Welcome to my Television Recommendations Page! This is where you will find all of the Recommendations from the Featured Television Blog of the month! It is organized in a television poster Table of Contents, so you can scroll down for the Television Recommendation your looking for easily!

AUGUST 2022:

THE REAL WEST IN THE 1880’s…

While 1883 is not historically accurate of the West, it was not intended to be. It’s a dramatization of year within the Western History. Regardless of the pigeonhole, the series still touches on many elements of such a vast history through its drama. There was no way that Taylor Sheridan could cover the settlement of the West in a ten episode series focusing on one year. The entire expansion of the Western settlement occurred between 1860 – 1900, Sheridan simply took one group of pioneers and immigrants who possibly could have made the journey and dramatized that idea for television. But the series does include important elements of the history weaved into the Dutton family journey West to eventually become Montana ranchers. Congress does not admit Montana as a state until 1889, until then it remained an open plain territory.

CARRYING THE WEIGHT WEST…

Miners, farmers and ranchers led the way of the expansion into the western territories. Homesteading allowed settlers to claim acres of the land to then cultivate and build lives for themselves. This was a result of The Homestead Act of 1862, signed by Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, and during the American Civil War, provided that any adult or intended citizen, who had never taken up arms against the U.S. Government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. The only thing required of the claimants was that they are required to live on and “improve” their plot by cultivating the land. Business in the West was able to prosper, due to the building of the first transcontinental railroad that connected the East to those western states. The railroad also made a quicker turnaround time on cattle to market, with trains as a new mode of quicker transport, better known as the Long Drive.

THE FORGOTTEN SUFFRAGE….

Yellowstone and 1883, also do a fair job of telling the Native American suffering as a result of the white settlers in the West. For centuries this land belonged to many groups of Native Americans, their lives were altered forever by the settlement of the West. The most famous of conflicts between the Native Americans and the U.S. Government is The Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, involving Sitting Bull, Chief Gall along with Crazy Horse, and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. When prospectors overran the Lakota Sioux Reservation in the Dakota Territory to mine gold in the Black Hills, the Lakota saw no reason to abide by the treaty that settlers were breaking, so many of the Lakota left to hunt near the Bighorn Mountains in Montana. The U.S. Government responded by sending an expedition that was accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and the Seventh Calvary. Custer underestimated the fighting ability of the Lakota and Cheyenne, and the rest is well, history.

WE CALLED IT THE GREAT PLAINS, THEY CALLED IT HOME…

The Great Plains were home to many groups of Native Americans, some living in farming and hunting communities. But many were referred to as nomads who roamed the land following their source of food, the Buffalo. The plains Indians were divided into bands, they ranged anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred people. These bands of Native Americans lived in extended family groups and respected nature. The settlers who migrated to the plains to settle, deprived the Native Americans of their hunting grounds, and often forced the Native Americans off their land to relocate elsewhere. These relocations were often the result of broken treaties that guaranteed them land, agreed upon by the Native Americans and the U.S. Government. Native Americans resisted the settlement of the West by attacking the pioneers, their property and occasionally went to war with the settlers.

FROM A FRONTIER TO A UNITED STATES OF AMERICA…

The United States was still a massive frontier, with only 38 states in 1880. Immigrants helped increase the American population from 31 million in 1860 to more than 50 million in 1880, as pioneers pushed westward into that massive frontier. While the United States remained a largely rural nation with many settlers in villages and working on farms as ranchers. This did allow the rural population to continue to grow in the late 1800’s, but with it, the urban population that grew more rapidly. But as America entered 1900, a majority of American’s still lived in rural areas.

A CONNECTION IS MADE…

Between 1865 and 1900, the American West saw the completion of the railroads to the West following the end of the Civil War. It opened up vast areas of the massive frontier to settlement and economic development. Eastern White settlers came through the Mississippi River to mine, farm and ranch. African American settlers had also come West from the Deep South, on the notion that prosperity could be found in all-black Western towns. The diversity of the population in America was increased by the number of Chinese railroad workers that settled in the region.

