The West (1996): Season 1, Episode 2 - Empire Upon the Trails - full transcript
In the early 1800's, no one knew who would control the seemingly infinite spaces of the West.
THE AMERICAN REALIZES
THAT PROGRESS IS GOD.
THE DESTINY
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
IS TO SUBDUE THE CONTINENT,
TO RUSH OVER THIS VAST FIELD
TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
TO CHANGE DARKNESS INTO LIGHT,
AND CONFIRM THE DESTINY
OF THE HUMAN RACE.
DIVINE TASK, IMMORTAL MISSION,
THE PIONEER ARMY PERPETUALLY
STRIKES TO THE FRONT.
EMPIRE PLANTS ITSELF
UPON THE TRAILS.
WILLIAM GILPIN.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
[VOICES ADDED TO CHANTING]
Narrator: BY 1821,
TWO YOUNG REPUBLICS
CLAIMED MOST OF THE WEST.
THE VAST TERRITORY
THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD
BOUGHT FROM FRANCE
GAVE THE UNITED STATES CLAIM
TO NEARLY HALF OF IT,
WHILE THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED
REPUBLIC OF MEXICO
HELD THE SOUTHWEST
AND CALIFORNIA.
ENGLAND STILL HAD OUTPOSTS
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST,
WHILE A HOST OF INDIAN NATIONS
HELD FAST TO THEIR LANDS
AND CHALLENGED EACH OTHER
FOR MORE.
BY 1821,
NO ONE KNEW WHO WOULD CONTROL
THE WEST'S
SEEMINGLY INFINITE SPACES,
WHAT LANGUAGE WOULD BE DOMINANT,
WHOSE GOD WOULD BE WORSHIPPED,
WHAT THE WEST'S DESTINY
WOULD BE.
BUT THE AMERICANS
WERE ALREADY MOVING WEST,
CONTENT, AT FIRST,
TO MAKE THEIR WAY
IN OTHER PEOPLE'S WORLDS.
MOUNTAIN MEN BEGAN IT,
FOLLOWING ICY STREAMS
INTO THE ROCKIES
IN SEARCH OF FURS.
WHILE OTHERS, WHO CALLED
THEMSELVES "LATTER-DAY SAINTS,"
FLED TO THE WEST
HOPING TO FIND SANCTUARY.
A DEVOUT, YOUNG WOMAN
FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK,
WHO HURRIED WEST
TO SAVE THE SOULS OF INDIANS,
IN THE END
COULD NOT EVEN SAVE HERSELF.
A TENNESSEE POLITICIAN,
WHOSE CAREER WAS RUINED
BY DRINK AND SCANDAL,
WOULD GET A SECOND CHANCE IN
THE MEXICAN PROVINCE OF TEJAS.
WHILE A VIRGINIA FAMILY,
ACCUSTOMED TO FOLLOWING
A RESTLESS DREAM OF BETTER TIMES
OVER THE NEXT HORIZON,
VERY NEARLY DESTROYED ITSELF
TRYING TO REACH
THE CONTINENT'S FARTHEST SHORE.
BUT REGARDLESS OF THEIR REASONS
FOR GOING WEST,
ONCE THEY GOT THERE,
THE AMERICANS SOON DETERMINED
TO MAKE THE WEST--ALL OF IT--
THEIR OWN.
Man: IT IS OUR MANIFEST DESTINY
TO OVERSPREAD THE CONTINENT
ALLOTTED BY PROVIDENCE
FOR THE FREE DEVELOPMENT
OF OUR YEARLY
MULTIPLYING MILLIONS.
JOHN L. O'SULLIVAN.
Man: AMERICANS' REACH
EXCEEDS THEIR GRASP.
AMERICANS CAN'T DO
WHAT THEY MIGHT LIKE TO DO,
BUT THE TIME IS COMING.
THIS IS A COUNTRY THAT IS GOING
TO GROW MORE AND MORE POWERFUL.
ITS AMBITION IS ALREADY THERE,
AND THERE IS GOING TO COME
A TIME BY MID-CENTURY
WHERE, IN FACT,
IT CAN FULFILL ITS AMBITION.
AND WHEN THAT TIME IS REACHED,
THE WEST WILL BE
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLACE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator:
ONE WINTER IN THE EARLY 1830s,
A COLD AND HUNGRY MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JOE MEEK
STUMBLED INTO A LANDSCAPE UNLIKE
ANYTHING HE HAD EVER SEEN.
Man as Meek:
THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS SMOKING
WITH THE VAPOR
FROM BOILING SPRINGS,
AND BURNING WITH GASES
ISSUING FROM SMALL CRATERS,
EACH OF WHICH WAS EMITTING
A SHARP WHISTLING SOUND,
LIKE THAT PLACE
THE OLD METHODIST PREACHER
USED TO THREATEN ME WITH.
BUT THE WARMTH OF THE PLACE
WAS MOST DELIGHTFUL
AFTER THE FREEZING COLD
OF THE MOUNTAINS.
SO, IF IT WAS HELL,
IT WAS A MORE AGREEABLE CLIMATE
THAN I HAD BEEN IN
FOR SOME TIME.
JOE MEEK.
Narrator: IT WAS
THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU.
AND JOE MEEK WAS ONE OF
THE FIRST WHITE MEN TO SEE IT.
BORN IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
VIRGINIA,
MEEK, LIKE HUNDREDS OF OTHER
YOUNG MEN EAGER FOR ADVENTURE,
HAD RUN OFF TO THE WEST.
HE WOULD SPEND 11 YEARS
IN THE MOUNTAINS,
TRAPPING AND TRADING FOR FURS,
TRAVELING RELENTLESSLY,
PUSHING INTO CORNERS OF THE WEST
HIS COUNTRY DID NOT YET OWN
IN SEARCH OF EASY MONEY.
Man: HATS--
HATS WAS THE NAME OF THE GAME.
THE CARRIAGE TRADE WAS THE THING
THAT SET THE STANDARD
OF FASHIONS.
THE CARRIAGE TRADE
WAS NOTHING MORE THAN RICH
DRIVING AROUND
IN THEIR CARRIAGES
IN BOSTON, OR LONDON, OR PARIS,
OR QUEBEC, OR MONTREAL.
AND WHATEVER THEY WORE,
EVERYBODY ELSE WANTED TO WEAR.
WELL, THEY WERE WEARING
BEAVER HATS,
AND THUS IT MADE
A DEMAND FOR BEAVER.
Narrator: INDIANS HAD BEEN
EXCHANGING ANIMAL PELTS
FOR EUROPEAN TRADE GOODS
FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES.
NOW, COMPANIES REPRESENTING
RUSSIA, ENGLAND, MEXICO,
AND THE UNITED STATES WERE
LOCKED IN FIERCE COMPETITION
FOR THE WESTERN FUR TRADE
AND HIRED THE MOUNTAIN MEN
TO DO THE WORK.
THERE WERE BLACK TRAPPERS
AS WELL AS WHITE.
MEN FROM SCOTLAND, ENGLAND,
AND MEXICO--
EVEN NATIVE HAWAIIANS.
IN OREGON,
A THIRD OF THE TRAPPERS
WERE IROQUOIS AND DELAWARE
INDIANS FROM THE EAST.
FRENCH TRAPPERS OUTNUMBERED
JOE MEEK
AND HIS FELLOW AMERICANS
FOUR TO ONE.
THEY COULD MAKE
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS,
BUT THEY USUALLY SQUANDERED IT
ALL AT THE YEARLY RENDEZVOUS
WHERE THEY GAMBLED, DRANK,
AND TRADED STORIES ABOUT
THEIR EXPLOITS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
Gowans: IT WAS A VERY,
VERY DANGEROUS LIFE.
THEY WERE KILLED
BY BLACKFOOT INDIANS,
THEY WERE KILLED
BY GRIZZLY BEARS,
AND MAYBE
MOST DEVASTATING OF ALL,
THEY WERE KILLED
BY MOTHER NATURE.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE
LIKE COMING UP OUT OF A STREAM,
SETTING A TRAP IN NOVEMBER,
BUCKSKINS UP TO YOUR ARMPITS
IN WATER,
AND WORKING A STREAM
ALL DAY LONG
IN THOSE KIND OF CONDITIONS?
THOSE MEN DIED OF FEVER,
THEY DIED OF PNEUMONIA.
HOW MANY MEN DIED
ON SOME UNKNOWN STREAM
IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
NEVER HEARD OF AGAIN?
YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A COMMON
UNDERSTANDING IN THE FUR TRADE.
IF YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP
AT A RENDEZVOUS,
YOU WERE CONSIDERED DEAD.
Narrator: DURING MORE THAN
A DECADE IN THE MOUNTAINS,
JOE MEEK HAD STRUGGLED ALONGSIDE
HIS FELLOW TRAPPERS TO SURVIVE.
HE HAD NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH
AT THE HANDS OF THE BLACKFEET,
TOUCHED ONE GRIZZLY
WITH HIS BARE HAND ON A DARE,
AND BEEN MAULED BY ANOTHER.
BUT IN THE END, HE HAD
NO MONEY TO SHOW FOR IT ALL,
AND SUDDENLY, HIS LIVELIHOOD
HAD DISAPPEARED, TOO.
Gowans:
THE DEMAND CEASED FOR BEAVER.
AND THE REASON BEING IS,
IS THE CARRIAGE TRADE
CHOSE TO GO WITH SILK HATS
INSTEAD OF BEAVER HATS.
I'D SAY
BY THE MIDDLE OF THE 1830s,
THE BEAVER TRADE
WAS COMING TO AN END.
THERE WAS NO LONGER THE DEMAND.
Narrator: THE ERA
OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN HAD ENDED
ALMOST AS QUICKLY
AS IT HAD BEGUN.
SOME GUIDED AMERICAN EXPLORERS
FANNING OUT ACROSS THE WEST.
OTHERS LED THE GROWING STREAM
OF WAGON TRAINS THAT NOW ROLLED
OVER THE TRAILS THE MOUNTAIN MEN
HAD HELPED TO CHART.
BUT JOE MEEK HAD HAD ENOUGH
OF WANDERING.
HE TOOK HIS NEZ PERCE WIFE
AND THEIR CHILDREN
AND WENT ALL THE WAY WEST.
HE SETTLED
NEAR A BRITISH TRADING POST
IN THE DISPUTED LAND OF OREGON.
THERE, MEEK WENT INTO POLITICS
AND BEGAN TO TALK
WITH OTHER AMERICAN SETTLERS
ABOUT MAKING
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
Man as Meek:
I WANT TO LIVE LONG ENOUGH
TO SEE OREGON
SECURELY AMERICAN,
SO I CAN SAY THAT I WAS BORN
IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
UNITED STATES,
AND DIED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
UNITED STATES.
JOE MEEK.
Man: WE HAVE MAPS OF THE PAST.
NOT A HISTORY, IN THE WAY THAT
MOST OF US UNDERSTAND HISTORY,
BUT PLACES LIKE BEAR BUTTE,
MEDICINE WHEEL, DEVIL'S TOWER.
THESE ARE THINGS
THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH
IN TERMS OF TIME AND EXPERIENCE.
"OH, YES,"
MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD SAY,
"WE WERE THERE, WE WERE THERE
IN THE BLACK HILLS AT ONE TIME.
WE KNOW ABOUT ZOI,
DEVIL'S TOWER."
AND SHE SAID IT, YOU KNOW,
AS IF SHE HAD BEEN THERE.
AND I THINK, IN HER MIND'S EYE,
IT WAS THERE
AND VERY CLEARLY DEFINED.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator: THE ARRIVAL
OF THE HORSE IN THE EARLY 1700s
HAD ALLOWED THE KIOWA
TO MIGRATE EASTWARD
FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
OUT ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS.
THEY CLAIMED AS THEIR OWN THE
BEST WINTER HUNTING GROUNDS--
THE BLACK HILLS--
AND ITS LANDMARKS
BECAME PART OF THEIR RELIGION.
BUT BY THE EARLY 1800s,
NEW PEOPLE HAD ARRIVED
FROM THE EAST,
CHALLENGING THE KIOWA
FOR THE BLACK HILLS.
THEY WERE THE CHEYENNE.
AND BEHIND THEM CAME THE LAKOTA,
KNOWN BY WHITES AS THE SIOUX.
AMONG THE LAKOTA,
A MAN NAMED LONE DOG
PAINTED A RECORD OF HIS PEOPLE
ON A BUFFALO HIDE,
MARKING EACH WINTER BY DEPICTING
WHAT THEY REMEMBERED
MOST VIVIDLY
ABOUT THE YEAR JUST PAST.
HE BEGAN AT THE CENTER OF A
SPIRAL WITH THE WINTER OF 1800,
WHEN 30 LAKOTA, REPRESENTED
BY 30 STRAIGHT LINES,
WERE KILLED IN BATTLE
WITH THE CROW.
OVER THE ENSUING WINTERS,
LONE DOG RECOUNTED HORSE RAIDS
AND BUFFALO HUNTS...
THE ARRIVAL OF TRADING POSTS,
AND OUTBREAKS OF SMALLPOX.
BUT THE EVENTS MOST OFTEN NOTED
ON HIS BUFFALO HIDE
WERE THE NUMEROUS WARS
HIS PEOPLE FOUGHT
AS THE LAKOTA MOVED WEST--
WITH THE MANDAN, PAWNEE,
AND ARAPAHO,
WITH THE BLACK FEET,
ASSINBOIN, CROW, AND SHOSHONE.
White:
THE BLACK HILLS HAVE AROUND THEM
IN THE LATE 18th
AND EARLY 19th CENTURY,
THIS INCREDIBLE SWIRL OF PEOPLE.
THE PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING,
CONTESTING FOR BUFFALO GROUNDS,
AND THE DRIVING FIGURES
IN ALL THIS
ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE
THE LAKOTAS.
THE LAKOTAS
ARE PUSHING OTHER PEOPLE OUT.
THE LAKOTAS ARE SPREADING WEST
AFTER THE HERDS.
THE LAKOTAS ARE THE PEOPLE
IN MOTION.
THE LAKOTAS
WEREN'T ALWAYS THERE,
BUT THEY MAKE THE BLACK HILLS
THE CENTER OF THEIR WORLD.
Woman: OUR NAME FOR THE BLACK
HILLS IS WAMAKAHOGNAKA INCHATE.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
"INCHATE" IS THE HEART OF.
"WAMAKAHOGNAKA" I TRANSLATE "THE
HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT IS"--
EVERYTHING MATERIAL,
EVERYTHING SPIRITUAL.
IT'S THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.
WE WERE A WARRIOR SOCIETY,
AND THAT'S VERY MUCH
A PART OF OUR CULTURE.
WE HAVE AN EXPRESSION THAT
WHOEVER DIDN'T FEAR US HATED US,
AND WE TOOK GREAT PRIDE
IN THE FACT
THAT EVERYONE EITHER HATED US
OR FEARED US.
THE CREE PEOPLE
IN THEIR STORIES WOULD SAY,
"WHEN THE CROW
WERE COMING TO FIGHT,
"WE SENT OUR LITTLE BOYS
TO FIGHT.
"WHEN THE MANDAN WERE COMING,
WE SENT THE OLD MEN.
"WHEN THE SIOUX WERE COMING,
WE PAINTED OUR FACES FOR DEATH
AND PREPARED TO DIE."
Narrator: FOR NEARLY 300 YEARS,
SINCE THE DAYS OF CORONADO,
SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE
HAD CALLED MUCH OF THE WEST
THEIR HOME.
THEY RAISED VAST HERDS OF CATTLE
IN THE FERTILE VALLEYS
OF CALIFORNIA,
BUILT CATHEDRALS
AND TOWNS OF ADOBE
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
IN NEW MEXICO.
AND IN THE SPRAWLING
NORTHERN PROVINCE OF TEJAS,
WHERE COMANCHES AND KIOWAS
CONTROLLED THE OPEN PLAINS,
THEY CLUSTERED AROUND A HANDFUL
OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS.
BUT WHEREVER THEY LIVED, THEY
FELT NEGLECTED BY MEXICO CITY,
MORE THAN 1,000 MILES AWAY.
Man: THE PEOPLE OF THE FRONTIER
WERE, BY AND LARGE,
ANTI-GOVERNMENT,
ANTI-INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH.
THEY WERE VERY HAPPY
BEING LEFT ON THEIR OWN
TO DEFEND THEIR PROPERTY,
TO LIVE THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES
WITHOUT INTERVENTION
OF A FAR-OFF GOVERNMENT.
THE SPANISH COLONISTS,
THEIR MOTTO WAS--
GOD IS IN HEAVEN,
THE POPE IS AT THE VATICAN,
THE KING IS IN MADRID,
THE VICEROY'S IN MEXICO CITY,
AND TO HELL WITH YOU.
I'M IN SAN ANTONIO.
Narrator: FOR GENERATIONS,
FOREIGNERS HAD BEEN KEPT OUT
OF THE ISOLATED
NORTHERN PROVINCES.
THEN,
AFTER THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO
WON ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1821,
IT ANNOUNCED THAT AMERICANS WERE
NOW WELCOME IN TEJAS--TEXAS.
Woman: MEXICO HAD HAD
WHAT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD PLAN--
HOW TO GET SETTLERS
AND COLONISTS INTO TEXAS
TO MAKE SURE
IT WAS A SETTLED TERRITORY
THAT THE UNITED STATES
WOULD HAVE TO BACK OFF FROM.
THE MEXICAN POPULATION
DOESN'T REALLY HAVE A SURPLUS
THAT CAN PROVIDE
THAT KIND OF SETTLEMENT.
SO, IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS
OF HINDSIGHT WHERE YOU THINK,
"OH, WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE."
Man: THIS VILLAGE
HAS BEEN SETTLED
BY MR. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN,
A NATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES
OF THE NORTH.
ITS POPULATION IS NEARLY
200 PERSONS,
OF WHICH
ONLY 10 ARE MEXICANS.
THE AMERICANS ARE
IN GENERAL, IN MY OPINION,
LAZY PEOPLE
OF VICIOUS CHARACTER.
SOME OF THEM
CULTIVATE THEIR SMALL FARMS,
BUT THIS TASK
THEY USUALLY ENTRUST
TO THEIR NEGRO SLAVES,
WHOM THEY TREAT
WITH CONSIDERABLE HARSHNESS.
IN MY JUDGMENT,
THE SPARK THAT WILL
START THE CONFLAGRATION
THAT WILL DEPRIVE US OF TEXAS
WILL START FROM THIS COLONY.
LIEUTENANT JOSE MARIA SANCHEZ.
Narrator: IN 1821, AN AMBITIOUS
EX-NEWSPAPERMAN FROM MISSOURI
NAMED STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
SETTLED 297 AMERICAN FAMILIES--
AND THEIR SLAVES--
ON THE BRAZOS RIVER
IN EAST TEXAS.
IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LAND,
THEY AGREED TO CONVERT
TO CATHOLICISM
AND SWEAR ALLEGIANCE
TO THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO.
UNDER THE SAME TERMS,
MEXICO GRANTED OTHERS
THE RIGHT TO SETTLE IN TEXAS.
BUT SOON,
THE PLAN BEGAN TO BACKFIRE.
THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SQUATTERS
NOW CAME,
CARVING OUT THEIR OWN HOMESTEADS
WITHOUT ANYONE'S PERMISSION.
Woman:
I THINK IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR ADVENTURE FOR THEM.
A LOT OF PEOPLE CAME TO TEXAS
BECAUSE THEY WERE RUNNING
FROM THE LAW
OR RUNNING FROM A BAD FAMILY
SITUATION, A BAD MARRIAGE.
TEXAS WAS FILLED WITH,
SHALL WE SAY, FRINGE SOCIETY.
BUT IT WAS ALSO FILLED
WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO REALLY DID WANT SOMETHING
MORE THAN WHAT THEY HAD,
AND THOUGHT THEY MIGHT FIND IT
ON THE FRONTIER.
Narrator:
DIRT-POOR DEBTORS CAME.
SO DID LAND SPECULATORS,
FUGITIVES, LAWYERS...
AND A TALL
39-YEAR-OLD TENNESSEAN
WITH A DECIDEDLY
MIXED REPUTATION.
RAISED BY HIS WIDOWED MOTHER
AND INFORMALLY ADOPTED
BY THE CHEROKEES,
HE HAD DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF
IN THE WAR OF 1812,
SERVED IN CONGRESS, AND WAS
NOW GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE.
MANY ASSUMED THAT HE,
LIKE HIS MENTOR ANDREW JACKSON,
WOULD ONE DAY BE PRESIDENT.
HIS NAME WAS SAM HOUSTON.
