Into the West

Episodes

Episode 1: "Wheel to the Stars"

Growling Bear, an elderly Lakota medicine man, has an apocalyptic vision that the buffalo his people rely upon will soon vanish from the prairie and the Lakota will live in square houses. His vision is controversial and his apprentice, Soaring Eagle, convinces most of the people to disregard Growling Bear's dark vision. A young boy named White Feather overhears and seeks out the now discredited Growling Bear to learn more about his vision. Before he dies, Growling Bear gives White Feather a necklace symbolizing the Lakota medicine wheel. This necklace is passed on to various characters through the miniseries.

Later, during a buffalo jump hunt led by White Feather's older brothers Running Fox and Dog Star, many people from the village are killed during the stampede, but White Feather is miraculously spared when the spirit of deceased Growling Bear appears to protect him. The tribe renames him Loved by the Buffalo and begin to regard him as a holy man healing people by taking their pain upon himself. This causes Soaring Eagle to become jealous and he tries to undermine Loved by the Buffalo by blaming him for an outbreak of pox and then leaving him for dead. Growling Bear appears to Loved by the Buffalo again, teaching him a song to cure the outbreak.

Loved by the Buffalo's sister, Thunder Heart Woman, is married off to a white trapper, Thomas Lebeck. Loved by the Buffalo gives Thunder Heart Woman the wooden medicine wheel necklace as a parting gift. Dog Star and Running Fox marry two sisters and begin families, but Loved by the Buffalo realizes that his destiny lies on a different path.

At about the same time, a young wheelwright named Jacob Wheeler is growing discontented with his settled life in the fictional Wheelerton, Virginia, where he and his brothers work as wheelwrights for his grandfather Abraham, a veteran of the Battle of Yorktown. When a mountain man named James Fletcher passes through, he tells Jacob of the wonders of the western frontier and that he will be joining an expedition to the Pacific Ocean led by the famous Jedediah Smith leaving from St. Louis, Jacob decides to leave his family and head west. He convinces his brother Nathan, to come west with him, but another brother, Jethro, cannot bring himself to leave his home and stays behind.

Once the brothers reach St. Louis, Missouri, they find Fletcher, who rebuffs them. Dejected, Nathan goes into a saloon to drink and gamble, winning a deed to a land claim in the Mexican province of Tejas. Nathan tries to convince Jacob to come with him to Tejas, but Jacob has become determined to become a mountain man and travel to the West with Jedediah Smith. The brothers part company and Jacob heads toward the Rocky Mountains.

Episode 2: "Manifest Destiny"

After living among the Lakota people, Jacob decides to take his wife and daughter Margaret Light Shines east to Wheelerton, Virginia. Jacob's family gives Thunder Heart Woman a much colder reception than her family gave him. After living in Wheelerton for a time, Jacob decides to take his family, now including a young son Abraham High Wolf, back west.

This time, Jacob's brother Jethro decides to come along. They are also accompanied by Jacob's three young female cousins; Leah Wheeler, Rachel Wheeler, and Naomi Wheeler. The three girls have been unlucky in love and are lured by the tales of excitement out west.

Meanwhile, Thunder Heart Woman's two oldest brothers, Dog Star and Running Fox argue over whether or not to adopt white technology. The disagreement comes to a boil and the two agree to part ways, splitting the tribe.

After working their way west for several years, the Wheeler clan arrives at Independence, Missouri. Jacob, now with a second son Jacob Junior High Cloud, wants to go west to California or the Oregon Country, but Thunder Heart Woman and some of the others wish to remain in Missouri. Jacob eventually convinces the others to go to California and they join a wagon train led by Stephen Hoxie who is a better salesman than a leader. Among the other settlers is a German immigrant preacher named Hobbes, a free black family fleeing racial prejudice, and several former mountain men.

The wagon train passage is filled with dangers: Leah Wheeler is thrown from the wagon during the crossing of a river and drowns, and the young son of the black pioneers is killed by stampeding cattle during a thunder storm. But life also continues: Rachel and Naomi take husbands from among the wagon trail guides. Later, while traversing a pass, a wagon breaks free, knocks Rachel down and runs over her leg, causing a severe compound fracture. The leg eventually becomes infected and must be amputated. Preacher Hobbes is the closest thing to a doctor available, but he botches the operation and Rachel dies.

Cholera breaks out, killing the wife of the black pioneer. Those exposed, including Jacob, Thunder Heart Woman, the children, and Jethro must stay behind under quarantine while the main body of the wagon train carries on. Naomi and her husband, who have not been exposed, go on with the others. Jethro is afflicted with symptoms of cholera but recovers, and no new outbreaks occur after Jacob orders that all drinking water be boiled. They rush to catch up with the main body, but find it was attacked by Cheyenne warriors, and all except Naomi were killed.

Episode 3: "Dreams and Schemes"

Jethro and Thunder Heart Woman remain together in California and a daughter, Corn Flower, is born to them. While working at the Wheeler ranch, now dubbed Rancho Paradiso, Jethro encounters a 49er named Martin Jarrett who brings him the first news about the California gold rush. Jethro soon follows him to the nearby American River to prospect for gold, although he returns home each night.

