NATION.

IT IS HELL ENTHRONED.

THIS MISERABLE CORPSE
OF MORMONISM

HAS BEEN ROTTING IN THE SUN,

AND ROTTING,
AND ROTTING FOR 40 YEARS,

AND THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT

HAS NOT HAD THE COURAGE
TO BURY IT --

REVEREND T. DeWITT TALMAGE.

Narrator: THE SAME YEAR

THAT THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
WAS PASSED,

CONGRESS ALSO TOOK ACTION
AGAINST THE MORMONS OF UTAH.

FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY,
THEY HAD STRUGGLED

TO CARVE OUT THEIR OWN
UNIQUE SOCIETY IN THE WEST,

RESISTING FEDERAL CONTROL
AT EVERY TURN.

THE CHURCH OWNED THE
TERRITORY’S BIGGEST BUSINESSES,

HAD ITS OWN POLITICAL PARTY,

AND OFTEN CARRIED OUT
ITS OWN LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS

IN DEFIANCE OF FEDERAL JUDGES.

BUT CONGRESS’ MAIN TARGET
WAS THE MORMON PRACTICE

OF PLURAL MARRIAGE.

NOW, POLYGAMY WAS DECLARED
A FEDERAL CRIME.

POLYGAMISTS WERE BARRED
FROM VOTING, HOLDING OFFICE,

AND SERVING ON JURIES.

AND THOSE FOUND GUILTY
OF THE PRACTICE

COULD BE SENTENCED
TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON.

MANY MORMON FAMILIES
FLED TO CANADA OR TO MEXICO.

OTHERS STAYED AT HOME
AND TOOK THEIR CHANCES.

Udall: THE THING TO KEEP IN
MIND IS THAT

POLYGAMY WAS A SACRED CALLING,

THAT THIS WAS
A COMMANDMENT OF GOD,

THAT THEY WERE FULFILLING A VERY
IMPORTANT CHURCH PRINCIPLE

IN DOING THIS, AND THAT WAS
MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LAW.

NOT THAT THEY HAD
CONTEMPT FOR THE LAW, BUT

THEY WOULD DO IT BECAUSE
THEY BELIEVED IT WAS RIGHT.

Narrator: TWO MONTHS AFTER
POLYGAMY BECAME A FELONY,

DAVID KING UDALL, A PROMINENT,
30-YEAR-OLD MORMON

IN CHARGE OF A NEW COLONY
IN ARIZONA,

MARRIED HIS SECOND WIFE,
IDA HUNT.

TODAY I HAVE MADE

THE MOST SOLEMN VOWS AND
OBLIGATIONS OF MY LIFE.

MARRIAGE,
UNDER ORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES,

IS A GRAVE AND IMPORTANT STEP,

BUT ENTERING
INTO PLURAL MARRIAGE

IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES
IS DOUBLY SO --

IDA HUNT UDALL.

THE PERSECUTIONS
BECAME UNBEARABLE.

A NEWSPAPER WAS PUBLISHED,
WHOSE SOLE MISSION

WAS TO MISREPRESENT
AND VILIFY OUR PEOPLE.

EVERY ISSUE CONTAINED LOW,
VULGAR ARTICLES.

MY NAME FREQUENTLY CAME OUT
IN GLOWING COLORS,

CALLING ME A PROSTITUTE,
MISTRESS, ET CETERA.

Narrator: ON JULY 10, 1884,

TWO MONTHS AFTER LEARNING
SHE WAS PREGNANT,

IDA WAS TOLD THAT FEDERAL
MARSHALS WERE IN ARIZONA

ARRESTING MEN AND SERVING THEIR
PLURAL WIVES WITH SUBPOENAS.

UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS,
SHE SLIPPED OUT OF TOWN

AND ENTERED WHAT THE MORMONS
CALLED "THE UNDERGROUND,"

SHUTTLING FROM ONE HIDING PLACE
TO ANOTHER,

OFTEN USING ASSUMED NAMES

WHILE SHE WAS HARBORED
BY CHURCH MEMBERS.

AFTER BEING SEPARATED
FROM HER FAMILY

FOR MORE THAN HALF A YEAR,

SHE LEARNED THROUGH A NEWSPAPER
THAT HER MOTHER HAD DIED.

THAT SAME DAY,
SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER.

Ida: DEAR DAVID,
TODAY I HAVE HAD A LETTER

SAYING THAT THE APOSTLES
WILL NOT CONSENT

FOR ME TO RETURN TO ARIZONA,

AND SAY THAT I MUST LOSE
MYSELF AGAIN IF POSSIBLE.

OH, DADE, I NEVER MISSED YOU
AS I DO TONIGHT.

THE WORLD SEEMS SO LONELY,

SO LOVELESS WITHOUT YOU.

