"THE AMERICAN REALIZES THAT PROGRESS IS GOD.

"THE DESTINY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE "IS TO SUBDUE THE CONTINENT-- "TO RUSH OVER THIS VAST FIELD "TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, "TO CHANGE DARKNESS INTO LIGHT "AND CONFIRM THE DESTINY OF THE HUMAN RACE.

"DIVINE TASK, IMMORTAL MISSION.

"THE PIONEER ARMY, "PERPETUALLY IT STRIKES TO THE FRONT.

EMPIRE PLANTS ITSELF UPON THE TRAILS."

WILLIAM GILPIN.

[MEN CHANTING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] [NARRATOR] BY 1821, TWO YOUNG REPUBLICS CLAIMED MOST OF THE WEST.

THE VAST TERRITORY THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD BOUGHT FROM FRANCE GAVE THE UNITED STATES CLAIM TO NEARLY HALF OF IT, WHILE THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED REPUBLIC OF MEXICO HELD THE SOUTHWEST AND CALIFORNIA.

ENGLAND STILL HAD OUTPOSTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...

WHILE A HOST OF INDIAN NATIONS HELD FAST TO THEIR LANDS AND CHALLENGED EACH OTHER FOR MORE.

BY 1821, NO ONE KNEW WHO WOULD CONTROL THE WEST'S SEEMINGLY INFINITE SPACES, WHAT LANGUAGE WOULD BE DOMINANT, WHOSE GOD WOULD BE WORSHIPPED-- WHAT THE WEST'S DESTINY WOULD BE.

BUT THE AMERICANS WERE ALREADY MOVING WEST, CONTENT AT FIRST TO MAKE THEIR WAY IN OTHER PEOPLE'S WORLDS.

MOUNTAIN MEN BEGAN IT, FOLLOWING ICY STREAMS INTO THE ROCKIES IN SEARCH OF FURS...

WHILE OTHERS WHO CALLED THEMSELVES LATTER-DAY SAINTS FLED TO THE WEST, HOPING TO FIND SANCTUARY.

A DEVOUT YOUNG WOMAN FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK WHO HURRIED WEST TO SAVE THE SOULS OF INDIANS, IN THE END, COULD NOT EVEN SAVE HERSELF.

A TENNESSEE POLITICIAN WHOSE CAREER WAS RUINED BY DRINK AND SCANDAL WOULD GET A SECOND CHANCE IN THE MEXICAN PROVINCE OF TEJAS...

WHILE A VIRGINIA FAMILY, ACCUSTOMED TO FOLLOWING A RESTLESS DREAM OF BETTER TIMES OVER THE NEXT HORIZON, VERY NEARLY DESTROYED ITSELF TRYING TO REACH THE CONTINENT'S FARTHEST SHORE.

BUT REGARDLESS OF THEIR REASONS FOR GOING WEST, ONCE THEY GOT THERE, THE AMERICANS SOON DETERMINED TO MAKE THE WEST-- ALL OF IT--THEIR OWN.

"IT IS OUR MANIFEST DESTINY "TO OVERSPREAD THE CONTINENT "ALLOTTED BY PROVIDENCE "FOR THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR YEARLY MULTIPLYING MILLIONS."

JOHN L. O'SULLIVAN.

[RICHARD WHITE] AMERICANS' REACH EXCEEDS THEIR GRASP.

AMERICANS CAN'T DO WHAT THEY MIGHT LIKE TO DO, BUT THE TIME IS COMING.

THIS IS A COUNTRY THAT IS GOING TO GROW MORE AND MORE POWERFUL.

ITS AMBITION IS ALREADY THERE, AND THERE IS GOING TO COME A TIME BY MID-CENTURY WHERE, IN FACT, IT CAN FULFILL ITS AMBITION, AND WHEN THAT TIME IS REACHED, THE WEST WILL BE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLACE.

[CHANTING] [NARRATOR] ONE WINTER IN THE EARLY 1830s, A COLD AND HUNGRY MOUNTAIN MAN NAMED JOE MEEK STUMBLED INTO A LANDSCAPE UNLIKE ANYTHING HE HAD EVER SEEN.

"THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS SMOKING WITH THE VAPOR "FROM BOILING SPRINGS AND BURNING WITH GASES "ISSUING FROM SMALL CRATERS, "EACH OF WHICH WAS EMITTING A SHARP, WHISTLING SOUND-- "LIKE THAT PLACE THE OLD METHODIST PREACHER "USED TO THREATEN ME WITH.

"BUT THE WARMTH OF THE PLACE WAS MOST DELIGHTFUL "AFTER THE FREEZING COLD OF THE MOUNTAINS, "SO IF IT WAS HELL, "IT WAS A MORE AGREEABLE CLIMATE THAN I HAD BEEN IN FOR SOME TIME."

JOE MEEK.

IT WAS THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU, AND JOE MEEK WAS ONE OF THE FIRST WHITE MEN TO SEE IT.

BORN IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA, MEEK, LIKE HUNDREDS OF OTHER YOUNG MEN EAGER FOR ADVENTURE, HAD RUN OFF TO THE WEST.

HE WOULD SPEND 11 YEARS IN THE MOUNTAINS, TRAPPING AND TRADING FOR FURS, TRAVELING RELENTLESSLY, PUSHING INTO CORNERS OF THE WEST HIS COUNTRY DID NOT YET OWN IN SEARCH OF EASY MONEY.

[FRED GOWANS] HATS.

HATS WAS THE NAME OF THE GAME.

THE CARRIAGE TRADE WAS THE THING THAT SET THE STANDARD OF FASHIONS.

THE CARRIAGE TRADE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN THE RICH DRIVING AROUND IN THEIR CARRIAGES IN BOSTON OR LONDON OR PARIS OR QUEBEC OR MONTREAL, AND WHATEVER THEY WORE, EVERYBODY ELSE WANTED TO WEAR.

WELL, THEY WERE WEARING BEAVER HATS, AND THUS IT MADE A DEMAND FOR BEAVER.

[NARRATOR] INDIANS HAD BEEN EXCHANGING ANIMAL PELTS FOR EUROPEAN TRADE GOODS FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES.

NOW COMPANIES REPRESENTING RUSSIA, ENGLAND, MEXICO, AND THE UNITED STATES WERE LOCKED IN FIERCE COMPETITION FOR THE WESTERN FUR TRADE AND HIRED THE MOUNTAIN MEN TO DO THE WORK.

THERE WERE BLACK TRAPPERS AS WELL AS WHITE, MEN FROM SCOTLAND, ENGLAND, AND MEXICO, EVEN NATIVE HAWAIIANS.

IN OREGON, A THIRD OF THE TRAPPERS WERE IROQUOIS AND DELAWARE INDIANS FROM THE EAST.

FRENCH TRAPPERS OUTNUMBERED JOE MEEK AND HIS FELLOW AMERICANS FOUR TO ONE.

THEY COULD MAKE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, BUT THEY USUALLY SQUANDERED IT ALL AT THE YEARLY RENDEZVOUS WHERE THEY GAMBLED, DRANK, AND TRADED STORIES ABOUT THEIR EXPLOITS IN THE MOUNTAINS.

[GOWANS] IT WAS A VERY, VERY DANGEROUS LIFE.

THEY WERE KILLED BY BLACKFOOT INDIANS, THEY WERE KILLED BY GRIZZLY BEARS, AND MAYBE MOST DEVASTATING OF ALL, THEY WERE KILLED BY MOTHER NATURE.

YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE COMING UP OUT OF THE STREAM, SETTING A TRAP IN NOVEMBER, BUCKSKINS, UP TO YOUR ARMPITS IN WATER, AND WORKING A STREAM ALL DAY LONG IN THOSE KIND OF CONDITIONS.

THOSE MEN DIED OF FEVER.

THEY DIED OF PNEUMONIA.

HOW MANY MEN DIED ON SOME UNKNOWN STREAM IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, NEVER HEARD OF AGAIN?

THERE WAS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING IN THE FUR TRADE.

IF YOU DIDN'T SHOW UP AT A RENDEZVOUS, YOU WERE CONSIDERED DEAD.

[NARRATOR] DURING MORE THAN A DECADE IN THE MOUNTAINS, JOE MEEK HAD STRUGGLED ALONGSIDE HIS FELLOW TRAPPERS TO SURVIVE.

HE HAD NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE BLACKFEET, TOUCHED ONE GRIZZLY WITH HIS BARE HAND ON A DARE, AND BEEN MAULED BY ANOTHER, BUT IN THE END, HE HAD NO MONEY TO SHOW FOR IT ALL, AND SUDDENLY, HIS LIVELIHOOD HAD DISAPPEARED, TOO.

[GOWANS] THE DEMAND CEASED FOR BEAVER, AND THE REASON BEING IS, THE CARRIAGE TRADE CHOSE TO GO WITH SILK HATS INSTEAD OF BEAVER HATS.

I'D SAY BY THE MIDDLE OF THE 1830s, THE BEAVER TRADE WAS COMING TO AN END.

THERE WAS NO LONGER THE DEMAND.

[NARRATOR] THE ERA OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN HAD ENDED ALMOST AS QUICKLY AS IT HAD BEGUN.

SOME GUIDED AMERICAN EXPLORERS, FANNING OUT ACROSS THE WEST.

OTHERS LED THE GROWING STREAM OF WAGON TRAINS THAT NOW ROLLED OVER THE TRAILS THE MOUNTAIN MEN HAD HELPED TO CHART.

BUT JOE MEEK HAD HAD ENOUGH OF WANDERING.

HE TOOK HIS NEZ PERCE WIFE AND THEIR CHILDREN AND WENT ALL THE WAY WEST.

HE SETTLED NEAR A BRITISH TRADING POST IN THE DISPUTED LAND OF OREGON.

THERE, MEEK WENT INTO POLITICS AND BEGAN TO TALK WITH OTHER AMERICAN SETTLERS ABOUT MAKING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST PART OF THE UNITED STATES.

