I HAVE SEEN THE WHITEFACE AND THE SHORTHORN TAKE THE PLACE OF THE BUFFALO, WHEAT AND CORN AND ALFALFA SUPPLANT THE BUFFALO GRASS.

AND THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF PROSPEROUS TOWNS AND EVEN CITIES ON THE VERY GROUND WHERE I HAVE KILLED BUFFALO AND DODGED INDIANS.

IT WAS A WILD COUNTRY, A WILD LIFE, AND THEY WERE GALLANT MEN THAT LIVED IT.

ALL OR MOST OF THEM ARE GONE.

BUT IT IS BETTER NOW, BETTER ALL AROUND -- CHALKEY M. BEESON.

[ NEIGHING ] IF YOU TIE A HORSE TO A STAKE, DO YOU EXPECT HE WILL GROW FAT?

IF YOU PEN AN INDIAN ON A SMALL SPOT OF EARTH AND COMPEL HIM TO STAY THERE, HE WILL NOT BE CONTENTED, NOR WILL HE GROW AND PROSPER.

I HAVE ASKED SOME OF THE GREAT WHITE CHIEFS WHERE THEY GET THEIR AUTHORITY TO SAY TO THE INDIAN THAT HE SHALL STAY IN ONE PLACE, WHILE HE SEES WHITE MEN GOING WHERE THEY PLEASE.

THEY CANNOT TELL ME -- CHIEF JOSEPH.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ] [ DRUM BEATS, CHANTING CONTINUES ] [ MORE VOICES ADDED TO CHANTING ] [ "STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER" PLAYS ] Narrator: IN 1893, THE 400th ANNIVERSARY OF COLUMBUS' ARRIVAL IN THE NEW WORLD WAS CELEBRATED IN CHICAGO.

IT WAS CALLED THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, AND IT WAS SO LARGE, SO AMBITIOUS, SO SELF-CONGRATULATORY, THAT IT TOOK AN EXTRA YEAR JUST TO GET EVERYTHING READY.

TWENTY-FOUR MILLION PEOPLE PAID THEIR WAY INTO THE FAIR, MORE THAN HAD EVER ATTENDED ANY OTHER EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

ALL THE WESTERN STATES STRUGGLED TO OUTSHINE ONE ANOTHER -- INCLUDING THE BRAND-NEW STATES OF NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA, WYOMING, MONTANA, IDAHO, AND WASHINGTON.

THE CALIFORNIA PAVILION WAS SHAPED LIKE A SPANISH MISSION.

ON DISPLAY INSIDE WERE A GODDESS MADE ENTIRELY OF FIGS AND A CONQUISTADOR BUILT OF PRUNES.

FOR ITS EXHIBIT HALL, MONTANA RECONSTRUCTED A MOUNTAIN MAN'S CABIN.

KANSAS SHOWED OFF A GIGANTIC MURAL MADE OF GRAIN, AND AN ENTIRE HERD OF BUFFALO -- STUFFED.

IN A SPEECH GIVEN AT THE FAIR, A YOUNG, UNKNOWN HISTORIAN NAMED FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER DECLARED FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT THE FRONTIER HAD FINALLY CLOSED.

THERE WERE 63 MILLION AMERICANS IN 1893.

SEVENTEEN MILLION OF THEM NOW LIVED WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

ONLY 90 YEARS EARLIER, WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON PURCHASED THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY, HE HAD ESTIMATED IT WOULD TAKE 100 GENERATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES TO PEOPLE THE WEST.

AMERICANS HAD DONE IT IN LESS THAN FIVE.

BUT BEYOND THE FAIRGROUNDS, BEYOND CHICAGO, IN THE REAL WEST, FOR EVERY STORY THAT WAS COMING TO AN END, ANOTHER WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.

Man: THE MYTH OF THE WEST IS A VERY APPEALING ONE, THE MYTH OF THE WEST IS THAT THERE ONCE EXISTED A PLACE WHICH WAS FREE FOR THE TAKING, AND IN WHICH PEOPLE WHO WERE WILLING TO WORK HARD, PEOPLE WHO WERE WILLING TO INVEST THEIR OWN LABOR, COULD NOT ONLY IMPROVE THEIR LIVES, BUT THEY COULD IMPROVE THE PLACE THEMSELVES.

THAT OUT OF THIS LABOR, OUT OF THIS STRUGGLE, WOULD COME PROGRESS, WOULD COME A BETTER WORLD THAN THEY HAD EVER IMAGINED, NOT JUST FOR THEMSELVES AND NOT JUST FOR THEIR CHILDREN, BUT INDEED FOR THE WHOLE WORLD.

STATED THAT WAY, THE MYTH HAS THIS EXTRAORDINARY APPEAL.

BUT, OF COURSE, WHAT IT DOES IS MASK AN INFINITELY MORE COMPLICATED AND MORE TANGLED STORY.

Man: THE WEST WAS SETTLED WITHOUT LOGIC.

PEOPLE SETTLED WHERE THEY WANTED TO SETTLE, WITH NO REGARD WHATEVER TO THE ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OR THE ABILITY OF THE LAND TO SUPPORT THEM.

LOS ANGELES IS PROBABLY THE PRETERNATURAL EXAMPLE OF A PLACE BEING WHERE IT HAS NO BUSINESS BEING.

THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONS TO SUPPORT IT.

BUT PEOPLE WANTED TO LIVE IN LOS ANGELES.

AND THEY DEPLETED THE GROUND WATER IN LOS ANGELES OVER SEVERAL DECADES, TO THE POINT WHERE THEY HAD TO GO ELSEWHERE FOR WATER IN ORDER TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING THE CITY THAT HAD NO BUSINESS BEING WHERE IT WAS.

Narrator: BETWEEN 1890 AND 1904, THE POPULATION OF LOS ANGELES QUADRUPLED, TO NEARLY 200,000.

THERE WAS ALREADY TOO LITTLE WATER IN DRY YEARS.

IT SEEMED CLEAR THAT LOS ANGELES COULD NOT GROW MUCH FURTHER WITHOUT SOME NEW SOURCE OF SUPPLY.

AND LOS ANGELES HAD TO GROW -- ITS WHOLE ECONOMY WAS BASED ON FRENZIED BOOSTERISM.

IF LOS ANGELES RUNS OUT OF WATER FOR ONE WEEK, THE CITY WITHIN A YEAR WILL NOT HAVE A POPULATION OF 100,000 PEOPLE.

A CITY QUICKLY FINDS ITS LEVEL, AND THAT LEVEL IS ITS WATER SUPPLY -- WILLIAM MULHOLLAND.

Narrator: BUT THE NEAREST WATER WAS IN THE OWENS RIVER VALLEY, 233 MILES TO THE NORTHEAST.

AND IT WAS ALREADY BEING USED BY SOMEONE ELSE -- SMALL FARMERS WHO WERE IRRIGATING THEIR APPLE ORCHARDS AND FIELDS OF HAY AND ALFALFA WITH SNOWMELT FROM THE SIERRAS.