HOW LONG WILL THE LORD REQUIRE
HIS POOR, WEAK CHILDREN

TO BE THUS TRIED?

David: MY DEAR GIRL, BETTER THAT
I HAD SUFFERED IMPRISONMENT

THAN TO HAVE YOU
GOING BY ANOTHER NAME

AND RUNNING HERE AND THERE
FOR FEAR OF BEING KNOWN.

IT TOUCHES THE MANLY FEELINGS
OF ANY MAN TO SUCH A DEGREE

THAT IT IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE.

GOD BLESS YOU
IN YOUR WANDERING.

Ida: FEBRUARY 26, 1886.

AS I WRITE,
PAULINE IS LAYING IN BED,

LAUGHING, TALKING,
AND BITING HER TOES.

DEAR, LITTLE REFUGEE --
HOW SHE WOULD LOVE HER PAPA,

IF SHE COULD EVER HAVE
THE PRIVILEGE

OF MAKING HIS ACQUAINTANCE.

BUT HOW UTTERLY SHE IS
EXILED FROM HIS HEART,

FOR IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE
A CHILD WHOM YOU NEVER SEE.

Narrator: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
INTENSIFIED ITS PRESSURE

ON THE MORMONS.

MORE LEADERS WERE SENT TO JAIL.

ALL MORMONS,
POLYGAMISTS OR NOT,

WERE TO BE PROHIBITED
FROM VOTING.

FEDERAL MARSHALS THREATENED
TO CONFISCATE CHURCH PROPERTY.

Udall: THE CHURCH WAS BEING
DRIVEN TOWARDS BANKRUPTCY.

IT WAS CLEAR THEY HAD
TO MAKE A CHANGE,

AND I THINK THIS WAS
A VERY PRAGMATIC DECISION,

TO SAY, "POLYGAMY IS DRAGGING
THE CHURCH DOWN,

AND WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO
GIVE IT UP."

Narrator: FINALLY, THE CHURCH
PRESIDENT, WILFORD WOODRUFF,

RETIRED TO HIS STUDY
IN SALT LAKE CITY

AND EMERGED WITH A REVELATION.

HE ADVISED ALL MORMONS
TO OBEY CONGRESS

AND REFRAIN FROM ENTERING
INTO PLURAL MARRIAGES.

HE AND THE OTHER MORMON LEADERS
NOW BELIEVED

THEIR BEST HOPE
LAY IN STATEHOOD.

TO WIN IT, THEY DISBANDED
THE CHURCH’S POLITICAL PARTY,

DIVESTED THEMSELVES OF MOST
OF THE CHURCH’S BUSINESSES,

AND DREW UP A STATE CONSTITUTION

THAT FINALLY SEPARATED
CHURCH FROM STATE,

AND OUTLAWED POLYGAMY.

ON JANUARY 6, 1896,

UTAH, WHICH HAD BEEN FOUNDED AS
A REFUGE FROM THE UNITED STATES,

WAS ADMITTED TO THE UNION
AS THE 45th STATE.

IDA HUNT UDALL
SPENT 2 1/2 YEARS IN EXILE.

DAVID, WHO REFUSED TO GIVE UP
EITHER OF HIS WIVES,

HAD GONE TO JAIL FOR A TIME.

BUT HIS AND IDA’S COMMITMENT
TO THEIR BELIEFS AND EACH OTHER

NEVER WAVERED.

THEY WERE FINALLY REUNITED, AND
HAD FIVE MORE CHILDREN TOGETHER,

THREE OF THEM AFTER THE MORMON
CHURCH RENOUNCED POLYGAMY.

Ida: THE CHURCH COULD NOT UNDO
WHAT HAD BEEN DONE

IN PRACTICING PLURAL MARRIAGE.

THE LORD TOOK CARE OF US, AND
WILL CONTINUE TO CARE FOR US.

THOSE WHO LIVE THAT
ORDER OF MARRIAGE RIGHTEOUSLY

WILL HAVE GLORY
ADDED TO THEIR POSTERITY.

Man: THERE’S A SENSE

IN THE WHOLE LATE
19th-CENTURY UNITED STATES

THAT THE COUNTRY
CAN BE MADE INTO

A SINGLE, UNIFIED,
COHERENT PLACE.

AND AT THE SAME TIME,

THERE’S A SENSE THAT YOU’RE
GOING TO MAKE IT INTO --

IN THIS 19th-CENTURY PHRASE --
A WHITE MAN’S COUNTRY.

AND THE WEST
IS A VERY MIXED PLACE.

IT’S FULL OF CHINESE,
IT’S FULL OF MORMONS,

IT’S FULL OF MEXICANS WHO
HAVE BECOME MEXICAN-AMERICANS,

IT’S FULL OF INDIAN PEOPLES.