"I WANT TO LIVE LONG ENOUGH "TO SEE OREGON SECURELY AMERICAN "SO I CAN SAY THAT I WAS BORN "IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, UNITED STATES, "AND DIED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, UNITED STATES."

JOE MEEK.

[NATIVE AMERICAN DRUMS PLAYING] [N. SCOTT MOMADAY] WE HAVE MAPS OF THE PAST.

NOT A HISTORY IN THE WAY THAT MOST OF US UNDERSTAND HISTORY, BUT PLACES LIKE BEAR BUTTE, MEDICINE WHEEL, DEVIL'S TOWER...

THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH IN TERMS OF TIME AND EXPERIENCE.

"OH, YES," MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD SAY.

"YES, WE WERE THERE.

"WE WERE THERE IN THE BLACK HILLS AT ONE TIME.

WE KNOW ABOUT ZOI, DEVIL'S TOWER."

AND SHE SAID IT, YOU KNOW, AS IF SHE HAD BEEN THERE, AND I THINK IN HER MIND'S EYE, IT WAS THERE AND VERY CLEARLY DEFINED.

[NARRATOR] THE ARRIVAL OF THE HORSE IN THE EARLY 1700s HAD ALLOWED THE KIOWA TO MIGRATE EASTWARD FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS OUT ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS.

THEY CLAIMED AS THEIR OWN THE BEST WINTER HUNTING GROUNDS-- THE BLACK HILLS-- AND ITS LANDMARKS BECAME PART OF THEIR RELIGION.

BUT BY THE EARLY 1800s, NEW PEOPLE HAD ARRIVED FROM THE EAST, CHALLENGING THE KIOWA FOR THE BLACK HILLS.

THEY WERE THE CHEYENNE.

AND BEHIND THEM CAME THE LAKOTA, KNOWN BY WHITES AS THE SIOUX.

AMONG THE LAKOTA, A MAN NAMED LONE DOG PAINTED A RECORD OF HIS PEOPLE ON A BUFFALO HIDE, MARKING EACH WINTER BY DEPICTING WHAT THEY REMEMBERED MOST VIVIDLY ABOUT THE YEAR JUST PAST.

HE BEGAN AT THE CENTER OF A SPIRAL WITH THE WINTER OF 1800 WHEN 30 LAKOTA, REPRESENTED BY 30 STRAIGHT LINES, WERE KILLED IN BATTLE WITH THE CROW.

OVER THE ENSUING WINTERS, LONE DOG RECOUNTED HORSE RAIDS AND BUFFALO HUNTS...

THE ARRIVAL OF TRADING POSTS AND OUTBREAKS OF SMALLPOX.

BUT THE EVENTS MOST OFTEN NOTED ON HIS BUFFALO HIDE WERE THE NUMEROUS WARS HIS PEOPLE FOUGHT-- AS THE LAKOTA MOVED WEST-- WITH THE MANDAN, PAWNEE, AND ARAPAHOE, WITH THE BLACKFEET, ASSINIBOIN, CROW, AND SHOSHONI.

[WHITE] THE BLACK HILLS HAVE AROUND THEM IN THE LATE 18th AND EARLY 19th CENTURY THIS INCREDIBLE SWIRL OF PEOPLE, THAT PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING, CONTESTING FOR BUFFALO GROUNDS, AND THE DRIVING FIGURES IN ALL THIS ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE LAKOTAS.

THE LAKOTAS ARE PUSHING OTHER PEOPLE OUT.

THE LAKOTAS ARE SPREADING WEST AFTER THE HERDS.

THE LAKOTAS ARE THE PEOPLE IN MOTION.

THE LAKOTAS WEREN'T ALWAYS THERE, BUT THEY MAKE THE BLACK HILLS THE CENTER OF THEIR WORLD.

[CHARLOTTE BLACK ELK] OUR NAME FOR THE BLACK HILLS IS WAMAKAHOGNAKA INCHATE.

INCHATE IS "THE HEART OF."

WAMAKAHOGNAKA, I TRANSLATE, "THE HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT IS"-- EVERYTHING MATERIAL, EVERYTHING SPIRITUAL, BUT IT'S THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.

WE WERE A WARRIOR SOCIETY, AND THAT'S VERY MUCH A PART OF OUR CULTURE.

WE HAVE AN EXPRESSION THAT WHOEVER DIDN'T FEAR US, HATED US, AND WE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT EVERYONE EITHER HATED US OR FEARED US.

THE CREE PEOPLE IN THEIR STORIES WOULD SAY, "WHEN THE CROW WERE COMING TO FIGHT, "WE SENT OUR LITTLE BOYS TO FIGHT.

"WHEN THE MANDAN WERE COMING, WE SENT THE OLD MEN.

"WHEN THE SIOUX WERE COMING, WE PAINTED OUR FACES FOR DEATH AND PREPARED TO DIE."

[NARRATOR] FOR NEARLY 300 YEARS, SINCE THE DAYS OF CORONADO, SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE HAD CALLED MUCH OF THE WEST THEIR HOME.

THEY RAISED VAST HERDS OF CATTLE IN THE FERTILE VALLEYS OF CALIFORNIA, BUILT CATHEDRALS AND TOWNS OF ADOBE ALONG THE RIO GRANDE IN NEW MEXICO, AND IN THE SPRAWLING NORTHERN PROVINCE OF TEJAS, WHERE COMANCHES AND KIOWAS CONTROLLED THE OPEN PLAINS, THEY CLUSTERED AROUND A HANDFUL OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS.

BUT WHEREVER THEY LIVED, THEY FELT NEGLECTED BY MEXICO CITY, MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES AWAY.

[RICHARD SANTOS] THE PEOPLE OF THE FRONTIER WERE, BY AND LARGE, ANTI-GOVERNMENT, ANTI-INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH.

THEY WERE VERY HAPPY BEING LEFT ON THEIR OWN TO DEFEND THEIR PROPERTY, TO LIVE THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF A FAR-OFF GOVERNMENT.

THE SPANISH COLONISTS, THEIR MOTTO WAS, "GOD IS IN HEAVEN, THE POPE IS AT THE VATICAN, "THE KING IS IN MADRID, THE VICEROY'S IN MEXICO CITY, AND TO HELL WITH YOU-- I'M IN SAN ANTONIO."

[NARRATOR] FOR GENERATIONS, FOREIGNERS HAD BEEN KEPT OUT OF THE ISOLATED NORTHERN PROVINCES.

THEN, AFTER THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO WON ITS INDEPENDENCE IN 1821, IT ANNOUNCED THAT AMERICANS WERE NOW WELCOME IN TEJAS-- TEXAS.

[PATRICIA NELSON LIMERICK] MEXICO HAD HAD WHAT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD PLAN-- HOW TO GET SETTLERS AND COLONISTS INTO TEXAS TO MAKE SURE IT WAS A SETTLED TERRITORY THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD HAVE TO BACK OFF FROM.

THE MEXICAN POPULATION DOESN'T REALLY HAVE A SURPLUS THAT CAN PROVIDE THAT KIND OF SETTLEMENT, SO IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA.

IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS OF HINDSIGHT WHERE YOU THINK, "OH, WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE."

"THIS VILLAGE HAS BEEN SETTLED "BY MR. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN, A NATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE NORTH."

"ITS POPULATION IS NEARLY 200 PERSONS "OF WHICH ONLY 10 ARE MEXICANS.

"THE AMERICANS ARE, "IN GENERAL, IN MY OPINION, "LAZY PEOPLE OF VICIOUS CHARACTER.

"SOME OF THEM CULTIVATED "THEIR SMALL FARMS, "BUT THIS TASK THEY USUALLY ENTRUST "TO THEIR NEGRO SLAVES, "WHOM THEY TREAT "WITH CONSIDERABLE HARSHNESS.

"IN MY JUDGMENT, THE SPARK "THAT WILL START THE CONFLAGRATION "THAT WILL DEPRIVE US OF TEXAS WILL START FROM THIS COLONY."

LIEUTENANT JOSE MARIA SANCHEZ.

[NARRATOR] IN 1821, AN AMBITIOUS EX-NEWSPAPERMAN FROM MISSOURI NAMED STEPHEN F. AUSTIN SETTLED 297 AMERICAN FAMILIES AND THEIR SLAVES ON THE BRAZOS RIVER IN EAST TEXAS.

IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LAND, THEY AGREED TO CONVERT TO CATHOLICISM AND SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO.

UNDER THE SAME TERMS, MEXICO GRANTED OTHERS THE RIGHT TO SETTLE IN TEXAS, BUT SOON, THE PLAN BEGAN TO BACKFIRE.

THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SQUATTERS NOW CAME, CARVING OUT THEIR OWN HOMESTEADS WITHOUT ANYONE'S PERMISSION.

[ANN RICHARDS] I THINK IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVENTURE FOR THEM.

A LOT OF PEOPLE CAME TO TEXAS BECAUSE THEY WERE RUNNING FROM THE LAW OR RUNNING FROM A BAD FAMILY SITUATION, A BAD MARRIAGE.

TEXAS WAS FILLED WITH, SHALL WE SAY, FRINGE SOCIETY, BUT IT WAS ALSO FILLED WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO REALLY DID WANT SOMETHING MORE THAN WHAT THEY HAD AND THOUGHT THEY MIGHT FIND IT ON THE FRONTIER.

[NARRATOR] DIRT-POOR DEBTORS CAME-- SO DID LAND SPECULATORS, FUGITIVES, LAWYERS... AND A TALL, 39-YEAR-OLD TENNESSEAN WITH A DECIDEDLY MIXED REPUTATION.

RAISED BY HIS WIDOWED MOTHER AND INFORMALLY ADOPTED BY THE CHEROKEES, HE HAD DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF IN THE WAR OF 1812, SERVED IN CONGRESS, AND WAS NOW GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE.

MANY ASSUMED THAT HE, LIKE HIS MENTOR ANDREW JACKSON, WOULD ONE DAY BE PRESIDENT.

HIS NAME WAS SAM HOUSTON.

[RICHARDS] I THINK THAT HE WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT, THE MOST IRASCIBLE, THE MOST PRINCIPLED, THE MOST OPINIONATED MAN IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

HE WAS FLAMBOYANT.