THEN, IN SEPTEMBER OF 1904, TWO STRANGERS ARRIVED IN THE OWENS VALLEY.

THEY WERE CAREFUL NOT TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES, BUT ONE WAS FRED EATON, A FORMER MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES.

THE OTHER WAS WILLIAM MULHOLLAND, THE IRISH-BORN HEAD OF THE LOS ANGELES WATER DEPARTMENT.

HE BELIEVED RIVERS EXISTED ONLY TO BE USED.

IF IT WERE LEFT UP TO HIM, HE ONCE SAID, HE WOULD HAVE THE YOSEMITE VALLEY CAREFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED AND THEN "BUILD A DAM FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER AND STOP THE GODDAMNED WASTE."

MULHOLLAND BELIEVED HE COULD BUILD A SYSTEM OF AQUEDUCTS AND SIPHONS AND TUNNELS THAT WOULD TAKE THE OWENS RIVER WATER RIGHT THROUGH THE SIERRAS AND ALL THE WAY INTO LOS ANGELES.

BUT THE BRAND-NEW FEDERAL BUREAU OF RECLAMATION HAD ALREADY PROMISED TO IMPROVE THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR THE PEOPLE OF OWENS VALLEY.

EATON HURRIED TO WASHINGTON AND QUIETLY TALKED THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF IT.

THE WATER, HE ARGUED, WOULD BENEFIT MANY MORE PEOPLE IF IT COULD BE MOVED TO LOS ANGELES.

Man: THEY WERE HELPED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT HAD DECIDED IT MADE MORE SENSE TO HAVE A STRONG CITY ON THE WESTERN FLANK OF AMERICA, THAT CITY BEING LOS ANGELES, THAN IT DID TO HAVE 50,000 ACRES OF APPLES GROWING IN THE OWENS VALLEY.

SO THEY ACTIVELY HELPED LOS ANGELES GET ITS HANDS ON THAT RIVER.

Narrator: POSING AS AN ECCENTRIC BUT ENORMOUSLY WEALTHY RANCHER, EATON WENT BACK TO THE VALLEY AND BEGAN BUYING UP LAND AND WATER RIGHTS.

WITH INSIDE INFORMATION, HE AND SOME WEALTHY FRIENDS ALSO QUIETLY BOUGHT UP DESERT LAND AROUND LOS ANGELES, KNOWING THAT ONCE MULHOLLAND'S AQUEDUCT WAS BUILT IT WOULD BE WORTH A FORTUNE.

THEN, MULHOLLAND AND EATON PERSUADED THE CITY'S VOTERS TO PASS THE LARGEST BOND ISSUE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES -- $23 MILLION.

THEY SET THEIR SIGHTS ON THAT RIVER.

NO CITY IN HISTORY HAD EVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE IT -- GONE 200 MILES ACROSS THE DESERT AND IMPORTED AN ENTIRE RIVER BY AQUEDUCT, BY SIPHON, BY TUNNEL.

THEY STOLE IT, BUT THEY STOLE IT FAIR AND SQUARE.

Narrator: AT LAST, WILLIAM MULHOLLAND COULD GET TO WORK.

NEITHER PERSONAL PROFIT NOR POLITICS EVER INTERESTED HIM.

ONCE, ASKED IF HE WANTED TO RUN FOR MAYOR, HE ANSWERED THAT HE'D SOONER GIVE BIRTH TO A PORCUPINE -- BACKWARDS.

HE LIVED ONLY TO BUILD, AND NOW FACED AN ENGINEERING CHALLENGE THAT RIVALED THE SUEZ AND PANAMA CANALS.

FIFTY-THREE TUNNELS HAD TO BE BLASTED THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS.

[ EXPLOSION ] 500 MILES OF TRAILS AND ROADS, 120 MILES OF RAILROAD TRACK, 5,000 TO 6,000 MEN HAD TO BE FED AND HOUSED AND DOCTORED WHILE THEY INCHED THEIR WAY ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT.

THE 110-DEGREE HEAT SPOILED FOOD MOMENTS AFTER IT WAS COOKED.

BLOWING SAND DESTROYED 28 CATERPILLAR TRACTORS THAT HAD TO BE REPLACED BY 1,500 MULES.

FORTY-THREE MEN DIED IN THE SIX YEARS IT TOOK TO FINISH THE JOB.

THE WEST HAD SEEN NOTHING LIKE IT SINCE THE BUILDING OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD.

[ "STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER" PLAYS ] Watkins: AT THE RESERVOIR IN LOS ANGELES IN 1913, WILLIAM MULHOLLAND, BEFORE A CROWD OF THOUSANDS, TURNED TO ONE OF HIS ENGINEERS AT THE LAST PUMP AND GAVE THE INDICATION TO TURN THE GREAT WHEELS, OPEN THE FLOODGATES, AND DOWN THE WATER CAME DANCING AND SPARKLING IN THE SUN, AND STARTED SPILLING INTO THE RESERVOIR, AND MULHOLLAND TURNED TO THE DIGNITARIES AND SAID, "THERE IT IS, GENTLEMEN.

TAKE IT."

Narrator: LOS ANGELES GOT ITS WATER, AND BECAUSE OF IT, SOON SURPASSED SAN FRANCISCO AS THE BIGGEST AND MOST POWERFUL CITY IN THE WEST.

THE OWENS VALLEY NEVER RECOVERED.

Man: IF YOU GO TO THE ANCIENT ANASAZI DWELLINGS IN THE SOUTHWEST, AND YOU STAND THERE, AND TRY TO LISTEN TO THE WIND, AND HEAR WHAT THE STORIES MIGHT BE FROM THERE, WHAT I HEAR IS THAT PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS ACCEPT WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT TELLS THEM.

YOU WANT TO SAY, "DIDN'T THEY GET IT?

"THIS IS A DESERT, YOU KNOW.

WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO BUILD A HUGE CITY HERE?"

AND WHEN I SEE A PLACE LIKE CHACO CANYON, I THINK THAT MAYBE 2,000 YEARS FROM NOW, SOMEONE'S GOING TO BE STANDING IN WHAT WAS ONCE LOS ANGELES OR PHOENIX, ARIZONA, AND ASK THE SAME QUESTION.

AND IT'S THE SAME STORY THAT ARCS FROM 500 YEARS AGO TO 1,000 YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

DIDN'T THEY GET IT?

, WHAT A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PRESENT TIME AND THOSE THAT PRECEDED THE AMERICANS.

IF THE CALIFORNIOS COULD ALL GATHER TOGETHER TO BREATHE A LAMENT, IT WOULD REACH HEAVEN AS A MOVING SIGH, WHICH WOULD CAUSE FEAR AND CONSTERNATION IN THE UNIVERSE!

WHAT MISERY -- MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.

Narrator: DURING HIS LONG LIFE, MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO HAD FOUGHT CALIFORNIA INDIANS ON BEHALF OF SPAIN, COMMANDED CALIFORNIO TROOPS FOR MEXICO, AND WELCOMED THE AMERICANS TO THE PACIFIC COAST.