Richards: I THINK
THAT HE WAS PROBABLY
ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT,
THE MOST IRASCIBLE,
THE MOST PRINCIPLED,
THE MOST OPINIONATED MAN
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
HE WAS FLAMBOYANT.
HE WORE VESTS THAT WERE FURRY.
AND HE WOULD HAVE ON A JACKET,
AND ON TOP OF THAT
AN INDIAN BLANKET.
HE WAS THE FIRST MAN
TO WEAR BEADS
ON THE FLOOR
OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
I LIKE THAT.
Narrator: BUT AFTER HIS
YOUNG WIFE ABRUPTLY LEFT HIM,
HOUSTON RESIGNED
THE GOVERNORSHIP
WITHOUT EXPLANATION,
BEGAN DRINKING HEAVILY,
AND FLED TO LIVE
WITH HIS CHEROKEE FRIENDS.
HIS CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES
SEEMED OVER.
SAM HOUSTON HEADED FOR TEXAS.
Man: AN EAGLE SWOOPED DOWN
NEAR MY HEAD
AND THEN, SOARING ALOFT
WITH WILDEST SCREAMS,
WAS LOST IN THE RAYS
OF THE SETTING SUN.
I KNEW THAT A GREAT DESTINY
WAITED FOR ME IN THE WEST.
SAM HOUSTON.
Narrator:
THERE WERE NOW NEARLY 35,000
AMERICAN-BORN IMMIGRANTS
AND THEIR SLAVES IN TEXAS--
TEN TIMES THE NUMBER
OF SPANISH-SPEAKING TEJANOS.
DESPITE GROWING TENSIONS,
AND DESPITE
THEIR MANY DIFFERENCES,
BOTH GROUPS
AGREED ON ONE THING--
THEY RESENTED TAKING ORDERS
FROM FAR-OFF MEXICO CITY.
THEN IN 1835, GENERAL
ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA
WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MEXICO.
AT FIRST, HE PROMISED TO RESTORE
GREATER AUTONOMY TO TEXAS.
INSTEAD, SANTA ANNA
DECLARED HIMSELF DICTATOR,
THE "NAPOLEON OF THE WEST,"
AND WHEN TEXANS REBELLED
AND TALKED OF INDEPENDENCE,
HE LED AN ARMY NORTH--
5,300 MEN FLYING A BLACK FLAG
THAT MEANT NO QUARTER.
Man as Houston: LET EACH MAN
COME WITH A GOOD RIFLE
AND 100 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION--
AND COME SOON.
SAM HOUSTON.
Narrator: BECAUSE OF HIS
PAST MILITARY EXPERIENCE,
SAM HOUSTON WAS PUT IN COMMAND
OF TEXAN FORCES.
HE CALLED FOR MORE MEN--
FROM TEXAS
AND FROM THE UNITED STATES.
IN WASHINGTON,
PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON
ORDERED A POLICY
OF STRICT NEUTRALITY--
HE WANTED TO BUY TEXAS,
NOT FIGHT A WAR OVER IT.
BUT "TEXAS MEETINGS"
WERE HELD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
EAGER YOUNG MEN SIGNED UP
BY THE BATTALION.
IN SAN ANTONIO, 146 MEN GATHERED
AT AN OLD SPANISH MISSION
CALLED THE ALAMO
TO STOP SANTA ANNA'S ARMY.
HOUSTON BELIEVED THE ALAMO
WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEND
AND ORDERED IT BLOWN UP.
BUT THE MEN INSIDE--
INCLUDING AN ALCOHOLIC
ADVENTURER NAMED JIM BOWIE
AND A FORMER
TENNESSEE CONGRESSMAN
NAMED DAVY CROCKETT--
DECIDED ON THEIR OWN
TO STAY AND FIGHT.
ON FEBRUARY 24, 1836,
SANTA ANNA REACHED SAN ANTONIO
AND DEMANDED
THAT THE ALAMO'S OCCUPANTS
SURRENDER OR BE ANNIHILATED.
ITS COMMANDER,
WILLIAM BARRET TRAVIS,
ANSWERED WITH A CANNON SHOT.
THE MEXICANS SETTLED IN
FOR A SIEGE.
TRAVIS SCRIBBLED OUT AN URGENT
PLEA FOR REINFORCEMENTS
AND ENTRUSTED IT
TO A 30-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN
OF THE TEXAS ARMY,
A TEJANO NAMED JUAN SEGUIN.
HE SLIPPED
THROUGH THE MEXICAN LINES
AND DELIVERED THE CALL FOR HELP.
MEANWHILE,
IN A RUNDOWN FARMHOUSE
IN THE TINY SETTLEMENT
OF WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS,
59 MEN, INCLUDING THREE TEJANOS,
DECLARED TEXAS
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
AND HAMMERED OUT A CONSTITUTION
MODELED AFTER THAT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
BUT THERE WOULD BE
NO REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE ALAMO.
HOUSTON STILL CONSIDERED IT
FOLLY FOR HIS OUTNUMBERED ARMY
TO FIGHT SANTA ANNA THERE.
[BUGLE PLAYS]
AT 5:00 A.M., ON THE MORNING
OF MARCH 6, 1836,
AFTER 13 DAYS OF SIEGE,
SANTA ANNA'S BUGLER
BLEW THE DEGUELLO,
THE SIGNAL FOR DEATH
IN THE BULL RING.
2,600 HUNDRED MEXICAN
SOLDIERS CHARGED THE ALAMO--
INTO A HAIL OF TEXAN GUNFIRE.
AT LEAST 600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS
DIED THAT MORNING--
THOUGH SANTA ANNA
WOULD OFFICIALLY ADMIT
TO JUST 70 DEATHS AMONG HIS MEN.
BUT THE ODDS
PROVED OVERWHELMING.
IN A MATTER OF HOURS,
THE ALAMO WAS TAKEN,
AND IN THE END,
ALL ITS DEFENDERS--
AMERICANS AND TEJANOS ALIKE--
LAY DEAD.
Santos: WHAT IS IMPORTANT
ABOUT THE ALAMO
IS NOT THE NUMBER OF MEN
OR WHO THEY WERE
OR THE VARIOUS PERSONALITIES,
BUT THE FACT
THAT THIS SMALL GROUP OF MEN
CHOSE TO DEFEND
AN IMPOSSIBLE POSITION
AGAINST A SUPERIOR NUMBER
AND HELD IT FOR 13 DAYS.
THEY CHOSE THIS PLACE KNOWING
THAT IT WOULD MEAN SURE DEATH.
Narrator: THE KILLING WENT ON.
SANTA ANNA TOOK A SECOND FORT,
CALLED GOLIAD.
ITS DEFENDERS WERE "PIRATES,"
HE SAID,
FOREIGNERS INTENT ON STEALING
MEXICAN TERRITORY.
HE ORDERED 300 MEN--
MOST OF THEM AMERICANS--
TO BE SHOT
AND THEIR CORPSES BURNED.
Man: OUR GARRISON WAS TAKEN
AND MASSACRED.
IF SUCH CONDUCT
IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO AROUSE
THE PATRIOTIC FEELINGS
OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY,
I KNOW NOT WHAT WILL.
RATHER THAN BE DRIVEN OUT
OF THIS COUNTRY,
I WILL LEAVE MY BONES
TO BLANCH
ON THE PLAINS OF TEXAS.
PRIVATE G.A. GIDDINGS.
Narrator: SANTA ANNA PUSHED ON.
NOW, ALL THAT STOOD BETWEEN HIM
AND THE DEFENSELESS SETTLEMENTS
IN EAST TEXAS
WAS A SMALL, POORLY TRAINED
ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS
AND THEIR ERRATIC
AND UNPREDICTABLE COMMANDER,
SAM HOUSTON.
Woman: A WAYAKIN
IS YOUR GUARDIAN SPIRIT
AND FROM THIS GUARDIAN SPIRIT
YOU GET YOUR POWER.
AND I COLLECTED
ABOUT 16 OF THEM.
AND THE MOST INTERESTING THAT I
HAVE IS THE ONE OF MY FATHER'S,
BECAUSE THERE WERE
DIFFERENT ANIMALS
THAT TALKED TO HIM
AT THE SAME TIME.
AND EACH ONE OF THEM
GAVE HIM THIS CERTAIN THING.
THE CHIPMUNK SAID,
"WELL, I'LL GIVE YOU
"A LOT OF GOOD, FAST MOVEMENTS.
YOU WILL BE A QUICK PERSON."
AND THE BADGER SAYS,
"I WILL GIVE YOU STEADFASTNESS.
YOU WILL BE STRONG."
AND THE DOG SAID,
"I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.
I'M GOING TO BE WITH HIM
ALL THE TIME."
AND THAT WAS HIS
GUARDIAN SPIRIT.
Narrator:
BACK IN 1831, FOUR INDIANS,
INCLUDING THREE NEZ PERCE
FROM THE TRIBE WHO HAD HELPED
LEWIS AND CLARK
SURVIVE THEIR TIME
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST,
TRAVELED EASTWARD,
OVER THE MOUNTAINS
AND ACROSS THE PLAINS,
NEARLY 2,000 MILES
TO ST. LOUIS.
THEY HAD COME, THEY SAID,
BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD
OF A BLACK BOOK
THAT GAVE WHOEVER POSSESSED IT
ADDITIONAL POWER AND PRESTIGE.
Lawyer:
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THE BIBLE,
AND THEY THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD
GET POWER FROM IT,
JUST LIKE THAT THEY WOULD GET
FROM THEIR WAYAKIN.
Narrator: A HIGHLY EMBELLISHED
ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS' JOURNEY
MADE ITS WAY INTO
THE PROTESTANT MISSIONARY PRESS.
THE NEZ PERCE, IT SAID,
WERE PLEADING FOR SALVATION.
[WOMAN HUMS]
IN THE SPRING OF 1836, A SMALL
PARTY OF MISSIONARIES RESPONDED,
AND BEGAN THE LONG TREK
FROM MISSOURI
TO THE BRITISH TRADING POST
OF FORT VANCOUVER
ALONG A ROUTE THAT WOULD
SOON BE CALLED THE OREGON TRAIL.
[HUMMING CONTINUES]
♪ IN THE DESERTS LET ME LABOR ♪
♪ ON THE MOUNTAINS LET ME TELL ♪
♪ HOW HE DIED,
THE BLESSED SAVIOR ♪
♪ TO REDEEM A WORLD FROM HELL ♪
♪ LET ME HASTEN, LET ME HASTEN ♪
♪ FAR IN HEATHEN LANDS
TO DWELL ♪
Narrator: AMONG
THE CHRISTIAN PIONEERS
WERE DR. MARCUS WHITMAN
AND HIS YOUNG WIFE NARCISSA,
WHO FROM HER EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
HAD DREAMED
OF BECOMING A MISSIONARY.
SHE HAD MARRIED WHITMAN
SPECIFICALLY TO GO WEST
AND SPREAD THE WORD OF CHRIST
TO THOSE IN NEED OF IT.
Woman: OUR DESIRE NOW
IS TO BE USEFUL TO THESE
BENIGHTED INDIANS,
TEACHING THEM
THE WAY OF SALVATION.
IT IS A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
TO BE PIONEERS
IN SO GREAT A WORK.
IT IS WITH CAUTIOUS STEPS
THAT WE ENTER ON IT.
NARCISSA WHITMAN.
Woman: WELL, I DON'T THINK
SHE REALLY KNEW
WHAT SHE WAS GOING OUT
TO DO IN THE WEST.
SHE HAD GROWN UP READING,
CONSUMING VORACIOUSLY
THE LITERATURE OF THE
MISSIONARY MOVEMENT OF HER DAY.
AND SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS
GOING OUT TO LIVE OUT A SCENARIO
THAT SHE HAD REALLY READ ABOUT.
THAT IS, SHE WOULD ARRIVE,
HOPEFULLY BE WELCOMED,
AND SOMEHOW BRING ABOUT
THIS MONUMENTAL CONVERSION
OF THE PEOPLE
WITH WHOM SHE WORKED.
SHE HAD NO REAL IDEAS AT ALL
AS TO WHAT THE WEST WAS LIKE,
OR WHAT MISSIONARY WORK
WOULD BE LIKE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator:
WHILE OTHER MISSIONARIES
WENT TO THE NEZ PERCE,
THE WHITMANS SETTLED
AT A PLACE CALLED WAIILATPU,
ON THE NORTH BANK
OF THE WALLA WALLA RIVER,
IN THE LAND OF THE CAYUSE.
THINGS DID NOT GO WELL
FOR THE WHITMANS.
TILOUKAIKT, A CAYUSE CHIEF,
WELCOMED THEM,
BUT WONDERED WHY THEY FAILED
TO OFFER GIFTS,
AS WAS THE CAYUSE CUSTOM.
HIS PEOPLE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND
WHY THE WHITMANS INSISTED
THEY MUST COMPLETELY
ABANDON THEIR OWN FAITH.
AND THEY WERE INSULTED
WHEN NARCISSA BARRED THEM
FROM HER PARLOR.
Woman as Whitman:
THE INDIANS SAID
THEY WOULD WORSHIP
IN OUR NEW HOUSE.
WE TOLD THEM OUR HOUSE
WAS TO LIVE IN,
AND WE COULD NOT HAVE THEM
WORSHIP THERE
FOR FEAR THEY WOULD MAKE IT
SO DIRTY AND FULL OF FLEAS
THAT WE COULD NOT LIVE IN IT.
Jeffrey: I THINK NARCISSA
REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THEM AT ALL,
AND THAT SHE SAW THEM
AS EVERYTHING
THAT WAS THE POLAR OPPOSITE
OF WHAT SHE LOVED AND VALUED.
THE KINDS OF WORDS
THAT SHE USES--
SAVAGE, IGNORANT,
LAZY, HEATHENISH--
THE WAY SHE CALLED
HER MISSION STATION
A DARK AND SAVAGE PLACE,
GIVE YOU SOME SENSE
OF THIS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
TO PEOPLE
WHOM SHE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND,
WHO FRIGHTENED HER,
AND WHO WOULDN'T CHANGE
IN THE WAYS THAT SHE REALLY
THOUGHT THEY OUGHT TO CHANGE
FOR THEIR OWN GOOD.
Narrator: NARCISSA HAD GIVEN
BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER, ALICE.
BUT AT AGE 2,
THE LITTLE GIRL DROWNED
IN THE RIVER
NEXT TO THE MISSION.
GRIEVING AND LONELY,
NARCISSA SOMETIMES
WENT TWO YEARS
WITHOUT A LETTER FROM HOME.
EACH DAY SHE AND THE OTHER
MISSIONARY WIVES IN THE REGION
PAUSED TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Jeffrey: I'VE ALWAYS FOUND IT
TO BE VERY POIGNANT,
A SIGN OF THEIR LONELINESS,
AND HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS,
AND HOW THEY TRIED
TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER
THROUGH THEIR SPIRITS.
Narrator:
DURING THEIR FIRST YEARS,
THE WHITMANS MANAGED TO CONVERT
ONE SCOTTISH VISITOR,
ONE FRENCH-CANADIAN CATHOLIC,
AND SEVERAL HAWAIIAN LABORERS
WHO WORKED FOR THE MISSION.
BUT THEY FAILED TO MAKE A SINGLE
CONVERT AMONG THE CAYUSE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Woman as Whitman: NEVER WAS
I MORE KEENLY SENSIBLE
TO THE SELF-DENIALS
OF A MISSIONARY LIFE.
EVEN NOW WHILE I AM WRITING,
THE DRUM AND THE SAVAGE YELL
ARE SOUNDING IN MY EARS,
EVERY SOUND OF WHICH
IS AS FAR AS THE EAST
IS FROM THE WEST
FROM VIBRATING IN UNISON
WITH MY FEELINGS.
Man: DEAR FRIENDS, WILL YOU
NOT SOMETIME THINK OF ME
ALMOST ALONE IN THE MIDST
OF SAVAGE DARKNESS?
GENERAL HOUSTON, SIR,
THE ENEMY ARE LAUGHING YOU
TO SCORN.
YOU MUST FIGHT THEM.
YOU MUST RETREAT NO FURTHER.
THE COUNTRY EXPECTS YOU
TO FIGHT.
THE SALVATION OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON YOUR DOING SO.
DAVID BURNETT,
PRESIDENT OF TEXAS.
Man: AFTER THE ALAMO FELL
AND SANTA ANNA ORDERED
ALL THE PRISONERS SHOT,
HE HAD SAID
HE WAS GONNA KILL EVERYBODY
THAT'S OPPOSING
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT.
THERE'S TERRIFIC PANIC
OVER THE COUNTRY.
AND EVERY FAMILY THAT COULD
GOT THEIR BELONGINGS TOGETHER
IN A BUGGY OR A WAGON OR
WHATEVER THEY HAD, A HORSEBACK.
SOME DIDN'T HAVE ANY VEHICLES.
WALKING, CARRY WHAT YOU COULD,
DRAG IT, OR PUT IT ON A MULE.
AND THE FAMILIES
JUST ABANDONED THEIR HOMES.
AND THAT WAS CALLED
THE "RUNAWAY SCRAPE."
AND THEY WERE TRYING
TO GET ACROSS THE SABINE RIVER
TO GET INTO NEW ORLEANS
BEFORE THEY GOT KILLED.
Narrator: THE FLEDGLING
GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS
RETREATED TO THE LITTLE TOWN
OF HARRISBURG.
THERE, THEY DEMANDED THAT
SAM HOUSTON STAND AND FIGHT.
BUT HOUSTON
KEPT HIS OWN COUNSEL,
PORING OVER CAESAR'S
COMMENTARIES ON WAR,
GNAWING ON THE RAW EARS OF CORN
WITH WHICH
HE FILLED HIS SADDLEBAGS.
Man as Houston: HAD I CONSULTED
THE WISHES OF ALL,
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE THE ASS
BETWEEN TWO STACKS OF HAY.
I CONSULTED NO ONE.
I HELD NO COUNCILS OF WAR.
IF I ERR, THE BLAME IS MINE.
Narrator: HOUSTON AND HIS
SMALL ARMY WERE IN FULL RETREAT,
ZIG-ZAGGING ACROSS TEXAS,
KEEPING JUST OUT OF RANGE
OF THE ADVANCING MEXICANS.
RUMORS SPREAD THAT ALCOHOL
HAD UNDERCUT HIS COURAGE.
SETTLERS JEERED HIM
FROM THE ROADSIDE.
Yarborough: AND THE MEN
UNDER HIM SAID HE IS A COWARD.
AND SIDNEY SHERMAN, THE COLONEL,
TRIED TO REPLACE HIM.
SAM HOUSTON SAID,
"ANYBODY THAT TRIES TO REMOVE ME
FROM THIS COMMAND,
I'LL EXECUTE HIM ON THE SPOT."
Narrator: FOR MORE THAN A MONTH,
SANTA ANNA
PURSUED HOUSTON'S ELUSIVE ARMY.
THEN THE MEXICAN GENERAL
MADE A MISTAKE.
HE DIVIDED HIS TROOPS
AND VEERED OFF
IN HOPES OF CAPTURING
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
HOUSTON SLIPPED UP BEHIND HIM
AT A BEND IN A RIVER
CALLED THE SAN JACINTO.
Man as Houston: APRIL 21, 1836.
WE ARE IN PREPARATION
TO MEET SANTA ANNA.
IT IS THE ONLY CHANCE
OF SAVING TEXAS.
WE GO TO CONQUER.
IT IS WISDOM
GROWING OUT OF NECESSITY
TO MEET THE ENEMY NOW.
Narrator: SANTA ANNA'S ARMY
WAS SURROUNDED BY WATER
ON THREE SIDES.
HOUSTON'S 800 MEN MOVED
INTO POSITION ON THE 4th.
Yarborough:
THERE WERE TREES THERE.
HOUSTON HAD MEN
UP IN THOSE TREES WATCHING THEM,
AND CALLING DOWN TO HIM
WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
HE SAYS, "THE CAVALRY OVER THERE
HAVE TAKEN THEIR SADDLES OFF.
"THEY'RE TAKING THEIR HORSES
TO DRINK.
"THIS IS SIESTA TIME,
IT'S 3:30.
AND MOST OF THE MEXICANS
ARE HAVING THEIR SIESTA."
HOUSTON IMMEDIATELY ORDERED THEM
TO LINE UP.
Narrator: "TRUST IN GOD
AND FEAR NOT!" HE TOLD HIS MEN.
"REMEMBER GOLIAD!
REMEMBER THE ALAMO!"
HOUSTON LED THE CHARGE HIMSELF,
SWINGING HIS SABER.
HIS HORSE FELL, HIT FIVE TIMES.