HE WORE VESTS THAT WERE FURRY, AND HE WOULD HAVE ON A JACKET AND ON TOP OF THAT, AN INDIAN BLANKET.

HE WAS THE FIRST MAN TO WEAR BEADS ON THE FLOOR OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

I LIKE THAT.

[NARRATOR] BUT AFTER HIS YOUNG WIFE ABRUPTLY LEFT HIM, HOUSTON RESIGNED THE GOVERNORSHIP WITHOUT EXPLANATION, BEGAN DRINKING HEAVILY, AND FLED TO LIVE WITH HIS CHEROKEE FRIENDS.

HIS CAREER IN THE UNITED STATES SEEMED OVER.

SAM HOUSTON HEADED FOR TEXAS.

[EAGLE SCREECHES] "AN EAGLE SWOOPED DOWN NEAR MY HEAD, "AND THEN, SOARING ALOFT WITH WILDEST SCREAMS, "WAS LOST IN THE RAYS OF THE SETTING SUN.

"I KNEW THAT A GREAT DESTINY WAITED FOR ME IN THE WEST."

SAM HOUSTON.

THERE WERE NOW NEARLY 35,000 AMERICAN-BORN IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR SLAVES IN TEXAS-- 10 TIMES THE NUMBER OF SPANISH-SPEAKING TEJANOS.

DESPITE GROWING TENSIONS AND DESPITE THEIR MANY DIFFERENCES, BOTH GROUPS AGREED ON ONE THING-- THEY RESENTED TAKING ORDERS FROM FAR-OFF MEXICO CITY.

THEN, IN 1835, GENERAL ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MEXICO.

AT FIRST, HE PROMISED TO RESTORE GREATER AUTONOMY TO TEXAS.

INSTEAD, SANTA ANNA DECLARED HIMSELF DICTATOR-- THE NAPOLEON OF THE WEST.

AND WHEN TEXANS REBELLED AND TALKED OF INDEPENDENCE, HE LED AN ARMY NORTH-- 5,300 MEN FLYING A BLACK FLAG THAT MEANT "NO QUARTER."

"LET EACH MAN COME WITH A GOOD RIFLE "AND 100 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION... AND COME SOON."

SAM HOUSTON.

BECAUSE OF HIS PAST MILITARY EXPERIENCE, SAM HOUSTON WAS PUT IN COMMAND OF TEXAN FORCES.

HE CALLED FOR MORE MEN FROM TEXAS AND FROM THE UNITED STATES.

IN WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON ORDERED A POLICY OF STRICT NEUTRALITY.

HE WANTED TO BUY TEXAS, NOT FIGHT A WAR OVER IT.

BUT TEXAS MEETINGS WERE HELD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

EAGER YOUNG MEN SIGNED UP BY THE BATTALION.

IN SAN ANTONIO, 146 MEN GATHERED AT AN OLD SPANISH MISSION CALLED THE ALAMO TO STOP SANTA ANNA'S ARMY.

HOUSTON BELIEVE THE ALAMO WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEND AND ORDERED IT BLOWN UP, BUT THE MEN INSIDE, INCLUDING AN ALCOHOLIC ADVENTURER NAMED JIM BOWIE AND A FORMER TENNESSEE CONGRESSMAN NAMED DAVY CROCKETT, DECIDED ON THEIR OWN TO STAY AND FIGHT.

ON FEBRUARY 24, 1836, SANTA ANNA REACHED SAN ANTONIO AND DEMANDED THAT THE ALAMO'S OCCUPANTS SURRENDER OR BE ANNIHILATED.

[CANNON SHOT] ITS COMMANDER, WILLIAM BARRETT TRAVIS, ANSWERED WITH A CANNON SHOT.

THE MEXICANS SETTLED IN FOR A SIEGE.

TRAVIS SCRIBBLED OUT AN URGENT PLEA FOR REINFORCEMENTS AND ENTRUSTED IT TO A 30-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN OF THE TEXAS ARMY-- A TEJANO NAMED JUAN SEGUIN.

HE SLIPPED THROUGH THE MEXICAN LINES AND DELIVERED THE CALL FOR HELP.

[EXPLOSION] MEANWHILE, IN A RUN-DOWN FARMHOUSE IN THE TINY SETTLEMENT OF WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS, 59 MEN, INCLUDING THREE TEJANOS, DECLARED TEXAS AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC AND HAMMERED OUT A CONSTITUTION MODELED AFTER THAT OF THE UNITED STATES.

BUT THERE WOULD BE NO REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE ALAMO.

HOUSTON STILL CONSIDERED IT FOLLY FOR HIS OUTNUMBERED ARMY TO FIGHT SANTA ANNA THERE.

[BUGLE SOUNDING] AT 5 A.M. ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 6, 1836, AFTER 13 DAYS OF SIEGE, SANTA ANNA'S BUGLER BLEW THE DEGUELLO, THE SIGNAL FOR DEATH IN THE BULL RING.

[GUNFIRE] 2,600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS CHARGED THE ALAMO INTO A HAIL OF TEXAN GUNFIRE.

AT LEAST 600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS DIED THAT MORNING, THOUGH SANTA ANNA WOULD OFFICIALLY ADMIT TO JUST 70 DEATHS AMONG HIS MEN.

BUT THE ODDS PROVED OVERWHELMING.

IN A MATTER OF HOURS, THE ALAMO WAS TAKEN, AND IN THE END, ALL ITS DEFENDERS-- AMERICANS AND TEJANOS ALIKE-- LAY DEAD.

[SANTOS] WHAT IS IMPORTANT ABOUT THE ALAMO IS NOT THE NUMBER OF MEN OR WHO THEY WERE OR THE VARIOUS PERSONALITIES BUT THE FACT THAT THIS SMALL GROUP OF MEN CHOSE TO DEFEND AN IMPOSSIBLE POSITION AGAINST A SUPERIOR NUMBER AND HELD IT FOR 13 DAYS.

THEY CHOSE THIS PLACE, KNOWING THAT IT WOULD MEAN SURE DEATH.

[GUNFIRE] [NARRATOR] THE KILLING WENT ON.

SANTA ANNA TOOK A SECOND FORT CALLED GOLIAD.

ITS DEFENDERS WERE PIRATES, HE SAID-- FOREIGNERS INTENT ON STEALING MEXICAN TERRITORY.

HE ORDERED 300 MEN, MOST OF THEM AMERICANS, TO BE SHOT AND THEIR CORPSES BURNED.

"OUR GARRISON WAS TAKEN AND MASSACRED.

"IF SUCH CONDUCT IS NOT SUFFICIENT "TO AROUSE THE PATRIOTIC FEELINGS "OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY, "I KNOW NOT WHAT WILL.

"RATHER THAN BE DRIVEN OUT OF THIS COUNTRY, "I WILL LEAVE MY BONES TO BLANCH ON THE PLAINS OF TEXAS."

PRIVATE G.A.

GIDDINGS.

SANTA ANNA PUSHED ON.

NOW ALL THAT STOOD BETWEEN HIM AND THE DEFENSELESS SETTLEMENTS IN EAST TEXAS WAS A SMALL, POORLY TRAINED ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR ERRATIC AND UNPREDICTABLE COMMANDER, SAM HOUSTON.

[MYLIE LAWYER] A WAYAKIN IS YOUR GUARDIAN SPIRIT, AND FROM THIS GUARDIAN SPIRIT, YOU GET... YOU GET YOUR POWER, AND I COLLECTED ABOUT 16 OF THEM.

AND THE MOST INTERESTING THAT I HAVE IS THE ONE OF MY FATHER'S BECAUSE THERE WERE DIFFERENT ANIMALS THAT TALKED TO HIM AT THE SAME TIME, AND EACH ONE OF THEM GAVE HIM THIS CERTAIN THING.

THE CHIPMUNK SAID, "WELL, I'LL GIVE YOU A LOT OF GOOD FAST MOVEMENTS.

YOU WILL BE A QUICK PERSON."

AND THE BADGER SAYS, "I WILL GIVE YOU STEADFASTNESS.

YOU WILL BE STRONG."

AND THE DOG SAID, "I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.

I'M GOING TO BE WITH HIM ALL THE TIME."

AND THAT WAS HIS GUARDIAN SPIRIT.

[TRAIN WHISTLE] [NARRATOR] BACK IN 1831, FOUR INDIANS, INCLUDING THREE NEZ PERCE FROM THE TRIBE WHO HAD HELPED LEWIS AND CLARK SURVIVE THEIR TIME IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, TRAVELED EASTWARD OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND ACROSS THE PLAINS NEARLY 2,000 MILES TO ST. LOUIS.

THEY HAD COME, THEY SAID, BECAUSE THEY HAD HEARD OF A BLACK BOOK THAT GAVE WHOEVER POSSESSED IT ADDITIONAL POWER AND PRESTIGE.

[LAWYER] THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THE BIBLE, AND THEY THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD GET POWER FROM IT JUST LIKE THAT THEY WOULD GET FROM THEIR WAYAKIN.

[NARRATOR] A HIGHLY EMBELLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS' JOURNEY MADE ITS WAY INTO THE PROTESTANT MISSIONARY PRESS.

THE NEZ PERCE, IT SAID, WERE PLEADING FOR SALVATION.

[WOMAN HUMMING] IN THE SPRING OF 1836, A SMALL PARTY OF MISSIONARIES RESPONDED AND BEGAN THE LONG TREK FROM MISSOURI TO THE BRITISH TRADING POST OF FORT VANCOUVER ALONG A ROUTE THAT WOULD SOON BE CALLED THE OREGON TRAIL.

[WOMAN] ♪ IN THE DESERTS LET ME LABOR ♪ ♪ ON THE MOUNTAINS LET ME TELL ♪ ♪ HOW HE DIED, THE BLESSED SAVIOR ♪ ♪ TO REDEEM A WORLD FROM HELL ♪ ♪ LET ME HASTEN, LET ME HASTEN ♪ ♪ FAR IN HEATHEN LANDS TO DWELL ♪ [NARRATOR] AMONG THE CHRISTIAN PIONEERS WERE DR. MARCUS WHITMAN AND HIS YOUNG WIFE NARCISSA, WHO, FROM HER EARLIEST CHILDHOOD, HAD DREAMED OF BECOMING A MISSIONARY.