Jethro dreams of quick riches but all he finds are a few small grains. Undeterred, he begins to spend more and more time looking for gold. Without Jethro's labor, the ranch begins to run into difficulties, with essential repairs being left undone. Jethro also takes to drinking heavily to counter the frigid waters of the river and becomes abusive towards Thunder Heart Woman and the children. After one too many arguments turn violent, Abe High Wolf Wheeler decides to leave.

Jethro's cousin, David Wheeler, arrives as a 49er and becomes Jethro's partner in prospecting for gold. Angered by the successes of a group of Chinese immigrant miners, Jethro and David drive them off and steal their claim. After finding a huge nugget of gold, Jethro and David argue over how they will split their new fortune. David insists that half of the nugget should be divided amongst each other, especially when David was the first to find it. Greedy over the find, Jethro coldly replies that it was his claim, so David is entitled to perhaps a quarter of the money, maybe even a third of it just because they happen to be related. After Jethro falls asleep, David steals the nugget and heads toward San Francisco. Jethro follows him downriver and the both of them exchange gun fire in desperation. As David tries to escape in a canoe, Jethro attempts to board the canoe and David kills him with an oar to the head. Right afterwards, David loses his balance due to the weight of the gold nugget in his pack, falls into the river, and drowns when the weight of the nugget takes him to the bottom. To support her family, Thunder Heart Woman starts to sell food and supplies to the miners.

Meanwhile, Margaret Light Shines Wheeler has taken a job in a guest house in San Francisco, but continues to look for her father. Jacob remained with the army, but became disillusioned at the treatment of Native Americans in Oregon and returned to trapping in the mountains in California. After spotting an army unit sporting a Bear Flag, Margaret inquires if any of them know Jacob Wheeler. A sergeant tells her that Jacob is among them and says he will lead her to him. When the two enter a barn, he tries to rape her. Margaret is saved by Ethan Biggs, a British immigrant photographer. Margaret goes to work for Biggs and the two eventually fall in love and marry.

Episode 4: "Hell on Wheels"

In December 1863, Clara Wheeler makes her journey to Omaha and finds her cousins, Daniel Wheeler, his wife Esther and his children Robert, Jackson, Thomas and Lilly. Daniel is pursuing the family trade as a wheelwright. He is not happy to see Clara (in the previous episode Samson mentioned that he never was on good terms with Daniel, although the reason is never revealed) and intends to send her away to the war-raged East, but he is persuaded by his wife and his son Robert to take Clara in, on the condition that Robert takes the sole responsibility for Clara. It is obvious that Clara is traumatized from the deaths of her family, but she is quickly comforted by Robert's caring presence.

The race is on as the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads lay down tracks across the U.S., bringing East and West together. Jacob Wheeler's son Abe joins the construction crew of the Central Pacific railroad, working east from Sacramento. Working conditions are hard, and many workers leave to prospect for gold in the Californian goldfields. Chinese workers ("Coolies") are brought in from San Francisco to supplement the work crews. Abe meets and befriends Chow-Ping Yen, and they work in difficult conditions into and through the Sierra Nevada. Chow-Ping saves Abe's life when he almost falls from a bosun's chair while setting dynamite to construct a shelf along a cliff face.

In March 1864, while photographing California Governor Frederick Low, Ethan Biggs and his wife, Margaret Light Shines (Jacob's daughter), decide to see the Indian Territory, and they take a stagecoach to Denver. In Denver, they hear Colonel John Chivington speak against the Indians and recruit for the Third Colorado Cavalry. Ethan and Margaret's stagecoach is ambushed by Cheyenne warriors after leaving Denver. The other passengers are killed, but they are captured by Roman Nose and taken to the camp of Black Kettle. Although the Cheyenne are hostile at first, Ethan and Margaret demonstrate their photographic equipment to the curious Cheyenne, and come to appreciate the Indian's hospitality.

While Ethan photographs the people of Black Kettle's camp, Margaret works to establish peace between the Cheyenne and the local Governor and Army. On September 28, 1864, Black Kettle holds council with Colorado Territory Governor John Evans, Colonel Chivington and Major Wynkoop, to ensure peace. The Indians make clear their desire for peace, but the negotiations end inconclusively.

Episode 5: "Casualties of War"

Gold is discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. The Black Hills are considered by the Lakota to be the axis mundi, or center of the world, and the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie granted the Indians ownership of the mountain range. Now, settlers trespass on their land to prospect for gold, and the U.S. Army moves in to take possession. Conflict over control of the region sparks the Black Hills War, the last major Indian War on the Great Plains.

Red Cloud continues to talk of peace with the whites at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but many young men leave to join Sitting Bull, including cousins White Bird—son of Sleeping Bear and grandson of Dog Star—and Red Lance—grandson of Running Fox and son of White Crow. Red Lance's younger brother, Voices That Carry, wants to go with his brother, but is required to stay behind with his grand-uncle Dog Star because of his youth. Red Cloud thinks that the "peace talkers" from Washington will honor the Treaty of Fort Laramie and keep other whites out of the Black Hills.