HOUSTON
CLIMBED ONTO ANOTHER HORSE.
IT, TOO, WAS KILLED.
AND THIS TIME,
HOUSTON'S RIGHT LEG
WAS SPLINTERED BY A MUSKET BALL.
BUT SANTA ANNA'S ARMY
WAS ON THE RUN.
THE TEXANS
AND A COMPANY OF TEJANOS
UNDER JUAN SEGUIN
WERE RIGHT BEHIND THEM.
THE FIGHTING
LASTED JUST 18 MINUTES...
[GUNS FIRE, HORSES NEIGH]
BUT THE SLAUGHTER
WENT ON FOR ANOTHER HOUR.
WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER,
600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS LAY DEAD.
NEARLY 700 MORE HAD SURRENDERED.
THE SURPRISE HAD BEEN
SO COMPLETE, THE BLOW SO SUDDEN,
THAT ONLY SIX TEXANS DIED DURING
THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO.
SANTA ANNA HIMSELF
WAS MADE SAM HOUSTON'S PRISONER
AND FORCED
TO SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER
CEDING TEXAN INDEPENDENCE.
NOW THERE WERE
THREE INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS
IN NORTH AMERICA--
MEXICO, THE UNITED STATES,
AND UNDER PRESIDENT SAM HOUSTON,
THE NEW REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
Man: THE LOSS OF TEXAS
WILL INEVITABLY RESULT
IN THE LOSS OF NEW MEXICO
AND THE CALIFORNIAS.
LITTLE BY LITTLE,
OUR TERRITORY WILL BE ABSORBED
UNTIL ONLY AN INSIGNIFICANT
PART IS LEFT TO US.
OUR NATIONAL EXISTENCE
WILL END
LIKE THOSE WEAK METEORS
THAT FROM TIME TO TIME
SHINE FITFULLY IN THE FIRMAMENT
AND DISAPPEAR.
JOSE MARIA TORNEL Y MENDIVIL.
Narrator:
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
OF NOVEMBER 14, 1833,
ONE OF THE LARGEST
METEOR SHOWERS IN HISTORY
LIT UP THE NIGHT SKY
OVER NORTH AMERICA.
LONE DOG AND HIS LAKOTA BAND
WATCHED IT
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
AND REMEMBERED 1833
AS "THE YEAR THE STARS FELL."
ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
A LARGE BAND OF KIOWA
WERE CAMPED
IN THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS,
WHERE THEY HAD BEEN DRIVEN
WHEN THE CHEYENNE AND LAKOTA
TOOK OVER THE BLACK HILLS.
Momaday: AND THEY WERE AWAKENED
BY THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS.
AND THEY RAN OUT
INTO THE FALSE DAY
AND WERE TERRIFIED.
THEY THOUGHT THE WORLD
WAS COMING TO AN END.
YOU CAN IMAGINE
SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENING
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD,
THIS HAVOC IN THE NIGHT SKY.
AND SO IT'S VERY MUCH
IN THEIR BLOOD MEMORY.
I THINK THE KIOWAS TOOK
THE FALLING STARS AS A SIGN.
IT WAS AN OMEN,
AND BAD THINGS FOLLOWED.
YOU CAN START
COUNTING THE CATASTROPHES.
[BELL RINGS]
[WOMAN SINGS "AMAZING GRACE"
IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE]
Narrator: SOON, THE KIOWA
NOTICED A NEW PEOPLE
COMING FROM THE EAST,
MOVING ONTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
THE SETTLERS
BUILT TOWNS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS.
SOME OF THEM OWNED SLAVES.
BUT THESE NEWCOMERS
WERE INDIANS, TOO.
CHEROKEE, ONE OF MANY PEOPLES
FROM THE EAST
FORCED INTO THE WEST
BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
NO EASTERN TRIBE
HAD STRUGGLED HARDER
OR MORE SUCCESSFULLY TO MAKE
WHITE CIVILIZATION THEIR OWN.
FOR GENERATIONS, THE CHEROKEE
HAD LIVED SIDE BY SIDE
WITH WHITES IN GEORGIA.
THEY HAD DEVISED
A WRITTEN LANGUAGE,
PUBLISHED THEIR OWN NEWSPAPER,
ADOPTED A CONSTITUTION
AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
BUT AFTER GOLD
WAS DISCOVERED ON THEIR LAND,
EVEN THEY WERE TOLD
THEY WOULD HAVE TO START
OVER AGAIN IN THE WEST.
[SINGING CONTINUES]
Man: MY FRIENDS, CIRCUMSTANCES
RENDER IT IMPOSSIBLE
THAT YOU CAN FLOURISH
IN THE MIDST
OF A CIVILIZED COMMUNITY.
YOU HAVE BUT ONE REMEDY
WITHIN YOUR REACH,
AND THAT IS
TO REMOVE TO THE WEST,
AND THE SOONER YOU DO THIS,
THE SOONER WILL COMMENCE
YOUR CAREER OF IMPROVEMENT
AND PROSPERITY.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Narrator: EARLY IN THE 1830s,
CONGRESS HAD CREATED
A HUGE NEW "INDIAN TERRITORY,"
WHICH WAS TO STRETCH FROM TEXAS
TO THE MIDDLE MISSOURI RIVER.
IT WAS MEANT TO BE A BARRIER
TO WHITE EXPANSION,
A PLACE
THE INDIANS WERE PROMISED
THEY WOULD HAVE
TO THEMSELVES FOREVER.
Limerick: ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH
THE WEST WAS GOING TO SOLVE
AMERICA'S PROBLEMS WAS THAT
IT LOOKED LIKE THE PLACE
WHERE YOU COULD PUT INDIANS.
THERE'S ALL THAT SPACE.
PUT THEM THERE, MOVE THEM.
MOVE THEM TO THE WEST.
TAKE THEM
ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
AND POSTERITY
CAN FIGURE THIS ONE OUT.
POSTERITY
CAN INHERIT OUR DILEMMA.
["AMAZING GRACE" PLAYS]
Narrator: ONE BY ONE,
INDIAN PEOPLES
WERE REMOVED TO THE WEST--
THE DELAWARE, OTTAWA,
SHAWNEE, AND POTAWATOMI...
THE SAC AND FOX,
MIAMI AND KICKAPOO...
THE CHOCTAW, CHICKASAW,
CREEK, AND SEMINOLE.
IN ALL, SOME 90,000 INDIANS
WERE RELOCATED.
THE CHEROKEE
WERE AMONG THE LAST TO GO.
SOME RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO MOVE.
OTHERS WERE DRIVEN FROM
THEIR HOMES AT BAYONET POINT.
ALMOST 2,000 OF THEM DIED
ALONG THE ROUTE THEY REMEMBER
AS THE "TRAIL OF TEARS."
THE CHEROKEE ARE PROBABLY
THE MOST TRAGIC INSTANCE
OF WHAT COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED
IN AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY
AND DIDN'T.
ALL THESE THINGS
THAT AMERICANS WOULD PROUDLY SEE
AS THE HALLMARKS
OF CIVILIZATION
ARE BORNE INTO THE WEST
BY INDIAN PEOPLE.
THEY DO EVERYTHING WE ASK
EXCEPT ONE THING.
WHAT THE CHEROKEES
ULTIMATELY ARE--
THEY MAY BE CHRISTIAN,
THEY MAY BE LITERATE,
THEY MAY HAVE
A GOVERNMENT LIKE OURS--
BUT ULTIMATELY, THEY'RE INDIAN.
AND IN THE END,
BEING INDIAN IS WHAT KILLS THEM.
Man: THE MORMONS ARE A TRIBE
OF LOCUSTS THAT STILL THREATENS
TO SCORCH AND WITHER
THE HERBIAGE
OF A FAIR AND GOODLY PORTION
OF MISSOURI
BY THE SWARM OF EMIGRANTS
FROM THEIR PESTILENT HIVE
IN OHIO AND NEW YORK.
SAMUEL OWENS, 1837.
Narrator: THEY CALLED THEMSELVES
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
THE WORLD
CALLED THEM THE MORMONS,
AFTER THE BOOK OF MORMON,
WHICH THEIR FOUNDER JOSEPH SMITH
SAID HE HAD TRANSLATED
FROM A SET OF GOLDEN PLATES
HE HAD BEEN DIVINELY GUIDED
TO DISCOVER.
THE BOOK SAID THAT JESUS CHRIST
HAD PREACHED IN AMERICA
AFTER THE RESURRECTION
AND WOULD RETURN WHEN A NEW,
TRUE CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED.
EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THE MORMONS GATHERED CONVERTS.
AND EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THEY MADE ENEMIES.
Woman:
IF WE WERE OF THE WORLD,
I BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE
WOULD LOVE US WELL ENOUGH
TO LET US REMAIN
SOMEWHERE IN THE STATE.
BUT THEY HATE US, DESPISE US,
AND PERSECUTE US.
AND WHEN THEY KILL US,
THEY VERILY THINK
THEY DO GOD'S SERVICE.
ELIZABETH HAVEN BARLOW.
Narrator: ANGRY MOBS,
WHO CONSIDERED THEM HERETICS,
DROVE THE MORMONS FROM NEW YORK,
THEN OHIO, AND THEN MISSOURI,
WHERE THE GOVERNOR HIMSELF
ORDERED THEM TO LEAVE THE STATE,
OR BE EXTERMINATED.
IN ILLINOIS, JOSEPH SMITH
BOUGHT A SMALL SETTLEMENT,
RENAMED IT NAUVOO, AND TURNED IT
INTO THE SECOND-BIGGEST CITY
IN THE STATE.
HE STARTED WORK
ON A GREAT TEMPLE,
OUTFITTED HIS OWN PRIVATE ARMY,
BEGAN TO PRACTICE POLYGAMY
IN SECRET,
AND ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING
FOR PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
WHEN SMITH DESTROYED
THE PRINTING PRESS
OF A MAN
WHO DARED CRITICIZE HIM,
HE WAS JAILED
AND THEN MURDERED
BY AN ANTI-MORMON MOB.
UNLESS THEY ABANDONED ILLINOIS,
HIS FOLLOWERS WERE TOLD,
THE SAME FATE AWAITED THEM.
Man: WE FACE A CRISIS
OF EXTRAORDINARY
AND THRILLING INTERESTS,
THE EXODUS OF THE NATION
OF THE ONLY TRUE ISRAEL
FROM THESE UNITED STATES
TO A FAR-DISTANT REGION
OF THE WEST.
WAKE UP, WAKE UP,
DEAR BRETHREN,
TO THE PRESENT,
GLORIOUS EMERGENCY
IN WHICH THE GOD OF HEAVEN
HAS PLACED YOU
TO PROVE YOUR FAITH
BY YOUR WORKS.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Narrator: NOW THE MORMONS
PINNED THEIR HOPES
ON A BIG VERMONT-BORN CARPENTER
NAMED BRIGHAM YOUNG,
ONE OF THE CHURCH'S
12 APOSTLES.
HE HAD READ EXPLORERS' REPORTS
OF THE VALLEY
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE
AND SAW IT AS A PERFECT
SANCTUARY FOR HIS SAINTS,
SHELTERED
BY THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS,
BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES
OF THE UNITED STATES.
HE WOULD TAKE HIS PEOPLE THERE.
IN EARLY 1846,
SOME 10,000 LATTER-DAY SAINTS
BEGAN LEAVING THEIR HOMES
FOR THE WEST.
Man: ♪ NOW CONCERNING
THIS STRANGE PEOPLE ♪
♪ I'M NOW A-GOING TO SING ♪
♪ FOR THE WAY
THEY HAVE BEEN TREATED ♪
♪ I THINK IT IS A SIN ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE AYE ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE OH ♪
♪ THEY'VE BEEN
DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES ♪
♪ AND AWAY FROM NAUVOO ♪
♪ FOR TO SEEK ANOTHER HOME
IN THE WILDERNESS ANEW ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE AYE ♪
♪ AND SING TITTERY IRE OH ♪
Man: BRIGHAM YOUNG'S BEEN CALLED
AN AMERICAN MOSES,
AND I THINK
THAT'S PRETTY ACCURATE.
HE TOOK
A PERSECUTED RELIGIOUS SECT,
AND HE TOOK THEM
INTO THE WILDERNESS
AND BUILT A NEW PLACE FOR THEM
TO LIVE IN THE DESERT.
AND IN GOING
THROUGH THESE TRIALS
AS THEY WENT TO THE WEST,
IT MADE THE MORMONS
SEE THEMSELVES AS DIVINELY
SEPARATED FROM EVERYONE ELSE
AND DIVINELY PROTECTED.
AND BRIGHAM YOUNG IS THE ONE
WHO MADE THAT HAPPEN.
Narrator: BY WINTER,
THE MORMONS HAD REACHED
THE WEST BANK
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER,
BUT THEY WERE
STILL NEARLY 1,000 MILES
FROM THEIR DESTINATION.
THERE,
THEY BUILT A MAKESHIFT TOWN
THEY CALLED "WINTER QUARTERS,"
WHERE 700 OF THEM DIED
IN THE BITTER COLD.
THE NEXT SPRING,
BRIGHAM YOUNG HIMSELF LED FORTH
A SMALL GROUP TO SELECT THE SITE
ON WHICH ALL WOULD SETTLE.
HE CALLED IT THE PIONEER BAND.
IN LATE JULY,
THEY GOT THEIR FIRST GLIMPSE
OF THE VALLEY
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
Man as Young: WE GAZED
WITH WONDER AND ADMIRATION
UPON THE VAST,
RICH, FERTILE VALLEY.
THE GRANDEST
AND MOST SUBLIME SCENERY
PROBABLY THAT COULD BE
OBTAINED ON THE GLOBE.
WE CONTEMPLATED
THAT IN NOT MANY YEARS
THE VALLEY WOULD
BE CONVERTED INTO ORCHARD,
VINEYARD, GARDENS, AND FIELDS
BY THE INHABITANTS OF ZION.
Woman: WE HAVE TRAVELED
1,500 MILES TO GET HERE,
AND I WOULD WILLINGLY TRAVEL
1,000 MILES FARTHER
TO GET
WHERE IT LOOKED AS THOUGH
A WHITE MAN COULD LIVE.
Woman: THE MORMON PEOPLE
WERE LOOKING FOR ISOLATION
WHERE THEY COULD PRACTICE
THEIR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS FREELY.
AND WHEN THEY STEPPED FOOT
INTO THE GREAT BASIN,
THEY FOUND THE ISOLATION
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.
YOU CAN IMAGINE GREAT SALT LAKE,
SEEING THIS HUGE BODY OF WATER
AND DIPPING DOWN
WITH CUPPED HANDS
FOR A DRINK OF REFRESHMENT
ONLY TO BE REPULSED.
I THINK THAT APPEALED
TO THE MORMONS
BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE
WOULD BOTHER THEM.
Narrator: THEIR VERY FIRST DAY
IN THE VALLEY,
THE MORMONS DUG
A FRESHWATER IRRIGATION DITCH
AND STARTED PLANTING POTATOES.
AND SOON, BRIGHAM YOUNG
WAS PACING OFF
THE STREETS AND SQUARES
OF THE GREAT CITY
HE PLANNED TO BUILD
IN THE DESERT.
Man as Young:
WE HAVE BEEN THROWN LIKE
A STONE FROM A SLING,
AND WE HAVE LODGED
IN THE GODLY PLACE
WHERE THE LORD
WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO GATHER.
IF THE LORD SHOULD SAY
BY HIS REVELATION
THIS IS THE SPOT,
THE SAINTS WOULD BE SATISFIED
IF IT WAS A BARREN ROCK.
Woman: MY FATHER'S NAME
WAS HENRY SAGER.
HE MOVED
FROM VIRGINIA TO OHIO
AND THEN TO INDIANA
AND FROM THERE TO MISSOURI.
IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, 1844,
MY FATHER GOT THE OREGON FEVER,
AND WE STARTED WEST.
Narrator: HENRY SAGER
HAD MOVED HIS GROWING FAMILY
FOUR TIMES IN AS MANY YEARS,
ALWAYS A LITTLE FARTHER WEST
IN SEARCH OF LAND
THAT WAS MORE FERTILE
AND LESS EXPENSIVE.
BY 1844, THE SAGERS
WERE IN ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI,
RESTLESS
AND READY TO MOVE AGAIN.
TWO THOUSAND MILES TO THE WEST
WAS THE OREGON COUNTRY.
THE UNITED STATES CLAIMED IT.
SO DID GREAT BRITAIN.
BUT THE UNITED STATES
HAD THE PEOPLE TO SETTLE IT.
Man: EASTWARD I
GO ONLY BY FORCE,
BUT WESTWARD I GO FREE.
THE FUTURE LIES THAT WAY TO ME.
I SHOULD NOT LAY
SO MUCH STRESS ON THIS FACT
IF I DID NOT BELIEVE
THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS
IS THE PREVAILING TENDENCY
OF MY COUNTRYMEN.
I MUST WALK TOWARD OREGON,
AND NOT TOWARD EUROPE.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU.
Narrator: ONE THOUSAND AMERICANS
HAD MADE THEIR WAY TO OREGON
IN 1843 ALONE.
TEN THOUSAND MORE WOULD FOLLOW
OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.
HENRY SAGER WAS DETERMINED
TO JOIN THEM.
HE SIGNED ON WITH A GROUP CALLED
THE "INDEPENDENT COLONY"--
300 PEOPLE IN 72 WAGONS.
MOST WERE FAMILIES LIKE THE
SAGERS AND THEIR SIX CHILDREN.
Jeffrey: MR. SAGER WAS VERY KEEN
TO GO WEST.
AND HIS WIFE, NAOMI,
WAS PREGNANT.
AND SHE WAS NOT JUST BEGINNING
HER PREGNANCY, SHE WAS ALONG.
AND SHE WAS MORE RELUCTANT
TO GO.
BUT GO THEY DID
WITH ALL THEIR CHILDREN.
Narrator: IN LATE APRIL,
THE INDEPENDENT COLONY
CROSSED THE MISSOURI RIVER
AND SET OUT ON THE OREGON TRAIL.
IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN KANSAS,
SPRING RAINS
TURNED THE PRAIRIES TO MUD
AND MADE RIVER CROSSINGS
DANGEROUS.
THE CHILDREN,
CONFINED TO THEIR COVERED WAGON
FOR MILE AFTER LURCHING MILE,
GREW SEASICK.
ONE NIGHT IN CAMP,
WHILE WARMING THEMSELVES,
THEY HUDDLED
TOO CLOSE TO THE FLAMES,
AND THEIR BEDCLOTHES
CAUGHT ON FIRE.
FIVE WEEKS OUT, NAOMI SAGER GAVE
BIRTH TO HER SEVENTH CHILD,
A BABY GIRL.
ON JULY 4, THE CARAVAN RESTED
NEAR THE PLATTE RIVER
IN NEBRASKA,
AND A YOUNG COUPLE
IN THE WAGON TRAIN
USED THE OCCASION
TO GET MARRIED.
Woman: THE WEATHER WAS FINE,
AND ALL SEEMED TO ENJOY
THEMSELVES.
THERE WERE SEVERAL MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS IN THE COMPANY,
AND THESE SOUNDED OUT CLEAR
AND SWEET ON THE EVENING AIR
WHILE GAY TALK
AND MERRY LAUGHTER WENT ON
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.
CATHERINE SAGER.
Narrator: FARTHER ON,
THEY FORDED THE SOUTH PLATTE,
AND HENRY SAGER
LOST CONTROL OF HIS OXEN.
THE WAGON OVERTURNED
AND NAOMI WAS INJURED,
BUT THEY KEPT GOING.
IN LATE JULY, THEY PASSED
CHIMNEY ROCK AND SCOTTS BLUFF
IN WHAT IS NOW WESTERN NEBRASKA.
ONE AFTERNOON,
YOUNG CATHERINE, AGE NINE,
TRIED TO HOP OFF THE WAGON.
Woman as Catherine: THE HEM OF
MY DRESS CAUGHT ON AN AX HANDLE,
PRECIPITATING ME
UNDER THE WHEELS,
BOTH OF WHICH PASSED OVER ME
BEFORE FATHER COULD STOP
THE OXEN.
A GLANCE AT MY LIMB
DANGLING IN THE AIR AS HE RAN
REVEALED TO HIM THE EXTENT
OF THE INJURY I HAD RECEIVED,
AND IN A BROKEN VOICE
HE EXCLAIMED,
"MY DEAR CHILD, YOUR LEG
IS BROKE ALL TO PIECES!"
Narrator:
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP,
CATHERINE EITHER RODE
IN THE JOLTING WAGON
OR HOBBLED ALONG BESIDE IT
ON CRUTCHES.