SHE HAD MARRIED WHITMAN SPECIFICALLY TO GO WEST AND SPREAD THE WORD OF CHRIST TO THOSE IN NEED OF IT.

"OUR DESIRE NOW IS TO BE USEFUL "TO THESE BENIGHTED INDIANS, "TEACHING THEM THE WAY OF SALVATION.

"IT IS A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY "TO BE PIONEERS IN SO GREAT A WORK.

IT IS WITH CAUTIOUS STEPS THAT WE ENTER ON IT."

NARCISSA WHITMAN.

[JULIE ROY JEFFREY] WELL, I DON'T THINK SHE REALLY KNEW WHAT SHE WAS GOING OUT TO DO IN THE WEST.

SHE HAD GROWN UP READING-- CONSUMING VORACIOUSLY-- THE LITERATURE OF THE MISSIONARY MOVEMENT OF HER DAY, AND SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING OUT TO LIVE OUT A SCENARIO THAT SHE HAD REALLY READ ABOUT.

THAT IS, SHE WOULD ARRIVE, HOPEFULLY BE WELCOMED, AND SOMEHOW BRING ABOUT THIS MONUMENTAL CONVERSION OF THE PEOPLE WITH WHOM SHE WORKED.

SHE HAD NO REAL IDEAS AT ALL AS TO WHAT THE WEST WAS LIKE OR WHAT MISSIONARY WORK WOULD BE LIKE.

[NARRATOR] WHILE OTHER MISSIONARIES WENT TO THE NEZ PERCE, THE WHITMANS SETTLED AT A PLACE CALLED WAIILATPU ON THE NORTH BANK OF THE WALLA WALLA RIVER IN THE LAND OF THE CAYUSE.

THINGS DID NOT GO WELL FOR THE WHITMANS.

TILOUKAIKT, A CAYUSE CHIEF, WELCOMED THEM, BUT WONDERED WHY THEY FAILED TO OFFER GIFTS AS WAS THE CAYUSE CUSTOM.

HIS PEOPLE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE WHITMANS INSISTED THEY MUST COMPLETELY ABANDON THEIR OWN FAITH, AND THEY WERE INSULTED WHEN NARCISSA BARRED THEM FROM HER PARLOR.

[NARCISSA WHITMAN] "THE INDIANS SAID "THEY WOULD WORSHIP IN OUR NEW HOUSE.

"WE TOLD THEM OUR HOUSE WAS TO LIVE IN "AND WE COULD NOT HAVE THEM WORSHIP THERE "FOR FEAR THEY WOULD MAKE IT SO DIRTY AND FULL OF FLEAS THAT WE COULD NOT LIVE IN IT."

[JEFFREY] I THINK NARCISSA REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THEM AT ALL AND THAT SHE SAW THEM AS EVERYTHING THAT WAS THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF WHAT SHE LOVED AND VALUED.

THE KINDS OF WORDS THAT SHE USES-- SAVAGE, IGNORANT, LAZY, UM, HEATHENISH-- THE WAY SHE CALLED HER MISSION STATION A DARK AND SAVAGE PLACE-- GIVE YOU SOME SENSE OF THIS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO PEOPLE WHOM SHE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND, WHO FRIGHTENED HER, AND WHO WOULDN'T CHANGE IN THE WAYS THAT SHE REALLY THOUGHT THEY OUGHT TO CHANGE FOR THEIR OWN GOOD.

[NARRATOR] NARCISSA HAD GIVEN BIRTH TO A DAUGHTER, ALICE, BUT AT AGE 2, THE LITTLE GIRL DROWNED IN THE RIVER NEXT TO THE MISSION.

GRIEVING AND LONELY, NARCISSA SOMETIMES WENT TWO YEARS WITHOUT A LETTER FROM HOME.

EACH DAY, SHE AND THE OTHER MISSIONARY WIVES IN THE REGION PAUSED TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER AND THEIR FAMILIES.

[JEFFREY] I'VE ALWAYS FOUND IT TO BE VERY POIGNANT-- A SIGN OF THEIR LONELINESS AND HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS AND HOW THEY TRIED TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER THROUGH THEIR SPIRITS.

[NARRATOR] DURING THEIR FIRST YEARS, THE WHITMANS MANAGED TO CONVERT ONE SCOTTISH VISITOR, ONE FRENCH CANADIAN CATHOLIC, AND SEVERAL HAWAIIAN LABORERS WHO WORKED FOR THE MISSION, BUT THEY FAILED TO MAKE A SINGLE CONVERT AMONG THE CAYUSE.

[NARCISSA WHITMAN] "NEVER WAS I MORE KEENLY SENSIBLE "TO THE SELF-DENIALS OF A MISSIONARY LIFE.

"EVEN NOW WHILE I AM WRITING, "THE DRUM AND THE SAVAGE YELL "ARE SOUNDING IN MY EARS, "EVERY SOUND OF WHICH IS AS FAR "AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST "FROM VIBRATING IN UNISON WITH MY FEELINGS.

"DEAR FRIENDS, WILL YOU NOT SOMETIME THINK OF ME ALMOST ALONE IN THE MIDST OF SAVAGE DARKNESS?"

[MAN] "GENERAL HOUSTON, SIR, "THE ENEMY ARE LAUGHING YOU TO SCORN.

"YOU MUST FIGHT THEM.

"YOU MUST RETREAT NO FURTHER.

"THE COUNTRY EXPECTS YOU TO FIGHT.

"THE SALVATION OF THE COUNTRY DEPENDS ON YOUR DOING SO."

DAVID BURNET, PRESIDENT OF TEXAS.

[RALPH YARBOROUGH] AFTER THE ALAMO FELL AND SANTA ANNA ORDERED ALL THE PRISONERS SHOT-- HE HAD SAID HE WAS GOING TO KILL EVERYBODY THAT IS OPPOSING THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT-- THERE WAS A TERRIFIC PANIC OVER THE COUNTRY, AND EVERY FAMILY THAT COULD GOT THEIR BELONGINGS TOGETHER IN A BUGGY OR A WAGON OR WHATEVER THEY HAD-- HORSEBACK, SOME DIDN'T HAVE ANY VEHICLES-- WALKING, CARRY WHAT YOU COULD, DRAG IT, OR PUT IT ON A MULE.

AND THE FAMILIES JUST ABANDONED THEIR HOMES, AND THAT WAS CALLED THE "RUNAWAY SCRAPE," AND THEY WERE TRYING TO GET ACROSS THE SABINE RIVER TO GET INTO NEW ORLEANS BEFORE THEY GOT KILLED.

[NARRATOR] THE FLEDGLING GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS RETREATED TO THE LITTLE TOWN OF HARRISBURG.

THERE, THEY DEMANDED THAT SAM HOUSTON STAND AND FIGHT, BUT HOUSTON KEPT HIS OWN COUNSEL, PORING OVER CAESAR'S COMMENTARIES ON WAR, GNAWING ON THE RAW EARS OF CORN WITH WHICH HE FILLED HIS SADDLEBAGS.

[SAM HOUSTON] "HAD I CONSULTED THE WISHES OF ALL, "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE THE ASS BETWEEN TWO STACKS OF HAY.

"I CONSULTED NO ONE, I HELD NO COUNCILS OF WAR.

IF I ERR, THE BLAME IS MINE."

[NARRATOR] HOUSTON AND HIS SMALL ARMY WERE IN FULL RETREAT, ZIGZAGGING ACROSS TEXAS, KEEPING JUST OUT OF RANGE OF THE ADVANCING MEXICANS.

RUMORS SPREAD THAT ALCOHOL HAD UNDERCUT HIS COURAGE.

SETTLERS JEERED HIM FROM THE ROADSIDE.

[YARBOROUGH] THE MEN UNDER HIM SAID HE IS A COWARD.

AND SIDNEY SHERMAN, THE COLONEL, TRIED TO REPLACE HIM.

SAM HOUSTON SAID, "ANYBODY THAT TRIES "TO REMOVE ME FROM THIS COMMAND, I'LL EXECUTE HIM ON THE SPOT."

[NARRATOR] FOR MORE THAN A MONTH, SANTA ANNA PURSUED HOUSTON'S ELUSIVE ARMY.

THEN THE MEXICAN GENERAL MADE A MISTAKE.

HE DIVIDED HIS TROOPS AND VEERED OFF IN HOPES OF CAPTURING THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.

HOUSTON SLIPPED UP BEHIND HIM AT A BEND IN A RIVER CALLED THE SAN JACINTO.

[SAM HOUSTON] "APRIL 21, 1836.

"WE ARE IN PREPARATION TO MEET SANTA ANNA.

"IT IS THE ONLY CHANCE OF SAVING TEXAS.

"WE GO TO CONQUER.

IT IS WISDOM GROWING OUT OF NECESSITY TO MEET THE ENEMY NOW."

[NARRATOR] SANTA ANNA'S ARMY WAS SURROUNDED BY WATER ON THREE SIDES.

HOUSTON'S 800 MEN MOVED INTO POSITION ON THE FOURTH.

[YARBOROUGH] THERE WERE TREES THERE.

HOUSTON HAD MEN UP IN THOSE TREES WATCHING THEM AND CALLING DOWN TO HIM WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

HE SAYS THE CAVALRY OVER THERE HAVE TAKEN THEIR SADDLES OFF, THEY'VE TAKEN THEIR HORSES TO DRINK.

THIS IS SIESTA TIME-- IT'S 3:30, AND MOST OF THE MEXICANS ARE HAVING THEIR SIESTA.

HOUSTON IMMEDIATELY ORDERED THEM TO LINE UP.

[NARRATOR] "TRUST IN GOD AND FEAR NOT!"

HE TOLD HIS MEN.

"REMEMBER GOLIAD!

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!"