THEN HE HAD WATCHED IN DISMAY AS THE NEWCOMERS DISPOSSESSED HIM OF HIS LAND AND DISMISSED THE ROLE HE AND HIS ANCESTORS HAD PLAYED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WEST.

VALLEJO WORRIED THAT THE LEGACY OF HIS PEOPLE WAS BEING FORGOTTEN.

HIS FATHER HAD BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF SAN FRANCISCO.

YET NOW, THE CITY'S SCHOOLS TAUGHT FRENCH AND GERMAN, BUT NOT SPANISH.

IMMIGRANTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, HE COMPLAINED, WERE "FAWNED UPON WHILE WE CALIFORNIOS ARE DESPISED."

HIS VAST ESTATE -- ONCE A QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRES -- WAS REDUCED TO FEWER THAN 300.

NOW HE WAS HOUNDED BY LAWYERS, PLAGUED BY DEBTS.

WITH HIS WIFE BENICIA, VALLEJO LIVED IN A LITTLE COTTAGE WHICH HE CALLED "LACHRYMA MONTIS" -- TEAR OF THE MOUNTAIN.

BUT SOMETIMES HE VISITED WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS OLD ADOBE RANCH HOUSE NEAR PETALUMA.

Vallejo: I COMPARE THAT OLD RELIC WITH MYSELF -- RUINS AND DILAPIDATION.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEN AND NOW.

THEN, YOUTH, STRENGTH, AND RICHES.

NOW AGE, WEAKNESS, AND POVERTY.

Narrator: FRIENDS PETITIONED CONGRESS FOR A PENSION FOR THE OLD MAN, BUT BEFORE ANY ACTION COULD BE TAKEN, VALLEJO DIED ON JANUARY 21, 1890.

AT THE TIME OF VALLEJO'S DEATH, THOUSANDS OF MEXICANS WERE CROSSING THE BORDER INTO THE UNITED STATES.

MOST CAME NORTH FOR THE SAME REASONS THAT AMERICANS WENT WEST.

"MY INTENTION IS TO GET A GOOD JOB, TO SAVE SOME MONEY, AND START OUT FOR MYSELF," SAID ONE, "FOR ONE CAN MAKE GOOD MONEY IN AMERICA, AND THERE IS ALWAYS WORK."

Man: TO ME, THE FACT THAT THE MEXICAN CAME NORTH IN SEARCH OF A BETTER LIFE IS A TREMENDOUS EPIC THAT HASN'T BEEN WRITTEN.

IT'S AN ODYSSEY THAT WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT.

AND THEY CAME WITH A DREAM FOR A BETTER LIFE.

THE REALITY IS VERY DIFFERENT.

THEY LEFT BEHIND A CULTURE IN WHICH THEY FELT SAFE, AND THEY HAD TO RECREATE THAT HERE.

Narrator: THEY FOUND JOBS IN THE MINES, ON THE RAILROADS, AND LABORING IN THE VAST NEW AGRICULTURAL FIELDS OF THE SOUTHWEST.

DESCENDANTS OF THE OLDEST EUROPEAN CULTURE IN THE WEST, THEY WERE NOW OFTEN GREETED AS UNWELCOME NEWCOMERS.

STILL, OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS, 1 1/2 MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN -- 10% OF THE POPULATION OF MEXICO -- WOULD COME NORTH, FOLLOWING MANY OF THE SAME ROUTES ONCE TAKEN BY THE CONQUISTADORS.

[ WHISTLE BLOWS ] Man: MY GRANDPARENTS' HOMETOWN IS GUERRERO.

WHEN IT WAS FOUNDED, IT WAS THE ORIGINAL TEXAS.

MY GRANDMOTHER WAS BORN THERE, AND HER FAMILY WAS BORN THERE, AND THEY GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF THAT TOWN, BACK IN THE 1750s.

BECAUSE OF A DECISION TO DAM THE RIVER AND BUILD THE FALCON DAM RESERVOIR, THE TOWN WAS FLOODED.

WHEN THE FALCON WATERS RECEDE, THE PEOPLE COME TO THE PLAZA AND THEY DANCE ON THE PLAZA.

THEY PLAY THEIR MUSIC AT MIDNIGHT THERE.

THEY WALK AROUND THE CHURCH AND TOUCH IT.

THEY CLEAN UP THE YARD OF THE CHURCH AND THE OLD CEMETERIES.

THEY WALK OVER TO FLORES' GROCERY STORE.

THEY WALK OVER TO THE HOTEL THAT WAS ONCE THERE.

THEY WALK AROUND THE RESIDENCE.

IT IS REALLY A MOMENT WHEN THE WHOLE COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER AND TAKES PRIDE IN IT, AND THEY TAKE CARE OF IT AS IF IT WERE STILL A LIVE AND THRIVING TOWN.

I THINK AS LONG AS GUERRERO LIVES, OUR HISTORY LIVES, OUR COMMUNITY LIVES.

IT SPEAKS FOR THE FACT THAT NO MATTER ALL THE TRAGEDIES AND THE WARS AND EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED TO US, WE'RE STILL THERE.

ALL IN ALL, MY YEARS ON THE TRAIL WERE THE HAPPIEST I EVER LIVED.

THERE WERE MANY HARDSHIPS AND DANGERS, OF COURSE, THAT CALLED ON ALL A MAN HAD OF ENDURANCE AND BRAVERY, BUT WHEN ALL WENT WELL, THERE WAS NO OTHER LIFE SO PLEASANT.

MOST OF THE TIME WE WERE SOLITARY ADVENTURERS IN A GREAT LAND AS FRESH AND NEW AS A SPRING MORNING.

AND WE WERE FREE AND FULL OF THE ZEST OF DARERS -- CHARLES GOODNIGHT.

Narrator: BY 1916, FEW AMERICANS HAD SEEN MORE OF THE WEST -- OR HELPED MAKE MORE OF ITS HISTORY -- THAN CHARLES GOODNIGHT.

HE HAD LIVED IN TEXAS WHEN IT WAS STILL AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC, BLAZED ONE OF THE FIRST CATTLE TRAILS ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS, AND STARTED HIS OWN BUFFALO HERD TO HELP THE SPECIES SURVIVE.

NOW, STILL VIGOROUS AT AGE 80, GOODNIGHT WANTED TO LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND, TO SHOW AMERICANS PART OF THE WEST THAT HE REMEMBERED.

HE DECIDED TO MAKE A MOVIE.

IN GOODNIGHT'S WESTERN, THERE WERE NO SALOONS OR BANDITS, COWBOYS NEVER HAD A GUNFIGHT, AND INDIANS WERE AS LIKELY TO BE FRIENDLY AS HOSTILE.

NEAR THE END OF THE FILM, THERE WAS A BUFFALO HUNT.

GOODNIGHT INVITED HIS NEIGHBORS, THE KIOWAS, TO KILL ONE JUST AS THEY HAD IN THE OLD DAYS.