THEY KEPT MOVING--
BEYOND FORT LARAMIE
TO INDEPENDENCE ROCK,
WHERE THE EMIGRANTS
CARVED THEIR NAMES
AS PROOF
OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL PASSING.
ON AUGUST 23, THE SAGERS' WAGON
CROSSED SOUTH PASS
AND THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
NOW THEY WERE BEYOND THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES
AND IN MEXICAN TERRITORY.
OREGON WAS STILL WEEKS AWAY.
A SICKNESS CALLED "CAMP FEVER"
STRUCK THE CARAVAN.
TWO WOMEN DIED.
THEN A LITTLE GIRL.
THEN HENRY SAGER FELL ILL.
Woman as Catherine:
WE CROSSED THE GREEN RIVER
AND CAMPED ON THE BANK.
LOOKING UPON ME AS I LAY
HELPLESSLY BY HIS SIDE,
HE SAID, "POOR CHILD!
WHAT WILL BECOME OF YOU?"
FATHER EXPIRED THE NEXT MORNING
AND WAS BURIED
ON THE BANK OF THE GREEN RIVER,
HIS COFFIN HASTILY DUG OUT
OF THE TRUNK OF A TREE.
Narrator: FATHERLESS,
THE SAGERS PUSHED ON.
AT LAST THEY CROSSED THE BORDER
INTO THE OREGON COUNTRY.
BUT ON THE DUSTY TRAIL
ALONG THE SNAKE RIVER,
NAOMI, TOO,
BECAME DELIRIOUS WITH FEVER.
Woman as Catherine: WE TRAVELED
OVER A VERY ROUGH ROAD,
AND SHE MOANED PITIFULLY
ALL DAY.
WHEN WE CAMPED FOR THE NIGHT,
HER PULSE WAS NEARLY GONE.
SHE LIVED
BUT A FEW MOMENTS MORE,
AND HER LAST WORDS WERE,
"OH, HENRY, IF YOU ONLY KNEW
HOW WE HAVE SUFFERED!"
Narrator: THE CHILDREN
BURIED THEIR MOTHER,
WRAPPED IN A BEDSHEET, IN
A SHALLOW GRAVE ALONG THE TRAIL,
WITH WILLOW BRUSH AND A WOODEN
HEADBOARD TO MARK THE SPOT.
Woman as Catherine: THE TEAMS
WERE THEN HITCHED TO THE WAGON
AND THE TRAIN DROVE ON,
LEAVING HER TO HER LONG SLEEP.
THUS, IN 26 DAYS BOTH OUR
PARENTS WERE LAID IN THE GRAVE,
AND WE WERE ORPHANS--
THE OLDEST, 14 YEARS OLD,
AND THE YOUNGEST, 5 MONTHS OLD.
Jeffrey: AND THERE WERE
THESE SEVEN CHILDREN
LEFT WITHOUT ANY RELATIVES
IN THE WORLD.
THE WORD "ORPHAN"
IS ALMOST INSUFFICIENT
TO DESCRIBE THEIR SITUATION.
AND OF COURSE, THE OTHER THING
TO REMEMBER ABOUT THEM
IS THAT THERE WAS NO ONE
IN THE WEST WAITING FOR THEM.
SO THESE CHILDREN
WERE JUST ALONE.
Narrator:
IT WAS NOW LATE SEPTEMBER,
AND THE FIRST SNOWS WERE FALLING
IN THE MOUNTAINS.
UNDER THE CARE OF OTHER FAMILIES
IN THE WAGON TRAIN,
THE SEVEN SAGER CHILDREN
PRESSED ON.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
IN EARLY OCTOBER,
THEY REACHED CAYUSE COUNTRY.
ONE MEMBER OF THE CARAVAN
RODE AHEAD
TO THE MISSION RUN
BY MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN
TO TELL THEM THAT A NEEDY
WAGON TRAIN WAS APPROACHING
AND TO TALK WITH THEM ABOUT
ADOPTING THE SAGER CHILDREN.
Woman as Whitman: APPLICATION
HAS BEEN MADE FOR US TO TAKE
AN ORPHAN FAMILY
OF SEVEN CHILDREN,
AS THEY HAVE NOT A RELATIVE
IN THE COMPANY.
WHAT WE SHALL DO I CANNOT SAY.
WE CANNOT SEE THEM SUFFER, IF
THE LORD CASTS THEM UPON US.
NARCISSA WHITMAN.
Narrator: SINCE HER OWN
DAUGHTER'S DEATH,
TO EASE HER GRIEF,
NARCISSA HAD TAKEN IN
FOUR OTHER CHILDREN,
INCLUDING THE DAUGHTER
OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN, JOE MEEK.
Jeffrey: FOR NARCISSA, THE DEATH
OF HER DAUGHTER, ALICE,
WAS THE BEGINNING
OF A REAL COLLAPSE,
A PHYSICAL
AND A PSYCHOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN.
AND THEN,
WHEN THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVE,
IT'S REALLY HER SALVATION.
SHE CAN RE-CREATE
A VERY SATISFYING DOMESTIC LIFE
AND REALLY TURN HER BACK
ON THE REAL MISSION WORK
THAT SHE CAME OUT TO DO.
Woman as Whitman: HUSBAND
THOUGHT WE COULD GET ALONG
WITH ALL BUT THE BABY.
HE DID NOT SEE
HOW WE COULD TAKE THAT.
BUT I FELT
THAT IF I MUST TAKE ANY,
I WANTED HER, AS A CHARM
TO BIND THE REST TO ME.
Narrator: THE WHITMANS SENT WORD
BACK TO THE WAGON TRAIN
THAT THEY WOULD TAKE ALL SEVEN.
A FEW DAYS LATER,
AFTER 6 MONTHS AND 2,000 MILES,
HENRY AND NAOMI SAGER'S CHILDREN
FINALLY REACHED THEIR NEW HOME
IN OREGON.
NARCISSA WHITMAN CAME OUT
TO MEET THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Woman as Catherine: SHE WAS
A LARGE, WELL-FORMED WOMAN,
FAIR COMPLEXIONED,
WITH BEAUTIFUL AUBURN HAIR,
NOSE RATHER LARGE,
AND LARGE GRAY EYES.
SHE HAD ON A DARK CALICO DRESS
AND A GINGHAM SUNBONNET.
WE THOUGHT,
AS WE SHYLY LOOKED AT HER,
THAT SHE WAS THE PRETTIEST
WOMAN WE HAD EVER SEEN.
Duncan:
AMERICANS STARTED MOVING WEST
FOR ALL THESE INDIVIDUAL,
PERSONAL REASONS--
LAND, CONVERTING INDIANS, FURS.
BUT EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THE END RESULT WAS
THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT
INTO THE UNITED STATES.
IT DIDN'T MATTER WHY THEY WENT,
ONCE THEY GOT THERE
THEY DECIDED,
"THIS PLACE SHOULD BE PART
OF THE UNITED STATES,"
AND IN DOING SO, THEY BROUGHT
THE NATION WITH THEM.
THE NATION DIDN'T SEND THEM OUT.
THEY BROUGHT THE UNITED STATES
WITH THEM.
Man: THE CALIFORNIOS
INHABIT A COUNTRY
EMBRACING 400 OR 500 MILES
OF SEACOAST
WITH SEVERAL HARBORS,
WITH FINE FORESTS IN THE NORTH,
THE WATERS FILLED WITH FISH,
AND THE PLAINS COVERED WITH
THOUSANDS OF HERDS OF CATTLE.
BLESSED WITH A CLIMATE THAN
WHICH THERE CAN BE NO BETTER
IN THE WORLD.
IN THE HANDS
OF AN ENTERPRISING PEOPLE,
WHAT A COUNTRY THIS MIGHT BE.
RICHARD HENRY DANA.
Narrator: BY THE MID-1840s,
LURED BY REPORTS OF FERTILE SOIL
AND A HEALTHY CLIMATE,
SOME 3,000 AMERICAN SETTLERS
HAD FILED
THROUGH THE SIERRA NEVADA
MOUNTAINS
AND DOWN INTO CALIFORNIA'S
SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
THE COMMANDER OF ALL MEXICAN
TROOPS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA,
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO,
BEGGED MEXICO CITY
FOR THE SOLDIERS
HE KNEW WOULD BE NECESSARY
TO KEEP THE AMERICANS OUT.
VALLEJO BELONGED TO ONE
OF THE OLDEST SPANISH FAMILIES
IN THE AMERICAS.
MOST OF THE SONOMA VALLEY,
A QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRES,
BELONGED TO HIM.
BUT DESPITE HIS POSITION,
THE GOVERNMENT IGNORED HIS PLEAS
FOR TROOPS.
IT SEEMED TO VALLEJO
AND HIS FELLOW CALIFORNIOS
THAT MEXICO CITY
WAS AS DISTANT AND ARBITRARY
AS IT HAD BEEN
TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS.
HE NOW FOUND HIMSELF EMBROILED
IN REVOLTS AND COUNTERREVOLTS
AND INCREASING CALLS
FOR CALIFORNIA'S INDEPENDENCE.
FINALLY, THE LEADING CALIFORNIOS
GATHERED IN MONTEREY
TO DISCUSS THEIR FUTURE.
ONE MAN
FAVORED ANNEXATION BY FRANCE,
SINCE IT WAS A CATHOLIC COUNTRY.
ANOTHER THOUGHT CALIFORNIA
SHOULD JOIN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
STILL OTHERS CALLED
FOR A REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA.
VALLEJO HAD COME
TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION.
Man as Vallejo: TO RELY ANY
LONGER UPON MEXICO TO GOVERN
AND DEFEND US
WOULD BE IDLE AND ABSURD.
WHY SHOULD WE SHRINK
FROM INCORPORATING OURSELVES
WITH THE UNITED STATES,
THE HAPPIEST AND FREEST NATION
IN THE WORLD,
DESTINED SOON TO BE
THE MOST WEALTHY AND POWERFUL?
WHEN WE JOIN OUR FORTUNES
TO HERS,
WE SHALL NOT BECOME SUBJECTS,
BUT FELLOW CITIZENS.
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.
Man as Houston:
THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS HAVE,
WITH A UNANIMITY UNPARALLELED,
DECLARED
THAT THEY WILL BE REUNITED
TO THE GREAT REPUBLICAN FAMILY
OF THE NORTH.
WE ARE CHEERED BY THE HOPE
THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE US
AND HAIL US WELCOME INTO
THE GREAT FAMILY OF FREEMEN.
SAM HOUSTON,
PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
Narrator:
SAM HOUSTON HAD ALWAYS ASSUMED
THAT TEXAS WOULD BECOME A STATE
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS
OF HIS VICTORY AT SAN JACINTO.
BUT FOR SEVEN YEARS,
CONGRESS REFUSED
TO GRANT STATEHOOD TO TEXAS.
THE NORTHERN STATES FEARED
ITS ADMISSION
WOULD TIP THE PRECARIOUS
BALANCE OF POWER
TOWARD THE SLAVE STATES.
THEN IN 1844, JAMES KNOX POLK
WAS NARROWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT.
HE WAS A HUMORLESS, HARD-WORKING
DEMOCRAT FROM TENNESSEE,
UTTERLY DETERMINED
TO EXPAND THE UNITED STATES.
WITH HIS SUPPORT,
AND A COMPROMISE
DEFTLY SIDESTEPPING
THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY,
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BECAME
THE 38th STATE IN THE UNION.
SAM HOUSTON WAS NAMED
ITS FIRST SENATOR.
PRESIDENT POLK
NOW TURNED HIS ATTENTION
TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
HE THREATENED BRITAIN WITH WAR
UNLESS IT GAVE UP ITS CLAIM,
THEN SHREWDLY NEGOTIATED
AN AGREEMENT
THAT ADDED WHAT ARE NOW
OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND IDAHO
TO THE UNION.
BUT POLK
WAS STILL NOT SATISFIED.
HE NOW WANTED
NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA,
AND WHEN MEXICO REFUSED
TO SELL THE PROVINCES,
HE USED A BORDER SKIRMISH
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
TO PERSUADE CONGRESS
TO DECLARE WAR.
[EXPLOSION]
[GUNSHOTS]
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR LASTED
MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF,
A BLOODY STRUGGLE
THAT COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES
AND ENDED
ONLY WHEN AMERICAN TROOPS
FINALLY STORMED
INTO MEXICO CITY.
IN LESS THAN A DOZEN YEARS,
MEXICO HAD LOST
HALF ITS TERRITORY.
THE UNITED STATES HAD GROWN
BY MORE THAN A THIRD.
IN TEXAS, JUAN SEGUIN,
WHO HAD FOUGHT AS HARD
AS ANY MAN FOR INDEPENDENCE,
WAS FALSELY ACCUSED
OF BEING MORE LOYAL TO MEXICO
THAN TO TEXAS.
HE WAS FORCED TO SLIP SOUTH
ACROSS THE BORDER,
"TO SEEK REFUGE," HE MOURNED,
"AMONGST MY ENEMIES."
IN CALIFORNIA,
MARIANO VALLEJO'S DREAMS OF
A PEACEFUL ANNEXATION HAD ENDED
WHEN AMERICAN SQUATTERS
ARRESTED HIM IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
Man as Vallejo: OUR RACE,
OUR UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE,
WILL NOW HAVE TO WANDER
IN SEARCH OF HOSPITALITY
IN A STRANGE LAND.
THE NORTH AMERICANS HATE US,
THEIR SPOKESMEN DEPRECATE US,
AND THEY CONSIDER US UNWORTHY
TO FORM WITH THEM
ONE NATION AND ONE SOCIETY.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
[CHANTING CONTINUES]
Narrator:
AFTER 10 YEARS IN OREGON,
MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN
HAD LARGELY ABANDONED THEIR WORK
AMONG THE INDIANS,
IN FAVOR OF HELPING
THE WAGON TRAINS
THAT NOW ROLLED CEASELESSLY
ACROSS CAYUSE LANDS.
Jeffrey: I THINK
THAT THE CAYUSE HATED NARCISSA.
AND I THINK THAT WHEN NARCISSA
TURNED HER BACK ON THE INDIANS,
AND WHEN SHE DEALT WITH THEM
AS STERNLY AS SHE DID, WITH,
I THINK, FROM HER PERSPECTIVE,
WITH ALL THE RIGHT MOTIVES--
YOU HAD TO TELL PEOPLE
WHO WERE GOING TO HELL
THEY WERE GOING TO HELL--
THAT THEY CAME
TO REALLY DESPISE HER.
WAY BACK IN THE EARLY FORTIES,
THE INDIANS STARTED TELLING
THE WHITMANS TO LEAVE.
"WE DON'T LIKE TO HEAR
THIS BAD TALK. LEAVE."
THE WHITMANS DIDN'T GO.
Narrator: THREE YEARS AFTER
THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVED,
MEASLES, CARRIED WEST
WITH THE EMIGRANT TRAINS,
SWEPT THROUGH
THE CAYUSE VILLAGES.
HALF THE TRIBE DIED,
INCLUDING MOST OF THE CHILDREN.
DESPITE
MARCUS WHITMAN'S NURSING,
RUMORS CIRCULATED
AMONG THE GRIEVING CAYUSE
THAT HE WAS SECRETLY
SPREADING THE DISEASE,
NOT TRYING TO CURE IT.
ONE AFTERNOON, THREE CAYUSE
APPEARED AT THE DOOR
AND ASKED TO SEE WHITMAN.
ONE OF THEM WAS THE CHIEF,
TILOUKAIKT.
HE HAD ONCE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED
ACCEPTING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH,
BUT NOW
HE HAD LOST THREE CHILDREN
TO THE WHITE MAN'S SICKNESS.
WHEN HE GOT INSIDE THE HOUSE,
HE AND THE OTHERS SHOT AND
HACKED MARCUS WHITMAN TO DEATH.
Woman as Catherine:
MOTHER WAS STANDING
LOOKING OUT AT THE WINDOW
WHEN A BALL CAME
THROUGH THE BROKEN PANE,
ENTERING HER RIGHT SHOULDER.
SHE CLAPPED HER HAND TO
THE WOUND AND FELL BACKWARDS.
SHE NOW FORGOT EVERYTHING
BUT THE POOR, HELPLESS CHILDREN
DEPENDING ON HER,
AND SHE POURED OUT HER SOUL
IN PRAYER FOR THEM.
"LORD, SAVE THESE LITTLE ONES!"
WAS HER REPEATED CRY.
Narrator: THE CAYUSE WARRIORS
CARRIED THE WOUNDED NARCISSA
OUT OF THE HOUSE ON A SETTEE,
KILLED HER,
THEN LASHED HER DEAD FACE.
THEN THEY SET THE HATED
MISSION BUILDINGS ON FIRE.
BESIDES MARCUS AND NARCISSA,
11 OTHER WHITES WERE KILLED
BEFORE IT WAS OVER,
INCLUDING THE TWO SAGER BOYS.
JOE MEEK'S DAUGHTER,
SICK WITH MEASLES
AT THE TIME OF THE MASSACRE,
DIED SOON AFTERWARDS.
SO DID HANNAH SAGER, AGE SIX.
THE FOUR SURVIVING SAGER GIRLS
WERE ORPHANS ONCE MORE.
[GUNSHOTS]
FRONTIER MILITIA PURSUED
THE CAYUSE INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
FINALLY, FIVE CAYUSE WARRIORS,
INCLUDING TILOUKAIKT,
TURNED THEMSELVES IN
SO THAT THE REST OF THEIR PEOPLE
WOULD NOT BE HUNTED DOWN.
BEFORE HE WENT TO THE GALLOWS,
SOMEONE ASKED TILOUKAIKT
WHY HE HAD SURRENDERED.
"DID NOT YOUR MISSIONARIES
TEACH US
THAT CHRIST DIED TO SAVE
HIS PEOPLE?" HE ANSWERED.
"SO WE DIE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE."
Woman as Catherine: SURELY IF
THE WAY OF THE PIONEER IS HARD
AND BESET WITH DANGERS,
AT LEAST THE LONG YEARS
BRING AT LAST THE REALIZATION
THAT LIFE,
PATIENTLY AND HOPEFULLY LIVED,
BRINGS ITS OWN SENSE OF HAVING
BEEN PART OF THE ONWARD MOVE
TO BETTER THINGS,
NOT FOR SELF ALONE,
BUT FOR OTHERS.
Narrator: CATHERINE SAGER,
WHO HAD SURVIVED THE MASSACRE,
WOULD REMAIN IN OREGON,
WHERE SHE MARRIED
A METHODIST MINISTER
AND BORE HIM EIGHT CHILDREN,
ONE MORE THAN HER MOTHER, NAOMI,
HAD BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD.
ON JULY 4, 1848,
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
THOUSANDS TURNED OUT
TO SEE PRESIDENT POLK
LAY THE CORNERSTONE
OF A NEW MONUMENT,
A GIANT STONE SHAFT
MODELED AFTER THE OBELISKS
OF ANCIENT EGYPT
TO HONOR
THE NATION'S FIRST PRESIDENT.
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S AMERICA
HAD ENDED AT THE MISSISSIPPI.
BUT NOW,
AS POLK SPOKE TO THE CROWD,
THE AMERICAN FLAG FLEW OVER
THE ALAMO IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS,
ABOVE THE PALACE
OF THE GOVERNORS IN SANTA FE,
OVER A GROWING MORMON SETTLEMENT
IN THE GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY,
AT SPANISH RANCHES
IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA,
AND NEAR THE RUINS
OF THE WHITMAN MISSION
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
POLK'S NATION
WAS A CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
THAT STRETCHED FROM SEA TO SEA,
AND NOW ENCOMPASSED THE WEST.
IN ONLY A GENERATION,
BY ENTERPRISE AND INTIMIDATION,
BY SACRIFICE
AND BY OUTRIGHT CONQUEST,
AMERICANS HAD SEIZED IT ALL.
[MARCHING BAND PLAYS]
[CROWD CHEERING]
BACK IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL,
STANDING NEXT TO THE PRESIDENT
AT THE CEREMONY,
WAS THE OLD MOUNTAIN MAN,
JOE MEEK.
HIS FONDEST WISH HAD COME TRUE.
BORN IN
WASHINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA,
HE WAS NOW THE SHERIFF OF
A BRAND-NEW WASHINGTON COUNTY,
IN OREGON TERRITORY.
A MONTH LATER,
EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS ARRIVED
FROM THIS NEWEST SECTION
OF THE COUNTRY.
IN CALIFORNIA, ON A STREAM
NAMED THE AMERICAN RIVER,
GOLD HAD BEEN DISCOVERED.