HOUSTON LED THE CHARGE HIMSELF, SWINGING HIS SABER.

HIS HORSE FELL, HIT FIVE TIMES.

HOUSTON CLIMBED ONTO ANOTHER HORSE.

IT, TOO, WAS KILLED, AND THIS TIME, HOUSTON'S RIGHT LEG WAS SPLINTERED BY A MUSKET BALL, BUT SANTA ANNA'S ARMY WAS ON THE RUN.

THE TEXANS AND A COMPANY OF TEJANOS UNDER JUAN SEGUIN WERE RIGHT BEHIND THEM.

THE FIGHTING LASTED JUST 18 MINUTES...

BUT THE SLAUGHTER WENT ON FOR ANOTHER HOUR.

WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER, 600 MEXICAN SOLDIERS LAY DEAD.

NEARLY 700 MORE HAD SURRENDERED.

THE SURPRISE HAD BEEN SO COMPLETE, THE BLOW SO SUDDEN, THAT ONLY SIX TEXANS DIED DURING THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO.

SANTA ANNA HIMSELF WAS MADE SAM HOUSTON'S PRISONER AND FORCED TO SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER CEDING TEXAN INDEPENDENCE.

NOW THERE WERE THREE INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS IN NORTH AMERICA-- MEXICO, THE UNITED STATES, AND, UNDER PRESIDENT SAM HOUSTON, THE NEW REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.

"THE LOSS OF TEXAS WILL INEVITABLY RESULT "IN THE LOSS OF NEW MEXICO AND THE CALIFORNIAS.

"LITTLE BY LITTLE, OUR TERRITORY WILL BE ABSORBED "UNTIL ONLY AN INSIGNIFICANT PART IS LEFT TO US.

"OUR NATIONAL EXISTENCE WILL END LIKE THOSE WEAK METEORS "THAT FROM TIME TO TIME SHINE FITFULLY IN THE FIRMAMENT AND DISAPPEAR."

JOSE MARIA TORNEL Y MENDIVIL.

[NARRATOR] IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF NOVEMBER 14, 1833, ONE OF THE LARGEST METEOR SHOWERS IN HISTORY LIT UP THE NIGHT SKY OVER NORTH AMERICA.

LONE DOG AND HIS LAKOTA BAND WATCHED IT ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND REMEMBERED 1833 AS THE YEAR THE STARS FELL.

ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, A LARGE BAND OF KIOWA WERE CAMPED IN THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS, WHERE THEY HAD BEEN DRIVEN WHEN THE CHEYENNE AND LAKOTA TOOK OVER THE BLACK HILLS.

[MOMADAY] AND THEY WERE AWAKENED BY THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS, AND THEY WENT-- RAN OUT INTO THE FALSE DAY AND WERE TERRIFIED.

THEY THOUGHT THE WORLD WAS COMING TO AN END.

YOU CAN IMAGINE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENING DIRECTLY OVERHEAD, THIS HAVOC IN THE NIGHT SKY, AND SO IT'S VERY MUCH IN THEIR-- IN THEIR BLOOD MEMORY.

I THINK THE KIOWAS TOOK THE FALLING STARS AS A SIGN.

IT WAS AN OMEN, AND BAD THINGS FOLLOWED.

YOU CAN START COUNTING THE CATASTROPHES.

[BELL RINGING] [WOMAN SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE] [NARRATOR] SOON, THE KIOWA NOTICED A NEW PEOPLE COMING FROM THE EAST MOVING ONTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

THE SETTLERS BUILT TOWNS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS.

SOME OF THEM OWNED SLAVES.

BUT THESE NEWCOMERS WERE INDIANS, TOO-- CHEROKEE, ONE OF MANY PEOPLES FROM THE EAST FORCED INTO THE WEST BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

NO EASTERN TRIBE HAD STRUGGLED HARDER OR MORE SUCCESSFULLY TO MAKE WHITE CIVILIZATION THEIR OWN.

FOR GENERATIONS, THE CHEROKEE HAD LIVED SIDE BY SIDE WITH WHITES IN GEORGIA.

THEY HAD DEVISED A WRITTEN LANGUAGE, PUBLISHED THEIR OWN NEWSPAPER, ADOPTED A CONSTITUTION AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

BUT AFTER GOLD WAS DISCOVERED ON THEIR LAND, EVEN THEY WERE TOLD THEY WOULD HAVE TO START OVER AGAIN IN THE WEST.

"MY FRIENDS, CIRCUMSTANCES RENDER IT IMPOSSIBLE "THAT YOU CAN FLOURISH IN THE MIDST OF A CIVILIZED COMMUNITY.

"YOU HAVE BUT ONE REMEDY WITHIN YOUR REACH, "AND THAT IS TO REMOVE TO THE WEST, "AND THE SOONER YOU DO THIS, "THE SOONER WILL COMMENCE YOUR CAREER OF IMPROVEMENT AND PROSPERITY."

ANDREW JACKSON.

[NARRATOR] EARLY IN THE 1830s, CONGRESS HAD CREATED A HUGE NEW INDIAN TERRITORY WHICH WAS TO STRETCH FROM TEXAS TO THE MIDDLE MISSOURI RIVER.

IT WAS MEANT TO BE A BARRIER TO WHITE EXPANSION, A PLACE THE INDIANS WERE PROMISED THEY WOULD HAVE TO THEMSELVES FOREVER.

[LIMERICK] ANOTHER WAY IN WHICH THE WEST WAS GOING TO SOLVE AMERICA'S PROBLEMS WAS THAT IT LOOKED LIKE THE PLACE WHERE YOU COULD PUT INDIANS.

THERE'S ALL THAT SPACE.

PUT THEM THERE, MOVE THEM-- MOVE THEM TO THE WEST.

TAKE THEM ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, AND POSTERITY CAN FIGURE THIS ONE OUT.

POSTERITY CAN INHERIT OUR DILEMMA.

[NARRATOR] ONE BY ONE, INDIAN PEOPLES WERE REMOVED TO THE WEST-- THE DELAWARE, OTTAWA, SHAWNEE, AND POTAWATOMI...

THE SAC AND FOX, MIAMI AND KICKAPOO...

THE CHOCTAW, CHICKASAW, CREEK, AND SEMINOLE.

IN ALL, SOME 90,000 INDIANS WERE RELOCATED.

THE CHEROKEE WERE AMONG THE LAST TO GO.

SOME RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO MOVE.

OTHERS WERE DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES AT BAYONET POINT.

ALMOST 2,000 OF THEM DIED ALONG THE ROUTE THEY REMEMBER AS THE TRAIL OF TEARS.

THE CHEROKEE ARE PROBABLY THE MOST TRAGIC INSTANCE OF WHAT COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED IN AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY AND DIDN'T.

ALL THESE THINGS THAT AMERICANS WOULD PROUDLY SEE AS THE HALLMARKS OF CIVILIZATION ARE BORNE TO THE WEST BY INDIAN PEOPLE.

THEY DO EVERYTHING WE ASK EXCEPT ONE THING.

WHAT THE CHEROKEES ULTIMATELY ARE-- THEY MAY BE CHRISTIAN, THEY MAY BE LITERATE, THEY MAY HAVE A GOVERNMENT LIKE OURS-- BUT ULTIMATELY, THEY'RE INDIAN, AND IN THE END, BEING INDIAN IS WHAT KILLS THEM.

"THE MORMONS ARE A TRIBE OF LOCUSTS "THAT STILL THREATENS TO SCORCH AND WITHER THE HERBIAGE "OF A FAIR AND GOODLY PORTION OF MISSOURI "BY THE SWARM OF EMIGRANTS FROM THEIR PESTILENT HIVE IN OHIO AND NEW YORK."

SAMUEL OWENS, 1837.

[NARRATOR] THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

THE WORLD CALLED THEM THE MORMONS, AFTER THE BOOK OF MORMON, WHICH THEIR FOUNDER JOSEPH SMITH SAID HE HAD TRANSLATED FROM A SET OF GOLDEN PLATES HE HAD BEEN DIVINELY GUIDED TO DISCOVER.

THE BOOK SAID THAT JESUS CHRIST HAD PREACHED IN AMERICA AFTER THE RESURRECTION AND WOULD RETURN WHEN A NEW TRUE CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED.

EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, THE MORMONS GATHERED CONVERTS-- AND EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, THEY MADE ENEMIES.

"IF WE WERE OF THE WORLD, "I BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE "WOULD LOVE US WELL ENOUGH "TO LET US REMAIN SOMEWHERE IN THE STATE, "BUT THEY HATE US, DESPISE US, AND PERSECUTE US, "AND WHEN THEY KILL US, THEY VERILY THINK THEY DO GOD'S SERVICE."

ELIZABETH HAVEN BARLOW.

[NARRATOR] ANGRY MOBS, WHO CONSIDERED THEM HERETICS, DROVE THE MORMONS FROM NEW YORK, THEN OHIO, AND THEN MISSOURI, WHERE THE GOVERNOR HIMSELF ORDERED THEM TO LEAVE THE STATE OR BE EXTERMINATED.

IN ILLINOIS, JOSEPH SMITH BOUGHT A SMALL SETTLEMENT, RENAMED IT NAUVOO, AND TURNED IT INTO THE SECOND-BIGGEST CITY IN THE STATE.

HE STARTED WORK ON A GREAT TEMPLE, OUTFITTED HIS OWN PRIVATE ARMY, BEGAN TO PRACTICE POLYGAMY IN SECRET, AND ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

WHEN SMITH DESTROYED THE PRINTING PRESS OF A MAN WHO DARED CRITICIZE HIM, HE WAS JAILED AND THEN MURDERED BY AN ANTI-MORMON MOB.

UNLESS THEY ABANDONED ILLINOIS, HIS FOLLOWERS WERE TOLD, THE SAME FATE AWAITED THEM.

"WE FACE A CRISIS OF EXTRAORDINARY AND THRILLING INTERESTS, "THE EXODUS OF THE NATION OF THE ONLY TRUE ISRAEL "FROM THESE UNITED STATES TO A FAR DISTANT REGION OF THE WEST.

