The Wild West with Ray Mears British three-part documentary TV series on DVD.
Program 1: Mountains
Ray begins his westward journey in the Appalachian Mountains where he explores
how their timbered slopes fuelled the lumber industry and provided the fuel and
building material for the emerging nation. Native Appalachian Barbara Woodall
and lumberjack Joe Currie share their family history with him, and he gets to
grips with the rare “hellbender” salamander. Further west, in the high
jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, Ray goes mule trekking with modern day
mountain man Stu Sorenson and he has close encounters with beaver, elk and black
bear. Finally in the desert mountains of the Sierra Nevada he explores the
tragic story of the Donner Party wagon train whose members allegedly turned to
cannibalism to survive. His journey ends as he pans for gold with modern day
gold prospector John Gurney, and explores the boom and bust story of ghost
town, Bodie.
Program 2: Great Plains
Ray explores how this half a million square miles of flat, treeless grassland
was the setting for some of the most dramatic stories of the Wild West. He joins
the Blackfeet Indian Nation as they demonstrate bare-back riding skills, before
a ritual buffalo hunt and sacrifice, and he learns how their ancestors were
dependent upon the buffalo for their survival. He follows in the wagon ruts of
the early pioneers along the Oregon Trail and hitches a ride on a prairie
schooner with wagon master Kim Merchant. He discovers the stories of the early
homesteaders who lived in sod-houses and farmed the wild grassland around them.
At a cattle auction in Dodge City he explores the story of the railways,
cow-towns and the buffalo massacre. His journey across the Great Plains ends at
Moore Ranch where he joins a long-horn cattle-drive, and learns about the life
and myth of one of the Wild West’s most iconic figures, the cowboy.
Program 3: Deserts
Ray’s journey begins in Monument Valley whose dramatic desert landscape has
become synonymous with the Wild West years. He explores how plants and animals
survive in this waterless climate and how the Navajo Indian people adapted to
the conditions. In Tucson he meets up with desert coroners, Bruce Anderson and
Robin Reineke who show him how the desert still kills people today. He discovers
how this forbidding landscape was the perfect refuge for bandits and pursues the
outlaw trail to Butch Cassidy’s hideout at Robber’s Roost. In Tombstone he
gets to grips with the myths around law-makers and lawlessness and how it
flourished in the remote desert regions of the Old West. Finally he explores how
the Apache adapted their warfare methods to the desert, and how the US Cavalry
struggled in the hot arid landscape. His journey ends with the story of
Geronimo’s surrender which marked the end of the Indian Wars, and of the
Old West.
Cover Artwork Not Final