NOTHING IN THE WEST
WOULD EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.
THAT PROGRESS IS GOD.
THE DESTINY
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
IS TO SUBDUE THE CONTINENT,
TO RUSH OVER THIS VAST FIELD
TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
TO CHANGE DARKNESS INTO LIGHT,
AND CONFIRM THE DESTINY
OF THE HUMAN RACE.
DIVINE TASK, IMMORTAL MISSION,
THE PIONEER ARMY PERPETUALLY
STRIKES TO THE FRONT.
EMPIRE PLANTS ITSELF
UPON THE TRAILS.
WILLIAM GILPIN.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
[VOICES ADDED TO CHANTING]
Narrator: BY 1821,
TWO YOUNG REPUBLICS
CLAIMED MOST OF THE WEST.
THE VAST TERRITORY
THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD
BOUGHT FROM FRANCE
GAVE THE UNITED STATES CLAIM
TO NEARLY HALF OF IT,
WHILE THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED
REPUBLIC OF MEXICO
HELD THE SOUTHWEST
AND CALIFORNIA.
ENGLAND STILL HAD OUTPOSTS
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST,
WHILE A HOST OF INDIAN NATIONS
HELD FAST TO THEIR LANDS
AND CHALLENGED EACH OTHER
FOR MORE.
BY 1821,
NO ONE KNEW WHO WOULD CONTROL
THE WEST'S
SEEMINGLY INFINITE SPACES,
WHAT LANGUAGE WOULD BE DOMINANT,
WHOSE GOD WOULD BE WORSHIPPED,
WHAT THE WEST'S DESTINY
WOULD BE.
BUT THE AMERICANS
WERE ALREADY MOVING WEST,
CONTENT, AT FIRST,
TO MAKE THEIR WAY
IN OTHER PEOPLE'S WORLDS.
MOUNTAIN MEN BEGAN IT,
FOLLOWING ICY STREAMS
INTO THE ROCKIES
IN SEARCH OF FURS.
WHILE OTHERS, WHO CALLED
THEMSELVES "LATTER-DAY SAINTS,"
FLED TO THE WEST
HOPING TO FIND SANCTUARY.
A DEVOUT, YOUNG WOMAN
FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK,
WHO HURRIED WEST
TO SAVE THE SOULS OF INDIANS,
IN THE END
COULD NOT EVEN SAVE HERSELF.
A TENNESSEE POLITICIAN,
WHOSE CAREER WAS RUINED
BY DRINK AND SCANDAL,
WOULD GET A SECOND CHANCE IN
THE MEXICAN PROVINCE OF TEJAS.
WHILE A VIRGINIA FAMILY,
ACCUSTOMED TO FOLLOWING
A RESTLESS DREAM OF BETTER TIMES
OVER THE NEXT HORIZON,
VERY NEARLY DESTROYED ITSELF
TRYING TO REACH
THE CONTINENT'S FARTHEST SHORE.
BUT REGARDLESS OF THEIR REASONS
FOR GOING WEST,
ONCE THEY GOT THERE,
THE AMERICANS SOON DETERMINED
TO MAKE THE WEST--ALL OF IT--
THEIR OWN.
Man: IT IS OUR MANIFEST DESTINY
TO OVERSPREAD THE CONTINENT
ALLOTTED BY PROVIDENCE
FOR THE FREE DEVELOPMENT
OF OUR YEARLY
MULTIPLYING MILLIONS.
JOHN L. O'SULLIVAN.
Man: AMERICANS' REACH
EXCEEDS THEIR GRASP.
AMERICANS CAN'T DO
WHAT THEY MIGHT LIKE TO DO,
BUT THE TIME IS COMING.
THIS IS A COUNTRY THAT IS GOING
TO GROW MORE AND MORE POWERFUL.
ITS AMBITION IS ALREADY THERE,
AND THERE IS GOING TO COME
A TIME BY MID-CENTURY
WHERE, IN FACT,
IT CAN FULFILL ITS AMBITION.
AND WHEN THAT TIME IS REACHED,
THE WEST WILL BE
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLACE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator:
ONE WINTER IN THE EARLY 1830s,
A COLD AND HUNGRY MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JOE MEEK
STUMBLED INTO A LANDSCAPE UNLIKE
ANYTHING HE HAD EVER SEEN.
Man as Meek:
THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS SMOKING
WITH THE VAPOR
FROM BOILING SPRINGS,
AND BURNING WITH GASES
ISSUING FROM SMALL CRATERS,
EACH OF WHICH WAS EMITTING
A SHARP WHISTLING SOUND,
LIKE THAT PLACE
THE OLD METHODIST PREACHER
USED TO THREATEN ME WITH.
BUT THE WARMTH OF THE PLACE
WAS MOST DELIGHTFUL
AFTER THE FREEZING COLD
OF THE MOUNTAINS.
SO, IF IT WAS HELL,
IT WAS A MORE AGREEABLE CLIMATE
THAN I HAD BEEN IN
FOR SOME TIME.
JOE MEEK.
Narrator: IT WAS
THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU.
AND JOE MEEK WAS ONE OF
THE FIRST WHITE MEN TO SEE IT.
BORN IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
VIRGINIA,
MEEK, LIKE HUNDREDS OF OTHER
YOUNG MEN EAGER FOR ADVENTURE,
HAD RUN OFF TO THE WEST.
HE WOULD SPEND 11 YEARS
IN THE MOUNTAINS,
TRAPPING AND TRADING FOR FURS,
TRAVELING RELENTLESSLY,
PUSHING INTO CORNERS OF THE WEST
HIS COUNTRY DID NOT YET OWN
IN SEARCH OF EASY MONEY.
Man: HATS--
HATS WAS THE NAME OF THE GAME.
THE CARRIAGE TRADE WAS THE THING
THAT SET THE STANDARD
OF FASHIONS.
THE CARRIAGE TRADE
WAS NOTHING MORE THAN RICH
DRIVING AROUND
IN THEIR CARRIAGES
IN BOSTON, OR LONDON, OR PARIS,
OR QUEBEC, OR MONTREAL.
AND WHATEVER THEY WORE,
EVERYBODY ELSE WANTED TO WEAR.
WELL, THEY WERE WEARING
BEAVER HATS,
AND THUS IT MADE
A DEMAND FOR BEAVER.
Narrator: INDIANS HAD BEEN
EXCHANGING ANIMAL PELTS
FOR EUROPEAN TRADE GOODS
FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES.
NOW, COMPANIES REPRESENTING
RUSSIA, ENGLAND, MEXICO,
AND THE UNITED STATES WERE
LOCKED IN FIERCE COMPETITION
FOR THE WESTERN FUR TRADE
AND HIRED THE MOUNTAIN MEN
TO DO THE WORK.
THERE WERE BLACK TRAPPERS
AS WELL AS WHITE.
MEN FROM SCOTLAND, ENGLAND,
AND MEXICO--
EVEN NATIVE HAWAIIANS.
IN OREGON,
A THIRD OF THE TRAPPERS
WERE IROQUOIS AND DELAWARE
INDIANS FROM THE EAST.
FRENCH TRAPPERS OUTNUMBERED
JOE MEEK
AND HIS FELLOW AMERICANS
FOUR TO ONE.
THEY COULD MAKE
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS,
BUT THEY USUALLY SQUANDERED IT
ALL AT THE YEARLY RENDEZVOUS
WHERE THEY GAMBLED, DRANK,
AND TRADED STORIES ABOUT
THEIR EXPLOITS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
Gowans: IT WAS A VERY,
VERY DANGEROUS LIFE.
THEY WERE KILLED
BY BLACKFOOT INDIANS,
THEY WERE KILLED
BY GRIZZLY BEARS,
AND MAYBE
MOST DEVASTATING OF ALL,
THEY WERE KILLED
BY MOTHER NATURE.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE
LIKE COMING UP OUT OF A STREAM,
SETTING A TRAP IN NOVEMBER,
BUCKSKINS UP TO YOUR ARMPITS
IN WATER,
AND WORKING A STREAM
ALL DAY LONG
IN THOSE KIND OF CONDITIONS?
THOSE MEN DIED OF FEVER,
THEY DIED OF PNEUMONIA.
HOW MANY MEN DIED
ON SOME UNKNOWN STREAM
IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
NEVER HEARD OF AGAIN?
YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A COMMON
UNDERSTANDING IN THE FUR TRADE.
IF YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP
AT A RENDEZVOUS,
YOU WERE CONSIDERED DEAD.
Narrator: DURING MORE THAN
A DECADE IN THE MOUNTAINS,
JOE MEEK HAD STRUGGLED ALONGSIDE
HIS FELLOW TRAPPERS TO SURVIVE.
HE HAD NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH
AT THE HANDS OF THE BLACKFEET,
TOUCHED ONE GRIZZLY
WITH HIS BARE HAND ON A DARE,
AND BEEN MAULED BY ANOTHER.
BUT IN THE END, HE HAD
NO MONEY TO SHOW FOR IT ALL,
AND SUDDENLY, HIS LIVELIHOOD
HAD DISAPPEARED, TOO.
Gowans:
THE DEMAND CEASED FOR BEAVER.
AND THE REASON BEING IS,
IS THE CARRIAGE TRADE
CHOSE TO GO WITH SILK HATS
INSTEAD OF BEAVER HATS.
I'D SAY
BY THE MIDDLE OF THE 1830s,
THE BEAVER TRADE
WAS COMING TO AN END.
THERE WAS NO LONGER THE DEMAND.
Narrator: THE ERA
OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN HAD ENDED
ALMOST AS QUICKLY
AS IT HAD BEGUN.
SOME GUIDED AMERICAN EXPLORERS
FANNING OUT ACROSS THE WEST.
OTHERS LED THE GROWING STREAM
OF WAGON TRAINS THAT NOW ROLLED
OVER THE TRAILS THE MOUNTAIN MEN
HAD HELPED TO CHART.
BUT JOE MEEK HAD HAD ENOUGH
OF WANDERING.
HE TOOK HIS NEZ PERCE WIFE
AND THEIR CHILDREN
AND WENT ALL THE WAY WEST.
HE SETTLED
NEAR A BRITISH TRADING POST
IN THE DISPUTED LAND OF OREGON.
THERE, MEEK WENT INTO POLITICS
AND BEGAN TO TALK
WITH OTHER AMERICAN SETTLERS
ABOUT MAKING
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
Man as Meek:
I WANT TO LIVE LONG ENOUGH
TO SEE OREGON
SECURELY AMERICAN,
SO I CAN SAY THAT I WAS BORN
IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
UNITED STATES,
AND DIED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY,
UNITED STATES.
JOE MEEK.
Man: WE HAVE MAPS OF THE PAST.
NOT A HISTORY, IN THE WAY THAT
MOST OF US UNDERSTAND HISTORY,
BUT PLACES LIKE BEAR BUTTE,
MEDICINE WHEEL, DEVIL'S TOWER.
THESE ARE THINGS
THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH
IN TERMS OF TIME AND EXPERIENCE.
"OH, YES,"
MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD SAY,
"WE WERE THERE, WE WERE THERE
IN THE BLACK HILLS AT ONE TIME.
WE KNOW ABOUT ZOI,
DEVIL'S TOWER."
AND SHE SAID IT, YOU KNOW,
AS IF SHE HAD BEEN THERE.
AND I THINK, IN HER MIND'S EYE,
IT WAS THERE
AND VERY CLEARLY DEFINED.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator: THE ARRIVAL
OF THE HORSE IN THE EARLY 1700s
HAD ALLOWED THE KIOWA
TO MIGRATE EASTWARD
FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
OUT ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS.
THEY CLAIMED AS THEIR OWN THE
BEST WINTER HUNTING GROUNDS--
THE BLACK HILLS--
AND ITS LANDMARKS
BECAME PART OF THEIR RELIGION.
BUT BY THE EARLY 1800s,
NEW PEOPLE HAD ARRIVED
FROM THE EAST,
CHALLENGING THE KIOWA
FOR THE BLACK HILLS.
THEY WERE THE CHEYENNE.
AND BEHIND THEM CAME THE LAKOTA,
KNOWN BY WHITES AS THE SIOUX.
AMONG THE LAKOTA,
A MAN NAMED LONE DOG
PAINTED A RECORD OF HIS PEOPLE
ON A BUFFALO HIDE,
MARKING EACH WINTER BY DEPICTING
WHAT THEY REMEMBERED
MOST VIVIDLY
ABOUT THE YEAR JUST PAST.
HE BEGAN AT THE CENTER OF A
SPIRAL WITH THE WINTER OF 1800,
WHEN 30 LAKOTA, REPRESENTED
BY 30 STRAIGHT LINES,
WERE KILLED IN BATTLE
WITH THE CROW.
OVER THE ENSUING WINTERS,
LONE DOG RECOUNTED HORSE RAIDS
AND BUFFALO HUNTS...
THE ARRIVAL OF TRADING POSTS,
AND OUTBREAKS OF SMALLPOX.
BUT THE EVENTS MOST OFTEN NOTED
ON HIS BUFFALO HIDE
WERE THE NUMEROUS WARS
HIS PEOPLE FOUGHT
AS THE LAKOTA MOVED WEST--
WITH THE MANDAN, PAWNEE,
AND ARAPAHO,
WITH THE BLACK FEET,
ASSINBOIN, CROW, AND SHOSHONE.
White:
THE BLACK HILLS HAVE AROUND THEM
IN THE LATE 18th
AND EARLY 19th CENTURY,
THIS INCREDIBLE SWIRL OF PEOPLE.
THE PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING,
CONTESTING FOR BUFFALO GROUNDS,
AND THE DRIVING FIGURES
IN ALL THIS
ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE
THE LAKOTAS.
THE LAKOTAS
ARE PUSHING OTHER PEOPLE OUT.
THE LAKOTAS ARE SPREADING WEST
AFTER THE HERDS.
THE LAKOTAS ARE THE PEOPLE
IN MOTION.
THE LAKOTAS
WEREN'T ALWAYS THERE,
BUT THEY MAKE THE BLACK HILLS
THE CENTER OF THEIR WORLD.
Woman: OUR NAME FOR THE BLACK
HILLS IS WAMAKAHOGNAKA INCHATE.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
"INCHATE" IS THE HEART OF.
"WAMAKAHOGNAKA" I TRANSLATE "THE
HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT IS"--
EVERYTHING MATERIAL,
EVERYTHING SPIRITUAL.
IT'S THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.
WE WERE A WARRIOR SOCIETY,
AND THAT'S VERY MUCH
A PART OF OUR CULTURE.
WE HAVE AN EXPRESSION THAT
WHOEVER DIDN'T FEAR US HATED US,
AND WE TOOK GREAT PRIDE
IN THE FACT
THAT EVERYONE EITHER HATED US
OR FEARED US.
THE CREE PEOPLE
IN THEIR STORIES WOULD SAY,
"WHEN THE CROW
WERE COMING TO FIGHT,
"WE SENT OUR LITTLE BOYS
TO FIGHT.
"WHEN THE MANDAN WERE COMING,
WE SENT THE OLD MEN.
"WHEN THE SIOUX WERE COMING,
WE PAINTED OUR FACES FOR DEATH
AND PREPARED TO DIE."
Narrator: FOR NEARLY 300 YEARS,
SINCE THE DAYS OF CORONADO,
SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE
HAD CALLED MUCH OF THE WEST
THEIR HOME.
THEY RAISED VAST HERDS OF CATTLE
IN THE FERTILE VALLEYS
OF CALIFORNIA,
BUILT CATHEDRALS
AND TOWNS OF ADOBE
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
IN NEW MEXICO.
AND IN THE SPRAWLING
NORTHERN PROVINCE OF TEJAS,
WHERE COMANCHES AND KIOWAS
CONTROLLED THE OPEN PLAINS,
THEY CLUSTERED AROUND A HANDFUL
OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS.
BUT WHEREVER THEY LIVED, THEY
FELT NEGLECTED BY MEXICO CITY,
MORE THAN 1,000 MILES AWAY.
Man: THE PEOPLE OF THE FRONTIER
WERE, BY AND LARGE,
ANTI-GOVERNMENT,
ANTI-INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH.
THEY WERE VERY HAPPY
BEING LEFT ON THEIR OWN
TO DEFEND THEIR PROPERTY,
TO LIVE THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES
WITHOUT INTERVENTION
OF A FAR-OFF GOVERNMENT.
THE SPANISH COLONISTS,
THEIR MOTTO WAS--
GOD IS IN HEAVEN,
THE POPE IS AT THE VATICAN,
THE KING IS IN MADRID,
THE VICEROY'S IN MEXICO CITY,
AND TO HELL WITH YOU.
I'M IN SAN ANTONIO.
Narrator: FOR GENERATIONS,
FOREIGNERS HAD BEEN KEPT OUT
OF THE ISOLATED
NORTHERN PROVINCES.
THEN,
AFTER THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO
WON ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1821,
IT ANNOUNCED THAT AMERICANS WERE
NOW WELCOME IN TEJAS--TEXAS.
Woman: MEXICO HAD HAD
WHAT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD PLAN--
HOW TO GET SETTLERS
AND COLONISTS INTO TEXAS
TO MAKE SURE
IT WAS A SETTLED TERRITORY
THAT THE UNITED STATES
WOULD HAVE TO BACK OFF FROM.
THE MEXICAN POPULATION
DOESN'T REALLY HAVE A SURPLUS
THAT CAN PROVIDE
THAT KIND OF SETTLEMENT.
SO, IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS
OF HINDSIGHT WHERE YOU THINK,
"OH, WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE."
Man: THIS VILLAGE
HAS BEEN SETTLED
BY MR. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN,
A NATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES
OF THE NORTH.
ITS POPULATION IS NEARLY
200 PERSONS,
OF WHICH
ONLY 10 ARE MEXICANS.
THE AMERICANS ARE
IN GENERAL, IN MY OPINION,
LAZY PEOPLE
OF VICIOUS CHARACTER.
SOME OF THEM
CULTIVATE THEIR SMALL FARMS,
BUT THIS TASK
THEY USUALLY ENTRUST
TO THEIR NEGRO SLAVES,
WHOM THEY TREAT
WITH CONSIDERABLE HARSHNESS.
IN MY JUDGMENT,
THE SPARK THAT WILL
START THE CONFLAGRATION
THAT WILL DEPRIVE US OF TEXAS
WILL START FROM THIS COLONY.
LIEUTENANT JOSE MARIA SANCHEZ.
Narrator: IN 1821, AN AMBITIOUS
EX-NEWSPAPERMAN FROM MISSOURI
NAMED STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
SETTLED 297 AMERICAN FAMILIES--
AND THEIR SLAVES--
ON THE BRAZOS RIVER
IN EAST TEXAS.
IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LAND,
THEY AGREED TO CONVERT
TO CATHOLICISM
AND SWEAR ALLEGIANCE
TO THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO.
UNDER THE SAME TERMS,
MEXICO GRANTED OTHERS
THE RIGHT TO SETTLE IN TEXAS.
BUT SOON,
THE PLAN BEGAN TO BACKFIRE.
THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SQUATTERS
NOW CAME,
CARVING OUT THEIR OWN HOMESTEADS
WITHOUT ANYONE'S PERMISSION.
Woman:
I THINK IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR ADVENTURE FOR THEM.
A LOT OF PEOPLE CAME TO TEXAS
BECAUSE THEY WERE RUNNING
FROM THE LAW
OR RUNNING FROM A BAD FAMILY
SITUATION, A BAD MARRIAGE.
TEXAS WAS FILLED WITH,
SHALL WE SAY, FRINGE SOCIETY.
BUT IT WAS ALSO FILLED
WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO REALLY DID WANT SOMETHING
MORE THAN WHAT THEY HAD,
AND THOUGHT THEY MIGHT FIND IT
ON THE FRONTIER.
Narrator:
DIRT-POOR DEBTORS CAME.
SO DID LAND SPECULATORS,
FUGITIVES, LAWYERS...
AND A TALL
39-YEAR-OLD TENNESSEAN
WITH A DECIDEDLY
MIXED REPUTATION.
RAISED BY HIS WIDOWED MOTHER
AND INFORMALLY ADOPTED
BY THE CHEROKEES,
HE HAD DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF
IN THE WAR OF 1812,
SERVED IN CONGRESS, AND WAS
NOW GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE.
MANY ASSUMED THAT HE,
LIKE HIS MENTOR ANDREW JACKSON,
WOULD ONE DAY BE PRESIDENT.
HIS NAME WAS SAM HOUSTON.
Richards: I THINK
THAT HE WAS PROBABLY
ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT,
THE MOST IRASCIBLE,
THE MOST PRINCIPLED,
THE MOST OPINIONATED MAN
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
HE WAS FLAMBOYANT.
