Black Far West - Une contre-histoire de l'Ouest

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,160 NARRATOR: The Wild West is one of the most powerful myths in the world. 3 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,920 A world of cowboys and Indians, 4 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,520 which for more than a century has populated our imagination. 5 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:39,920 A legend manufactured by Hollywood, 6 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,600 invariably with white heroes, fighting against those 7 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,480 who were once called 'redskins'. 8 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,160 But it is time to tell the other side of the myth. 9 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:59,240 In 1875, one in four cowboys were black. 10 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,440 There were African Americans in the Wild West 11 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,080 and there were many of them. 12 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,400 By the hundreds of thousands, 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,800 they too wrote the pages of the national American novel. 14 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,360 They provide a fresh perspective 15 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,440 on the brutal overpowering of an entire continent. 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,480 In this new history of the Wild West, 17 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,440 each iconic figure has a double, 18 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,680 a black incarnation. 19 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,120 The sheriff. 20 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,560 The stagecoach driver. 21 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,120 The cowboy. 22 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,520 MAN: "I have decided to write the record of slave and cowboy. 23 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,280 "My long horsehide lariat near my hand, 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,520 "I felt I could defy the world." 25 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,880 American pioneers went west in search of adventure and wealth. 26 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,120 Among them, the blacks sought even more - freedom. 27 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,440 Through half a century of adventures, 28 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:11,960 their astonishing trajectories draw another history of the Wild West. 29 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,040 Summer 1955. 30 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,000 John Wayne is starring in The Searchers. 31 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,160 The conservative star is at the height of his popularity, 32 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,360 but does John Wayne know that he is playing a black man? 33 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,400 His character was based on the true story of Britton Johnson, 34 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,680 a former slave who went in search of his wife and two children 35 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,680 who had been kidnapped by the Kiowa Indians. 36 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,160 (WAR CRY) 37 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,560 Today, John Ford's masterpiece is considered 38 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,640 the greatest Western ever made. 39 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,480 It perfectly portrays the violence of the time... 40 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:16,840 ..while concealing the fact 41 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,400 that an African American is hiding behind John Wayne. 42 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,880 ART: To be an American hero, you had to be white. 43 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,480 You know, that was the bottom line. 44 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,120 Everybody else, African Americans, Mexican Americans, 45 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,040 Native Americans, Asian Americans, 46 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,520 they were not considered. 47 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,880 The history of the West is not limited 48 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,440 to this eternal stereotypical duel 49 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,480 between the 'redskins', as they were called at the time, 50 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,640 and the 'palefaces', who looked like John Wayne. 51 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,760 The reality is more complex. 52 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,240 It must be reconstructed 53 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,280 not just with two players, 54 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:13,760 but with three. 55 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,560 (DRAMATIC WESTERN MUSIC) 56 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,960 The United States, through most of his history... 57 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,720 ..was based on a principle called white supremacy. 58 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,760 Whites accepted the notion that they were in charge 59 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,840 and that they should be in charge. 60 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:41,520 And if they are in charge and should be in charge, 61 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,000 why should they care about anybody else? 62 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,720 History has been whitewashed, 63 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:58,120 without realising that this white, this whiteness, 64 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,000 was only an imaginary colour, 65 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:00,800 was only an imaginary colour, 66 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,720 a political construction. 67 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,000 A way for some to consider themselves superior to all others. 68 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,280 ANGELA: We participated in the settling of the West, 69 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:34,320 and our story needs to be told. 70 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,760 The part of our story has a little bit of a different twist 71 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,840 because we were former slaves. 72 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:42,720 And this is the first time 73 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,160 that we were affording the opportunity 74 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,920 to experience real freedom. 75 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,920 (JAUNTY MUSIC) 76 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,960 This story begins with a celebration. 77 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,840 We are in 1865. 78 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,240 After four years of deadly conflict, 79 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,680 the Civil War finally ends 80 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,640 with the victory of the abolitionists. 