AND THE QUESTION BECOMES, "WHAT
ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THEM?"

LET US FORGET ONCE
AND FOREVER THE WORD "INDIAN"

AND ALL THAT IT
HAS SIGNIFIED IN THE PAST,

AND REMEMBER ONLY
THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH

SO MANY CHILDREN
OF A COMMON FATHER --

CHARLES C. PAINTER.

Narrator:
IN THE AUTUMN OF 1883,

A GROUP OF WHITE PEOPLE GATHERED
AT THE MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE

IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

THEY WERE CLERGYMEN, GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS, SOCIAL WORKERS,

AND ALTHOUGH SOME OF THEM

HAD NEVER BEEN TO THE WEST,
OR ACTUALLY MET AN INDIAN,

THEY WERE CONVINCED THEY KNEW
HOW TO BRING NATIVE AMERICANS

INTO THE MAINSTREAM
OF AMERICAN LIFE.

THE DECISIONS THEY WOULD MAKE
WOULD CHANGE THE LIVES

OF ALL THE INDIAN PEOPLES
OF THE WEST, FOREVER.

White: THE NAME REFORMERS
HAD FOR THEMSELVES

WAS "FRIENDS OF THE INDIANS."

IT’S A VERY REVEALING NAME.

WHAT THEY SAW THEMSELVES
AS DOING

WAS SHARING THE BLESSINGS
OF CHRISTIANITY

AND THE BLESSINGS
OF MODERN CIVILIZATION

WITH PEOPLE
WHO DID NOT YET HAVE IT.

THEY WERE GOING
TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS.

THEY WERE GOING
TO RAISE THEM UP

TO THE LEVEL OF OTHERS
IN AMERICAN SOCIETY.

AND THEY WERE GOING TO TRY
TO ABSORB THEM

INTO WHAT THEY SAW
AS THE BEST QUALITIES

OF AMERICAN PROTESTANT
CIVILIZATION.

AND, AS THEY SAW IT,
WHO COULD ARGUE WITH THAT?

Narrator:
THE "FRIENDS OF THE INDIAN"

WANTED TO TRANSFORM
THE YOUNGEST GENERATION

AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE.

INDIAN CHILDREN
AS YOUNG AS FIVE

WERE TO BE TAKEN
FROM THEIR FAMILIES

AND SENT HALFWAY ACROSS
THE CONTINENT

TO THE UNITED STATES INDIAN
TRAINING AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

AT CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Woman: IT WAS A MILITARY SCHOOL, AND

THEY WERE TRYING TO MAKE
WHITE PEOPLE OUT OF THEM.

THEN, WHEN THEY TOOK THE
CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE MOTHERS,

THEY JUST KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER
SEE THEIR CHILDREN ANY MORE.

AND THEN THEY DIDN’T THINK ABOUT
SCHOOL, THEY WERE THINKING

THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT
THEY REALLY WENT TO SCHOOL

OR WERE GOING TO BE KILLED.

OUR BELONGINGS
WERE TAKEN FROM US,

EVEN THE LITTLE MEDICINE BAGS
OUR MOTHERS HAD GIVEN US

TO PROTECT US FROM HARM.

EVERYTHING WAS PLACED IN A HEAP
AND SET AFIRE --

LONE WOLF.

Woman: ALL THE BOYS IN OUR
SCHOOL WERE GIVEN ENGLISH NAMES

BECAUSE THEIR INDIAN NAMES

WERE DIFFICULT FOR THE TEACHERS
TO PRONOUNCE.

BESIDES, THE ABORIGINAL NAMES
WERE CONSIDERED

BY THE MISSIONARIES
AS "HEATHENISH."

AND SO, IN THE PLACE
OF TAE-NOO-GA-WA-ZHE

CAME "PHILIP SHERIDAN."

AND THAT OF WA-PAH-DAE,
"ULYSSES S. GRANT."

Narrator: WITHIN 20 YEARS,

THERE WERE 24
OTHER OFF-RESERVATION SCHOOLS,

LIKE CARLISLE,

AND 81 BOARDING SCHOOLS AND 147
DAY SCHOOLS ON THE RESERVATIONS.

DOG CREEK, FOREST GROVE,
POCATELLO,

FORT DEFIANCE, FORT CONCHO.

DESPITE THEIR GRIM REALITY,
MANY INDIANS SAW THEM

AS THE BEST AVAILABLE WAY
TO PREPARE THEIR CHILDREN

FOR A NEW LIFE
IN THE WHITE MAN’S WORLD.

EVEN SITTING BULL MADE SURE HIS
CHILDREN WERE SENT TO SCHOOL,

INCLUDING HIS SON CROW FOOT,

WHO HAD SURRENDERED
HIS FATHER’S RIFLE TO THE ARMY

AT FORT BUFORD.

