Skip to main content
Access to this video is a benefit for members through

Up Next

Ghost Dance

Ghost Dance

Season 1996 Episode 8
58:38
One Sky Above Us

One Sky Above Us

Season 1996 Episode 9
1:02:58
Episode 5: The Calling

The Calling

Season 4 Episode 5
53:05
When Whales Could Walk

When Whales Could Walk

Season 51 Episode 1
53:31
Back to Show
The West

The Geography of Hope

Season 1996 Episode 7

Newcomers arrive by the millions, bringing a new spirit of conformity to the West. Indian children are taught to forsake their heritage, Mormons are told to abandon a tenet of their faith, and new laws deny Chinese and Mexican Americans a place in society. Yet the legend of the “Wild West” lives on, thanks to the greatest showman of the age.

Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By
One Sky Above Us
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:02:58
As the 20th century neared, Americans celebrated with the World Columbian Exposition.
Ghost Dance
Unlock with PBS Passport
58:38
As settlers race to claim tribal lands, Native Americans take up the Ghost Dance.
Fight No More Forever
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:25:06
The federal government tightens its grip on the West.
The Grandest Enterprise Under God
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:33
A triumph of the human spirit, the transcontinental railroad opens a new era in the West.
Death Runs Riot
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:47
Civil war comes early to the West.
Speck of the Future
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:49
The Gold Rush brings the whole world to the West.
Empire Upon the Trails
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:24:31
Americans head west along many pathways.
The People
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:22:20
The West begins as the whole world to the people who live there. It becomes a New World.
Active loading indicator