HE WORE VESTS THAT WERE FURRY.
AND HE WOULD HAVE ON A JACKET,
AND ON TOP OF THAT
AN INDIAN BLANKET.
HE WAS THE FIRST MAN
TO WEAR BEADS
ON THE FLOOR
OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
I LIKE THAT.
Narrator: BUT AFTER HIS
YOUNG WIFE ABRUPTLY LEFT HIM,
HOUSTON RESIGNED
THE GOVERNORSHIP
WITHOUT EXPLANATION,
BEGAN DRINKING HEAVILY,
AND FLED TO LIVE
WITH HIS CHEROKEE FRIENDS.
HIS CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES
SEEMED OVER.
SAM HOUSTON HEADED FOR TEXAS.
Man: AN EAGLE SWOOPED DOWN
NEAR MY HEAD
AND THEN, SOARING ALOFT
WITH WILDEST SCREAMS,
WAS LOST IN THE RAYS
OF THE SETTING SUN.
I KNEW THAT A GREAT DESTINY
WAITED FOR ME IN THE WEST.
SAM HOUSTON.
Narrator:
THERE WERE NOW NEARLY 35,000
AMERICAN-BORN IMMIGRANTS
AND THEIR SLAVES IN TEXAS--
TEN TIMES THE NUMBER
OF SPANISH-SPEAKING TEJANOS.
DESPITE GROWING TENSIONS,
AND DESPITE
THEIR MANY DIFFERENCES,
BOTH GROUPS
AGREED ON ONE THING--
THEY RESENTED TAKING ORDERS
FROM FAR-OFF MEXICO CITY.
THEN IN 1835, GENERAL
ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA
WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MEXICO.
AT FIRST, HE PROMISED TO RESTORE
GREATER AUTONOMY TO TEXAS.
INSTEAD, SANTA ANNA
DECLARED HIMSELF DICTATOR,
THE "NAPOLEON OF THE WEST,"
AND WHEN TEXANS REBELLED
AND TALKED OF INDEPENDENCE,
HE LED AN ARMY NORTH--
5,300 MEN FLYING A BLACK FLAG
THAT MEANT NO QUARTER.
Man as Houston: LET EACH MAN
COME WITH A GOOD RIFLE
AND 100 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION--
AND COME SOON.
SAM HOUSTON.
Narrator: BECAUSE OF HIS
PAST MILITARY EXPERIENCE,
SAM HOUSTON WAS PUT IN COMMAND
OF TEXAN FORCES.
HE CALLED FOR MORE MEN--
FROM TEXAS
AND FROM THE UNITED STATES.
IN WASHINGTON,
PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON
ORDERED A POLICY
OF STRICT NEUTRALITY--
HE WANTED TO BUY TEXAS,
NOT FIGHT A WAR OVER IT.
BUT "TEXAS MEETINGS"
WERE HELD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
EAGER YOUNG MEN SIGNED UP
BY THE BATTALION.
IN SAN ANTONIO, 146 MEN GATHERED
AT AN OLD SPANISH MISSION
CALLED THE ALAMO
TO STOP SANTA ANNA'S ARMY.
HOUSTON BELIEVED THE ALAMO
WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEND
AND ORDERED IT BLOWN UP.
BUT THE MEN INSIDE--
INCLUDING AN ALCOHOLIC
ADVENTURER NAMED JIM BOWIE
AND A FORMER
TENNESSEE CONGRESSMAN
NAMED DAVY CROCKETT--
DECIDED ON THEIR OWN
TO STAY AND FIGHT.
ON FEBRUARY 24, 1836,
SANTA ANNA REACHED SAN ANTONIO
AND DEMANDED
THAT THE ALAMO'S OCCUPANTS
SURRENDER OR BE ANNIHILATED.
ITS COMMANDER,
WILLIAM BARRET TRAVIS,
ANSWERED WITH A CANNON SHOT.
THE MEXICANS SETTLED IN
FOR A SIEGE.
TRAVIS SCRIBBLED OUT AN URGENT
PLEA FOR REINFORCEMENTS
AND ENTRUSTED IT
TO A 30-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN
OF THE TEXAS ARMY,
A TEJANO NAMED JUAN SEGUIN.
HE SLIPPED
THROUGH THE MEXICAN LINES
AND DELIVERED THE CALL FOR HELP.
MEANWHILE,
IN A RUNDOWN FARMHOUSE
IN THE TINY SETTLEMENT
OF WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS,
59 MEN, INCLUDING THREE TEJANOS,
DECLARED TEXAS
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
AND HAMMERED OUT A CONSTITUTION
MODELED AFTER THAT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
BUT THERE WOULD BE
NO REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE ALAMO.
HOUSTON STILL CONSIDERED IT
FOLLY FOR HIS OUTNUMBERED ARMY
TO FIGHT SANTA ANNA THERE.
[BUGLE PLAYS]
AT 5:00 A.M., ON THE MORNING
OF MARCH 6, 1836,
AFTER 13 DAYS OF SIEGE,
SANTA ANNA'S BUGLER
BLEW THE DEGUELLO,
THE SIGNAL FOR DEATH
IN THE BULL RING.
2,600 HUNDRED MEXICAN
SOLDIERS CHARGED THE ALAMO--
INTO A HAIL OF TEXAN GUNFIRE.
AT LEAST 600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS
DIED THAT MORNING--
THOUGH SANTA ANNA
WOULD OFFICIALLY ADMIT
TO JUST 70 DEATHS AMONG HIS MEN.
BUT THE ODDS
PROVED OVERWHELMING.
IN A MATTER OF HOURS,
THE ALAMO WAS TAKEN,
AND IN THE END,
ALL ITS DEFENDERS--
AMERICANS AND TEJANOS ALIKE--
LAY DEAD.
Santos: WHAT IS IMPORTANT
ABOUT THE ALAMO
IS NOT THE NUMBER OF MEN
OR WHO THEY WERE
OR THE VARIOUS PERSONALITIES,
BUT THE FACT
THAT THIS SMALL GROUP OF MEN
CHOSE TO DEFEND
AN IMPOSSIBLE POSITION
AGAINST A SUPERIOR NUMBER
AND HELD IT FOR 13 DAYS.
THEY CHOSE THIS PLACE KNOWING
THAT IT WOULD MEAN SURE DEATH.
Narrator: THE KILLING WENT ON.
SANTA ANNA TOOK A SECOND FORT,
CALLED GOLIAD.
ITS DEFENDERS WERE "PIRATES,"
HE SAID,
FOREIGNERS INTENT ON STEALING
MEXICAN TERRITORY.
HE ORDERED 300 MEN--
MOST OF THEM AMERICANS--
TO BE SHOT
AND THEIR CORPSES BURNED.
Man: OUR GARRISON WAS TAKEN
AND MASSACRED.
IF SUCH CONDUCT
IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO AROUSE
THE PATRIOTIC FEELINGS
OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY,
I KNOW NOT WHAT WILL.
RATHER THAN BE DRIVEN OUT
OF THIS COUNTRY,
I WILL LEAVE MY BONES
TO BLANCH
ON THE PLAINS OF TEXAS.
PRIVATE G.A. GIDDINGS.
Narrator: SANTA ANNA PUSHED ON.
NOW, ALL THAT STOOD BETWEEN HIM
AND THE DEFENSELESS SETTLEMENTS
IN EAST TEXAS
WAS A SMALL, POORLY TRAINED
ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS
AND THEIR ERRATIC
AND UNPREDICTABLE COMMANDER,
SAM HOUSTON.
Woman: A WAYAKIN
IS YOUR GUARDIAN SPIRIT
AND FROM THIS GUARDIAN SPIRIT
YOU GET YOUR POWER.
AND I COLLECTED
ABOUT 16 OF THEM.
AND THE MOST INTERESTING THAT I
HAVE IS THE ONE OF MY FATHER'S,
BECAUSE THERE WERE
DIFFERENT ANIMALS
THAT TALKED TO HIM
AT THE SAME TIME.
AND EACH ONE OF THEM
GAVE HIM THIS CERTAIN THING.
THE CHIPMUNK SAID,
"WELL, I'LL GIVE YOU
"A LOT OF GOOD, FAST MOVEMENTS.
YOU WILL BE A QUICK PERSON."
AND THE BADGER SAYS,
"I WILL GIVE YOU STEADFASTNESS.
YOU WILL BE STRONG."
AND THE DOG SAID,
"I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.
I'M GOING TO BE WITH HIM
ALL THE TIME."
AND THAT WAS HIS
GUARDIAN SPIRIT.
Narrator:
BACK IN 1831, FOUR INDIANS,
INCLUDING THREE NEZ PERCE
FROM THE TRIBE WHO HAD HELPED
LEWIS AND CLARK
SURVIVE THEIR TIME
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST,
TRAVELED EASTWARD,
OVER THE MOUNTAINS
AND ACROSS THE PLAINS,
NEARLY 2,000 MILES
TO ST. LOUIS.
THEY HAD COME, THEY SAID,
BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD
OF A BLACK BOOK
THAT GAVE WHOEVER POSSESSED IT
ADDITIONAL POWER AND PRESTIGE.
Lawyer:
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THE BIBLE,
AND THEY THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD
GET POWER FROM IT,
JUST LIKE THAT THEY WOULD GET
FROM THEIR WAYAKIN.
Narrator: A HIGHLY EMBELLISHED
ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS' JOURNEY
MADE ITS WAY INTO
THE PROTESTANT MISSIONARY PRESS.
THE NEZ PERCE, IT SAID,
WERE PLEADING FOR SALVATION.
[WOMAN HUMS]
IN THE SPRING OF 1836, A SMALL
PARTY OF MISSIONARIES RESPONDED,
AND BEGAN THE LONG TREK
FROM MISSOURI
TO THE BRITISH TRADING POST
OF FORT VANCOUVER
ALONG A ROUTE THAT WOULD
SOON BE CALLED THE OREGON TRAIL.
[HUMMING CONTINUES]
♪ IN THE DESERTS LET ME LABOR ♪
♪ ON THE MOUNTAINS LET ME TELL ♪
♪ HOW HE DIED,
THE BLESSED SAVIOR ♪
♪ TO REDEEM A WORLD FROM HELL ♪
♪ LET ME HASTEN, LET ME HASTEN ♪
♪ FAR IN HEATHEN LANDS
TO DWELL ♪
Narrator: AMONG
THE CHRISTIAN PIONEERS
WERE DR. MARCUS WHITMAN
AND HIS YOUNG WIFE NARCISSA,
WHO FROM HER EARLIEST CHILDHOOD
HAD DREAMED
OF BECOMING A MISSIONARY.
SHE HAD MARRIED WHITMAN
SPECIFICALLY TO GO WEST
AND SPREAD THE WORD OF CHRIST
TO THOSE IN NEED OF IT.
Woman: OUR DESIRE NOW
IS TO BE USEFUL TO THESE
BENIGHTED INDIANS,
TEACHING THEM
THE WAY OF SALVATION.
IT IS A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
TO BE PIONEERS
IN SO GREAT A WORK.
IT IS WITH CAUTIOUS STEPS
THAT WE ENTER ON IT.
NARCISSA WHITMAN.
Woman: WELL, I DON'T THINK
SHE REALLY KNEW
WHAT SHE WAS GOING OUT
TO DO IN THE WEST.
SHE HAD GROWN UP READING,
CONSUMING VORACIOUSLY
THE LITERATURE OF THE
MISSIONARY MOVEMENT OF HER DAY.
AND SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS
GOING OUT TO LIVE OUT A SCENARIO
THAT SHE HAD REALLY READ ABOUT.
THAT IS, SHE WOULD ARRIVE,
HOPEFULLY BE WELCOMED,
AND SOMEHOW BRING ABOUT
THIS MONUMENTAL CONVERSION
OF THE PEOPLE
WITH WHOM SHE WORKED.
SHE HAD NO REAL IDEAS AT ALL
AS TO WHAT THE WEST WAS LIKE,
OR WHAT MISSIONARY WORK
WOULD BE LIKE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Narrator:
WHILE OTHER MISSIONARIES
WENT TO THE NEZ PERCE,
THE WHITMANS SETTLED
AT A PLACE CALLED WAIILATPU,
ON THE NORTH BANK
OF THE WALLA WALLA RIVER,
IN THE LAND OF THE CAYUSE.
THINGS DID NOT GO WELL
FOR THE WHITMANS.
TILOUKAIKT, A CAYUSE CHIEF,
WELCOMED THEM,
BUT WONDERED WHY THEY FAILED
TO OFFER GIFTS,
AS WAS THE CAYUSE CUSTOM.
HIS PEOPLE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND
WHY THE WHITMANS INSISTED
THEY MUST COMPLETELY
ABANDON THEIR OWN FAITH.
AND THEY WERE INSULTED
WHEN NARCISSA BARRED THEM
FROM HER PARLOR.
Woman as Whitman:
THE INDIANS SAID
THEY WOULD WORSHIP
IN OUR NEW HOUSE.
WE TOLD THEM OUR HOUSE
WAS TO LIVE IN,
AND WE COULD NOT HAVE THEM
WORSHIP THERE
FOR FEAR THEY WOULD MAKE IT
SO DIRTY AND FULL OF FLEAS
THAT WE COULD NOT LIVE IN IT.
Jeffrey: I THINK NARCISSA
REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THEM AT ALL,
AND THAT SHE SAW THEM
AS EVERYTHING
THAT WAS THE POLAR OPPOSITE
OF WHAT SHE LOVED AND VALUED.
THE KINDS OF WORDS
THAT SHE USES--
SAVAGE, IGNORANT,
LAZY, HEATHENISH--
THE WAY SHE CALLED
HER MISSION STATION
A DARK AND SAVAGE PLACE,
GIVE YOU SOME SENSE
OF THIS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE
TO PEOPLE
WHOM SHE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND,
WHO FRIGHTENED HER,
AND WHO WOULDN'T CHANGE
IN THE WAYS THAT SHE REALLY
THOUGHT THEY OUGHT TO CHANGE
FOR THEIR OWN GOOD.
Narrator: NARCISSA HAD GIVEN
BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER, ALICE.
BUT AT AGE 2,
THE LITTLE GIRL DROWNED
IN THE RIVER
NEXT TO THE MISSION.
GRIEVING AND LONELY,
NARCISSA SOMETIMES
WENT TWO YEARS
WITHOUT A LETTER FROM HOME.
EACH DAY SHE AND THE OTHER
MISSIONARY WIVES IN THE REGION
PAUSED TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Jeffrey: I'VE ALWAYS FOUND IT
TO BE VERY POIGNANT,
A SIGN OF THEIR LONELINESS,
AND HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS,
AND HOW THEY TRIED
TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER
THROUGH THEIR SPIRITS.
Narrator:
DURING THEIR FIRST YEARS,
THE WHITMANS MANAGED TO CONVERT
ONE SCOTTISH VISITOR,
ONE FRENCH-CANADIAN CATHOLIC,
AND SEVERAL HAWAIIAN LABORERS
WHO WORKED FOR THE MISSION.
BUT THEY FAILED TO MAKE A SINGLE
CONVERT AMONG THE CAYUSE.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
Woman as Whitman: NEVER WAS
I MORE KEENLY SENSIBLE
TO THE SELF-DENIALS
OF A MISSIONARY LIFE.
EVEN NOW WHILE I AM WRITING,
THE DRUM AND THE SAVAGE YELL
ARE SOUNDING IN MY EARS,
EVERY SOUND OF WHICH
IS AS FAR AS THE EAST
IS FROM THE WEST
FROM VIBRATING IN UNISON
WITH MY FEELINGS.
Man: DEAR FRIENDS, WILL YOU
NOT SOMETIME THINK OF ME
ALMOST ALONE IN THE MIDST
OF SAVAGE DARKNESS?
GENERAL HOUSTON, SIR,
THE ENEMY ARE LAUGHING YOU
TO SCORN.
YOU MUST FIGHT THEM.
YOU MUST RETREAT NO FURTHER.
THE COUNTRY EXPECTS YOU
TO FIGHT.
THE SALVATION OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON YOUR DOING SO.
DAVID BURNETT,
PRESIDENT OF TEXAS.
Man: AFTER THE ALAMO FELL
AND SANTA ANNA ORDERED
ALL THE PRISONERS SHOT,
HE HAD SAID
HE WAS GONNA KILL EVERYBODY
THAT'S OPPOSING
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT.
THERE'S TERRIFIC PANIC
OVER THE COUNTRY.
AND EVERY FAMILY THAT COULD
GOT THEIR BELONGINGS TOGETHER
IN A BUGGY OR A WAGON OR
WHATEVER THEY HAD, A HORSEBACK.
SOME DIDN'T HAVE ANY VEHICLES.
WALKING, CARRY WHAT YOU COULD,
DRAG IT, OR PUT IT ON A MULE.
AND THE FAMILIES
JUST ABANDONED THEIR HOMES.
AND THAT WAS CALLED
THE "RUNAWAY SCRAPE."
AND THEY WERE TRYING
TO GET ACROSS THE SABINE RIVER
TO GET INTO NEW ORLEANS
BEFORE THEY GOT KILLED.
Narrator: THE FLEDGLING
GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS
RETREATED TO THE LITTLE TOWN
OF HARRISBURG.
THERE, THEY DEMANDED THAT
SAM HOUSTON STAND AND FIGHT.
BUT HOUSTON
KEPT HIS OWN COUNSEL,
PORING OVER CAESAR'S
COMMENTARIES ON WAR,
GNAWING ON THE RAW EARS OF CORN
WITH WHICH
HE FILLED HIS SADDLEBAGS.
Man as Houston: HAD I CONSULTED
THE WISHES OF ALL,
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE THE ASS
BETWEEN TWO STACKS OF HAY.
I CONSULTED NO ONE.
I HELD NO COUNCILS OF WAR.
IF I ERR, THE BLAME IS MINE.
Narrator: HOUSTON AND HIS
SMALL ARMY WERE IN FULL RETREAT,
ZIG-ZAGGING ACROSS TEXAS,
KEEPING JUST OUT OF RANGE
OF THE ADVANCING MEXICANS.
RUMORS SPREAD THAT ALCOHOL
HAD UNDERCUT HIS COURAGE.
SETTLERS JEERED HIM
FROM THE ROADSIDE.
Yarborough: AND THE MEN
UNDER HIM SAID HE IS A COWARD.
AND SIDNEY SHERMAN, THE COLONEL,
TRIED TO REPLACE HIM.
SAM HOUSTON SAID,
"ANYBODY THAT TRIES TO REMOVE ME
FROM THIS COMMAND,
I'LL EXECUTE HIM ON THE SPOT."
Narrator: FOR MORE THAN A MONTH,
SANTA ANNA
PURSUED HOUSTON'S ELUSIVE ARMY.
THEN THE MEXICAN GENERAL
MADE A MISTAKE.
HE DIVIDED HIS TROOPS
AND VEERED OFF
IN HOPES OF CAPTURING
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
HOUSTON SLIPPED UP BEHIND HIM
AT A BEND IN A RIVER
CALLED THE SAN JACINTO.
Man as Houston: APRIL 21, 1836.
WE ARE IN PREPARATION
TO MEET SANTA ANNA.
IT IS THE ONLY CHANCE
OF SAVING TEXAS.
WE GO TO CONQUER.
IT IS WISDOM
GROWING OUT OF NECESSITY
TO MEET THE ENEMY NOW.
Narrator: SANTA ANNA'S ARMY
WAS SURROUNDED BY WATER
ON THREE SIDES.
HOUSTON'S 800 MEN MOVED
INTO POSITION ON THE 4th.
Yarborough:
THERE WERE TREES THERE.
HOUSTON HAD MEN
UP IN THOSE TREES WATCHING THEM,
AND CALLING DOWN TO HIM
WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
HE SAYS, "THE CAVALRY OVER THERE
HAVE TAKEN THEIR SADDLES OFF.
"THEY'RE TAKING THEIR HORSES
TO DRINK.
"THIS IS SIESTA TIME,
IT'S 3:30.
AND MOST OF THE MEXICANS
ARE HAVING THEIR SIESTA."
HOUSTON IMMEDIATELY ORDERED THEM
TO LINE UP.
Narrator: "TRUST IN GOD
AND FEAR NOT!" HE TOLD HIS MEN.
"REMEMBER GOLIAD!
REMEMBER THE ALAMO!"
HOUSTON LED THE CHARGE HIMSELF,
SWINGING HIS SABER.
HIS HORSE FELL, HIT FIVE TIMES.
HOUSTON
CLIMBED ONTO ANOTHER HORSE.
IT, TOO, WAS KILLED.