ALL INDIAN SCHOOLS
SHARED THE SAME GOAL --

"EDUCATION," SAID ONE REFORMER,

"SHOULD SEEK THE DISINTEGRATION
OF THE TRIBES.

"THEY SHOULD BE EDUCATED
NOT AS INDIANS,

BUT AS AMERICANS."

EVEN IF ONE WAS SUCCESSFUL
AT INDIAN SCHOOL --

LET’S SAY THAT ONE WENT OFF
TO CARLISLE AND GRADUATED

AND CAME BACK.

WHAT PLACE DID THAT MAN HAVE

IN A SOCIETY
THAT HAD NOT CHANGED?

THAT DIDN’T NEED
TO HAVE SOMEBODY

THAT KNEW HOW TO PLAY THE FRENCH
HORN OR DO THE IRISH JIG.

THEY HAD NO VALUE
IN THAT SOCIETY.

ONE OF...I THINK ONE
OF THE CONTRASTS WAS,

WHAT KIND OF SHOE DO YOU WEAR?

YOU KNOW, DO YOU WEAR A MOCCASIN

OR DO YOU WEAR
THE WHITE MAN’S SHOE?

Woman: YES,
THEY TOOK OUR DIALECT AWAY.

WHEN I WENT TO CONCHO --

MY LITTLE FRIENDS --
WE ALL SPOKE OUR DIALECT.

AND WE WERE TOLD NOT TO TALK IT.
SPEAK ENGLISH.

SO OUR MATRON,
A BIG, HUSKY WHITE LADY --

HER NAME WAS GARRETT --

WHEN SOMEBODY SAID,
"MOTHER GARRETT’S COMING,"

WE ALL TRIED TO KEEP QUIET,
BUT SHE HEARD ME.

MOTHER GARRETT JERKED ME
BY THE COLLAR OF MY DRESS

AND DRUG ME IN THE BATHROOM.

THAT LYE SOAP WAS ABOUT THAT BIG
AND ABOUT THAT HIGH.

SHE BROKE OFF A PIECE, AND SHE
WASHED MY MOUTH WITH LYE SOAP.

SHE SAID, "DON’T YOU EVER SPEAK
INDIAN AGAIN...

OR I’M GOING
TO WASH YOUR MOUTH AGAIN."

AND MY TONGUE GOT BLISTERED
FROM THAT LYE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]

[ CHANTING CONTINUES ]

THE ZUNI FAITH IS
AS A DROP OF OIL IN WATER --

SURROUNDED AND TOUCHED
AT EVERY POINT,

YET IN NO PLACE PENETRATED
OR CHANGED INWARDLY

BY THE FLOOD OF ALIEN BELIEF
THAT DESCENDED UPON IT.

THE ZUNI ADJUSTS OTHER BELIEFS
AND OPINIONS TO HIS OWN,

BUT NEVER HIS OWN BELIEFS
AND OPINIONS TO OTHERS.

IN RELIGIOUS CULTURE,

THE ZUNI IS ALMOST THE SAME AS
ERE HIS LAND WAS DISCOVERED --

FRANK CUSHING.

Narrator: IN 1879,
A FRAIL BUT EAGER 22-YEAR-OLD

NAMED FRANK HAMILTON CUSHING

ARRIVED AT THE ZUNI PUEBLO
IN NEW MEXICO.

THREE AND A HALF CENTURIES
EARLIER, THE ZUNIS

HAD BEEN AMONG THE FIRST INDIANS
OF THE WEST TO MEET A EUROPEAN,

THE EXPLORER, CORONADO, WHO HAD
STORMED THEIR VILLAGE IN 1540.

CUSHING HAD ARRIVED FOR
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REASON.

HE HAD BEEN FASCINATED
BY TALES OF INDIANS

EVER SINCE HE HAD DISCOVERED
AN ARROWHEAD

NEAR HIS HOME
IN CENTRAL NEW YORK AS A BOY.

NOW, HE WAS PART
OF THE FIRST EXPEDITION

OF THE NEWLY FORMED
U.S. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

SENT TO SURVEY INDIAN TRIBES
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE,

ON THE BELIEF
THAT NATIVE AMERICANS

AND THEIR CUSTOMS
WERE ABOUT TO DISAPPEAR.

TO THE SHOCK
OF HIS EASTERN COMPANIONS,

CUSHING IMMEDIATELY MOVED IN
TO ONE OF THE INDIANS’ HOMES,

AND ANNOUNCED
HE INTENDED TO STAY.

"THE BEST WAY
TO UNDERSTAND INDIANS," HE SAID,

"WAS TO LIVE THE WAY THEY DID."