THE GREAT PLAINS BECOMES WESTWORLD…

The Great Plains was transformed by settlement from the East. The American Bison that moved in large herds and roamed the plains were almost wiped out, and so the farmers of the region plowed the natural grasses to be able to plant wheat and other crops. The cattle industry saw a rise in importance as the railroad now provided a practical means for getting the cattle to market. Cattle ranching will become an important business for the Great Plains. This would also allow the government to create an open range for cattle drives, where vast areas of grassland that the federal government owned could be used by ranchers to graze their herds free of charge and be unrestricted by private property.

RESERVED CONFINEMENT…

The growth of white settlement and the loss of bison affected the lives of the Native Americans that lived in the western plains. Native Americans would have occasional victories in the conflicts that resulted but seemed doomed to defeat the greater number of settlers in the region and the military force of the United States government. By the 1880’s, most Native Americans had been confined to reservations, and often in areas of the West that white settlers found to be less desirable.

COWBOY UP…

In the late 19^th century, cowboys became the representation of the West, and were often depicted in pop culture with glamour and heroism. This myth, however, is inaccurate to the history. The first cowboys to exist were called Spanish vaqueros and had introduced cattle to Mexico centuries earlier. Black cowboys also roamed the Western frontier in the late 1800’s. The truth to the life of a cowboy was that it was far from glamorous and involved long, hard hours of labor with usually poor living conditions and an economic hardship to go with their glamour.

HISTORY’S MYTH…

The myth of the cowboy is one of many in history that have shaped our views when it pertains to the West in the late 19^th century. Historians have turned away from the once traditional view of the Western frontier, and instead choose to write that the West was a meeting point between civilization and savagery. Historians have begun to write about the Western frontier as a sort of crossroads of cultures, where many diverse groups of people struggled for property, profit and cultural dominance.

WHEN MYTH MEETS REALITY…

The cowboy will forever be an iconic symbol of the American West despite the reality being very different for cowboys in the 1880’s. The lonely life and grueling physicality that it took to cowboy is not as iconic as a symbol as one that sees them as heroic. But cowboys were some of the hardest working people in the Western frontier. Cowboys did everything from working cattle drives and herding cattle to caring for horses while also repairing fences and buildings in the frontier towns they would often live in. They were not always welcome in these frontier towns, as they traveled for work, due to the reputation of a cowboy being seen as drunk, disorderly and even violent. But the work of cowboys in the states west of the Mississippi River would greatly impact the beef industry in America in 1880’s.

HISTORIC BEEF…

The Spanish vaqueros mentioned before, were ranching in what is now Texas before American settlers even arrived. They were responsible for building ranches for cattle and other livestock when they introduced the cattle to Mexico, long before the American cowboy decided it was a good idea. By 1519, indigenous cowboys were being hired by the Spanish vaqueros to tend to the cattle. American cowboys adopted the skills in the 19^th century that they were known for, roping, riding and herding.

A COWBOY RISES…

After the American Civil War came the rise of the American cowboy. Due to many Texas ranchers going off to fight in the name of the Confederacy, they left their ranches unattended. Texas ranchers arrived back to their land and found their cows had bred excessively and there were now an estimated 5 million cattle in Texas. But with supply, comes demand. There was a high demand for beef increasing in the north, which had effectively used up its beef supply during the war. Ranchers decided to hire cowboys to help maintain the excessive herds of cattle and bring them north for market. American cowboys didn’t just adopt the skills of the Spanish vaqueros, they adopted their dress and lifestyle as well. They would also use their methods of cattle driving when moving north.

WITH ACCESS, COMES INDUSTRY…

Meanwhile, with more railroads being built throughout the 19^th century in the United States, there was more accessibility to the West, which meant an increase of areas for settlement, agriculture and economic development. America saw diversity to ranching, farming and mining through African Americans and Chinese railroad workers traveling to the new states. With Bison basically being hunted to extinction by the 1870’s, cattle became the primary industry in Texas and throughout the United States. And with trains being able to send the herds north for market the industry only grew larger for southern farmers.