AND THIS TIME,
HOUSTON'S RIGHT LEG
WAS SPLINTERED BY A MUSKET BALL.
BUT SANTA ANNA'S ARMY
WAS ON THE RUN.
THE TEXANS
AND A COMPANY OF TEJANOS
UNDER JUAN SEGUIN
WERE RIGHT BEHIND THEM.
THE FIGHTING
LASTED JUST 18 MINUTES...
[GUNS FIRE, HORSES NEIGH]
BUT THE SLAUGHTER
WENT ON FOR ANOTHER HOUR.
WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER,
600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS LAY DEAD.
NEARLY 700 MORE HAD SURRENDERED.
THE SURPRISE HAD BEEN
SO COMPLETE, THE BLOW SO SUDDEN,
THAT ONLY SIX TEXANS DIED DURING
THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO.
SANTA ANNA HIMSELF
WAS MADE SAM HOUSTON'S PRISONER
AND FORCED
TO SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER
CEDING TEXAN INDEPENDENCE.
NOW THERE WERE
THREE INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS
IN NORTH AMERICA--
MEXICO, THE UNITED STATES,
AND UNDER PRESIDENT SAM HOUSTON,
THE NEW REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
Man: THE LOSS OF TEXAS
WILL INEVITABLY RESULT
IN THE LOSS OF NEW MEXICO
AND THE CALIFORNIAS.
LITTLE BY LITTLE,
OUR TERRITORY WILL BE ABSORBED
UNTIL ONLY AN INSIGNIFICANT
PART IS LEFT TO US.
OUR NATIONAL EXISTENCE
WILL END
LIKE THOSE WEAK METEORS
THAT FROM TIME TO TIME
SHINE FITFULLY IN THE FIRMAMENT
AND DISAPPEAR.
JOSE MARIA TORNEL Y MENDIVIL.
Narrator:
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
OF NOVEMBER 14, 1833,
ONE OF THE LARGEST
METEOR SHOWERS IN HISTORY
LIT UP THE NIGHT SKY
OVER NORTH AMERICA.
LONE DOG AND HIS LAKOTA BAND
WATCHED IT
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
AND REMEMBERED 1833
AS "THE YEAR THE STARS FELL."
ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
A LARGE BAND OF KIOWA
WERE CAMPED
IN THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS,
WHERE THEY HAD BEEN DRIVEN
WHEN THE CHEYENNE AND LAKOTA
TOOK OVER THE BLACK HILLS.
Momaday: AND THEY WERE AWAKENED
BY THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS.
AND THEY RAN OUT
INTO THE FALSE DAY
AND WERE TERRIFIED.
THEY THOUGHT THE WORLD
WAS COMING TO AN END.
YOU CAN IMAGINE
SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENING
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD,
THIS HAVOC IN THE NIGHT SKY.
AND SO IT'S VERY MUCH
IN THEIR BLOOD MEMORY.
I THINK THE KIOWAS TOOK
THE FALLING STARS AS A SIGN.
IT WAS AN OMEN,
AND BAD THINGS FOLLOWED.
YOU CAN START
COUNTING THE CATASTROPHES.
[BELL RINGS]
[WOMAN SINGS "AMAZING GRACE"
IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE]
Narrator: SOON, THE KIOWA
NOTICED A NEW PEOPLE
COMING FROM THE EAST,
MOVING ONTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
THE SETTLERS
BUILT TOWNS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS.
SOME OF THEM OWNED SLAVES.
BUT THESE NEWCOMERS
WERE INDIANS, TOO.
CHEROKEE, ONE OF MANY PEOPLES
FROM THE EAST
FORCED INTO THE WEST
BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
NO EASTERN TRIBE
HAD STRUGGLED HARDER
OR MORE SUCCESSFULLY TO MAKE
WHITE CIVILIZATION THEIR OWN.
FOR GENERATIONS, THE CHEROKEE
HAD LIVED SIDE BY SIDE
WITH WHITES IN GEORGIA.
THEY HAD DEVISED
A WRITTEN LANGUAGE,
PUBLISHED THEIR OWN NEWSPAPER,
ADOPTED A CONSTITUTION
AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
BUT AFTER GOLD
WAS DISCOVERED ON THEIR LAND,
EVEN THEY WERE TOLD
THEY WOULD HAVE TO START
OVER AGAIN IN THE WEST.
[SINGING CONTINUES]
Man: MY FRIENDS, CIRCUMSTANCES
RENDER IT IMPOSSIBLE
THAT YOU CAN FLOURISH
IN THE MIDST
OF A CIVILIZED COMMUNITY.
YOU HAVE BUT ONE REMEDY
WITHIN YOUR REACH,
AND THAT IS
TO REMOVE TO THE WEST,
AND THE SOONER YOU DO THIS,
THE SOONER WILL COMMENCE
YOUR CAREER OF IMPROVEMENT
AND PROSPERITY.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Narrator: EARLY IN THE 1830s,
CONGRESS HAD CREATED
A HUGE NEW "INDIAN TERRITORY,"
WHICH WAS TO STRETCH FROM TEXAS
TO THE MIDDLE MISSOURI RIVER.
IT WAS MEANT TO BE A BARRIER
TO WHITE EXPANSION,
A PLACE
THE INDIANS WERE PROMISED
THEY WOULD HAVE
TO THEMSELVES FOREVER.
Limerick: ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH
THE WEST WAS GOING TO SOLVE
AMERICA'S PROBLEMS WAS THAT
IT LOOKED LIKE THE PLACE
WHERE YOU COULD PUT INDIANS.
THERE'S ALL THAT SPACE.
PUT THEM THERE, MOVE THEM.
MOVE THEM TO THE WEST.
TAKE THEM
ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
AND POSTERITY
CAN FIGURE THIS ONE OUT.
POSTERITY
CAN INHERIT OUR DILEMMA.
["AMAZING GRACE" PLAYS]
Narrator: ONE BY ONE,
INDIAN PEOPLES
WERE REMOVED TO THE WEST--
THE DELAWARE, OTTAWA,
SHAWNEE, AND POTAWATOMI...
THE SAC AND FOX,
MIAMI AND KICKAPOO...
THE CHOCTAW, CHICKASAW,
CREEK, AND SEMINOLE.
IN ALL, SOME 90,000 INDIANS
WERE RELOCATED.
THE CHEROKEE
WERE AMONG THE LAST TO GO.
SOME RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO MOVE.
OTHERS WERE DRIVEN FROM
THEIR HOMES AT BAYONET POINT.
ALMOST 2,000 OF THEM DIED
ALONG THE ROUTE THEY REMEMBER
AS THE "TRAIL OF TEARS."
THE CHEROKEE ARE PROBABLY
THE MOST TRAGIC INSTANCE
OF WHAT COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED
IN AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY
AND DIDN'T.
ALL THESE THINGS
THAT AMERICANS WOULD PROUDLY SEE
AS THE HALLMARKS
OF CIVILIZATION
ARE BORNE INTO THE WEST
BY INDIAN PEOPLE.
THEY DO EVERYTHING WE ASK
EXCEPT ONE THING.
WHAT THE CHEROKEES
ULTIMATELY ARE--
THEY MAY BE CHRISTIAN,
THEY MAY BE LITERATE,
THEY MAY HAVE
A GOVERNMENT LIKE OURS--
BUT ULTIMATELY, THEY'RE INDIAN.
AND IN THE END,
BEING INDIAN IS WHAT KILLS THEM.
Man: THE MORMONS ARE A TRIBE
OF LOCUSTS THAT STILL THREATENS
TO SCORCH AND WITHER
THE HERBIAGE
OF A FAIR AND GOODLY PORTION
OF MISSOURI
BY THE SWARM OF EMIGRANTS
FROM THEIR PESTILENT HIVE
IN OHIO AND NEW YORK.
SAMUEL OWENS, 1837.
Narrator: THEY CALLED THEMSELVES
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
THE WORLD
CALLED THEM THE MORMONS,
AFTER THE BOOK OF MORMON,
WHICH THEIR FOUNDER JOSEPH SMITH
SAID HE HAD TRANSLATED
FROM A SET OF GOLDEN PLATES
HE HAD BEEN DIVINELY GUIDED
TO DISCOVER.
THE BOOK SAID THAT JESUS CHRIST
HAD PREACHED IN AMERICA
AFTER THE RESURRECTION
AND WOULD RETURN WHEN A NEW,
TRUE CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED.
EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THE MORMONS GATHERED CONVERTS.
AND EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THEY MADE ENEMIES.
Woman:
IF WE WERE OF THE WORLD,
I BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE
WOULD LOVE US WELL ENOUGH
TO LET US REMAIN
SOMEWHERE IN THE STATE.
BUT THEY HATE US, DESPISE US,
AND PERSECUTE US.
AND WHEN THEY KILL US,
THEY VERILY THINK
THEY DO GOD'S SERVICE.
ELIZABETH HAVEN BARLOW.
Narrator: ANGRY MOBS,
WHO CONSIDERED THEM HERETICS,
DROVE THE MORMONS FROM NEW YORK,
THEN OHIO, AND THEN MISSOURI,
WHERE THE GOVERNOR HIMSELF
ORDERED THEM TO LEAVE THE STATE,
OR BE EXTERMINATED.
IN ILLINOIS, JOSEPH SMITH
BOUGHT A SMALL SETTLEMENT,
RENAMED IT NAUVOO, AND TURNED IT
INTO THE SECOND-BIGGEST CITY
IN THE STATE.
HE STARTED WORK
ON A GREAT TEMPLE,
OUTFITTED HIS OWN PRIVATE ARMY,
BEGAN TO PRACTICE POLYGAMY
IN SECRET,
AND ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING
FOR PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
WHEN SMITH DESTROYED
THE PRINTING PRESS
OF A MAN
WHO DARED CRITICIZE HIM,
HE WAS JAILED
AND THEN MURDERED
BY AN ANTI-MORMON MOB.
UNLESS THEY ABANDONED ILLINOIS,
HIS FOLLOWERS WERE TOLD,
THE SAME FATE AWAITED THEM.
Man: WE FACE A CRISIS
OF EXTRAORDINARY
AND THRILLING INTERESTS,
THE EXODUS OF THE NATION
OF THE ONLY TRUE ISRAEL
FROM THESE UNITED STATES
TO A FAR-DISTANT REGION
OF THE WEST.
WAKE UP, WAKE UP,
DEAR BRETHREN,
TO THE PRESENT,
GLORIOUS EMERGENCY
IN WHICH THE GOD OF HEAVEN
HAS PLACED YOU
TO PROVE YOUR FAITH
BY YOUR WORKS.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Narrator: NOW THE MORMONS
PINNED THEIR HOPES
ON A BIG VERMONT-BORN CARPENTER
NAMED BRIGHAM YOUNG,
ONE OF THE CHURCH'S
12 APOSTLES.
HE HAD READ EXPLORERS' REPORTS
OF THE VALLEY
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE
AND SAW IT AS A PERFECT
SANCTUARY FOR HIS SAINTS,
SHELTERED
BY THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS,
BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES
OF THE UNITED STATES.
HE WOULD TAKE HIS PEOPLE THERE.
IN EARLY 1846,
SOME 10,000 LATTER-DAY SAINTS
BEGAN LEAVING THEIR HOMES
FOR THE WEST.
Man: ♪ NOW CONCERNING
THIS STRANGE PEOPLE ♪
♪ I'M NOW A-GOING TO SING ♪
♪ FOR THE WAY
THEY HAVE BEEN TREATED ♪
♪ I THINK IT IS A SIN ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE AYE ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE OH ♪
♪ THEY'VE BEEN
DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES ♪
♪ AND AWAY FROM NAUVOO ♪
♪ FOR TO SEEK ANOTHER HOME
IN THE WILDERNESS ANEW ♪
♪ SING TITTERY IRE AYE ♪
♪ AND SING TITTERY IRE OH ♪
Man: BRIGHAM YOUNG'S BEEN CALLED
AN AMERICAN MOSES,
AND I THINK
THAT'S PRETTY ACCURATE.
HE TOOK
A PERSECUTED RELIGIOUS SECT,
AND HE TOOK THEM
INTO THE WILDERNESS
AND BUILT A NEW PLACE FOR THEM
TO LIVE IN THE DESERT.
AND IN GOING
THROUGH THESE TRIALS
AS THEY WENT TO THE WEST,
IT MADE THE MORMONS
SEE THEMSELVES AS DIVINELY
SEPARATED FROM EVERYONE ELSE
AND DIVINELY PROTECTED.
AND BRIGHAM YOUNG IS THE ONE
WHO MADE THAT HAPPEN.
Narrator: BY WINTER,
THE MORMONS HAD REACHED
THE WEST BANK
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER,
BUT THEY WERE
STILL NEARLY 1,000 MILES
FROM THEIR DESTINATION.
THERE,
THEY BUILT A MAKESHIFT TOWN
THEY CALLED "WINTER QUARTERS,"
WHERE 700 OF THEM DIED
IN THE BITTER COLD.
THE NEXT SPRING,
BRIGHAM YOUNG HIMSELF LED FORTH
A SMALL GROUP TO SELECT THE SITE
ON WHICH ALL WOULD SETTLE.
HE CALLED IT THE PIONEER BAND.
IN LATE JULY,
THEY GOT THEIR FIRST GLIMPSE
OF THE VALLEY
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
Man as Young: WE GAZED
WITH WONDER AND ADMIRATION
UPON THE VAST,
RICH, FERTILE VALLEY.
THE GRANDEST
AND MOST SUBLIME SCENERY
PROBABLY THAT COULD BE
OBTAINED ON THE GLOBE.
WE CONTEMPLATED
THAT IN NOT MANY YEARS
THE VALLEY WOULD
BE CONVERTED INTO ORCHARD,
VINEYARD, GARDENS, AND FIELDS
BY THE INHABITANTS OF ZION.
Woman: WE HAVE TRAVELED
1,500 MILES TO GET HERE,
AND I WOULD WILLINGLY TRAVEL
1,000 MILES FARTHER
TO GET
WHERE IT LOOKED AS THOUGH
A WHITE MAN COULD LIVE.
Woman: THE MORMON PEOPLE
WERE LOOKING FOR ISOLATION
WHERE THEY COULD PRACTICE
THEIR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS FREELY.
AND WHEN THEY STEPPED FOOT
INTO THE GREAT BASIN,
THEY FOUND THE ISOLATION
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.
YOU CAN IMAGINE GREAT SALT LAKE,
SEEING THIS HUGE BODY OF WATER
AND DIPPING DOWN
WITH CUPPED HANDS
FOR A DRINK OF REFRESHMENT
ONLY TO BE REPULSED.
I THINK THAT APPEALED
TO THE MORMONS
BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE
WOULD BOTHER THEM.
Narrator: THEIR VERY FIRST DAY
IN THE VALLEY,
THE MORMONS DUG
A FRESHWATER IRRIGATION DITCH
AND STARTED PLANTING POTATOES.
AND SOON, BRIGHAM YOUNG
WAS PACING OFF
THE STREETS AND SQUARES
OF THE GREAT CITY
HE PLANNED TO BUILD
IN THE DESERT.
Man as Young:
WE HAVE BEEN THROWN LIKE
A STONE FROM A SLING,
AND WE HAVE LODGED
IN THE GODLY PLACE
WHERE THE LORD
WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO GATHER.
IF THE LORD SHOULD SAY
BY HIS REVELATION
THIS IS THE SPOT,
THE SAINTS WOULD BE SATISFIED
IF IT WAS A BARREN ROCK.
Woman: MY FATHER'S NAME
WAS HENRY SAGER.
HE MOVED
FROM VIRGINIA TO OHIO
AND THEN TO INDIANA
AND FROM THERE TO MISSOURI.
IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, 1844,
MY FATHER GOT THE OREGON FEVER,
AND WE STARTED WEST.
Narrator: HENRY SAGER
HAD MOVED HIS GROWING FAMILY
FOUR TIMES IN AS MANY YEARS,
ALWAYS A LITTLE FARTHER WEST
IN SEARCH OF LAND
THAT WAS MORE FERTILE
AND LESS EXPENSIVE.
BY 1844, THE SAGERS
WERE IN ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI,
RESTLESS
AND READY TO MOVE AGAIN.
TWO THOUSAND MILES TO THE WEST
WAS THE OREGON COUNTRY.
THE UNITED STATES CLAIMED IT.
SO DID GREAT BRITAIN.
BUT THE UNITED STATES
HAD THE PEOPLE TO SETTLE IT.
Man: EASTWARD I
GO ONLY BY FORCE,
BUT WESTWARD I GO FREE.
THE FUTURE LIES THAT WAY TO ME.
I SHOULD NOT LAY
SO MUCH STRESS ON THIS FACT
IF I DID NOT BELIEVE
THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS
IS THE PREVAILING TENDENCY
OF MY COUNTRYMEN.
I MUST WALK TOWARD OREGON,
AND NOT TOWARD EUROPE.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU.
Narrator: ONE THOUSAND AMERICANS
HAD MADE THEIR WAY TO OREGON
IN 1843 ALONE.
TEN THOUSAND MORE WOULD FOLLOW
OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.
HENRY SAGER WAS DETERMINED
TO JOIN THEM.
HE SIGNED ON WITH A GROUP CALLED
THE "INDEPENDENT COLONY"--
300 PEOPLE IN 72 WAGONS.
MOST WERE FAMILIES LIKE THE
SAGERS AND THEIR SIX CHILDREN.
Jeffrey: MR. SAGER WAS VERY KEEN
TO GO WEST.
AND HIS WIFE, NAOMI,
WAS PREGNANT.
AND SHE WAS NOT JUST BEGINNING
HER PREGNANCY, SHE WAS ALONG.
AND SHE WAS MORE RELUCTANT
TO GO.
BUT GO THEY DID
WITH ALL THEIR CHILDREN.
Narrator: IN LATE APRIL,
THE INDEPENDENT COLONY
CROSSED THE MISSOURI RIVER
AND SET OUT ON THE OREGON TRAIL.
IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN KANSAS,
SPRING RAINS
TURNED THE PRAIRIES TO MUD
AND MADE RIVER CROSSINGS
DANGEROUS.
THE CHILDREN,
CONFINED TO THEIR COVERED WAGON
FOR MILE AFTER LURCHING MILE,
GREW SEASICK.
ONE NIGHT IN CAMP,
WHILE WARMING THEMSELVES,
THEY HUDDLED
TOO CLOSE TO THE FLAMES,
AND THEIR BEDCLOTHES
CAUGHT ON FIRE.
FIVE WEEKS OUT, NAOMI SAGER GAVE
BIRTH TO HER SEVENTH CHILD,
A BABY GIRL.
ON JULY 4, THE CARAVAN RESTED
NEAR THE PLATTE RIVER
IN NEBRASKA,
AND A YOUNG COUPLE
IN THE WAGON TRAIN
USED THE OCCASION
TO GET MARRIED.
Woman: THE WEATHER WAS FINE,
AND ALL SEEMED TO ENJOY
THEMSELVES.
THERE WERE SEVERAL MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS IN THE COMPANY,
AND THESE SOUNDED OUT CLEAR
AND SWEET ON THE EVENING AIR
WHILE GAY TALK
AND MERRY LAUGHTER WENT ON
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE.
CATHERINE SAGER.
Narrator: FARTHER ON,
THEY FORDED THE SOUTH PLATTE,
AND HENRY SAGER
LOST CONTROL OF HIS OXEN.
THE WAGON OVERTURNED
AND NAOMI WAS INJURED,
BUT THEY KEPT GOING.
IN LATE JULY, THEY PASSED
CHIMNEY ROCK AND SCOTTS BLUFF
IN WHAT IS NOW WESTERN NEBRASKA.
ONE AFTERNOON,
YOUNG CATHERINE, AGE NINE,
TRIED TO HOP OFF THE WAGON.
Woman as Catherine: THE HEM OF
MY DRESS CAUGHT ON AN AX HANDLE,
PRECIPITATING ME
UNDER THE WHEELS,
BOTH OF WHICH PASSED OVER ME
BEFORE FATHER COULD STOP
THE OXEN.
A GLANCE AT MY LIMB
DANGLING IN THE AIR AS HE RAN
REVEALED TO HIM THE EXTENT
OF THE INJURY I HAD RECEIVED,
AND IN A BROKEN VOICE
HE EXCLAIMED,
"MY DEAR CHILD, YOUR LEG
IS BROKE ALL TO PIECES!"
Narrator:
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP,
CATHERINE EITHER RODE
IN THE JOLTING WAGON
OR HOBBLED ALONG BESIDE IT
ON CRUTCHES.