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP, DEAR BRETHREN, "TO THE PRESENT GLORIOUS EMERGENCY "IN WHICH THE GOD OF HEAVEN HAS PLACED YOU TO PROVE YOUR FAITH BY YOUR WORKS."

BRIGHAM YOUNG.

[NARRATOR] NOW THE MORMONS PINNED THEIR HOPES ON A BIG VERMONT-BORN CARPENTER NAMED BRIGHAM YOUNG, ONE OF THE CHURCH'S 12 APOSTLES.

HE HAD READ EXPLORERS' REPORTS OF THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE AND SAW IT AS A PERFECT SANCTUARY FOR HIS SAINTS--SHELTERED BY THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS, BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES.

HE WOULD TAKE HIS PEOPLE THERE.

IN EARLY 1846, SOME 10,000 LATTER-DAY SAINTS BEGAN LEAVING THEIR HOMES FOR THE WEST.

♪ NOW CONCERNING THIS STRANGE PEOPLE ♪ ♪ I'M NOW A-GOING TO SING ♪ ♪ FOR THE WAY THEY HAVE BEEN TREATED ♪ ♪ I THINK IT IS A SIN ♪ ♪ SING TITTERY IRIE AYE, SING TITTERY IRIE OH ♪ ♪ THEY'VE BEEN DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES ♪ ♪ AND AWAY FROM NAUVOO ♪ ♪ FOR TO SEEK ANOTHER HOME ♪ ♪ IN THE WILDERNESS ANEW ♪ ♪ SING TITTERY IRIE AYE AND SING TITTERY IRIE OH ♪ [DAYTON DUNCAN] BRIGHAM YOUNG'S BEEN CALLED AN AMERICAN MOSES, AND I THINK THAT'S PRETTY ACCURATE.

HE TOOK A PERSECUTED RELIGIOUS SECT, AND HE TOOK THEM INTO THE WILDERNESS AND BUILT A NEW PLACE FOR THEM TO LIVE IN THE DESERT, AND IN GOING THROUGH THESE TRIALS AS THEY WENT TO THE WEST, IT MADE THE MORMONS SEE THEMSELVES AS DIVINELY SEPARATED FROM EVERYONE ELSE AND DIVINELY PROTECTED, AND BRIGHAM YOUNG IS THE ONE WHO MADE THAT HAPPEN.

[NARRATOR] BY WINTER, THE MORMONS HAD REACHED THE WEST BANK OF THE MISSOURI RIVER, BUT THEY WERE STILL NEARLY 1,000 MILES FROM THEIR DESTINATION.

THERE, THEY BUILT A MAKESHIFT TOWN THEY CALLED WINTER QUARTERS, WHERE 700 OF THEM DIED IN THE BITTER COLD.

THE NEXT SPRING, BRIGHAM YOUNG HIMSELF LED FORTH A SMALL GROUP TO SELECT THE SITE ON WHICH ALL WOULD SETTLE.

HE CALLED IT THE PIONEER BAND.

IN LATE JULY, THEY GOT THEIR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.

[WILFORD WOODRUFF] "WE GAZED WITH WONDER AND ADMIRATION "UPON THE VAST, RICH, FERTILE VALLEY, "THE GRANDEST AND MOST SUBLIME SCENERY "PROBABLY THAT COULD BE OBTAINED ON THE GLOBE.

"WE CONTEMPLATED THAT IN NOT MANY YEARS "THE VALLEY WOULD BE CONVERTED INTO ORCHARD, VINEYARD, GARDENS, AND FIELDS BY THE INHABITANTS OF ZION."

[HARRIET YOUNG] "WE HAVE TRAVELED "1,500 MILES TO GET HERE, "AND I WOULD WILLINGLY TRAVEL "A THOUSAND MILES FARTHER TO GET WHERE IT LOOKED AS THOUGH A WHITE MAN COULD LIVE."

[TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS] THE MORMON PEOPLE WERE LOOKING FOR ISOLATION WHERE THEY COULD PRACTICE THEIR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS FREELY, AND WHEN THEY STEPPED FOOT INTO THE GREAT BASIN, THEY FOUND THE ISOLATION THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.

YOU CAN IMAGINE THE GREAT SALT LAKE, SEEING THIS HUGE BODY OF WATER AND DIPPING DOWN WITH CUPPED HANDS FOR A DRINK OF REFRESHMENT ONLY TO BE REPULSED.

I THINK THAT APPEALED TO THE MORMONS BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WOULD BOTHER THEM.

[NARRATOR] THEIR VERY FIRST DAY IN THE VALLEY, THE MORMONS DUG A FRESHWATER IRRIGATION DITCH AND STARTED PLANTING POTATOES, AND SOON, BRIGHAM YOUNG WAS PACING OFF THE STREETS AND SQUARES OF THE GREAT CITY HE PLANNED TO BUILD IN THE DESERT.

[BRIGHAM YOUNG] "WE HAVE BEEN THROWN "LIKE A STONE FROM A SLING, "AND WE HAVE LODGED IN THE GODLY PLACE "WHERE THE LORD WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO GATHER.

"IF THE LORD SHOULD SAY, BY HIS REVELATION, TH IS IS THE SPOT, THE SAINTS WOULD BE SATISFIED IF IT WAS A BARREN ROCK."

[MATILDA SAGER] "MY FATHER'S NAME WAS HENRY SAGER.

"HE MOVED FROM VIRGINIA TO OHIO "AND THEN TO INDIANA AND FROM THERE TO MISSOURI.

"IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, 1844, MY FATHER GOT THE OREGON FEVER, AND WE STARTED WEST."

[NARRATOR] HENRY SAGER HAD MOVED HIS GROWING FAMILY FOUR TIMES IN AS MANY YEARS, ALWAYS A LITTLE FARTHER WEST IN SEARCH OF LAND THAT WAS MORE FERTILE AND LESS EXPENSIVE.

BY 1844, THE SAGERS WERE IN ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, RESTLESS AND READY TO MOVE AGAIN.

2,000 MILES TO THE WEST WAS THE OREGON COUNTRY.

THE UNITED STATES CLAIMED IT.

SO DID GREAT BRITAIN, BUT THE UNITED STATES HAD THE PEOPLE TO SETTLE IT.

"EASTWARD I GO ONLY BY FORCE, "BUT WESTWARD I GO FREE.

"THE FUTURE LIES THAT WAY TO ME.

"I SHOULD NOT LAY SO MUCH STRESS ON THIS FACT "IF I DID NOT BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS "IS THE PREVAILING TENDENCY OF MY COUNTRYMEN.

I MUST WALK TOWARD OREGON, AND NOT TOWARD EUROPE."

HENRY DAVID THOREAU.

[NARRATOR] 1,000 AMERICANS HAD MADE THEIR WAY TO OREGON IN 1843 ALONE.

10,000 MORE WOULD FOLLOW OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

HENRY SAGER WAS DETERMINED TO JOIN THEM.

HE SIGNED ON WITH A GROUP CALLED THE INDEPENDENT COLONY-- 300 PEOPLE IN 72 WAGONS.

MOST WERE FAMILIES LIKE THE SAGERS AND THEIR SIX CHILDREN.

[JEFFREY] MR. SAGER WAS VERY KEEN TO GO WEST, AND HIS WIFE NAOMI WAS PREGNANT, AND SHE WAS NOT JUST BEGINNING HER PREGNANCY-- SHE WAS ALONG, AND SHE WAS MORE RELUCTANT TO GO, BUT GO THEY DID WITH ALL THEIR CHILDREN.

[NARRATOR] IN LATE APRIL, THE INDEPENDENT COLONY CROSSED THE MISSOURI RIVER AND SET OUT ON THE OREGON TRAIL.

IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN KANSAS, SPRING RAINS TURNED THE PRAIRIES TO MUD AND MADE RIVER CROSSINGS DANGEROUS.

THE CHILDREN, CONFINED TO THEIR COVERED WAGON FOR MILE AFTER LURCHING MILE, GREW SEASICK.

ONE NIGHT IN CAMP, WHILE WARMING THEMSELVES, THEY HUDDLED TOO CLOSE TO THE FLAMES, AND THEIR BEDCLOTHES CAUGHT ON FIRE.

FIVE WEEKS OUT, NAOMI SAGER GAVE BIRTH TO HER SEVENTH CHILD-- A BABY GIRL.

ON JULY 4th, THE CARAVAN RESTED NEAR THE PLATTE RIVER IN NEBRASKA, AND A YOUNG COUPLE IN THE WAGON TRAIN USED THE OCCASION TO GET MARRIED.

"THE WEATHER WAS FINE, AND ALL SEEMED TO ENJOY THEMSELVES.

"THERE WERE SEVERAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE COMPANY, "AND THESE SOUNDED OUT CLEAR AND SWEET ON THE EVENING AIR "WHILE GAY TALK AND MERRY LAUGHTER WENT ON AROUND THE CAMPFIRE."

CATHERINE SAGER.

[NARRATOR] FARTHER ON, THEY FORDED THE SOUTH PLATTE, AND HENRY SAGER LOST CONTROL OF HIS OXEN.

THE WAGON OVERTURNED, AND NAOMI WAS INJURED, BUT THEY KEPT GOING.

IN LATE JULY, THEY PASSED CHIMNEY ROCK AND SCOTTS BLUFF IN WHAT IS NOW WESTERN NEBRASKA.

ONE AFTERNOON, YOUNG CATHERINE, AGE 9, TRIED TO HOP OFF THE WAGON.

[CATHERINE SAGER] "THE HEM OF MY DRESS CAUGHT ON AN AX HANDLE, "PRECIPITATING ME UNDER THE WHEELS, "BOTH OF WHICH PASSED OVER ME "BEFORE FATHER COULD STOP THE OXEN.

"A GLANCE AT MY LIMB "DANGLING IN THE AIR AS HE RAN "REVEALED TO HIM THE EXTENT "OF THE INJURY I HAD RECEIVED, "AND IN A BROKEN VOICE, HE EXCLAIMED, MY DEAR CHILD, YOUR LEG IS BROKE ALL TO PIECES!"

