How the West Was Lost — Season 1, Episode 2: I Will Fight No More, Forever
Documentary • 45 min • 2 seasons, 13 episodes
Episode synopsis
This episode follows the 1,600-mile path taken by the Nez Perce 114 years ago, as they fought 13 battles with the United States Army, for the right to the Nez Perce homeland. The Nez Perce are a Native American tribe of the northwest who were first visited by white missionaries in the 1830s. The white men presented the Nez Perce with two treaties which resulted in the loss of 90 percent of their sacred land, and then the further loss of 90 percent of what was left. The Nez Perce, who became Christians, accepted their fate but others embarked on the 1,600-mile war path. The Nez Perce outmarched, outwitted and outfought the US Army for four months before surrendering.
About 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.