THE FINISHED MOVIE WAS SHOWN TO A CATTLEMAN'S CONVENTION IN DENVER AND A CAMPFIRE CLUB DINNER IN NEW YORK.

BUT IT NEVER CAUGHT ON WITH THE PUBLIC.

PEOPLE ALREADY PREFERRED A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE WEST -- FULL OF ACTION, VIOLENCE, AND ABOVE ALL, HEROES.

Watkins: MUCH OF WHAT IS WRONG WITH HOW WE LOOK AT THE WEST AND ITS HISTORY IS THE FACT THAT WE HAVE, IN ALL OUR FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT, LOOKED UPON IT AS PRE-DIGESTED FOLK DRAMA.

VERY SIMPLE STORIES ACTED OUT VERY SIMPLY TO PROVE VERY SIMPLE THINGS.

YOU GOT YOUR GOOD GUYS, YOU GOT YOUR BAD GUYS.

YOU GOT YOUR INDIANS, YOU GOT YOUR COWBOYS.

AND THE TRUE COMPLEXITIES OF WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE WEST ALMOST NEVER HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF FILM IN HOLLYWOOD.

ONE OF THE DANGERS IN LOOKING AT THE AMERICAN WEST, OUR PAST, IS TO PAINT EVERYTHING IN BLACK OR WHITE, TO MAKE THINGS SIMPLE, TO CREATE THEIR POLARITIES.

I THINK THAT WE DO THAT AT OUR OWN PERIL, AT OUR OWN RISK.

IT MAY BE THAT THE REAL STORY OF THE AMERICAN WEST IS A STORY OF SPIRIT, THE CHALLENGE TO LIVE AND LOVE WITH A BROKEN HEART.

Man: I'M ONE OF THE FEW WHO DIDN'T GET INTO A BOARDING SCHOOL SYSTEM TILL I WAS 16, I GREW UP WITH A LOT OF THE OLDER PEOPLE, LISTENED TO THE STORIES.

AND THOSE STORIES WERE INSIDE OF ME.

AND I WENT INTO A BOARDING SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND THEY KILLED THOSE STORIES IN THAT SYSTEM.

I CAME OUT OF THERE TOTALLY ASHAMED OF WHO I AM, OF WHAT I AM.

IN THE LATE '60s I WENT BACK TO THE CULTURE ON MY OWN.

I LET MY HAIR GROW, I START SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE, AND IN ONE OF THOSE TIMES, I FASTED.

I DID THE VISION QUEST FOR FIVE YEARS.

AND ONE OF THOSE YEARS, I...IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT, THE STARS WERE OUT, AND IT WAS CALM, JUST BEAUTIFUL.

AND IT WAS AROUND MIDNIGHT AND I GOT UP AND I PRAYED.

AND I SAT DOWN AND SAT THERE FOR A WHILE AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I HAD THESE, LIKE FLASHBACKS OF SAND CREEK, WOUNDED KNEE, AND EVERY POLICY, EVERY LAW THAT WAS IMPOSED ON US BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CHURCHES HIT ME ONE AT A TIME -- ONE AT A TIME.

AND HOW IT AFFECTED MY LIFE.

AND AS I SAT THERE, I GOT ANGRIER AND ANGRIER, UNTIL IT TURNED TO HATRED.

AND I LOOKED AT THE WHOLE SITUATION, THE WHOLE PICTURE, AND THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO.

IT WAS TOO MUCH.

THE ONLY THING I COULD DO TO ME, WAS WHEN I COME OFF THAT HILL, I'M GOING TO GRAB A GUN, AND I'M GOING TO START SHOOTING, AND GO THAT WAY, MAYBE THEN MY GRANDFATHERS WILL HONOR ME, IF I GO THAT ROUTE.

I GOT UP, AND I CAME AROUND, AND I FACED THE EAST DIRECTION, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, I MEAN...IT WAS DAWN, LIGHT, ENOUGH LIGHT TO SEE THE ROLLING HILLS OUT THERE, AND RIGHT ABOVE THAT BLUE LIGHT IN THAT DARKNESS WAS THE SLIVER OF THE MOON AND THE MORNING STAR.

AND I WANTED TO LIVE.

I WANT TO LIVE.

I WANT TO BE HAPPY.

I FEEL I DESERVE THAT.

BUT THE ONLY WAY THAT I WAS GOING TO DO THAT WAS IF I FORGIVE, AND I CRIED THAT MORNING BECAUSE I HAD TO FORGIVE.

SINCE THEN, EVERY DAY I WORK ON THAT COMMITMENT.

NOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE FELT IT, BUT EVERY ONE OF US, IF YOU'RE LAKOTA, YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE, AND YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS THAT, YOU HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION.

IF YOU DON'T, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE ON A ROAD SOMEPLACE, EITHER FROM BEING TOO DRUNK, OR YOU MIGHT TAKE A GUN TO YOUR HEAD, IF YOU DON'T HANDLE THOSE SITUATIONS.

SO, IT JUST, THIS ISN'T HISTORY.

I MEAN, IT'S STILL WITH US.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST WILL NEVER LEAVE US.

THE NEXT 100, 200 YEARS, IT WILL BE WITH US, AND WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT EVERY DAY.

MY OLD GRANDFATHER, NAMED MISSOURI RIVER, TAUGHT ME OF THE SPIRIT GUIDES.

"NOT ALL THE SPIRITS ARE GOOD," HE SAID.

"SOME SEEK TO HARM US.

"THE GOOD SPIRITS SEND US BUFFALOES, "AND RAIN TO MAKE OUR CORN GROW.

"BUT IT IS NOT WELL TO PROVOKE THE SPIRITS.

"MY LITTLE GRANDDAUGHTER SHOULD NEVER LAUGH AT THEM OR SPEAK OF THEM LIGHTLY" -- BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN.

Narrator: AMONG THE HIDATSA OF THE UPPER MISSOURI LIVED THE EXTENDED FAMILY OF BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN AND HER BROTHER, WOLF CHIEF.

THEY WERE GRANDCHILDREN OF AN IMPORTANT HIDATSA ELDER, THE KEEPER OF A SACRED MEDICINE BUNDLE -- TWO HUMAN SKULLS WRAPPED IN A BLANKET, PASSED ALONG FOR GENERATIONS AND USED THROUGHOUT HIDATSA HISTORY TO INVOKE THE HELP OF SPIRITS IN WAR, HUNTING, AND ESPECIALLY IN BRINGING RAIN FOR THEIR CROPS.

BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN'S MOTHER HAD TAUGHT HER THE SPECIAL CEREMONIES FOR MAKING AN EARTH LODGE -- A SKILL THAT EARNED HER MANY BUFFALO ROBES FROM OTHER FAMILIES.

BUT NOW THE GOVERNMENT INSISTED THAT HER PEOPLE LIVE IN SQUARE CABINS.

BUILDING A HOUSE, SHE WAS TOLD, WAS NOW A MAN'S JOB AND NO LONGER SACRED.