Robert Wheeler is operating a general store in Hillsgate, Dakota Territory, while Clara spends her spare time teaching the town's children. Their store prospers as a result of the Black Hills Gold Rush and the many who rush into the area to find gold. In October 1874, Robert agrees to take a prospector into the Black Hills for $10, but they are attacked by two bushwhackers and the prospector is killed. Robert kills the two bushwhackers in turn with his Sharps Buffalo Rifle. Though he is safely home, Clara is angry with Robert for risking his life to make money. Clara buys a typewriter from a traveling salesman. Robert invests the profits from the store in about 100 Buffalo hides for $3 each, expecting to make a profit from the craze for buffalo bedspreads and overcoats, but finds that fashions have moved on and he cannot sell them to Douglas Hillman for more than $1 each. Instead, he gives them to the needy Indians at a nearby reservation. While there, he meets Captain Richard Henry Pratt, who commends his actions.

Margaret Light Shines has been a prisoner of the Army since the Battle of Washita River, but she finds purpose helping the women and orphaned children at the same Indian Reservation as Red Cloud. Voices That Carry runs away from the camp of Red Cloud to join his father, White Crow, with Sitting Bull.

In June 1876, Jacob Wheeler Jr. is still a scout for Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry. On the morning of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer dispatches Jacob Jr. with a message to Captain Frederick Benteen. Jacob Jr. gives a letter for his parents to a friend who is assigned to Major Marcus Reno's group, in case he should not survive Custer's plan. As he foresaw, Jacob is killed before he finds Benteen, as Crazy Horse and a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force wipe out Custer's cavalry detachment. Among those who are also killed is White Bird. Voices That Carry brings the body of his cousin back to Dog Star in Red Cloud's camp.

Episode 6: "Ghost Dance"

Ten years have passed since the end of Episode 5. Robert and Clara Wheeler return home, disillusioned by the school they have been hired to run, and Clara begins to teach Native American children on the reservation. Loved by the Buffalo believes he has found the foretold prophet when a mysterious Indian named Wovoka inspires his people with the Ghost Dance and a vision of their restored land at a Paiute reservation, the Yerington Indian Colony near Yerington, Nevada. But the ritual stirs up more fear among those who wish to contain the Native Americans. Voices That Carry is reunited with his brother Red Lance. Within weeks, the Ghost Dance becomes a phenomenon in the reservation. Local white governors and suppliers, who are tasked with the job of providing clothing and food for the Natives, become fearful of an Indian uprising. Local newspaper reporters overly exaggerate the dance as being sadistic and rebellious in nature. Margaret Light Shines is living in the reservation to help tend to the local children and sick. One of the newspaper reporters, not realizing she speaks English and knows how to use a camera, confronts her and trades his camera for a Ghost Shirt. Margaret Light Shines then uses the camera to record her version of the history.

After Sitting Bull is "accidentally" killed by Indian Police sent by the Indian Agent, the Ghost Dance rebellion grows, which in turn leads to more brutality toward the Native Americans. Indian Agent Daniel Royer, fearful of the Ghost Dance, sends for help and Colonel James W. Forsyth arrives with the 7th Cavalry Regiment. The 7th Cavalry regiment moves outward from the reservation into the hills and valleys restricted of Indian settlement where Big Foot and his followers are hiding out. Fearful of the slaughter of his people who are poorly armed, Big Foot agrees to return to the reservation peacefully.

Jacob Wheeler and his wife Thunder Heart Woman decide to move to South Dakota to settle in with the people they care about—Robert and Clara. Margaret Light Shines walks past and sees a missing person search notice (put up by Robert) and realizes her family is nearby. She is taken back by Robert and reunites with her parents.

While on the journey back to the reservation settlement, the groups stop and rest at a valley called Wounded Knee. While there, Colonel Forsyth requests Big Foot's men turn over all their weapons. They do so peacefully; however, when Forsyth sees how few arms Big Foot's men are carrying, he becomes angry. Believing his reports that Big Foot's men were well armed, the soldiers begin tearing apart the camp, taking anything that could be used as a weapon, including sticks and utensils. One of Big Foot's warriors, Black Coyote, is deaf and did not hear the request to turn in his gun. When a U.S. soldier attempts to pry it from his hands, the gun goes off by accident. The American soldiers then open fire at will upon Big Foot and his people. While Big Foot's men rush to pick up their weapons and defend themselves, the women and children run in opposite directions only to be mowed down by the 7th Cavalry's gunfire. Most of the Natives, including Big Foot, are slaughtered. Robert Wheeler, who was attached to the 7th Cavalry in supplying Big Foot's men with blankets and food, survives the massacre but was injured by artillery.

Cast

Listed below are the major characters and the actors who play them. Some of the characters are portrayed at different ages by different actors.

Wheeler family tree

Sources:

Home media

A four disc DVD box set was released on October 4, 2005. There are producer, director, and cast interviews among the six episodes of the series and other various features.

Soundtrack

A two-disc album of Geoff Zanelli's music was released in 2013 by La-La Land Records.