THEY KEPT MOVING--
BEYOND FORT LARAMIE
TO INDEPENDENCE ROCK,
WHERE THE EMIGRANTS
CARVED THEIR NAMES
AS PROOF
OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL PASSING.
ON AUGUST 23, THE SAGERS' WAGON
CROSSED SOUTH PASS
AND THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
NOW THEY WERE BEYOND THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES
AND IN MEXICAN TERRITORY.
OREGON WAS STILL WEEKS AWAY.
A SICKNESS CALLED "CAMP FEVER"
STRUCK THE CARAVAN.
TWO WOMEN DIED.
THEN A LITTLE GIRL.
THEN HENRY SAGER FELL ILL.
Woman as Catherine:
WE CROSSED THE GREEN RIVER
AND CAMPED ON THE BANK.
LOOKING UPON ME AS I LAY
HELPLESSLY BY HIS SIDE,
HE SAID, "POOR CHILD!
WHAT WILL BECOME OF YOU?"
FATHER EXPIRED THE NEXT MORNING
AND WAS BURIED
ON THE BANK OF THE GREEN RIVER,
HIS COFFIN HASTILY DUG OUT
OF THE TRUNK OF A TREE.
Narrator: FATHERLESS,
THE SAGERS PUSHED ON.
AT LAST THEY CROSSED THE BORDER
INTO THE OREGON COUNTRY.
BUT ON THE DUSTY TRAIL
ALONG THE SNAKE RIVER,
NAOMI, TOO,
BECAME DELIRIOUS WITH FEVER.
Woman as Catherine: WE TRAVELED
OVER A VERY ROUGH ROAD,
AND SHE MOANED PITIFULLY
ALL DAY.
WHEN WE CAMPED FOR THE NIGHT,
HER PULSE WAS NEARLY GONE.
SHE LIVED
BUT A FEW MOMENTS MORE,
AND HER LAST WORDS WERE,
"OH, HENRY, IF YOU ONLY KNEW
HOW WE HAVE SUFFERED!"
Narrator: THE CHILDREN
BURIED THEIR MOTHER,
WRAPPED IN A BEDSHEET, IN
A SHALLOW GRAVE ALONG THE TRAIL,
WITH WILLOW BRUSH AND A WOODEN
HEADBOARD TO MARK THE SPOT.
Woman as Catherine: THE TEAMS
WERE THEN HITCHED TO THE WAGON
AND THE TRAIN DROVE ON,
LEAVING HER TO HER LONG SLEEP.
THUS, IN 26 DAYS BOTH OUR
PARENTS WERE LAID IN THE GRAVE,
AND WE WERE ORPHANS--
THE OLDEST, 14 YEARS OLD,
AND THE YOUNGEST, 5 MONTHS OLD.
Jeffrey: AND THERE WERE
THESE SEVEN CHILDREN
LEFT WITHOUT ANY RELATIVES
IN THE WORLD.
THE WORD "ORPHAN"
IS ALMOST INSUFFICIENT
TO DESCRIBE THEIR SITUATION.
AND OF COURSE, THE OTHER THING
TO REMEMBER ABOUT THEM
IS THAT THERE WAS NO ONE
IN THE WEST WAITING FOR THEM.
SO THESE CHILDREN
WERE JUST ALONE.
Narrator:
IT WAS NOW LATE SEPTEMBER,
AND THE FIRST SNOWS WERE FALLING
IN THE MOUNTAINS.
UNDER THE CARE OF OTHER FAMILIES
IN THE WAGON TRAIN,
THE SEVEN SAGER CHILDREN
PRESSED ON.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
IN EARLY OCTOBER,
THEY REACHED CAYUSE COUNTRY.
ONE MEMBER OF THE CARAVAN
RODE AHEAD
TO THE MISSION RUN
BY MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN
TO TELL THEM THAT A NEEDY
WAGON TRAIN WAS APPROACHING
AND TO TALK WITH THEM ABOUT
ADOPTING THE SAGER CHILDREN.
Woman as Whitman: APPLICATION
HAS BEEN MADE FOR US TO TAKE
AN ORPHAN FAMILY
OF SEVEN CHILDREN,
AS THEY HAVE NOT A RELATIVE
IN THE COMPANY.
WHAT WE SHALL DO I CANNOT SAY.
WE CANNOT SEE THEM SUFFER, IF
THE LORD CASTS THEM UPON US.
NARCISSA WHITMAN.
Narrator: SINCE HER OWN
DAUGHTER'S DEATH,
TO EASE HER GRIEF,
NARCISSA HAD TAKEN IN
FOUR OTHER CHILDREN,
INCLUDING THE DAUGHTER
OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN, JOE MEEK.
Jeffrey: FOR NARCISSA, THE DEATH
OF HER DAUGHTER, ALICE,
WAS THE BEGINNING
OF A REAL COLLAPSE,
A PHYSICAL
AND A PSYCHOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN.
AND THEN,
WHEN THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVE,
IT'S REALLY HER SALVATION.
SHE CAN RE-CREATE
A VERY SATISFYING DOMESTIC LIFE
AND REALLY TURN HER BACK
ON THE REAL MISSION WORK
THAT SHE CAME OUT TO DO.
Woman as Whitman: HUSBAND
THOUGHT WE COULD GET ALONG
WITH ALL BUT THE BABY.
HE DID NOT SEE
HOW WE COULD TAKE THAT.
BUT I FELT
THAT IF I MUST TAKE ANY,
I WANTED HER, AS A CHARM
TO BIND THE REST TO ME.
Narrator: THE WHITMANS SENT WORD
BACK TO THE WAGON TRAIN
THAT THEY WOULD TAKE ALL SEVEN.
A FEW DAYS LATER,
AFTER 6 MONTHS AND 2,000 MILES,
HENRY AND NAOMI SAGER'S CHILDREN
FINALLY REACHED THEIR NEW HOME
IN OREGON.
NARCISSA WHITMAN CAME OUT
TO MEET THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Woman as Catherine: SHE WAS
A LARGE, WELL-FORMED WOMAN,
FAIR COMPLEXIONED,
WITH BEAUTIFUL AUBURN HAIR,
NOSE RATHER LARGE,
AND LARGE GRAY EYES.
SHE HAD ON A DARK CALICO DRESS
AND A GINGHAM SUNBONNET.
WE THOUGHT,
AS WE SHYLY LOOKED AT HER,
THAT SHE WAS THE PRETTIEST
WOMAN WE HAD EVER SEEN.
Duncan:
AMERICANS STARTED MOVING WEST
FOR ALL THESE INDIVIDUAL,
PERSONAL REASONS--
LAND, CONVERTING INDIANS, FURS.
BUT EVERYWHERE THEY WENT,
THE END RESULT WAS
THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT
INTO THE UNITED STATES.
IT DIDN'T MATTER WHY THEY WENT,
ONCE THEY GOT THERE
THEY DECIDED,
"THIS PLACE SHOULD BE PART
OF THE UNITED STATES,"
AND IN DOING SO, THEY BROUGHT
THE NATION WITH THEM.
THE NATION DIDN'T SEND THEM OUT.
THEY BROUGHT THE UNITED STATES
WITH THEM.
Man: THE CALIFORNIOS
INHABIT A COUNTRY
EMBRACING 400 OR 500 MILES
OF SEACOAST
WITH SEVERAL HARBORS,
WITH FINE FORESTS IN THE NORTH,
THE WATERS FILLED WITH FISH,
AND THE PLAINS COVERED WITH
THOUSANDS OF HERDS OF CATTLE.
BLESSED WITH A CLIMATE THAN
WHICH THERE CAN BE NO BETTER
IN THE WORLD.
IN THE HANDS
OF AN ENTERPRISING PEOPLE,
WHAT A COUNTRY THIS MIGHT BE.
RICHARD HENRY DANA.
Narrator: BY THE MID-1840s,
LURED BY REPORTS OF FERTILE SOIL
AND A HEALTHY CLIMATE,
SOME 3,000 AMERICAN SETTLERS
HAD FILED
THROUGH THE SIERRA NEVADA
MOUNTAINS
AND DOWN INTO CALIFORNIA'S
SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
THE COMMANDER OF ALL MEXICAN
TROOPS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA,
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO,
BEGGED MEXICO CITY
FOR THE SOLDIERS
HE KNEW WOULD BE NECESSARY
TO KEEP THE AMERICANS OUT.
VALLEJO BELONGED TO ONE
OF THE OLDEST SPANISH FAMILIES
IN THE AMERICAS.
MOST OF THE SONOMA VALLEY,
A QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRES,
BELONGED TO HIM.
BUT DESPITE HIS POSITION,
THE GOVERNMENT IGNORED HIS PLEAS
FOR TROOPS.
IT SEEMED TO VALLEJO
AND HIS FELLOW CALIFORNIOS
THAT MEXICO CITY
WAS AS DISTANT AND ARBITRARY
AS IT HAD BEEN
TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS.
HE NOW FOUND HIMSELF EMBROILED
IN REVOLTS AND COUNTERREVOLTS
AND INCREASING CALLS
FOR CALIFORNIA'S INDEPENDENCE.
FINALLY, THE LEADING CALIFORNIOS
GATHERED IN MONTEREY
TO DISCUSS THEIR FUTURE.
ONE MAN
FAVORED ANNEXATION BY FRANCE,
SINCE IT WAS A CATHOLIC COUNTRY.
ANOTHER THOUGHT CALIFORNIA
SHOULD JOIN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
STILL OTHERS CALLED
FOR A REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA.
VALLEJO HAD COME
TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION.
Man as Vallejo: TO RELY ANY
LONGER UPON MEXICO TO GOVERN
AND DEFEND US
WOULD BE IDLE AND ABSURD.
WHY SHOULD WE SHRINK
FROM INCORPORATING OURSELVES
WITH THE UNITED STATES,
THE HAPPIEST AND FREEST NATION
IN THE WORLD,
DESTINED SOON TO BE
THE MOST WEALTHY AND POWERFUL?
WHEN WE JOIN OUR FORTUNES
TO HERS,
WE SHALL NOT BECOME SUBJECTS,
BUT FELLOW CITIZENS.
MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.
Man as Houston:
THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS HAVE,
WITH A UNANIMITY UNPARALLELED,
DECLARED
THAT THEY WILL BE REUNITED
TO THE GREAT REPUBLICAN FAMILY
OF THE NORTH.
WE ARE CHEERED BY THE HOPE
THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE US
AND HAIL US WELCOME INTO
THE GREAT FAMILY OF FREEMEN.
SAM HOUSTON,
PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
Narrator:
SAM HOUSTON HAD ALWAYS ASSUMED
THAT TEXAS WOULD BECOME A STATE
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS
OF HIS VICTORY AT SAN JACINTO.
BUT FOR SEVEN YEARS,
CONGRESS REFUSED
TO GRANT STATEHOOD TO TEXAS.
THE NORTHERN STATES FEARED
ITS ADMISSION
WOULD TIP THE PRECARIOUS
BALANCE OF POWER
TOWARD THE SLAVE STATES.
THEN IN 1844, JAMES KNOX POLK
WAS NARROWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT.
HE WAS A HUMORLESS, HARD-WORKING
DEMOCRAT FROM TENNESSEE,
UTTERLY DETERMINED
TO EXPAND THE UNITED STATES.
WITH HIS SUPPORT,
AND A COMPROMISE
DEFTLY SIDESTEPPING
THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY,
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BECAME
THE 38th STATE IN THE UNION.
SAM HOUSTON WAS NAMED
ITS FIRST SENATOR.
PRESIDENT POLK
NOW TURNED HIS ATTENTION
TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
HE THREATENED BRITAIN WITH WAR
UNLESS IT GAVE UP ITS CLAIM,
THEN SHREWDLY NEGOTIATED
AN AGREEMENT
THAT ADDED WHAT ARE NOW
OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND IDAHO
TO THE UNION.
BUT POLK
WAS STILL NOT SATISFIED.
HE NOW WANTED
NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA,
AND WHEN MEXICO REFUSED
TO SELL THE PROVINCES,
HE USED A BORDER SKIRMISH
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
TO PERSUADE CONGRESS
TO DECLARE WAR.
[EXPLOSION]
[GUNSHOTS]
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR LASTED
MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF,
A BLOODY STRUGGLE
THAT COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES
AND ENDED
ONLY WHEN AMERICAN TROOPS
FINALLY STORMED
INTO MEXICO CITY.
IN LESS THAN A DOZEN YEARS,
MEXICO HAD LOST
HALF ITS TERRITORY.
THE UNITED STATES HAD GROWN
BY MORE THAN A THIRD.
IN TEXAS, JUAN SEGUIN,
WHO HAD FOUGHT AS HARD
AS ANY MAN FOR INDEPENDENCE,
WAS FALSELY ACCUSED
OF BEING MORE LOYAL TO MEXICO
THAN TO TEXAS.
HE WAS FORCED TO SLIP SOUTH
ACROSS THE BORDER,
"TO SEEK REFUGE," HE MOURNED,
"AMONGST MY ENEMIES."
IN CALIFORNIA,
MARIANO VALLEJO'S DREAMS OF
A PEACEFUL ANNEXATION HAD ENDED
WHEN AMERICAN SQUATTERS
ARRESTED HIM IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
Man as Vallejo: OUR RACE,
OUR UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE,
WILL NOW HAVE TO WANDER
IN SEARCH OF HOSPITALITY
IN A STRANGE LAND.
THE NORTH AMERICANS HATE US,
THEIR SPOKESMEN DEPRECATE US,
AND THEY CONSIDER US UNWORTHY
TO FORM WITH THEM
ONE NATION AND ONE SOCIETY.
[NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING]
[CHANTING CONTINUES]
Narrator:
AFTER 10 YEARS IN OREGON,
MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN
HAD LARGELY ABANDONED THEIR WORK
AMONG THE INDIANS,
IN FAVOR OF HELPING
THE WAGON TRAINS
THAT NOW ROLLED CEASELESSLY
ACROSS CAYUSE LANDS.
Jeffrey: I THINK
THAT THE CAYUSE HATED NARCISSA.
AND I THINK THAT WHEN NARCISSA
TURNED HER BACK ON THE INDIANS,
AND WHEN SHE DEALT WITH THEM
AS STERNLY AS SHE DID, WITH,
I THINK, FROM HER PERSPECTIVE,
WITH ALL THE RIGHT MOTIVES--
YOU HAD TO TELL PEOPLE
WHO WERE GOING TO HELL
THEY WERE GOING TO HELL--
THAT THEY CAME
TO REALLY DESPISE HER.
WAY BACK IN THE EARLY FORTIES,
THE INDIANS STARTED TELLING
THE WHITMANS TO LEAVE.
"WE DON'T LIKE TO HEAR
THIS BAD TALK. LEAVE."
THE WHITMANS DIDN'T GO.
Narrator: THREE YEARS AFTER
THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVED,
MEASLES, CARRIED WEST
WITH THE EMIGRANT TRAINS,
SWEPT THROUGH
THE CAYUSE VILLAGES.
HALF THE TRIBE DIED,
INCLUDING MOST OF THE CHILDREN.
DESPITE
MARCUS WHITMAN'S NURSING,
RUMORS CIRCULATED
AMONG THE GRIEVING CAYUSE
THAT HE WAS SECRETLY
SPREADING THE DISEASE,
NOT TRYING TO CURE IT.
ONE AFTERNOON, THREE CAYUSE
APPEARED AT THE DOOR
AND ASKED TO SEE WHITMAN.
ONE OF THEM WAS THE CHIEF,
TILOUKAIKT.
HE HAD ONCE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED
ACCEPTING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH,
BUT NOW
HE HAD LOST THREE CHILDREN
TO THE WHITE MAN'S SICKNESS.
WHEN HE GOT INSIDE THE HOUSE,
HE AND THE OTHERS SHOT AND
HACKED MARCUS WHITMAN TO DEATH.
Woman as Catherine:
MOTHER WAS STANDING
LOOKING OUT AT THE WINDOW
WHEN A BALL CAME
THROUGH THE BROKEN PANE,
ENTERING HER RIGHT SHOULDER.
SHE CLAPPED HER HAND TO
THE WOUND AND FELL BACKWARDS.
SHE NOW FORGOT EVERYTHING
BUT THE POOR, HELPLESS CHILDREN
DEPENDING ON HER,
AND SHE POURED OUT HER SOUL
IN PRAYER FOR THEM.
"LORD, SAVE THESE LITTLE ONES!"
WAS HER REPEATED CRY.
Narrator: THE CAYUSE WARRIORS
CARRIED THE WOUNDED NARCISSA
OUT OF THE HOUSE ON A SETTEE,
KILLED HER,
THEN LASHED HER DEAD FACE.
THEN THEY SET THE HATED
MISSION BUILDINGS ON FIRE.
BESIDES MARCUS AND NARCISSA,
11 OTHER WHITES WERE KILLED
BEFORE IT WAS OVER,
INCLUDING THE TWO SAGER BOYS.
JOE MEEK'S DAUGHTER,
SICK WITH MEASLES
AT THE TIME OF THE MASSACRE,
DIED SOON AFTERWARDS.
SO DID HANNAH SAGER, AGE SIX.
THE FOUR SURVIVING SAGER GIRLS
WERE ORPHANS ONCE MORE.
[GUNSHOTS]
FRONTIER MILITIA PURSUED
THE CAYUSE INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
FINALLY, FIVE CAYUSE WARRIORS,
INCLUDING TILOUKAIKT,
TURNED THEMSELVES IN
SO THAT THE REST OF THEIR PEOPLE
WOULD NOT BE HUNTED DOWN.
BEFORE HE WENT TO THE GALLOWS,
SOMEONE ASKED TILOUKAIKT
WHY HE HAD SURRENDERED.
"DID NOT YOUR MISSIONARIES
TEACH US
THAT CHRIST DIED TO SAVE
HIS PEOPLE?" HE ANSWERED.
"SO WE DIE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE."
Woman as Catherine: SURELY IF
THE WAY OF THE PIONEER IS HARD
AND BESET WITH DANGERS,
AT LEAST THE LONG YEARS
BRING AT LAST THE REALIZATION
THAT LIFE,
PATIENTLY AND HOPEFULLY LIVED,
BRINGS ITS OWN SENSE OF HAVING
BEEN PART OF THE ONWARD MOVE
TO BETTER THINGS,
NOT FOR SELF ALONE,
BUT FOR OTHERS.
Narrator: CATHERINE SAGER,
WHO HAD SURVIVED THE MASSACRE,
WOULD REMAIN IN OREGON,
WHERE SHE MARRIED
A METHODIST MINISTER
AND BORE HIM EIGHT CHILDREN,
ONE MORE THAN HER MOTHER, NAOMI,
HAD BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD.
ON JULY 4, 1848,
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
THOUSANDS TURNED OUT
TO SEE PRESIDENT POLK
LAY THE CORNERSTONE
OF A NEW MONUMENT,
A GIANT STONE SHAFT
MODELED AFTER THE OBELISKS
OF ANCIENT EGYPT
TO HONOR
THE NATION'S FIRST PRESIDENT.
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S AMERICA
HAD ENDED AT THE MISSISSIPPI.
BUT NOW,
AS POLK SPOKE TO THE CROWD,
THE AMERICAN FLAG FLEW OVER
THE ALAMO IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS,
ABOVE THE PALACE
OF THE GOVERNORS IN SANTA FE,
OVER A GROWING MORMON SETTLEMENT
IN THE GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY,
AT SPANISH RANCHES
IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA,
AND NEAR THE RUINS
OF THE WHITMAN MISSION
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
POLK'S NATION
WAS A CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
THAT STRETCHED FROM SEA TO SEA,
AND NOW ENCOMPASSED THE WEST.
IN ONLY A GENERATION,
BY ENTERPRISE AND INTIMIDATION,
BY SACRIFICE
AND BY OUTRIGHT CONQUEST,
AMERICANS HAD SEIZED IT ALL.
[MARCHING BAND PLAYS]
[CROWD CHEERING]
BACK IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL,
STANDING NEXT TO THE PRESIDENT
AT THE CEREMONY,
WAS THE OLD MOUNTAIN MAN,
JOE MEEK.
HIS FONDEST WISH HAD COME TRUE.
BORN IN
WASHINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA,
HE WAS NOW THE SHERIFF OF
A BRAND-NEW WASHINGTON COUNTY,
IN OREGON TERRITORY.
A MONTH LATER,
EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS ARRIVED
FROM THIS NEWEST SECTION
OF THE COUNTRY.
IN CALIFORNIA, ON A STREAM
NAMED THE AMERICAN RIVER,
GOLD HAD BEEN DISCOVERED.
NOTHING IN THE WEST
WOULD EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.