TO TRY TO PLEASE HER, HER HUSBAND PLACED THEIR STOVE IN THE CENTER OF THE HOUSE, WHERE AN EARTH LODGE FIRE WOULD HAVE BEEN, BUT FOR BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN IT WAS NEVER THE SAME.

Buffalo Bird Woman: I THINK THE OLD WAY OF RAISING CORN IS BETTER THAN THE NEW WAY TAUGHT US BY WHITE MEN.

LAST YEAR, OUR AGENT HELD AN AGRICULTURAL FAIR, AND WE INDIANS COMPETED FOR PRIZES FOR THE BEST CORN.

THE CORN WHICH I SENT TO THE FAIR TOOK THE FIRST PRIZE.

I CULTIVATED THE CORN EXACTLY AS IN THE OLD TIMES -- WITH A HOE.

Narrator: BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN SPOKE ONLY HER NATIVE LANGUAGE, AND SHUNNED THE WAYS OF WHITE PEOPLE.

WHEN HER HUSBAND DIED IN 1906, SHE MOURNED IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY -- SHE CUT HER HAIR SHORT AND WORE IT LOOSE, AND SLICED OFF THE TIP OF HER LITTLE FINGER.

OFTEN IN SUMMER I RISE AT DAYBREAK AND STEAL OUT TO THE CORNFIELDS, AND AS I HOLD THE CORN, I SING TO IT AS WE DID WHEN I WAS YOUNG.

NO ONE CARES FOR OUR CORN SONGS NOW.

SOMETIMES AT EVENING I SIT LOOKING OUT ON THE BIG MISSOURI.

THE SUN SETS AND DUSK STEALS OVER THE WATER.

IN THE SHADOWS, I SEEM AGAIN TO SEE OUR INDIAN VILLAGE WITH SMOKE CURLING UPWARD FROM THE EARTH LODGES.

AND IN THE RIVER'S ROAR, I HEAR THE YELLS OF THE WARRIORS, AND THE LAUGHTER OF THE CHILDREN AS OF OLD, AND IT IS BUT AN OLD WOMAN'S DREAM.

AGAIN, I SEE BUT SHADOWS AND HEAR ONLY THE ROAR OF THE RIVER, TEARS COME INTO MY EYES.

OUR INDIAN LIFE I KNOW IS GONE FOREVER -- BUFFALO BIRD WOMAN.

MY PEOPLE OFTEN TALK AGAINST ME AND LAUGH AND SAY, "THAT MAN WANTS TO BE A WHITE MAN."

BUT I WANT TO BE STRONG AND GO FORWARD -- WOLF CHIEF.

Narrator: UNLIKE HIS SISTER, WHO RESISTED ANY CHANGE, WOLF CHIEF WAS QUICK TO ADOPT NEW WAYS, NOT JUST TO SURVIVE, BUT TO SUCCEED.

AT AGE 30, HE HAD DECIDED TO LEARN THE WHITE MAN'S LANGUAGE.

Wolf Chief: WHEN INDIANS COME TO A WHITE MAN'S STORE FOR BACON AND THINK HE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THEM, THEY MAKE SIGNS LIKE A FLAT, CURLED-UP NOSE FOR PIG AND GO "URR-URR" -- GRUNTING.

BUT WHEN I GO TO A STORE, I SAY "BACON" AND GET IT RIGHT AWAY.

Narrator: SOON, HE OPENED HIS OWN STORE, BUT WHEN THE RESERVATION AGENT'S BROTHER DECIDED TO GET INTO THE BUSINESS, WOLF CHIEF WAS PRESSURED TO CLOSE IT.

INSTEAD HE WROTE TO WASHINGTON.

TO THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

MY DEAR SIR, THE PRESENT AGENT, JOHN S. MURPHY, BOTHERED ME IN EVERY WAY TO KEEP ME FROM KEEPING A STORE.

HE DID NOT DO A SINGLE ACT THAT WILL ENCOURAGE ME IN THIS.

I THINK IT'S AN HONORABLE WAY OF MAKING MY LIVING.

YOURS RESPECTFULLY, MR. WOLF C. CHIEF.

Narrator: A FEDERAL INSPECTOR WAS DISPATCHED.

EVENTUALLY, THE AGENT'S BROTHER HAD TO CLOSE HIS STORE.

WOLF CHIEF'S STAYED OPEN.

BUT HE KEPT WRITING LETTERS TO WASHINGTON -- MORE THAN 100 BEFORE HE WAS THROUGH.

FORT BERTHHOLD, DAKOTA TERRITORY, MARCH, 1882.

TO THE GREAT FATHER CHESTER ARTHUR, WASHINGTON, D.C. MY NAME IS WOLF CHIEF.

I AM POOR.

MY AGENT IS BAD.

HE TELLS LIES.

HE SAYS I AM BAD BECAUSE I WRITE... DECEMBER, 1888.

DEAR GREAT FATHER, GROVER CLEVELAND, I WANT TO SPEAK FOR MY PEOPLE.

THE FROST CAME AND NOW WE HAVE NO CROP AT ALL, AND WE DO NOT KNOW... APRIL 29, 1891.

PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AT WASHINGTON, D.C. MY DEAR FRIEND, SIR, OUR SCHOOLHOUSES ARE VERY OLD INDEED.

NO GOOD WHITE MAN WOULD KEEP CHILDREN IN SUCH BAD AND DANGEROUS BUILDINGS.

PLEASE, I WISH TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

I AM YOUR FRIEND, MR. WOLF C. CHIEF.

Narrator: WOLF CHIEF CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, AND DONATED 10 ACRES OF LAND FOR A CHAPEL CLOSE TO HIS CABIN.

BUT IN AN OLD EARTH LODGE NEAR HIS HOUSE WAS THE SACRED MEDICINE BUNDLE THAT HAD BELONGED TO HIS GRANDFATHER.

MISSIONARIES AND INDIAN AGENTS HAD URGED WOLF CHIEF TO DESTROY IT.

HE HAD REFUSED OUT OF RESPECT FOR HIS ANCESTORS, BUT HE ALSO WORRIED THAT NEGLECTING THE MEDICINE BUNDLE WHILE HE PRACTICED CHRISTIANITY WOULD ANGER BOTH HIS OLD GODS AND HIS NEW ONE.

IN 1907, HE SOLD THE RELIC TO AN ANTHROPOLOGIST WHO PLACED IT IN A NEW YORK MUSEUM.

WOLF CHIEF KEPT WRITING LETTERS TO WASHINGTON FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.

HIS LAST ONE DESCRIBED THE DROUGHT THAT WAS TURNING THE PLAINS INTO A DUST BOWL.

WHEN WOLF CHIEF DIED, THE HIDATSA PETITIONED THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN FOR THE RETURN OF THE SACRED MEDICINE BUNDLE.

IN 1938, THE BUNDLE WAS SENT BACK TO THE TRIBE, ONE OF THE FIRST SACRED INDIAN OBJECTS EVER RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE WHO REVERED THEM.

[ THUNDER RUMBLES ] THAT SUMMER, RAIN FELL AGAIN ON THE PLAINS.

