“The West” Ken Burns’ Documentary

Cafe Society
1

I really enjoyed watching “The West”, a film by Stephen Ives presented by Burns and in that style (12.5 hrs, 9 episodes). I didn’t see it when first broadcast in 1996. It shows the story of American exploration and expansion, including conflict with Aboriginals, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and Mormons. And it tells the story of 49ers, the Oregon Trail, homesteaders, the effect of the Civil War on western states, the building of the intercontinental railway, the disappearance of the buffalo, climate disasters, and the rise of western cities and industry. It shows much spectacular scenery. It’s very, very good. It has its flaws. I have some questions, this stuff is generally not part of the Canadian history curriculum.

  1. One flaw is that everything before 1806 is basically shoved into a single hour episode. It shows Western expansion as basically moving West of the Mississippi. But there must have been earlier phases of expansion from the colonies, such as the Appalachians or Ohio Valley. Is there a good source that talks about that?

  2. The historians quoted include N. Scott Momaday, Patricia Limerick, Richard White, many others. Are they generally well chosen? Well considered? Done anything I should read?

  3. Are the stories of Coronado or Cabeza de Vaca generally taught in American schools or are otherwise well known? Do they spent much time on Spanish or Mexican colonialism in Texas and California? The series mentions French trappers outnumber mountain men in the 1820s but scarcely mentions the French again.

  4. Burns style combines visual photos with dry history, so might spend less time on pre-photographic times. But he seems to have left a lot of stuff out, though this is unavoidable. What major events were excluded?

  5. Burns takes complex subjects and shows alternate points of view. I see this as a big strength, but reviews criticize The West as being woke or summarizing Indian conflict in a one-sided way. I don’t think he does this, and that history does show many treaties made but not honoured. No doubt many Indian tribes warred with each other as well, but this is made clear. Is he fair? Did the US act honourably in any of the treaties made?

  6. One historian claims the lessons of history include the need to take geology and climate into consideration for a place to survive. He quotes Mesa Verde and the Pueblo ruins. Is it known what caused the downfall of this civilization? He applies the quote to Los Angeles and its commandeering of the water in the Owens Valley to survive. Is this a fair comparison? Ancient Rome also relied on aqueducts.

  7. Many tribes relied on buffalo. Thirty million were said to roam the Plains. After extensive hunting, some attempts to conserve them were made which President Grant refused to allow. Why? Would this have made much difference? How many are left?

  8. The show focuses, at times on the Mormons. Their heroic migration and efforts. Building their sanctuary, and how the railroad hurt and helped them. Their alleged scapegoating of John Lee and the Paiutes. The successes of Brigham Young and battles and compromises over polygamy. How is Lee, or this series, viewed by modern Mormons?

  9. The story of California includes early wealthy families like the Vallejos having their lands stolen by incoming miners. He was a Senator without pension. What legal justifications were invented to steal 250,000 acres? Does modern California give any heed to its earliest settlers?

  10. The building of the railway is itself an incredible story. Did no one appreciate the effort made by Chinese immigrants and fight acts taxing and expelling them?

  11. In broad terms, how are Chiefs like Sitting Bull and Joseph viewed today? To many Canadians, Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee mean nothing. Wolf Chief? Buffalo Bird Woman? Are relationships between Crows and Lakota Indians still strained?

  12. The West talks about the Dawes Act being well meaning but ultimately another attack on the Indian way of life and an excuse to steal reserved lands. Did it have any positive effects? Were schools where Indian children were separated from their parents and forced to adopt American names and customs as violent and abusive as their apparent Canadian versions?

  13. Regardless of their degree of adopting American customs, the impression is any Indian tribe was dispossessed of any valuable land on the discovery of any valuable mineral. Are there any exceptions?

  14. I didn’t know much about the effect of The Civil War on western states: a little about the Lovejoys and Bleeding Kansas. How is it that the beating of Sumner in the Senate with a cane attracted such little consequence? Are there similar events in American history? The documentary gives few details. I read once Brooks died of croup, usually a pediatric disease. Is this true?

  15. I never associated sharecroppers and Jim Crow laws with the migration of Black Americans to freedom in places like Kansas. Or the quality of their barbecue. Were they reasonably well treated thereafter?

  16. Burns sometimes spends a lot of time on individual stories to illustrate broader themes, such as the relationship between John Love and Ethel Waxman to show how hard life was, and the value of perseverance. Was this story well known?

  17. The series shows some of Teddy Roosevelt enjoying cattle drives and Western life. But nothing about Sam Juan or later conservation efforts. What were these?

  18. The Sooners seem to be celebrated in Oklahoma for their cleverness. Are they also sometimes considered greedy or predatory, or is history written by the winners?

  19. Buffalo Bill might have come out of the series better than anyone else. Do you know anyone who saw one of his shows? How was Sitting Bull persuaded to participate? How was he treated when he fled to Canada?

