The West - Season 1 (1996)

The West had always symbolized hope and new beginnings, but in the 1850s, as more American pioneers poured west to start over, they brought with them the nation's oldest, most divisive issue -- slavery.

After the Civil War reunited North and South, Americans set out with renewed energy and optimism to finally unite the nation, East and West.

By the 1870s, only a few groups resisted the nation's push to conquer the West.

The conquest of the West was nearly complete by the 1870s. In one remarkable decade, with Indians effectively confined to reservations, over four million new settlers arrived to stake their claim to the future.

By the late 1880's, American settlers continue to claim tribal lands while the Dawes Act tries to break up the tribal structure of the Native American nations. The Native Americans take up the Ghost Dance putting their faith in religion until their hopes are crushed at the Massacre of Wounded Knee.

Los Angeles steals its water supply, millions of Mexicans migrate north, and Hollywood begins to shape the West and the nation's image of it.