Documentary

How the West Was Lost

The history of 19th-century America is the story of struggles between settlers moving west and Native Americans trying to hold on to their ancestral territories. The clash between lifestyles and land rights forged a new land and unified an American culture, but in the process a venerable way of life was destroyed. Follow the Cherokee, Dakota, Lakota, and Nez Perc as they fight to keep their homelands.

Loading countdown...
PlaylistOverviewCreditsWatchReviewsSeasonsImagesVideosRecommendationsSimilar

Created By

Status

Ended

Original Name

How the West Was Lost

First Air Date

May 16, 1993

Last Air Date

May 21, 1995

Seasons

2

Episodes

13

Language

English

Production Companies

Discovery

Networks

Discovery

As Long As the Grass Shall Grow
S02E07

As Long As the Grass Shall Grow

Though the fledgling United States tried to respect Indian rights, the country couldn't restrain settlers' impulses to be "fruitful, multiply replenish the earth, and subdue it". Every Indian felt the pressure as the white men moved them to smaller tracts of land further west, into an area called "Indian Country." Despite being uprooted, the Cherokee enjoyed a Golden Age launched by an 1846 Treaty. They established public schools, and seminaries for men and women. (The female seminary was revolutionary since most Americans thought women were intellectually inferior to men). They also built homes and farms. But when the Civil War swept west, the railroads signalled the end of Cherokee sovereignty.

View Episodes