The West chronicles the remarkable history of one of the most extraordinary landscapes on earth from the times of earliest Native Americans, and continuing into the 20th century.

The Speck Of The Future (1848 -1856)
In 1848, a sawmill worker named James Marshall reached down into the streambed of the American River in California and came up with the future of the West in the palm of his hand. He had discovered gold.

Death Runs Riot (1856 - 1868)
For those that ventured there, The West had come to symbolise hope and new beginnings. With this came the nation's oldest, most diverse issue: slavery, and the rough frontier supplied the sparks that ignited the Civil War.

The Grandest Enterprise Under God (1868 -1874)
After the Civil War reunited America North and South, citizens set out with renewed energy and optimism to finally unite the nation East and West. To do this, they embarked on one of the greatest technological achievements of the age: building the first transcontinental railroad.