The Real Wild West: A History of The American Frontier | Documentary

As a non-American kid, I used to view the Wild West through rose-colored glasses, seeing only the romanticized ideals of Cowboys and Indians. The videogame, Red Dead Redemption 1 (and 2) made me fall in love passionately with the Wild West’s History. Good and Bad, I find delight in learning it’s history passionately. Thank God for Youtubers like this who take the time to create such informative yet highly entertaining videos. If ever I get to visit the US, I wish to travel the lands west of Mississippi on a Wild West History tour on a motorbike roadtrip.

I come here because rdr2

The old west is made to look glamorous, adventurous and glorious in movies, novels and comic books. But in reality, it was ruled by poverty and was horrible. Scarcity of food and water, poor sanitation, low moral values, fear of Bandits and results of poor education, administration and law and order were an everyday activity. The wild west also had many women who lost their husband, son or brother either in the American Civil war or at the hands of unruly and merciless outlaws. Gold was a highly coveted item.

As an English person who knew very little on this subject, I found this documentary very well made and informative and I feel like I understand the subject alot better now. Great job.

The wild west is my absolute favorite era in history closely followed by the medieval era. I play Red Dead Redemption 2 almost everyday bc of my love for that era and this was an amazing video to listen to

Aussie living in the USA stack at home with Covid falling down rabbit holes! Thank you so much for this great documentary! I appreciate the reverence you show towards the native Americans and their plights.

Absolutely tragic the way humans have treated each other and continue to do so

I just left a comment on your "Stuart's Stranglers" video about an ancestor of mine who traversed the Oregon Trail at age 13. I have a 3rd great grandma on my mom's side. Margaret Ellen White, born 1849, Morgan, Missouri. There is a remarkable written history about her family having set out from Princeton, MO on May 4, 1862. They left with 150 other wagons. Margaret, age 13, and her brother, age 11, drove behind the herd of oxen that her mother and step-dad were leading. Their party was attached on the Snake River, but my family made it all the way to Walla-Walla, WA. Margaret was married that year. My 3rd great grandpa left for Montana to prospect. She stayed and gave birth to their first son. The following August, she hired two boys about age 18 to travel with her to Montana. She drove 17 head of cattle while carrying her son in the saddle in front of her. From Waitsburg, WA. to Beartown, MT., making the trip in 18 days. She was living in Deer Lodge, and one day when my 3rd great grandpa was out prospecting, a group of settlers came and told her to take her kids to the fort because Indians were coming. She refused to leave her home. When 12 men rode up, she went out to invite them in for tea. They obliged. They asked for "tobaccy." She smoked a pipe with them. One man was so impressed with her daughter, my 2nd great aunt, he patted her on the head and called her "Skookum Papoose," good girl. Margaret outlived her parents, siblings, and my 3rd great grandfather, who died from being kicked in the stomach by a horse. She had 14 children and had 79 grandchildren by the time she was 71. She died in 1931 at the age of 82. She spent her last few years keeping house for family in Washington and Montana.

Custer's Last Stand took place near the Greasy Grass River (as the Natives called it) . . . not the Grassy Grass, as the doc calls it. Better known today as the Little Bighorn River.

Especially with documentaries about the West, ONCE I start noticing clips and excerpts from known films used to aid the narration, I'm out of there within the first 2-3 minutes. However, this presentation was well done. Perhaps, because it sort of came across as a book-report-- and that's certainly not me taking a jab at the production. I really enjoyed the presentation and would be interested in viewing more from 'Footprints'. Thank you :)

Absolutely LOVE the documentary. We grew up on western movies building our curiosity and imagination, intriguing us into learning about the American Frontier. We love traveling to the West Coast and visiting ghost towns and places touched by the Wild West History. Our passion went as far as us building a short term rental property (located in the beautiful Poconos, PA) inspired by the American Frontier.

Based on the History Books accounts, one of the most exciting successful achievements in this country's History, post European migration, is, hands down, the "Lewis and Clark Expedition". What that group accomplished, still stuns me. To make that trip, the miles, over the terrain, and encountering a variety of different Native Peoples (with all that had to mean to both the Expedition and the Native Peoples), and to make the "return trip", all with only the tools, supplies, medical and first aid supplies, available at the time. These considerations, and their success, with limited issues and loss, has to have been an unbelievable achievement when reported to the Public at that time. With the tasks assigned for the purpose of the Expedition, there were supplies necessary that required additional burden upon their efforts. Having been so successful at this challenge leads me to question the reported situations surrounding the final trip for Lewis, who was making his way to Washington DC from Louisiana, ending in Tennessee, close to the Alabama line.

I find this period of time fascinating, my father was born in the year of 1891. He lived to be 102 years old. And the stories he would tell me were fascinating. This is an excellent documentary about the old west. I thank you for posting it. Now I have learned even more! My heart is buried in Wounded Knee. Geronimo was a great warrior, Red Clouds, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, all great warriors. I often think that the Iron Horse was the cause of the Indians losing the war. That fact makes me feel such sadness for the Indians, because after all is said n done, We were the ones who were the invaders. We discovered, then took their lands, killed them and stuck the surviving onto reservations. Anyway.. thank you again for this excellent documentary. Very accurate and a pleasure to watch!!! ❤

A much better documentary than others I've found on the subject. You finally enabled me to get a grasp on the basic outline of events that had been proving elusive in an engaging way. Thanks!

Amazing content!! Straight to the point and no dramatic music or corny jokes. Seriously you're amazing!

Amazing video. Thank you for this!

Excellent documentary, very well put together with superb editing. Your documentary is actually much better quality than some stuff I've seen on cable, which is supposedly more professional. The only minor critique I'd make on your documentary, would be the exact same critique I'd have to level at any other documentary covering the same subject: too little time to cover such a complex and chronologically long subject. This is very well done and gives as good a "thumbnail sketch" as it would be possible to give the history of the Western Frontier in American History in a too-short 55 minutes! Thank you for publishing this video.

A very good documentary. With regard to the Sioux uprising, you said "grassy grass". I believe it should be "greasy grass". The native Americans called the Battle of the Little Big Horn the Battle of the Greasy Grass

I'm from North Dakota we have a pretty big native population kind of where they made their last stand where the government pushed them but you go 300 400 mi and you don't see a native American we're around here you see them all the time I travel from here to California and only saw one or two only saw a few reservations as well it's just crazy lot of history a lot of people died to get where our country is today no matter how dark the history is at least it's not forgotten and we can be grateful for the life we live today it's sad so many people lost their land and their way of life history ain't pretty all the time also traveling so far from the plains to the Rocky mountains to the desert I just imagined people traveling on wagons and white people and Indians fighting when you travel west there's still a great sense of adventure and freedom and you really know how small you are compared to the Earth and how big America is Great documentary thank you

A lovely overview of the topic with great art and visuals and exemplary editing. ❤