The Real West

Discover the legendary saga of Oglala Chief Red Cloud-a fierce and proud Native American leader in both war and peace.

Find out how a disastrous shortcut doomed a group of pioneers heading westward-and what they had to endure to survive while trapped in the mountains.

Native American tribes lived and thrived in America's southeast for thousands of years-until Congress forced them off their lands and on a long walk to death.

Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Geronimo and more legendary figures and tales of the Old West come alive through the use of film clips, photos, drawings and reenactments.

Learn about the great Sioux warrior and medicine man who led his people in a bloody struggle for survival. Includes the story of his victory over Custer at the Little Bighorn.

An investigation into the brutal murder of 128 westward-bound pioneers in southern Utah, and how religious leaders conspired to keep the horrible crime a secret.

Discover the real-life adventures of the man who considered himself the smartest, funniest and most popular outlaw in the West, and his ladies' man sidekick-Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Explore the remarkable struggle of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Indians to remain free and protect their culture.

See how in 1845, with Manifest Destiny his top priority, President James Polk annexed Texas from Mexico, sparking a two-year battle between the countries.

Go inside the wood and stone forts where pioneers found refuge during the great westward migration of the 19th century.

Explore the bloody saga of the battle between the cattle barons and the homesteaders that raged in Wyoming in 1892.

Find out how newspapers sensationalized coverage of the Old West to win over readers.

Was James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok a hero or an outlaw? Learn about the life of the man who would become a frontier legend.

The colorful story of how the mighty steamboat carried soldiers, homesteaders and supplies and helped open the West to pioneer settlement.

As homesteaders and miners went west to seek their fortunes, scientists came to look for dinosaur bones in the fossil-rich lands. Two rival paleontologists vied for the most startling discoveries.

Sweep aside the historical hype and confront the real facts and controversies surrounding Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, William B. Travis and the Texan defenders of the Alamo.

Soldier, professor and explorer John Wesley Powell led the first major exploration of the Colorado River in 1869, where he documented rock, plant and animal species unknown to man.

Discover the sagas of Sam Houston and Stephen Austin, the founders of the state of Texas and leaders of the American revolt against Mexico.

In a land of foreboding terrain and boundless dreams, strong-willed men forged a new nation. While some men brought peace, others started a Civil War in 1885 that almost broke Canada in two.

The saga of the windy prairie town that grew into one of the nation's largest cities. Rare photographs and records bring to life the long-lost Chicago of the 19th century.

Explore the legend of the notorious Dalton boys, who served as Western lawmen before becoming train robbers. Includes the tale of their violent deaths in 1892.

Get to know the frontier's most feared and fearless lawmen, who combed the wide-open spaces of Texas to track down some of the Old West's most vicious criminals.

Discover how cattle barons rose to power by controlling vast ranches that were larger than some states.

Meet the real Buffalo Bill, not the myth, and discover how his traveling show influenced the modern perception of the 'Old West.'

What would make someone want to be a lawman in the West? Here are the motivations and sometimes questionable methods of the people who wore a badge and tried to tame the wild frontier.