CUSHING LEARNED POTTERY MAKING,

COOKING,
AND THE ZUNIS’ LANGUAGE.

HE WORE ZUNI CLOTHING,
GREW HIS HAIR LONG,

HAD HIS EARS PIERCED,
AND ADOPTED A ZUNI NAME --

TENATSALI -- "MEDICINE FLOWER."

THE ZUNIS ACCEPTED CUSHING

INTO THEIR SACRED PRIESTHOOD
OF THE BOW,

BUT ONLY AFTER HE WENT THROUGH

THE LENGTHY
AND TORTUOUS INITIATION,

WHICH INCLUDED DAYS OF FASTING,

SITTING MOTIONLESS
ON A HILL OF FIRE ANTS,

AND TAKING AN ENEMY’S SCALP.

CUSHING WAS NOW AN INFLUENTIAL
MEMBER OF THE TRIBE.

HE TOOK PART IN THEIR COUNCILS,

AND HE JOINED A WAR PARTY
AGAINST NAVAJO RAIDERS,

ENRAGING THE NAVAJOS’
INDIAN AGENT.

MR. GALEN EASTMAN,
NAVAJO INDIAN AGENCY,

FORT DEFIANCE,
ARIZONA TERRITORY.

SIR, IT IS QUITE TRUE
THAT I FIRED NOT TWICE,

BUT THREE TIMES INTO TWO
DIFFERENT BANDS OF HORSES

BELONGING
TO THE NAVAJO INDIANS.

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT,
AS I INTENDED,

I KILLED ONE OR TWO OF THEM,

ALTHOUGH OF THIS,
I CANNOT BE CERTAIN.

REST ASSURED, SIR,

THAT WHEN ALL OF OUR GRIEVANCES
ARE SET RIGHT BY THE NAVAJOS,

WE SHALL BE THEN VERY READY
TO SAY "AMEN"

AND TO ACT ALL THINGS ARIGHT
ON OUR SIDE.

VERY RESPECTFULLY,
YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT --

F.H. CUSHING,
1st WAR CHIEF OF ZUNI,

U.S. ASSISTANT ETHNOLOGIST.

Narrator:
CUSHING CONTINUED TO QUARREL

WITH MISSIONARIES
AND INDIAN AGENTS

INTENT ON CHANGING THE ZUNIS.

BUT WHEN HE EXPOSED A SCHEME

BY RELATIVES
OF A POWERFUL U.S. SENATOR

TO BUILD A RANCH ON ZUNI LAND,

HIS SUPERIORS
ORDERED HIM BACK HOME.

HE HAD BEEN SENT TO STUDY
THE ZUNIS -- NOT BECOME ONE.

IN 1884,
CUSHING RETURNED TO WASHINGTON.

MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY LATER,
IN 1938,

AN ARCHEOLOGIST REPORTED
THAT OLDER ZUNI PEOPLE,

NOT KNOWING THAT CUSHING
HAD DIED IN 1900,

STILL WONDERED WHY THEIR
GOOD FRIEND MEDICINE FLOWER

HAD NEVER RETURNED.

IN 1886, THE ONLY NEW RANGE
LEFT IN MONTANA

WAS NORTH
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC

WAS RUNNING
THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA.

AND THE SETTLERS
HAD COME IN SO THICK,

THEY WAS CROWDING
THE CATTLEMEN EVERYWHERE,

CAUSING THE RANGE
TO BE OVERSTOCKED --

TEDDY "BLUE" ABBOTT.

Narrator: BY THE SUMMER OF 1886,

THE ONCE BOOMING CATTLE BUSINESS
WAS IN TROUBLE.

7 1/2 MILLION HUNGRY CATTLE
WERE NOW COMPETING FOR GRASSES

WHICH EVERY YEAR GREW LESS
PLENTIFUL FROM OVERGRAZING.

IN SOME PLACES
WHERE IT HAD ONCE TAKEN

JUST FIVE ACRES OF LAND
TO SUPPORT A STEER,

IT NOW TOOK MORE THAN 90.

BIG HERDS OF VORACIOUS SHEEP

WERE BEGINNING TO MOVE
ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE.

AND FARMERS WERE APPEARING,
TURNING GRASSLANDS INTO FIELDS,

PUTTING UP BARBED WIRE FENCES,
DRIVING CATTLE FROM THEIR CROPS.

MEANWHILE,
BEEF PRICES WERE DROPPING.

THE SUMMER OF 1886
WAS HOT AND DRY.

ON THE OVERGRAZED RANGES,
THE CATTLE GREW THIN AND WEAK.

THEN CAME WINTER.

Man: IN NOVEMBER,
WE HAD SEVERAL SNOW STORMS.

AND I SAW THE FIRST WHITE OWLS
I HAVE EVER SEEN.