81 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,560 All slaves are emancipated. 82 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:19,360 But few freedmen have enough money to buy their own farm. 83 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,480 Where to live? 84 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,240 On what land? 85 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,800 Many of them leave to try their luck in the Wild West. 86 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,080 When slavery is abolished, you got 4 million free blacks. 87 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,080 What do you do? 88 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,520 The plantation owners are not going to give you any money. 89 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,720 They're not going to give you any land. 90 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,760 They will hire you back and let you live in the old slave cabin 91 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,440 and do the same work you did when you were a slave 92 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,520 on the same piece of land and pay you practically nothing. 93 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:07,960 And that happened a lot. 94 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,520 Freed slaves now have to rent the land 95 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,200 that they have always cultivated. 96 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,600 They also need seeds, ploughs and mules. 97 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,440 They soon find themselves in debt... 98 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,000 ..and economic slavery replaces the slavery of yesterday. 99 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,360 John Solomon Lewis. 100 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,920 I am more and more in debt. 101 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,800 I will go somewhere else and try to make headway 102 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,600 like white working men. 103 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,920 The man I rented from got very mad and said to me, 104 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,040 "If you try that job, you will get your head shot away." 105 00:07:57,680 --> 00:07:59,560 (DISTANT SHOUTING) 106 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,840 (LOUDER SHOUTING, GUNSHOTS) 107 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,240 A new violence breaks out against the former slaves. 108 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,360 In reaction to the 13th amendment abolishing slavery, 109 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,160 militias go on the rampage. 110 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,280 A secret organisation is created at the end of 1865 111 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,120 to impose white supremacy by force. 112 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,600 ANGELA: One word describes it all, and that's fear. 113 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,160 People were afraid. 114 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,800 White people were afraid that there was going to be retaliation. 115 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,080 And blacks were afraid because they didn't know where to go. 116 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:49,040 They didn't know who they could trust. 117 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:50,400 Everything was based on fear. 118 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,640 You also had the Ku Klux Klan 119 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,840 and other terrorist organisations in the South 120 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,240 killing people who tried to rock the boat, 121 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,400 who wanted to vote, who demanded equality under the law. 122 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,480 And the federal government wasn't doing a whole heck of a lot 123 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,480 to protect people in the South from the Ku Klux Klan. 124 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,880 Letter to the Governor of Alabama. 125 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,000 MAN: "I'm afraid to leave town and in constant dread of being murdered. 126 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,080 "This state of things cannot long continue. 127 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,400 "Either we must have protection or leave." 128 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,400 To the Governor of South Carolina. 129 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,160 "On Friday night, there came a crowd of men to my house, 130 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,760 "calling, knocking, climbing and shoving at the door. 131 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,320 "It is a plot to drive me out of the country 132 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,320 "because I am a schoolteacher. 133 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,320 "Please, your honour, send some protection up here." 134 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:57,920 It becomes necessary to flee. 135 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,000 The West then appears as a promised land, 136 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,480 The West then appears as a promised land, 137 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,680 the home of those who were soon to be called the Exodusters. 138 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:10,320 QUINTARD: For many of the black people who came west, 139 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:15,280 there was this dual promise, the promise of land AND freedom. 140 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,600 And so there's a push and pull factor. 141 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:22,760 There's the push of racism, which is forcing them out, 142 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,080 but there's the pull of Kansas, the lure of Kansas, 143 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,080 that's seen as a better place. 144 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,080 (MEN SING) 145 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,640 The exodus of black families from the South begins. 146 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:42,560 In 1879, 20,000 freedmen leave the South. 147 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:46,320 John Solomon Lewis, his wife and their four children 148 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:47,840 are on the road. 149 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,960 (SHIP HORN BLARES) 150 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,240 JOHN: "When I landed on the soil of Kansas, 151 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,600 "I looked on the ground and I said, 'This is free ground.'" 152 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,360 (CHURCH BELL RINGS) 153 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,720 "Then I looked within my heart 154 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,880 "and I wondered 155 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,280 "why was I never free before?" 156 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,520 The promised land slips away from the Exodusters. 