Out Where the West Begins

- Season 1

(2021)

The United States begins with the vision to head west. The foundational building blocks of the country also gave rise to the American Spirit, which is perhaps best illustrated by our expansion into the western frontier.

In the 1800's the American West was a magnet for innovators. Having a vision for the United States and the American West is one thing, but traveling, settling and prospering there was another. Without innovative solutions, expanding into the West might have proved impossible.

The westward movement of the American people showed how any individual could take a thumb and ripple the course of history. - Walter Isaacson. The Idea of Expansion West was one thing....The reality was quite another. The move was on, but the journey and the expansion would be wrought with adversity. The west changed people. And people, changed the west.

The west has a mythical quality and invites us to find the best of ourselves. In the 1800s, this region promised wild characters and impossible adventures. These stories came alive in books and on canvas. Part of the story of the west is factual, part is mythical, but it came together from western storytellers that evolved the American West into an identity and journey, one painting and one page at a time.