THE INDIANS SAID
THEY WERE A BAD SIGN --

"HEAP SNOW COMING, VERY COLD."

IT GOT COLDER AND COLDER.

IT WAS HELL...WITHOUT THE HEAT.

Narrator:
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,

IT BEGAN SNOWING
ON NOVEMBER 13, 1886,

AND DID NOT STOP FOR A MONTH.

THE CATTLE STRUGGLED
TO STAY ALIVE,

NOSING THROUGH THE SNOW

IN SEARCH OF
WHAT LITTLE GRASS REMAINED.

JANUARY, 1887,
WAS THE COLDEST MONTH

ANYONE ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS
COULD RECALL.

"THE SNOW FELL SO HARD
DURING ONE 72-HOUR BLIZZARD,"

A SURVIVOR WROTE,

"THAT IT SEEMED

"AS IF ALL THE WORLD’S ICE,
FROM TIME’S BEGINNINGS,

"HAD COME ON A WIND

WHICH HOWLED AND SCREAMED
WITH THE FURY OF DEMONS."

Man: IT WAS ALL SO SLOW,

PLUNGING AFTER THEM
THROUGH THE DEEP SNOW THAT WAY.

THE HORSES’ FEET WERE CUT AND
BLEEDING FROM THE HEAVY CRUST,

AND THE CATTLE HAD
THE HAIR AND HIDE

WORE OFF THEIR LEGS
TO THE KNEES AND THE HOCKS.

AND IT WAS SURELY HELL

TO SEE BIG 4-YEAR-OLD STEERS
JUST ABLE TO STAGGER ALONG.

Narrator: THE UNSHELTERED,
HELPLESS CATTLE BEGAN TO DIE.

SOME, TOO WEAK TO STAND,

WERE SIMPLY BLOWN OVER
BY THE SAVAGE WIND.

OTHERS, THEIR FEET FROZEN
INTO THE ICE, DIED LIKE STATUES.

WHEN THE SNOW AND ICE
FINALLY BEGAN TO MELT,

CATTLEMEN UNDERSTOOD
FOR THE FIRST TIME

THE MAGNITUDE
OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

DEAD ANIMALS WERE EVERYWHERE --
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF THEM --

SPRAWLED ACROSS THE HILLSIDES
AND ALONG FENCE LINES.

HEAPED AT THE BOTTOM OF COULEES,
WHERE THE SNOW HAD TRAPPED THEM,

SWOLLEN AND BOBBING
IN THE RUSHING RIVERS.

Man: I SAW COUNTLESS CARCASSES
OF CATTLE

GOING DOWN WITH THE ICE,

ROLLING OVER AND OVER
AS THEY WENT,

SOMETIMES WITH ALL FOUR
STIFFENED LEGS POINTED SKYWARD.

FOR DAYS ON END, TEARING DOWN
WITH THE GRINDING ICE CAKES,

WENT DEATH’S CATTLE ROUNDUP.

Narrator: RANCHERS SCOURED
THE PRAIRIES FOR SURVIVORS.

"THE FIRST DAY I RODE OUT,"
ONE REMEMBERED,

"I NEVER SAW A LIVE ANIMAL."

CATTLEMEN WOULD REMEMBER
THE WINTER OF 1886-1887

AS THE GREAT "DIE UP."

IN THE END, THE ONLY MEN
WHO MADE MUCH MONEY

ON THE NORTHERN CATTLE RANGES
THAT SPRING WERE SCAVENGERS,

GATHERING BONES TO SELL
TO FERTILIZER COMPANIES.

LIKE THE HOMESTEADERS,
WHO HAD LEARNED

THAT THEY COULD NOT CHANGE
THE CLIMATE OF THE WEST,

THE RANCHERS WHO HAD RUSHED IN
DURING THE BEEF BONANZA,

HAD LEARNED
THEY COULD NOT IGNORE IT.

IN ITS PRESENT FORM,
STOCK RAISING ON THE PLAINS

IS DOOMED AND CAN HARDLY
OUTLAST THE CENTURY.

AND WE, WHO HAVE FELT THE CHARM
OF THE LIFE,

AND HAVE EXALTED
IN ITS ABOUNDING VIGOR

AND ITS BOLD, RESTLESS FREEDOM,

MUST ALSO FEEL REAL SORROW
THAT THOSE WHO COME AFTER US

ARE NOT TO SEE,
AS WE HAVE SEEN,

WHAT IS PERHAPS
THE PLEASANTEST, HEALTHIEST,

AND MOST EXCITING PHASE
OF AMERICAN EXISTENCE --

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

[ GUNSHOTS ]

[ BANJO VERSION OF "STARS
AND STRIPES FOREVER" PLAYS ]

Man: THE SHOW IS WORTH SEEING.

