The Wild West With Ray Mears
An expert on the wilderness regions of Great Britain, and a survivalist intrigued by the challenging landscapes of America, Ray Mears visits what was once called the Wild West to track the history of how pioneers endured some of the most rugged landscape on Earth.
Much of that West still looks wild and uninhabited, as Mears and his camera team plunge headfirst into the Appalachian Mountains, describing how early settlers survived because of the abundance of forests that could be turned into lumber.
Not only was nature against the westward-bound settlers, but so were many of the Indian tribes of North America. Then we’re into the Rocky Mountains and how pioneers crossed the dangerous landscapes aboard covered wagons, finally reaching the Sierra Nevada and West Coast via the Oregon Trail. The tragedy of the Donner Party is not overlooked.
Mears — whose first TV appearance was presenting the BBC series “Tracks” in 1994 — also covers the fur trappers and mountain men, the Plains Indians and the destruction of America’s once-great buffalo herds. Beautiful photography enhances the ever-moving Mears.
Bonus features include profiles of famous women of the Old West and a 16-page booklet featuring maps, stagecoach service histories and how the U.S. Army battled Geronimo.
There are eight half-hour episodes and nary a colorless moment, especially when Mears is panning for gold. — John Stanley