[NARRATOR] FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP, CATHERINE EITHER RODE IN THE JOLTING WAGON OR HOBBLED ALONG BESIDE IT ON CRUTCHES.

THEY KEPT MOVING-- BEYOND FORT LARAMIE TO INDEPENDENCE ROCK, WHERE THE EMIGRANTS CARVED THEIR NAMES AS PROOF OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL PASSING.

ON AUGUST 23rd, THE SAGERS' WAGON CROSSED SOUTH PASS AND THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.

NOW THEY WERE BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND IN MEXICAN TERRITORY.

OREGON WAS STILL WEEKS AWAY.

A SICKNESS CALLED "CAMP FEVER" STRUCK THE CARAVAN.

TWO WOMEN DIED, THEN A LITTLE GIRL.

THEN HENRY SAGER FELL ILL. [CATHERINE] "WE CROSSED THE GREEN RIVER AND CAMPED ON THE BANK.

"LOOKING UPON ME AS I LAY HELPLESSLY BY HIS SIDE, "HE SAID, POOR CHILD.

WH AT WILL BECOME OF YOU?

"FATHER EXPIRED THE NEXT MORNING "AND WAS BURIED ON THE BANK OF THE GREEN RIVER, HIS COFFIN HASTILY DUG OUT OF THE TRUNK OF A TREE."

[NARRATOR] FATHERLESS, THE SAGERS PUSHED ON.

AT LAST THEY CROSSED THE BORDER INTO THE OREGON COUNTRY.

BUT ON THE DUSTY TRAIL ALONG THE SNAKE RIVER, NAOMI, TOO, BECAME DELIRIOUS WITH FEVER.

[CATHERINE] "WE TRAVELED OVER A VERY ROUGH ROAD, "AND SHE MOANED PITIFULLY ALL DAY.

"WHEN WE CAMPED FOR THE NIGHT, "HER PULSE WAS NEARLY GONE.

"SHE LIVED BUT A FEW MOMENTS MORE, "AND HER LAST WORDS WERE, "OH, HENRY, IF YOU ONLY KNEW HOW WE HAVE SUFFERED!"

[NARRATOR] THE CHILDREN BURIED THEIR MOTHER WRAPPED IN A BED SHEET IN A SHALLOW GRAVE ALONG THE TRAIL WITH WILLOW BRUSH AND A WOODEN HEADBOARD TO MARK THE SPOT.

[CATHERINE] "THE TEAMS WERE THEN HITCHED TO THE WAGON, "AND THE TRAIN DROVE ON, "LEAVING HER TO HER LONG SLEEP.

"THUS IN 26 DAYS, "BOTH OUR PARENTS WERE LAID IN THE GRAVE, "AND WE WERE ORPHANS-- "THE OLDEST, 14 YEARS OLD; AND THE YOUNGEST, 5 MONTHS OLD."

[JEFFREY] AND THERE WERE THESE SEVEN CHILDREN LEFT WITHOUT ANY RELATIVES IN THE WORLD.

THE WORD ORPHAN IS ALMOST INSUFFICIENT TO DESCRIBE THEIR SITUATION.

AND OF COURSE, THE OTHER THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT THEM IS THAT THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE WEST WAITING FOR THEM.

SO THESE CHILDREN WERE JUST ALONE.

[NARRATOR] IT WAS NOW LATE SEPTEMBER, AND THE FIRST SNOWS WERE FALLING IN THE MOUNTAINS.

UNDER THE CARE OF OTHER FAMILIES IN THE WAGON TRAIN, THE SEVEN SAGER CHILDREN PRESSED ON.

[CHANTING] IN EARLY OCTOBER, THEY REACHED CAYUSE COUNTRY.

ONE MEMBER OF THE CARAVAN RODE AHEAD TO THE MISSION RUN BY MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN TO TELL THEM THAT A NEEDY WAGON TRAIN WAS APPROACHING AND TO TALK WITH THEM ABOUT ADOPTING THE SAGER CHILDREN.

"APPLICATION HAS BEEN MADE "FOR US TO TAKE AN ORPHAN FAMILY OF SEVEN CHILDREN, "AS THEY HAVE NOT A RELATIVE IN THE COMPANY.

"WHAT WE SHALL DO, I CANNOT SAY.

"WE CANNOT SEE THEM SUFFER IF THE LORD CASTS THEM UPON US."

NARCISSA WHITMAN.

[NARRATOR] SINCE HER OWN DAUGHTER'S DEATH, TO EASE HER GRIEF, NARCISSA HAD TAKEN IN FOUR OTHER CHILDREN, INCLUDING THE DAUGHTER OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN JOE MEEK.

[JEFFREY] FOR NARCISSA, THE DEATH OF HER DAUGHTER ALICE WAS THE BEGINNING OF A REAL COLLAPSE-- A PHYSICAL AND A PSYCHOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN.

AND THEN WHEN THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVED, IT'S REALLY HER SALVATION.

SHE CAN RE-CREATE A VERY SATISFYING DOMESTIC LIFE AND REALLY TURN HER BACK ON THE REAL MISSION WORK THAT SHE CAME OUT TO DO.

[NARCISSA] "HUSBAND THOUGHT WE COULD GET ALONG "WITH ALL BUT THE BABY.

"HE DID NOT SEE HOW WE COULD TAKE THAT, "BUT I FELT THAT IF I MUST TAKE ANY, I WANTED HER AS A CHARM TO BIND THE REST TO ME."

[NARRATOR] THE WHITMANS SENT WORD BACK TO THE WAGON TRAIN THAT THEY WOULD TAKE ALL SEVEN.

A FEW DAYS LATER, AFTER SIX MONTHS AND 2,000 MILES, HENRY AND NAOMI SAGER'S CHILDREN FINALLY REACHED THEIR NEW HOME IN OREGON.

NARCISSA WHITMAN CAME OUT TO MEET THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME.

[CATHERINE] "SHE WAS A LARGE, WELL-FORMED WOMAN, "FAIR-COMPLEXIONED WITH BEAUTIFUL AUBURN HAIR, "NOSE RATHER LARGE, AND LARGE GRAY EYES.

"SHE HAD ON A DARK CALICO DRESS "AND A GINGHAM SUNBONNET, "WE THOUGHT, AS WE SHYLY LOOKED AT HER, THAT SHE WAS THE PRETTIEST WOMAN WE HAD EVER SEEN."

[DUNCAN] AMERICANS STARTED MOVING WEST FOR ALL THESE INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL REASONS-- LAND, CONVERTING INDIANS, FURS.

BUT EVERYWHERE THEY WENT, THE END RESULT WAS THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT INTO THE UNITED STATES.

DIDN'T MATTER WHY THEY WENT, ONCE THEY GOT THERE, THEY DECIDED, "THIS PLACE SHOULD BE PART OF THE UNITED STATES," AND IN DOING SO, THEY BROUGHT THE NATION WITH THEM.

THE NATION DIDN'T SEND THEM OUT.

THEY BROUGHT THE UNITED STATES WITH THEM.

"THE CALIFORNIOS INHABIT A COUNTRY "EMBRACING 400 OR 500 MILES OF SEACOAST "WITH SEVERAL HARBORS, "WITH FINE FORESTS IN THE NORTH, "THE WATERS FILLED WITH FISH, "AND THE PLAINS COVERED "WITH THOUSANDS OF HERDS OF CATTLE.

"BLESSED WITH A CLIMATE "THAN WHICH THERE COULD BE NO BETTER IN THE WORLD... "IN THE HANDS OF AN ENTERPRISING PEOPLE, WHAT A COUNTRY THIS MIGHT BE."

RICHARD HENRY DANA.

[NARRATOR] BY THE MID-1840s, LURED BY REPORTS OF FERTILE SOIL AND A HEALTHY CLIMATE, SOME 3,000 AMERICAN SETTLERS HAD FILED THROUGH THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS AND DOWN INTO CALIFORNIA'S SACRAMENTO VALLEY.

THE COMMANDER OF ALL MEXICAN TROOPS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO, BEGGED MEXICO CITY FOR THE SOLDIERS HE KNEW WOULD BE NECESSARY TO KEEP THE AMERICANS OUT.

VALLEJO BELONGED TO ONE OF THE OLDEST SPANISH FAMILIES IN THE AMERICAS.

MOST OF THE SONOMA VALLEY-- A QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRES-- BELONGED TO HIM.

BUT DESPITE HIS POSITION, THE GOVERNMENT IGNORED HIS PLEAS FOR TROOPS.

IT SEEMED TO VALLEJO AND HIS FELLOW CALIFORNIOS THAT MEXICO CITY WAS AS DISTANT AND ARBITRARY AS IT HAD BEEN TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS.

HE NOW FOUND HIMSELF EMBROILED IN REVOLTS AND COUNTER-REVOLTS AND INCREASING CALLS FOR CALIFORNIA'S INDEPENDENCE.

FINALLY, THE LEADING CALIFORNIOS GATHERED IN MONTEREY TO DISCUSS THEIR FUTURE.

ONE MAN FAVORED ANNEXATION BY FRANCE SINCE IT WAS A CATHOLIC COUNTRY.

ANOTHER THOUGHT CALIFORNIA SHOULD JOIN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

STILL OTHERS CALLED FOR A REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA.

VALLEJO HAD COME TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION.

"TO RELY ANY LONGER UPON MEXICO "TO GOVERN AND DEFEND US WOULD BE IDLE AND ABSURD."

"WHY SHOULD WE SHRINK FROM INCORPORATING OURSELVES "WITH THE UNITED STATES-- "THE HAPPIEST AND FREEST NATION IN THE WORLD, "DESTINED SOON TO BE THE MOST WEALTHY AND POWERFUL?

"WHEN WE JOIN OUR FORTUNES TO HERS, "WE SHALL NOT BECOME SUBJECTS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS."

MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO.

"THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS HAVE, "WITH A UNANIMITY UNPARALLELED, "DECLARED THAT THEY WILL BE REUNITED "TO THE GREAT REPUBLICAN FAMILY OF THE NORTH.