[ RAIN FALLS ] I START IN THE WINTER WITH 11,500 SHEEP, 200 CATTLE, AND 100 HORSES, BESIDES CATS, DOGS, CHICKENS, GEESE, ET CETERA.

I AM ONCE MORE IN DEBT, BUT IF MY SEASON OF BAD LUCK HAS COME TO AN END AND THE WINTER IS NOT TOO SEVERE, I WILL COME OUT WITH FLYING COLORS IN THE SPRING.

I HOPE THIS YEAR WILL SEE THINGS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LEDGER ONCE MORE -- JOHN G. LOVE.

Narrator: AFTER THEIR RAIN-SOAKED HONEYMOON, JOHN AND ETHEL LOVE MOVED INTO THE HOUSE HE HAD BUILT FOR HER ON MUSKRAT CREEK.

HIS RANCH WAS MORE REMOTE, MORE BARREN THAN ANYTHING ETHEL HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.

IN AN AREA THE SIZE OF RHODE ISLAND, THE LOVES WERE THE ONLY INHABITANTS.

WE LIVE THE RANCHIEST KIND OF RANCH LIFE.

THE SHEER ALONE-NESS OF IT IS UNIQUE -- NEVER A LIGHT BUT ONE'S OWN AT NIGHT.

NO SMOKE FROM ANOTHER'S FIRE IN SIGHT -- ETHEL WAXHAM LOVE.

Narrator: JOHN LOVE'S DREAM WAS TO BUILD A PROSPEROUS FUTURE FOR HIS NEW WIFE -- BIG HERDS OF LIVESTOCK, ABUNDANT ORCHARDS, AND IRRIGATED FIELDS OF GRAIN.

BUT DURING THEIR FIRST WINTER TOGETHER, THE LOVES LOST 8,000 SHEEP AND 50 CATTLE.

ETHEL LOST A BABY.

STILL THEY MANAGED TO COMPLETE ONE IRRIGATION DAM NEAR THEIR HOME AND TO BEGIN WORK ON A LARGER ONE DOWNSTREAM.

BUT THE NEXT WINTER WAS THE WORST SINCE THE GREAT DIE-UP OF THE 1880s.

ETHEL, PREGNANT AGAIN, HAD LEFT JOHN ALONE AND GONE TO DENVER FOR THE BIRTH.

SHE AND THE BABY, A SON NAMED ALLAN, HAD JUST RETURNED WHEN THE SPRING FLOODS BEGAN.

Ethel: BLACK CLOUDS, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING SHOWED HEAVY RAINS UP THE CREEK, ALTHOUGH WE HAD ONLY SHOWERS ABOUT THE HOUSE.

ALL THAT AFTERNOON JOHN HAD BEEN CHANTING HAPPILY, "ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL," IN ANTICIPATION OF WATER TO FILL THE SMALL RESERVOIRS.

I FED THE BABY AND WENT TO BED ABOUT 9:00.

THEN JORDAN ROLLED.

Man: THERE WAS A VIOLENT STORM AND A LOT OF FLOODWATER CAME DOWN MUSKRAT CREEK, AND IT INVADED THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

AND MOTHER GOT UP OUT OF BED AND TOOK THE BABY IN HER ARMS AND STAGGERED THROUGH THE MUD UP ONTO THE HILL TO THE HONEYMOON SHEEP WAGON, AND MY FATHER TRIED TO KEEP THE FLOODWATERS OUT OF THE HOUSE, BUT TO NO AVAIL, AND THEY CAME IN ABOUT 2 1/2 TO 3 FEET DEEP, JUST SWIRLING THROUGH THE HOUSE.

Ethel: AT DAYLIGHT, WE RETURNED TO THE HOUSE.

STENCH, WRECKAGE, AND DEBRIS MET US.

THE FLOOD HAD BURST OPEN THE FRONT DOOR AND SWEPT A TUB FULL OF RAIN WATER INTO THE DINING ROOM.

CHAIRS AND OTHER FURNITURE WERE OVERTURNED IN DEEP MUD.

MATTRESSES HAD FLOATED.

KITCHENWARE, GROCERIES, AND SILVERWARE WERE FILTHY.

Narrator: BANKERS FROM THE TOWN OF LANDER SHOWED UP, SURVEYED THE DAMAGE, AND BRUSQUELY ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WERE FORECLOSING ON LOVE'S LIVESTOCK LOANS.

Ethel: THE AFTERMATH CAME QUICKLY.

BUYERS ARRIVED TO TAKE OVER THE SHEEP, SHEEP WAGONS, DOGS, AND EQUIPMENT.

JOHN PAID HIS OWN COWBOYS, AND THEY DEPARTED.

BEFORE HE LEFT, THE BANKER ASKED, "WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE BABY?"

I SAID, "I THINK I'LL KEEP HIM."

AFTER THE FLOOD MY FATHER WAS, OF COURSE, DEVASTATED.

ALL HIS DREAMS HAD GONE DOWN THE DRAIN.

AND SO HE TOLD MY MOTHER THAT HE WOULDN'T BLAME HER IF SHE LEFT HIM.

SHE SAID, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU."

Narrator: THEY WENT BACK TO LIVING IN A SHEEP WAGON WHILE THEY CLEANED OUT THE FLOOD WRECKAGE AND BEGAN REBUILDING.

A SECOND SON, DAVID, WAS BORN, AND BY THE NEXT YEAR, THE BIG DAM DOWNSTREAM WAS FINISHED.

Ethel: WE HAD A LULLING SENSE OF SATISFACTION AND ANTICIPATION, AWAITING A REAL TEST OF THE DAM'S STRENGTH.

THE SKY IN THE WEST WAS BLACKENED BY A HAIL STORM.

IT FILLED THE DAM, OVERFLOWING THE SPILLWAY.

UNDER THE PRESSURE, THE DAM BURST.

[ WATER RUSHING ] JOHN SALVAGED FIVE LOADS OF RYE AND MORE OF WINTER WHEAT.

THIS WAS ALL HE HAD TO SHOW FOR HIS YEARS OF EXPENSIVE EFFORT ON THE DAM.

"LOVE'S LABOR LOST" WAS HIS SUMMARY.

Narrator: JOHN LOVE WAS 43 YEARS OLD.

ALL OF HIS WORK HAD ENDED IN RUIN.

HE HIRED HIMSELF OUT AS A COMMON SHEEPHERDER FOR $40 A MONTH AND STARTED OVER YET AGAIN.

Ethel: TO THE WELLESLEY COLLEGE RECORD -- I HAVE BEEN BUSY TRYING TO GET SOME RAW MATERIAL IN SHAPE FOR YOU, AND THIS REPORT IS LATE BECAUSE THE RAW MATERIAL HAS BEEN TEETHING.

Narrator: ETHEL CONCENTRATED ON THE CHILDREN -- THREE, NOW THAT A DAUGHTER, PHOEBE, HAD BEEN BORN.

Ethel: WE KEEP OPEN HOUSE FOR ALL WHO PASS.

"WHEN DID YOU EAT LAST?"

IS THE CORRECT GREETING.