IT IS WORTH ANYBODY’S WHILE TO
PUT HIMSELF INTO SOME TROUBLE

TO GO AND SEE IT.

A BETTER IDEA OF THE DANGERS
PIONEERS CONFRONT,

OF THE RESOURCES AND SKILL
THAT DIFFICULTIES BRING OUT,

OF THE WAY
IN WHICH THE WILD WEST

HAS BEEN SETTLED AND CIVILIZED,

CAN BE OBTAINED FROM ONE VISIT
TO THIS EXHIBITION

THAN BY READING A SCORE
OF HISTORIES

AND A CARTLOAD OF DESCRIPTIONS.

Narrator: FOR 30 YEARS --
TWICE A DAY, 6 DAYS A WEEK,

FROM CHICAGO TO PHILADELPHIA,
PARIS TO MUNICH --

BUFFALO BILL BROUGHT HIS GAUDY
VERSION OF THE WILD WEST

TO THE WORLD.

WILLIAM F. CODY

HAD DONE NEARLY EVERYTHING
A MAN COULD DO IN THE WEST.

HE’D BEEN A GOLD SEEKER,
BUFFALO HUNTER, CATTLE RANCHER,

AND INDIAN FIGHTER.

BUT, MOST OF ALL,
HE WAS A SUPERB PROMOTER,

OF THE WEST AND OF HIMSELF.

ON STATEN ISLAND ONE SUMMER,

A MILLION PEOPLE
ATTENDED HIS SHOWS.

ANOTHER MILLION PAID TO SEE HIM
THAT WINTER

AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.

"EACH SEEN IS INSTRUCTIVE,"
ONE ADVERTISEMENT PROMISED,

"A YEAR’S VISIT WEST
IN THREE HOURS."

[ APPLAUSE ]

IN EVERY PERFORMANCE,

A WAGON TRAIN
WAS RAIDED BY INDIANS...

AND SAVED BY BUFFALO BILL.

A SETTLER’S CABIN
WAS ATTACKED...

AND SAVED BY BUFFALO BILL.

THERE WERE PONY EXPRESS RIDERS,
A BUFFALO HUNT,

MEXICAN VAQUEROS DISPLAYING
THEIR SKILL WITH THE LASSO,

AND THE AUTHENTIC
DEADWOOD STAGE COACH,

SURROUNDED BY INDIANS
AND SAVED...

BY BUFFALO BILL.

BUT THE GRAND FINALE
WAS A RE-ENACTMENT

OF THE BATTLE
OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN,

SHOWING
WITH "HISTORICAL ACCURACY,"

THE HANDBILLS CLAIMED, THE SCENE
OF CUSTER’S LAST STAND.

[ AUDIENCE GASPS AND GROANS ]

AND, AT THE END,
THERE WAS BUFFALO BILL HIMSELF,

IN THE CENTER
OF THE BATTLEFIELD,

WHILE BEHIND HIM THE WORDS
"TOO LATE"

WERE PROJECTED ONTO A SCREEN.

CROWDS
COULDN’T GET ENOUGH OF IT.

EVEN LIBBY CUSTER, WHO HAD BEEN
WIDOWED BY THE ACTUAL EVENT,

PROCLAIMED IT,

"THE MOST REALISTIC
AND FAITHFUL REPRESENTATION

OF A WESTERN LIFE
THAT HAS CEASED TO BE."

SHE CAME BACK
TO SEE IT MANY TIMES.

"IT WAS," THE SHOWMEN BOASTED,

"A NOISY, RATTLING,
GUN POWDER ENTERTAINMENT."

FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
ALL OVER THE WORLD,

WILLIAM F. CODY HAD BECOME
THE EMBODIMENT OF THE WEST.

White: BUFFALO BILL, I THINK,
IS THE ONE TRUE GENIUS

THE 19th-CENTURY WEST
REALLY PRODUCED.

BUFFALO BILL IS AN INCREDIBLE
SELF-CREATION.

AND WHAT BUFFALO BILL KNEW ABOUT
THE WEST IS THAT, IN FACT,

IT GAVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY
TO MAKE YOURSELF OVER,

AND THEN ONCE
YOU’VE MADE A ROLE FOR YOURSELF,

TO INHABIT IT.

THE LINES BETWEEN REALITY --
THE LIVED EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST

AND THE MYTHIC WEST THAT BUFFALO
BILL PORTRAYED FOR A LIVING --

BECOME VERY, VERY BLURRED.

Narrator: IN 1885, SITTING BULL
HIMSELF JOINED THE ENTOURAGE.

BILLED AS THE "SLAYER
OF GENERAL CUSTER,"

HE WAS PAID $50 A WEEK
AND RESERVED THE RIGHT

TO PROFIT DIRECTLY FROM THE SALE

OF AUTOGRAPHS AND PICTURES
OF HIMSELF.