157 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,760 There are no trees on the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, 158 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:02,600 and the Exodusters often have neither tools nor timber. 159 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:15,360 ANGELA: When that first large group arrived in September of 1877, 160 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,480 they were living in dugouts, you know, earth homes. 161 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,880 You would dig down into the ground and into the knoll 162 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,800 and, um, you'd clear it all out, like a gopher. Yeah. 163 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,800 And you would live in there, holes in the ground. 164 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,280 This was an environment that was... some people would consider hostile 165 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,200 compared to the way they had lived, even as slaves. 166 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,160 So it's very hard. 167 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,240 But that tells you the determination of the people that did it. 168 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,560 About 50 black towns sprang up. 169 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,000 One of the most famous is called Nicodemus. 170 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,520 Williana Hickman remembers her first impressions 171 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,720 when she arrived there with her six children in the spring of 1878. 172 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,480 "I looked with all the eyes I had. 173 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,200 "I said, 'Where is Nicodemus? I don't see it.' 174 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:34,320 "My husband pointed out various smokes coming out of the ground 175 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,640 "and said, 'That is Nicodemus.' 176 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,480 "The families lived in dugouts. 177 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,120 "The scenery was not at all inviting, and I began to cry." 178 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:59,000 WOMAN: # Amazing grace 179 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:03,040 # How sweet 180 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,680 # The sound 181 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,240 # That saved 182 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,840 # A wretch 183 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,080 # Like me MAN: # Me 184 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,760 # I once 185 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,040 # Was lost 186 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:31,520 # But now I'm found 187 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,880 # Was blind 188 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,800 # But now 189 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,840 # I see. # 190 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,680 Kansas is not quite the promised land of the freedmen's dreams 191 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,200 but it's one of the places where a new profession is emerging 192 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,680 for young African Americans - 193 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,440 cowboy. 194 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,560 Yeeha! 195 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,240 Texas ranchers, who can sell their meat for ten times as much 196 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:17,800 in the northern states, 197 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,600 decide to move their huge herds to where the railways stop, 198 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,520 to Abilene and Dodge City in Kansas 199 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,880 and to Denver in Colorado. 200 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,320 Among the thousands of cowboys they hire is Nat Love... 201 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,160 ..the only black cowboy to have written an account 202 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:38,920 of his incredible life. 203 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,720 "I started out for the first time alone 204 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,400 "in a world I knew very little about. 205 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,240 "I was at that time about 15 years old. 206 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,720 "Hard work and farm life had made me strong and hardy. 207 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,960 "I eventually brought up at Dodge City, Kansas. 208 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,240 "At that time, it was a typical Far West city 209 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:20,920 "with a great many saloons, dance halls and gambling houses. 210 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,240 "And very little of anything else." 211 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,200 (JAUNTY SALON MUSIC PLAYS) 212 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,200 When he arrives in Dodge City, 213 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,520 Nat Love spots a cowboy and asks him for a job. 214 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,160 He is immediately hired for $30 a month. 215 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,880 "There were several coloured cowboys and good ones too. 216 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:19,000 "The wild cowboy, prancing horses, and the wildlife generally, 217 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,280 "I was very fond of all these things. 218 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:24,880 "They all had their attractions for me 219 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,320 "and I decided to try for a place with them." 220 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,440 In fact, the cowboy profession had come about 221 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,520 a long time before Nat Love discovered freedom. 222 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,840 In the days of slavery, it was mainly blacks 223 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,920 who looked after the herds on the ranches in Texas. 224 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,160 The quintessential example of freedom for Americans 225 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:58,640 is the cowboy. 226 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,920 And yet very few Americans know that the first cowboys 227 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,680 were actually enslaved blacks. 228 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,760 The word 'cowboy' came from somebody who was handling cattle 229 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,120 and they called them 'boy' instead of 'men' 230 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:16,880 to kind of keep them subservient 231 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,440 and let them know that they weren't equal to the men who were Caucasians 232 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,520 on the farm or on the plantation. 233 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,200 Nat Love was proud to be a cowboy. 