In this four-part series, Curiosity Stream viewers can discover the hidden history of the West.
The true-life events that inspired larger-than-life legends will be reenacted and illuminated in The Real Wild West, an ambitious four-part documentary series set to premiere June 29 on the Curiosity Stream platform.
According to the logline: “The mountain man, the pioneers and prospectors, and of course, the cowboys, are eternal archetypes. But the famed Wild West looked vastly different than the movies. This is the definitive story of the American West — beyond the gunslingers and lawmen — where a diverse group of pioneers shaped a county and built the foundation for modern America.”
Grammy Award-winning musician and bard Dom Flemons will take viewers for a ride into America’s past to meet the Black and Hispanic cowboys, female homesteaders, immigrants, and tribal leaders who faced unprecedented opportunity, ambition, fortune, and technological marvels to forge new paths across the wilderness.
Here are the official episode synopses for The Real Wild West.
Episode 1 “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 became a flood of settlers – these are the stories of the diverse pioneers seeking a new start in a new land.
Episode 2 “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.
Episode 3 “Booms and Busts in the West”
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, allows travelers to cross the country in only seven days. It is a century of ambition, greed, fame, and fortune… and of economic engines and technological marvels that change the country and the world.
Episode 4 “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.