THE AGING CHIEF WAS REQUIRED

ONLY TO RIDE AROUND THE ARENA
ONCE A SHOW, AND AFTERWARDS,

TO SIGN HIS NAME
FOR THE AWE-STRUCK VISITORS

WHO CAME TO PEER AT HIM
IN HIS TEPEE.

Williams: IT’S INTERESTING
FOR SITTING BULL BECAUSE,

FIRST OF ALL,
IT’S A CHANCE FOR HIM

TO SEE THE REST OF THE WORLD
AND SEE WHAT AMERICA IS ABOUT,

AND A LOT OF INDIAN PEOPLE
THAT WENT WITH HIM --

INTERPRETERS AND EVERYTHING --

AND THEY REALIZED THAT THE WORLD
IS CHANGED

AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE
IS CHANGED.

AND WHAT’S HAPPENING
ON THE RESERVATIONS

ISN’T NECESSARILY INDICATIVE
OF WHAT AMERICA COULD BE ABOUT.

Man: I THINK HE WAS PROBABLY,
IN TURNS,

AMUSED AND HUMILIATED
BY THE EXPERIENCE.

THIS WAS SO MUCH
UNLIKE THE REALITY

THAT HE HAD LIVED

AS A YOUNG MAN.

AND, YET, IT WAS A BIZARRE
REFLECTION OF THAT REALITY, TOO.

SO, HE MUST HAVE SEEN
HIS EXPERIENCE

FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE WHEN
HE WAS IN THE WILD WEST SHOW.

Narrator: SITTING BULL
LIKED BUFFALO BILL,

WHO GAVE HIM A HANDSOME HAT

AND THE GRAY HORSE HE’D RIDDEN
IN THE SHOW AS GIFTS.

BUT HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND

WHY BEGGARS WERE LEFT
TO DRIFT ABOUT THE STREETS

OF BIG CITIES.

AND HE GAVE MUCH OF HIS PAY AWAY

TO NEWSBOYS AND HOBOS
HE MET ON THE TOUR.

White: THIS IS A SHOW
ABOUT CONQUEST.

THIS IS A SHOW
ABOUT THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST.

WITH EVERYTHING
THAT THE AUDIENCE SEES,

IS INDIANS ATTACKING WHITES.

THIS IS THE STRANGE STORY
OF AN INVERTED CONQUEST.

IT’S A CELEBRATION OF CONQUEST,

IN WHICH THE CONQUERORS
ARE THE VICTIMS.

AND THERE’S SOMETHING
AT ONE LEVEL

THAT STILL IS DEEPLY WEIRD
ABOUT THIS.

WHAT IS GOING ON
WHEN YOU CELEBRATE A CONQUEST,

AND YOU ONLY SHOW YOURSELF
BEING VICTIMIZED?

IT’S CONQUEST WON
WITHOUT THE GUILT.

WE DIDN’T PLAN IT.
THEY ATTACKED US.

AND WHEN WE ENDED UP,
WE HAD THE WHOLE CONTINENT.

BUFFALO BILL SAYS
THE WILD WEST IS OVER.

IT’S FINISHED, IT’S DONE.

THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST
IS NOW TAKEN PLACE.

AND ALL HE CAN DO
IS RE-ENACT IT FOR YOU.

THE WEST IS STILL OUT THERE,
BUT IT’S NOT THE SAME WEST

THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
10 OR 20 YEARS AGO.

Narrator: AFTER FOUR MONTHS
WITH THE WILD WEST SHOW,

SITTING BULL RETURNED
TO HIS HOME

AT THE STANDING ROCK
RESERVATION.

THERE HE HAD ANOTHER
OF HIS MYSTICAL VISIONS

ABOUT THE FUTURE.

IN 1876,
ONE VISION HAD WARNED HIM

THAT THE ARMY WAS MARCHING
AGAINST THE LAKOTA.

ANOTHER VISION HAD PREDICTED

THAT CUSTER’S SOLDIERS
AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN

WOULD FALL INTO HIS VILLAGE,
UPSIDE DOWN.

BUT NOW, HE HAD A NEW VISION.
THIS ONE WAS EQUALLY CLEAR.

WANDERING ALONE NEAR HIS HOME
ONE MORNING,

HE WATCHED A MEADOWLARK
FLUTTER DOWN ONTO A HILLOCK.

THEN THE BIRD SPOKE TO HIM.

IT SAID, "YOUR OWN PEOPLE --
LAKOTAS -- WILL KILL YOU."

SITTING BULL HAD FAITH
IN HIS VISIONS.

THEY HAD ALWAYS PROVED TRUE
BEFORE.