234 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:34,240 On 4 July 1876, he becomes a rodeo champion. 235 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,120 The United States is now 100 years old. 236 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,560 The telephone has just been invented. 237 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,560 And Nat Love has no idea what the future will hold. 238 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,440 When we'll meet up with him again, the world will have changed. 239 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,600 The West offers another outlet for young African Americans - 240 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,160 the army. 241 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,560 In 1866, after the Civil War, 242 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,320 Congress creates four black units. 243 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,520 This is the first time in American history 244 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,600 that black soldiers become a permanent part of the army. 245 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,920 With the 9th and 10th Cavalry, 246 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:46,280 20% of the American cavalry is now African American 247 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,000 and they are sent to the Wild West. 248 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,920 Vance Hunter Marchbank. 249 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,960 We were coming out of a great civil war. 250 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:03,360 We were 4 million slaves, penniless, uneducated, landless. 251 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,200 Should I endure life in the South, or should I take my chances 252 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:11,960 in an unknown world? 253 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,360 I would much rather be a soldier than anything else. 254 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,400 ANGELA: They got a uniform that made them proud 255 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,440 to be a being part of this nation. 256 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:28,760 They got three meals a day, 257 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,000 even though they may have eaten hardtack and spoiled pork. 258 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,440 They got a horse, to go the West and be a part of that. 259 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,000 They got paid! 260 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,720 It gave them a sense of pride. 261 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,120 Private Charles Creek. 262 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,600 I thought there must be a better livin' in this world. 263 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,400 I got tired of looking mules in the face sunrise to sunset. 264 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,240 They are soon known as the Buffalo Soldiers. 265 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,760 (BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS' 'BUFFALO SOLDIER' PLAYS) 266 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,560 Bob Marley pays tribute to them in this song written in 1978. 267 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,560 # Buffalo Soldier 268 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,080 # In the heart of America 269 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,000 # Stolen from Africa 270 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,560 # Brought to America 271 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,880 # Said he was fighting on arrival 272 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,200 # Fighting for survival 273 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,800 # Said he, woe yoy yoy, woe yoy you yo 274 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,600 # Woe yoy yoy yo, yoy yoy yoy yo... # 275 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,360 The American West lacks both infrastructure and security. 276 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:57,240 The country desperately needs soldiers to tame these remote lands. 277 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,960 The role of the Buffalo Soldiers is to protect the population 278 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,560 but also to ensure the flow of mail and trains. 279 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:17,000 The black soldiers soon become the armed wing of the federal government, 280 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,360 which uses them to do their dirty work, 281 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,200 expelling the Native Americans from their land, 282 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,040 including by force of arms, 283 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:26,920 and collecting the dead. 284 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:33,280 From then on, it is black skins against red skins 285 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,720 under the orders of the white skins. 286 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,640 The extermination of the buffalo 287 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,920 accompanies the American Indian genocide. 288 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,400 Henry McComb, 10th Cavalry Private. 289 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,480 We made the West. 290 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,440 We defeated the hostile tribes of Indians 291 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,600 and made the country safe to live in. 292 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,040 What kind of soldiers are you? 293 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,160 Buffalo Soldiers, Sergeant! 294 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:19,880 What kind of a soldier is that? 295 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,200 Best damn kind there is! 296 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,280 (MAN SINGS HAUNTING MELODY) 297 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,520 (SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT) 298 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,320 Are you a slave? 299 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,400 No. I'm not a slave. 300 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,360 (MEN SPEAK IN LOCAL DIALECT) 301 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,120 You WERE a slave. 302 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:57,800 Yes, I was. 303 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,880 Why do you fight for those who were your masters? 304 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,160 Come tomorrow, son... 305 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:11,560 ..I will kill 306 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,640 every man, woman and child in this canyon. 307 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:20,960 Why do they fight? 308 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,000 I can speculate. 309 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,240 Again, part of it is the pay, because it's a regular job. 310 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,560 Part of it, let's be honest, 311 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,880 part of it is that sometimes, 312 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,280 Buffalo Soldiers actually hate Indians. 