David: ONE OF THE RIDERS WHO CAME THROUGH WAS A CHAP NAMED BILL GRACE, AND HE HAD BEEN RATHER LIVELY AS A YOUNG MAN, AND HAD KILLED SOMEBODY, AND HAD BEEN SENT TO THE PENITENTIARY FOR IT.

BUT HE WAS, HE WAS A DECENT SORT AND AS MY FATHER SAID, THE MAN NEEDED KILLING ANYWAY.

BUT WE LITTLE BOYS, WE WERE ABOUT 10 OR 11 YEARS OLD, AND WE WERE KIND OF AWED TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THIS MURDERER.

AND IT JUST HAPPENED THAT THAT DAY THAT HE WAS AT THE RANCH WE HAD BEEN OUT IN THE CASTLE GARDENS AND HAD FOUND AN ENORMOUS RATTLESNAKE.

IT WAS 5' 9" WITHOUT THE HEAD, AND THAT'S A BIG RATTLESNAKE, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND WE SKINNED IT OUT 'CAUSE WE WANTED THE SKIN.

AND THEN WE SAW ALL THIS BEAUTIFUL MEAT, AND WE THOUGHT, "WELL, IT WILL MAKE A GOOD SUPPER" SO, WE BROUGHT IT IN AND MOTHER TOOK THE BONES OUT OF IT, AND CREAMED IT, AND SERVED IT ON TOAST.

AND IT WAS GOOD AND EVERYBODY WAS DELIGHTED WITH IT, ESPECIALLY BILL GRACE, WHO HADN'T HAD ANYTHING LIKE THAT PROBABLY IN HIS LIFE.

WE BOYS WERE TOLD NOT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BEING RATTLESNAKE MEAT, 'CAUSE IT MIGHT OFFEND BILL.

SO, WE DIDN'T.

BUT WE COULDN'T REALLY QUITE STAY AWAY FROM THE THOUGHT, AND SO WE WERE TALKING ABOUT RATTLESNAKE MEAT AND HOW GOOD IT COULD BE.

AND BILL GRACE STRUCK HIS FIST ON THE TABLE, AND HE SAID, "IF ANYBODY FED ME RATTLESNAKE MEAT I WOULD KILL 'EM."

AND THERE WAS A DEAD SILENCE, AND THEN MOTHER PASSED THE PLATE OF RATTLESNAKE MEAT AND SAID, "HAVE SOME MORE CHICKEN, BILL."

Narrator: AS THE YEARS PASSED, THERE WERE STILL MORE SETBACKS.

FIRE DESTROYED ONE OF THE RANCH BUILDINGS.

A WYOMING OIL BOOM PASSED THEM BY.

ONE YEAR, SHIPPING CATTLE TO OMAHA ENDED UP COSTING LOVE $27 MORE THAN HE SOLD THEM FOR.

DISEASE TOOK ANOTHER SHEEP HERD.

A BANK FAILED, AND WITH IT WENT THE FAMILY SAVINGS.

JOHN AND ETHEL LOVE STAYED ON AT MUSKRAT CREEK FOR 37 YEARS, AND WATCHED THEIR CHILDREN GROW, GO OFF TO COLLEGE, AND SUCCEED.

PHOEBE BECAME A CHEMIST, ALLAN A DESIGN ENGINEER, AND DAVID A GEOLOGIST.

David: WHEN THEY LEFT THE RANCH FOR THE FINAL TIME, THEY REALLY HAD NO CHOICE.

THEY WERE BOTH SICK, THEY COULDN'T GET ANY HELP, THE CATTLE BUSINESS WAS BEING BUREAUCRATISIZED, AND THEIR FUTURE ON THE RANCH WAS NOTHING.

SO, THEY WERE RESIGNED TO THEIR FATE, KNOWING THAT THEY WEREN'T GOING TO LIVE MUCH LONGER.

MOTHER, PARTICULARLY, WHEN SHE LEFT SHE SAID THAT, "AT LEAST I LEFT IT CLEAN FOR THE NEXT PEOPLE."

Narrator: JOHN LOVE DIED IN 1950.

ETHEL JOINED HIM IN 1959.

David: I THINK A LOT ABOUT MY FATHER, AND IN MANY WAYS HE IS TYPICAL OF THE SURVIVORS.

AFTER THE 1919 WINTER THAT PRETTY MUCH WIPED US OUT, HE AND I BOTH HAD TO LEARN TO WALK AGAIN, 'CAUSE WE HAD SPANISH INFLUENZA, AND WE WERE SICK ALL WINTER.

I CAN STILL REMEMBER US STANDING TOGETHER, EACH LEANING ON THE OTHER, THIS 6-YEAR-OLD BOY AND THE 50-YEAR-OLD MAN, AND HIS SAYING, "WELL, LADDIE, WE CAN MAKE IT."

SO, OF COURSE, WE DID.

Chief Joseph: WHENEVER THE WHITE MAN TREATS THE INDIAN AS THEY TREAT EACH OTHER, THEN WE WILL HAVE NO MORE WARS.

WE SHALL ALL BE ALIKE -- BROTHERS OF ONE FATHER AND ONE MOTHER, WITH ONE SKY ABOVE US AND ONE COUNTRY AROUND US, AND ONE GOVERNMENT FOR ALL.

THEN THE GREAT SPIRIT WHO RULES ABOVE WILL SMILE UPON THIS LAND, AND ALL PEOPLE MAY BE ONE PEOPLE.

HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT HAS SPOKEN FOR HIS PEOPLE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ] Man: I THINK OF CHIEF JOSEPH AS THE PEACEMAKER.

HE'S A MAN OF PEACE.

HE ABHORS VIOLENCE.

HE DOESN'T WANT TO FIGHT -- "I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER."

HE WAS ALWAYS A PEACEMAKER, AND LORD KNOWS HE WAS PROVOKED.

ANOTHER KIND OF MAN COULD NOT HAVE REMAINED IN CONTROL OF HIMSELF, IN POSSESSION OF HIMSELF.

AND ONE OF JOSEPH'S GREAT CHARACTERISTICS IS THAT HE WAS ALWAYS IN POSSESSION OF HIMSELF.

Narrator: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER FIGHTING HIS RELUCTANT WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES, CHIEF JOSEPH WAS STILL LONGING TO RETURN TO HIS BELOVED WALLOWA VALLEY IN EASTERN OREGON.

TWICE HE WENT TO WASHINGTON, D.C., AND MET WITH PRESIDENTS RUTHERFORD B. HAYES AND WILLIAM McKINLEY.

WHENEVER HE SPOKE, HE IMPRESSED PEOPLE WITH HIS ELOQUENCE AND HIS SIMPLE PLEA FOR JUSTICE.

THE SOLDIERS WHO HAD FOUGHT AGAINST HIM BECAME HIS FRIENDS.

BUFFALO BILL CODY INVITED HIM TO THE CEREMONIES DEDICATING GRANT'S TOMB IN NEW YORK CITY, AND CALLED HIM "THE GREATEST INDIAN AMERICA EVER PRODUCED."

