How the West Was Lost — Season 1, Episode 5: A Good Day to Die
Documentary • 45 min • 2 seasons, 13 episodes
Episode synopsis
The 1865 Montana gold rush pitted white prospectors against Lakotas of the Great Sioux Nation, and Northern Cheyenne, whose hunting ground had to be crossed to get to the gold. The white treasure hunters blazed the Boseman Trail through sacred Lakota ground. For the next two years, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and the Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife fought anyone who tried to use the Boseman Trail. In 1868 peace was reached. In 1874, more gold in South Dakota started the battles again. This time General Custer was involved and met his fate at the Battle of Little Bighorn. This episode explores the greatest Indian triumph in American history.
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.