With another wave of midterms coming my way, I have been doing “the smart thing” by reminiscing rather than actually studying. However, in the recesses of my mind procrastination has unearthed a nostalgic gem: Into the West, a TNT mini-series that was aired in 2005. I was lucky enough to be introduced to this mini-series by my history teacher in high school. She understood that we were more likely to remember what we learned if it was put into a context that we would enjoy, so she was an advocate for historical fiction. In my school, juniors were required to take a US history course, and we had two options: American Social Movements or American West. Not having any particular investment in one class over the other, I chose American West because it better fit my schedule. Due to this happy coincidence, I got to experience Into the West.
I was not the only one from my class that found this mini-series to be wonderful. Throughout our senior year, all of the other students that were in American West attempted to convince our exasperated teacher that we needed to rewatch all of the episodes, while those that took American Social Movements were just amused by our persistence. In truth, there are some glaring flaws with the mini-series. It is based on a book that is not very popular, the characters are often one-dimensional, each episode is an hour and a half long, and liberties are taken with events (it is historic fiction, after all). Personally, though, I feel the redeeming qualities of the show easily surpass its flaws.
I’m interested in history for the sake of its influence on the present and for the hilarious stories that sometimes come up when retelling events. I am by no means an expert, and don’t really pursue history as a subject. Still, I found Into the West to be compelling. The reason why? There is an emphasis on telling more of the story of Westward Expansion than just the viewpoint of the Caucasian settlers. Most major events in the history of the United States from 1825 to 1890 are presented in this series through multiple perspectives. Though, to be warned, many of these perspectives are tragic, because the conflicts between the settlers and the indigenous populations are not hidden from view. Westward Expansion is not seen through the lens of a conquest predestined for glory. Instead, the struggles of all the characters come forward, real and fictional, and generally end in heartache. While these characters often have little character development, acting more as archetypes for specific personalities, it is still easy to become invested in their storyline. The fact that their stories are based on real historical events only helps the process. Among these events is the joining of the transcontinental railroad, which occurred right here in Utah.
This mini-series is definitely not for everyone. However, if you are interested in a show that makes an effort not to shy away from revealing parts of history that some would rather ignore (it is far from perfect in this regard, but makes the attempt), that has a large cast, and that attempts to tell often unheard stories in the period of Westward Expansion, I would recommend Into the West. Clips can be found on YouTube, for anyone interested. Meanwhile, I’ll be uncovering other forgotten gems for the sake of procrastination.