  20. What else should the series have included?

  21. What is the most spectacular scenery in the Western United States?

  22. How are John Chivington and Kit Carson viewed today in the US?

  23. Was giving so much land to railway companies a smart move, or government incompetence?

  24. It is amazing the expansion some thought would take a hundred generations was accomplished in only five. During that time, many natives succumbed to disease or were dispossessed of land, and the railway led to the extinction of the buffalo. Have there been any attempts at reconciliation? Are any lands still largely empty? What is the biggest empty space still left in the US?

  25. Any other comments, stories or random thoughts? Did a lot of people see this documentary? I learned a lot.

2

Of course I’m well aware this series is old and many Dopers have not seen it. Any book recommendations or documentaries on similar topics would also be appreciated.

3

A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh by Allan Eckert spends a good chunk of its 1100 pages talking about frontier life in late 18th Century Ohio and Kentucky. That place and time was kind of the tipping point in who would dominate the great wildness of the West; the indigenous people or the white settlers.

4

I’ll have to check this out. Its a shame that this portion of American history hasn’t been made into a blockbuster movie yet, as its a revealing story of how the United States became what it is. A ruthless, expansionist empire.

I was raised in western Ohio where the first US government peace treaty with the Native Americans was made in 1793. We really started screwing them over and breaking our promises there by allowing them to live in certain areas of their own land and then taking it back. Ir set the stage for all future broken promises

5

#7 Burns did a two episode documentary on the American Buffalo. It was broadcast in 2023.

6

American bison total about 450,000 in the US. About 20,000 roam wild in conservation herds and about 420,000 are in commercial herds.

7

Horizon: an American Saga Kevin Costners epic movie series (2 in production, 4 planned) that is supposed to cover a 15 year period, before, during and after the civil war and the settlement of the western US.

8

This is my point; there are many movies around the civil war period but not many about the early days of the United States after the Revolutionary War. Tecumseh was a complex character and came close to stopping the expansion of the United States by allying with the British and numerous Native American tribes. Had he succeded perhaps the tribes in the Great Plains would never had lost their lands to the extent that they did.

9

Also, it’s hard to look at the expansion of the US through a lens of today. If you look at world history, expansionism was what was done, and to the victor went the spoils. Conquered people lost their lands.

10

But, making a movie about a character such as Tecumseh would be something fresh and better than just another rehash of the Civil War and old west. Its a good story that gets ignored.

11

Make your pitch to Hollywood. Hollywood is about box office receipts not necessarily about education.

12

  1. The settling of the West, by white people and the trade in beaver skins mostly became important after the Lewis & Clark expedition, properly known as the Corps of Discovery. Started around 1804 to 1806 and sent by president Thomas Jefferson to see if there was a water route to the west in the newly purchased from France, Louisiana Purchase. Walked and boated the whole way from St. Louis to the Pacific coast, wintered there and went back, long after they had all been given up for dead. All of them survived, even a pregnant teenage girl, Sacagawea who had a baby and it made it all the way back too.There were other trappers, French voyagers, and others, but this was the first official expedition of the US government. Water is the best way to travel, and that is what they were sent to look for. If you want a great read that you won’t want to put down, Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose. I highly recomment it.

  2. The American Bison, often refered to as Buffalo, were the primary food of the Native Americans. Eliminating this food source was both a spoken and unspoken goal to get rid of the natives. Buffalo were often shot for only their hides and even just left to rot, to control the natives. This almost wiped out the bison and the natives. People would shoot them from the new railway trains just for fun. The goal was to deprive the natives of food, and to some extent it worked. They got down to 541 animals by 1889, almost extinction. From the untold millions that were there previously. They have recovered to 20-30 thousand. There were millions and millions before.

  3. Native tribes were constantly at war with each other. There was no living off the land in peace together, that is a myth. It was continual kidknapping, horse stealing, murder. Un-ending war. They could not come together against the common foe of the white settlers. The native political environment would not allow that.

13

Sorry. I was meaning to reply to items 1, 7, and 11. Word insists that I mean 1, 2, 3.

14

Good book on bison: American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon

15

Everything prior to 1806 is somewhat rushed (hard to find visual records?), but the expedition of Lewis and Clark - their difficulties and encounters with various tribes, and their successes - is covered in some detail (maybe half an hour?). Ambrose was one of the many historians the series features at length. The scenery shown in The West is often incredibly beautiful, particularly during the Lewis and Clark segment, and what is left of it must be more so in person.

As a history buff, I was surprised by how much I learned from the series, scarcely mentioned (at least in Canada) elsewhere. I’d like to see a Canadian version of this series. I’d imagine a two episode movie about “The Buffalo” could be and likely was taken entirely from this series, since it features so prominently.

16

This was very recently replayed on my local station. I missed it the first time around.