THE WHITE SETTLERS OF THE WALLOWA VALLEY EVEN NAMED A TOWN FOR HIM.

BUT HIS PEOPLE'S LAND WAS NOT RETURNED.

LET ME BE A FREE MAN -- FREE TO TRAVEL, FREE TO STOP, FREE TO WORK, FREE TO TRADE WHERE I CHOOSE, FREE TO CHOOSE MY OWN TEACHERS, FREE TO FOLLOW THE RELIGION OF MY FATHERS, FREE TO THINK AND TALK AND ACT FOR MYSELF, AND I WILL OBEY EVERY LAW, OR SUBMIT TO THE PENALTY -- CHIEF JOSEPH.

Narrator: HE STEADFASTLY PRACTICED HIS DREAMER RELIGION INSTEAD OF CHRISTIANITY, KEPT TWO WIVES, LIVED IN A TEPEE, AND TOLD ANYONE WHO WOULD LISTEN THAT THERE WAS NO JUST REASON HE SHOULD NOT GO HOME TO WHERE HIS ANCESTORS WERE BURIED.

ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1904, STILL IN EXILE, CHIEF JOSEPH -- HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT, THUNDER ROLLING FROM THE MOUNTAINS -- DIED FROM WHAT THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN CALLED A "BROKEN HEART."

Momaday: THERE WAS A LIEUTENANT NAMED ERSKINE WOOD, WHO WAS THE DIARIST OF THE NEZ PERCE RETREAT, AND HE CAME TO ADMIRE JOSEPH GREATLY.

AND AT THE END OF THAT CAMPAIGN, WHEN JOSEPH WAS IMPRISONED, THE TWO MEN BECAME VERY FAST FRIENDS.

AND ERSKINE WOOD SENT HIS SON TO LIVE WITH JOSEPH FOR TWO SUMMERS.

AND I MET ERSKINE WOOD JR., WHO WAS AN OLD MAN WHEN I MET HIM, AND HE TOLD ME THIS STORY, WHICH I HAVE A HARD TIME RECOUNTING.

THE SECOND SUMMER HE WAS WITH JOSEPH, HIS FATHER WROTE TO HIM, THROUGH THE INDIAN AGENT, AND HE SAID, "YOU WON'T BE GOING BACK "TO LIVE WITH JOSEPH ANYMORE.

"THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOU TO GO OFF TO SCHOOL.

"YOU KNOW, YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE, "AND TELL JOSEPH THAT YOU WON'T BE COMING BACK, "AND TELL HIM THAT I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE HIM A PRESENT, "A TOKEN OF MY APPRECIATION AND ESTEEM.

ASK HIM WHAT HE WOULD LIKE."

AND THE BOY KEPT THE LETTER UNTIL IT WAS TIME FOR HIM TO LEAVE, AND JOSEPH AND THE BOY WERE RIDING OFF TO THE BLUFFS OF THE COLUMBIA, WHERE HE WAS, THE BOY WAS GOING TO RETURN TO PORTLAND, AND ON THE WAY HE SAID, "WELL, I'VE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM MY FATHER, "AND HE WANTS ME TO TELL YOU THAT I WON'T BE COMING BACK, "AND HE WANTS TO MAKE YOU A GIFT.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?"

AND AT THIS POINT, IN ERSKINE WOOD JR.'S EYES THERE APPEARED TEARS, AND HE SAID THAT AFTER A LONG MILE, SILENT MILE, JOSEPH SAID, "TELL YOUR FATHER TO GIVE ME A HORSE."

AND THE BOY WAS SO DISAPPOINTED THAT HE SHOULD ASK FOR SO PALTRY A THING, AND HE NEVER TOLD HIS FATHER.

AND THE TWO MEN DIED WITHOUT, YOU KNOW.

AND ERSKINE WOOD JR., SAID, "I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE GIFT OF A HORSE WAS."

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ] Man: THERE ARE MANY STORIES IN THE WEST, AND THERE ARE MANY STORIES IN THE UNITED STATES, AND NONE IS MORE AMERICAN THAN ANY OTHER.

BUT WHEN WE TRY TO THINK OF A COMMON STORY, OF A STORY WHICH WE INVENT ABOUT AMERICA, WE LAY THAT INVENTION IN THE WEST.

THERE'S NO SECTION IN THE UNITED STATES WHICH IS LESS AMERICAN THAN ANY OTHER SECTION, BUT THERE ARE STORIES THAT BECOME MORE AMERICAN THAN OTHER STORIES BECAUSE WE TELL THEM AS STORIES WHICH CAN INCLUDE ALL OF US.

IT'S THIS SENSE THAT IN A COUNTRY WHERE THERE'S SO MUCH THAT DIVIDES US, THERE CAN BE SOME EXPERIENCE WHICH OUT THERE WE ALL SHARE.

IT MAY BE AN ILLUSION.

IT PROBABLY IS AN ILLUSION.

THERE IS NO SINGLE EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST OR ANY PLACE ELSE.

BUT WE FIGHT SO MUCH ABOUT THOSE STORIES BECAUSE THOSE STORIES DEEPLY MATTER -- NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WEST, BUT WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT NOW, WHAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW.

THAT'S THE IMPORTANT THING.

Williams: IF YOU THINK ABOUT ALL OF THE VARIOUS STORIES OF BETRAYAL IN THE AMERICAN WEST, THEY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART.

BUT IN THESE STORIES OF BROKEN HEARTS, THERE IS ALSO A HEALING -- A JOY.

AND THAT JOY AND THAT HEALING HAS COME FROM THE LAND ITSELF.

AND I DON'T THINK WE CAN FORGET THAT -- THAT THE LAND LITERALLY BRINGS US BACK TO A REVERENTIAL STATE OF MIND WHERE WE REALIZE THE HEALTH OF THE LAND IS THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE.

IT IS ABOUT SPIRIT, AND IN THAT SPIRIT ARE SEEDS OF JOY, AND THAT'S WHERE I STAKE MY CLAIM IN THE FUTURE.

Watkins: THE WESTERN LANDSCAPE IN ALL ITS VARIETY AND DRAMA AND SENSE OF WIDE-OPEN SPACES, CARRIES AN ENORMOUS EMOTIONAL WEIGHT -- I THINK WITH NOT ONLY AMERICANS, BUT WITH MUCH OF THE WORLD.

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A PLACE, ALWAYS BEEN A PLACE IN HUMAN HISTORY THAT BECAME THE REPOSITORY, IF YOU WILL, OF ALL THE DREAMS, HOPES, AND ASPIRATIONS OF PEOPLE.

SOME PLACE THAT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN WHERE THEY WERE.

THE WEST STILL HAS THAT CHARACTERISTIC.

IT IS PROBABLY THE ONE SINGLE THING THAT MAKES IT UNIQUE IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

THAT A PLACE SO WIDE AND LARGE AND VARIOUS COULD AT THE SAME TIME BE A SINGLE REPOSITORY OF SO MUCH HOPE.

[ NATIVE AMERICAN CHANTING ]