SENSIBLE STYLE AND TEN GALLON HATS…

The dress attire adopted by American cowboys from the Spanish vaqueros helped them manage harsh working conditions. Cowboy boots were most famous for having a pointed toe to easily slip in and out of stirrups. A critical style of dress since it was common to fall off a horse, which could be life-threatening if you could not get out of the stirrups fast enough and lead to cowboys being dragged by the horse. The cowboy hat even had a functioning capability and wasn’t just a style choice. Not only did the brim of a cowboy hat protect he rider from the sun, but the high crown of the cowboy hat also allowed for it be a cup for water, and when folded it served as a pillow on the plains in which they would often call a bed. Cowboys also wore bandanas to protect them from the dust that would kick up from the cattle. And the famous chaps that cowboys wore were for realistic means of protecting them from sharp bushes and cacti in the region they would encounter on the plains during cattle drives.

A SHADED HISTORY…

Historians have often whitewashed the cowboy in the west, when in fact, there were African American and Native American cowboys. During the American Civil War when white settlers had left to fight the war, they left their enslaved peoples to maintain the lands and herds. This would allow the African American and Native American enslaved to learn invaluable skills that would help to aid them in transitioning to ranching as paid work after emancipation. 1 and 4 cowboys were estimated to be black, and history overlooked their contribution by whitewashing them and only focusing on the contributions of their white counterparts. Even with emancipation, black cowboys still faced discrimination and racism in the frontier towns they would pass through on cattle drives. Black cowboys found their respect and loyalty among their fellow cowboys. Though white cowboys make up the bulk of history and popular culture surrounding the Western frontier in the United States, Black, Mexican and Native American cowboys made for a diverse group for working cowboys.

THE ROUND UP…

In order for cowboys to keep track of the growing number of cattle on drives, each Spring and Fall, the cowboys would round up the cattle. They would bring the cattle from the open plains, where they roamed freely for most of the year, to be counted by the various ranches in the region. They would also brand each cow to keep track of the ranch it belonged to. After this process was done, the cowboys would return the cattle to open plains.

A DRIVING INDUSTRY…

Cattle drives became the method of transporting large herds to market, running nearly 2,000 cattle by one trail boss and a dozen cowhands, and often along a long distance. By 1830, cattle driving had become a steady occupation after the war, there were more longhorns in the south and the demand for cattle drivers increased. Prior to the American Civil War, ranchers really had no incentive to round up the longhorns and move them to market. Texas originated most of the cattle drives that would reach as far as markets in Missouri or Kansas. The price of beef didn’t make it lucrative until after the war. With Longhorns requiring less water, they were often the hardiest of cattle on these drives. Jesse Chisholm is famous for establishing the Chisholm Trail in 1865, and would run cattle 600 miles from San Antonio, Texas all the way to Abilene, Kansas. The trail would prove hazardous, with rivers to cross and potential run-ins with farmers and Native Americans protecting their land in the area. But the high price to be fetched for beef was often worth the risk of the journey. More routes like the Chisholm Trail would be established in the decades to follow to meet the demand of the beef industry.

COWBOY DOWN…

But by the turn of the century, the cowboy era had effectively died out. As more people settled west of the Mississippi River, it would change the landscape of the frontier and technological advances would lessen the demand of cowboys in the west. Farmers started using barbed wire fencing to control their cattle and it made it harder for cattle drives with the open plains quickly becoming privatized. Though smaller cattle drives would continue in the 1900’s, many of the cowboys of the time began working for private ranch owners and gave up the open trial lifestyle they had become accustomed to. A brutal winter in 1886-1887 killed off many of the cattle and historians have often marked this as the timeline of the beginning of the end for the cowboy era.

THE END OF AN ERA BROUGHT TO LIGHT…

The end of the cowboy era was brought on by technological advances begun a decade before but had taken full flight by the late 19^th century. From Thomas Edison and the invention of electricity to Alexander Graham Bell with the invention of the telephone, the methods of communication and transportation were rapidly increasing and changing how jobs were done in the Western frontier. A nation of people was beginning to see light and sound being transmitted East to West, North to South, and across state to state. With bridges being built, such as the Brooklyn Bridge that was completed in 1883, railroad lines were able to be extended and opened the plains even more. The era of cowboys wasn’t necessarily ending, it along with the era of outlaws and Native American massacres were simply moving in a different direction, toward the civility of a people and Reservations, unfortunately, for the Native Americans. The end of an era brought on the beginning of an emerging industrial giant. In the decades that followed the American Civil War, old industries were expanded, and new ones were being created. We saw the creation of petroleum refining, steel manufacturing and electrical power. With the railroad expansion making significant ground, remote parts of the country were able to enter the national market of economy.