"WE ARE CHEERED BY THE HOPE "THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE US AND HAIL US WELCOME INTO THE GREAT FAMILY OF FREE MEN."

SAM HOUSTON, PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.

[NARRATOR] SAM HOUSTON HAD ALWAYS ASSUMED THAT TEXAS WOULD BECOME A STATE WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF HIS VICTORY AT SAN JACINTO.

BUT FOR SEVEN YEARS, CONGRESS REFUSED TO GRANT STATEHOOD TO TEXAS.

THE NORTHERN STATES FEARED ITS ADMISSION WOULD TIP THE PRECARIOUS BALANCE OF POWER TOWARD THE SLAVE STATES.

THEN IN 1844, JAMES KNOX POLK WAS NARROWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT.

HE WAS A HUMORLESS, HARD-WORKING DEMOCRAT FROM TENNESSEE, UTTERLY DETERMINED TO EXPAND THE UNITED STATES.

WITH HIS SUPPORT AND A COMPROMISE-- DEFTLY SIDESTEPPING THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY-- THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BECAME THE 38th STATE IN THE UNION.

SAM HOUSTON WAS NAMED ITS FIRST SENATOR.

PRESIDENT POLK NOW TURNED HIS ATTENTION TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.

HE THREATENED BRITAIN WITH WAR UNLESS IT GAVE UP ITS CLAIM, THEN SHREWDLY NEGOTIATED AN AGREEMENT THAT ADDED WHAT ARE NOW OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND IDAHO TO THE UNION.

BUT POLK WAS STILL NOT SATISFIED.

HE NOW WANTED NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA, AND WHEN MEXICO REFUSED TO SELL THE PROVINCES, HE USED A BORDER SKIRMISH ALONG THE RIO GRANDE TO PERSUADE CONGRESS TO DECLARE WAR.

[EXPLOSION] [GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING] THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR LASTED MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF-- A BLOODY STRUGGLE THAT COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES AND ENDED ONLY WHEN AMERICAN TROOPS FINALLY STORMED INTO MEXICO CITY.

IN LESS THAN A DOZEN YEARS, MEXICO HAD LOST HALF ITS TERRITORY-- THE UNITED STATES HAD GROWN BY MORE THAN A THIRD.

IN TEXAS, JUAN SEGUIN, WHO HAD FOUGHT AS HARD AS ANY MAN FOR INDEPENDENCE, WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF BEING MORE LOYAL TO MEXICO THAN TO TEXAS.

HE WAS FORCED TO SLIP SOUTH ACROSS THE BORDER-- "TO SEEK REFUGE," HE MOURNED, "AMONGST MY ENEMIES."

IN CALIFORNIA, MARIANO VALLEJO'S DREAMS OF A PEACEFUL ANNEXATION HAD ENDED WHEN AMERICAN SQUATTERS ARRESTED HIM IN HIS OWN HOUSE.

[MANUEL CRESCENCIO REJON] "OUR RACE, OUR UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE, "WILL NOW HAVE TO WANDER IN SEARCH OF HOSPITALITY "IN A STRANGE LAND.

"THE NORTH AMERICANS HATE US, "THEIR SPOKESMEN DEPRECATE US, "AND THEY CONSIDER US UNWORTHY TO FORM WITH THEM ONE NATION AND ONE SOCIETY."

[CHANTING] [NARRATOR] AFTER 10 YEARS IN OREGON, MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN HAD LARGELY ABANDONED THEIR WORK AMONG THE INDIANS IN FAVOR OF HELPING THE WAGON TRAINS THAT NOW ROLLED CEASELESSLY ACROSS CAYUSE LANDS.

[JEFFREY] I THINK THAT THE CAYUSE HATED NARCISSA, AND I THINK THAT WHEN NARCISSA TURNED HER BACK ON THE INDIANS AND WHEN SHE DEALT WITH THEM AS STERNLY AS SHE DID, WITH, I THINK FROM HER PERSPECTIVE, WITH ALL THE RIGHT MOTIVES-- YOU HAD TO TELL PEOPLE WHO WERE GOING TO HELL THEY WERE GOING TO HELL.

UM, THAT THEY CAME TO REALLY DESPISE HER.

WAY BACK IN THE EARLY '40s, THE INDIANS STARTED TELLING THE WHITMANS TO LEAVE.

"WE DON'T LIKE TO HEAR THIS BAD TALK.

LEAVE."

THE WHITMANS DIDN'T GO.

[NARRATOR] THREE YEARS AFTER THE SAGER CHILDREN ARRIVED, MEASLES CARRIED WEST WITH THE EMIGRANT TRAINS SWEPT THROUGH THE CAYUSE VILLAGES.

HALF THE TRIBE DIED-- INCLUDING MOST OF THE CHILDREN.

DESPITE MARCUS WHITMAN'S NURSING, RUMORS CIRCULATED AMONG THE GRIEVING CAYUSE THAT HE WAS SECRETLY SPREADING THE DISEASE, NOT TRYING TO CURE IT.

ONE AFTERNOON, THREE CAYUSES APPEARED AT THE DOOR AND ASKED TO SEE WHITMAN.

ONE OF THEM WAS THE CHIEF TILOUKAIKT.

HE HAD ONCE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED ACCEPTING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, BUT NOW HE HAD LOST THREE CHILDREN TO THE WHITE MAN'S SICKNESS.

WHEN HE GOT INSIDE THE HOUSE, HE AND THE OTHERS SHOT AND HACKED MARCUS WHITMAN TO DEATH.

[CATHERINE] "MOTHER WAS STANDING LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW "WHEN A BALL CAME THROUGH THE BROKEN PANE, "ENTERING HER RIGHT SHOULDER.

"SHE CLAPPED HER HAND TO THE WOUND "AND FELL BACKWARDS.

"SHE NOW FORGOT EVERYTHING "BUT THE POOR, HELPLESS CHILDREN DEPENDING ON HER, "AND SHE POURED OUT HER SOUL IN PRAYER FOR THEM.

"LORD, SAVE TH ESE LITTLE ONES!

WAS HER REPEATED CRY."

[NARRATOR] THE CAYUSE WARRIORS CARRIED THE WOUNDED NARCISSA OUT OF THE HOUSE ON A SETTEE, KILLED HER, THEN LASHED HER DEAD FACE.

THEN THEY SET THE HATED MISSION BUILDINGS ON FIRE.

BESIDES MARCUS AND NARCISSA, 11 OTHER WHITES WERE KILLED BEFORE IT WAS OVER, INCLUDING THE TWO SAGER BOYS.

JOE MEEK'S DAUGHTER, SICK WITH MEASLES AT THE TIME OF THE MASSACRE, DIED SOON AFTERWARDS.

SO DID HANNAH SAGER, AGE 6.

THE FOUR SURVIVING SAGER GIRLS WERE ORPHANS ONCE MORE.

[GUNSHOT] FRONTIER MILITIA PURSUED THE CAYUSE INTO THE MOUNTAINS.

FINALLY, FIVE CAYUSE WARRIORS, INCLUDING TILOUKAIKT, TURNED THEMSELVES IN SO THAT THE REST OF THEIR PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE HUNTED DOWN.

BEFORE HE WENT TO THE GALLOWS, SOMEONE ASKED TILOUKAIKT WHY HE HAD SURRENDERED.

"DID NOT YOUR MISSIONARIES TEACH US THAT CHRIST DIED TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE?"

HE ANSWERED.

"SO WE DIE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE."

[CHANTING] [CATHERINE] "SURELY IF THE WAY OF THE PIONEER "IS HARD AND BESET WITH DANGERS, "AT LEAST THE LONG YEARS BRING AT LAST "THE REALIZATION THAT LIFE, PATIENTLY AND HOPEFULLY LIVED, "BRINGS ITS OWN SENSE OF HAVING BEEN PART "OF THE ONWARD MOVE TO BETTER THINGS-- NOT FOR SELF ALONE, BUT FOR OTHERS."

[NARRATOR] CATHERINE SAGER, WHO HAD SURVIVED THE MASSACRE, WOULD REMAIN IN OREGON, WHERE SHE MARRIED A METHODIST MINISTER AND BORE HIM EIGHT CHILDREN-- ONE MORE THAN HER MOTHER NAOMI HAD BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD.

ON JULY 4, 1848, IN WASHINGTON, D.C., THOUSANDS TURNED OUT TO SEE PRESIDENT POLK LAY THE CORNERSTONE OF A NEW MONUMENT-- A GIANT STONE SHAFT MODELED AFTER THE OBELISKS OF ANCIENT EGYPT TO HONOR THE NATION'S FIRST PRESIDENT.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S AMERICA HAD ENDED AT THE MISSISSIPPI.

BUT NOW, AS POLK SPOKE TO THE CROWD, THE AMERICAN FLAG FLEW OVER THE ALAMO IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, ABOVE THE PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS IN SANTA FE, OVER A GROWING MORMON SETTLEMENT IN THE GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY, AT SPANISH RANCHES IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA, AND NEAR THE RUINS OF THE WHITMAN MISSION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.

POLK'S NATION WAS A CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES THAT STRETCHED FROM SEA TO SEA AND NOW ENCOMPASSED THE WEST.

IN ONLY A GENERATION, BY ENTERPRISE AND INTIMIDATION, BY SACRIFICE AND BY OUTRIGHT CONQUEST, AMERICANS HAD SEIZED IT ALL.

BACK IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL, STANDING NEXT TO THE PRESIDENT AT THE CEREMONY WAS THE OLD MOUNTAIN MAN JOE MEEK.

HIS FONDEST WISH HAD COME TRUE.

BORN IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA, HE WAS NOW THE SHERIFF OF A BRAND-NEW WASHINGTON COUNTY IN OREGON TERRITORY.

A MONTH LATER, EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS ARRIVED FROM THIS NEWEST SECTION OF THE COUNTRY.

IN CALIFORNIA, ON A STREAM NAMED THE AMERICAN RIVER, GOLD HAD BEEN DISCOVERED.

NOTHING IN THE WEST WOULD EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.