A REVOLUTION SO BIG IT NEEDED TWO…

A frontier nation was transformed into an industrial revolution through growth that changed American society. The class system in America shifted with the new class of wealthy that was produced by industrialists and a prosperous middle class. And we saw the development of a strong blue-collar working class. The rural areas of America were threatened by this changing landscape due to the labor force needed for the industrialization era compromising the jobs of newly arrived immigrants and migrants from the region. The industrial plants were then expanded on and allowed more output, and it became what the United States is best known for in the late 19^th century. The mass production of goods by machines was at the heart of this increase in industrialization. The American process was adapted from British textile manufacturers. But with the rise of industrialization and the cowboy era dying out, the landscape of work was changing with a majority of positions being filled by fast producing machines.

STEEL THE INDUSTRY…

Cowboys were replaced with Entrepreneurs and Industrialists, and cattle drives were replaced with skyscrapers built with steel. Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Steel; his business is one of few responsible for fueling the Industrial Revolution in the United States. He became a multimillionaire, he employed tens of thousands of workers through his company, and he built the steel for skyscrapers, bridges, and railroads that made the United States the world’s leading industrial nation. Carnegie along with the other business leaders of his time provided a leadership for a society built in industry. New technology enabled farmers to produce more crops, but they saw an increase in supply cause their prices to fall. Goods overseas became difficult to sell with high tariffs. And mortgages with large banks and the cost to ship by train continued to increase with demand, made the farmers’ difficulties worse. This brought about the movement called, populism, which was a movement to increase farmers’ political power and work for the legislation in their interests. The changing landscape and economic crisis after the American Civil War led to farmers joining the movement.

AMERICA SETTLES IN…

The government opened one of the last large territories for settlement on April 22, 1889. Within hours of the opening thousands of people raced to the stake to claim their piece of land in what is known as the Oklahoma Land Rush. By 1890, the United States Census Bureau, that reports on the American Population once every ten years, reported that there was no longer a true frontier left in America. There was still plenty land to be occupied though, and the Homestead Act would encourage new settlement into the 1900’s. But the official closing of the frontier by the Census Bureau marked the end of an era.

MY WESTERN RECOMMENDATION…

I would recommend watching 1883, if you’re a fan of Yellowstone, but I also recommend it for the historical relevance. This recommendation only covers a small portion of the history that took place when settling the West, the American Frontier was such a vast history and Taylor Sheridan decided to focus on aspects of that history with 1883. He looked at the journey West to settle through James Dutton and his family and touched on the elements of how the Native American peoples were affected by it. He looked at the importance of cattle driving and ranching in the West during that time, and he carried that importance into modern times with Yellowstone. John Dutton III, played by Kevin Costner, still carries the principal values of his ancestors that settled, he has spent almost every season defending the land that James Dutton settled in 1883. We now know why it means so much for John to hold on to the land, but we also know from this history that his job as a Montana cattle rancher, was and still remains a vital business in the West. Sheridan has also since the beginning of Yellowstone told a story of how the West being settled affected the Native Americans, thorough Chief Thomas Rainwater, played by Gil Birmingham, and his ongoing feud with the Dutton family over their land. With the intention of taking back the land that was stolen from his people. Sheridan has been true to his plan of telling the stories of the modern day frontiersman, like the Dutton’s on Yellowstone, and will continue that story with 1932. Don’t watch 1883, looking for it to be an entire history lesson, watch it for the elements of our American History that it touches on while also seeing where the Dutton family began. With the plans at Paramount+ for Sheridan, were likely to see the miles it took to get there, for the Dutton History is not done being written.

You can watch a clip of what’s coming soon from Taylor Sheridan and Paramount+ here:

All ten episodes of 1883 are streaming on Paramount+ now. It will be available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K UHD on August 31, 2022.