313 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,520 Not all of them, but some of them do hate Indians. 314 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,560 We tend to focus on the fact that whites are racists. 315 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:42,600 Yes, whites are racist. 316 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:47,240 But understand that that racism percolates down. 317 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,800 And so what happens then 318 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,120 is that blacks know the whites hate them 319 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:56,520 but blacks also recognise that the whites hate the Indians, 320 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,000 and often, the blacks will begin to hate the Indians as well. 321 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,960 There is a hierarchy, and you always want to situate yourself... 322 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,840 If you're a person of colour, you want to situate yourself 323 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,520 as close to the top of the hierarchy as possible. 324 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,960 ART: The black man took the land from the red man 325 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:21,840 and gave it to the white man. 326 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,120 It wasn't just blacks they used. 327 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,720 They used other Indian tribes against other Indian tribes. 328 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,480 So, you know, divide and conquer. 329 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,120 That, you know... 330 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:35,960 ..that's what they did and that's what they utilised. 331 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,400 From the first centuries of colonisation, 332 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,840 the Anglo-Europeans take care to avoid any alliance 333 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,680 between blacks and native Americans. 334 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,440 To reinforce the slave system, 335 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:59,240 they soon encourage the native Americans to own black slaves. 336 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,000 For the first American president, George Washington, 337 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,960 the aim is to 'civilise' the native Americans. 338 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,000 Because they agree to adopt Western customs, 339 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,640 five Native American tribes - 340 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,080 the Cherokee, Chickasaws, 341 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,120 Choctaws, 342 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:30,800 Creeks, and Seminoles - 343 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,840 are now considered 'civilised' by white society. 344 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,520 Among the criteria for so-called civilisation 345 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:42,080 includes living in a brick or wooden house, 346 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,840 eating at set times, 347 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,400 and also, owning slaves. 348 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:52,480 A lot of them, er, became slave holders 349 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,800 because they wanted to emulate the Caucasians. 350 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,000 So you had all of these things - 351 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,880 Christianity, slave holding, 352 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,280 the ability to read and write, becoming educated. 353 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,760 All of that made you civilised. 354 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,520 Right, right, what's civilised? Yeah. 355 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:14,640 America is supposed to be civilised 356 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,720 but, you know, some of the stuff they do is not very civilised. 357 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,920 QUINTARD: These tribes became, quote, 'civilised' 358 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:28,520 in the parlance of the time. 359 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,200 The Cherokees were example. 360 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,960 They developed a constitution, they developed a government, 361 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:35,600 they lived in big houses. 362 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,040 They had slaves for these houses. 363 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:43,160 If you saw a Cherokee plantation in Georgia in the 1830s, 364 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,360 it would be identical to a white plantation. 365 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:51,560 This is the home of Greenwood Le Fleur 366 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,480 of the Choctaw tribe. 367 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,680 He owns about 400 black slaves. 368 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:01,640 Joseph Vann, Cherokee, about 100 slaves. 369 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,560 Holmes Colbert, Chickasaw, eight slaves and their children. 370 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,640 Peter Pitchlynn, left in Choctaw costume, 371 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,400 right in European dress, 50 slaves. 372 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:18,480 John Ridge, Cherokee, 373 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,280 about 30 slaves. 374 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:28,320 In 1830, it was estimated that 10% of the Cherokee had black slaves. 375 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:34,920 But blacks and native Americans could have invented a different story. 376 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,880 I wish I could say that the alliance would rise. 377 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:39,960 It sounds logical, it sound plausible. 378 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,080 There are these two groups, you know? 379 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,880 Blacks are oppressed. Indians are oppressed. 380 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,320 You would think that they would get together, but they didn't. 381 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:48,400 You would think that they would get together, but they didn't. 382 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:12,080 1875, in the Indian Territory which will later become Oklahoma. 383 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,600 This is where the five main Native American tribes 384 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,720 are grouped together, living according to their own laws. 385 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,960 Out of reach of the white justice system, 386 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,560 the wildest place of the Wild West becomes a criminal's paradise. 387 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,400 Amongst the many outlaws who have made this their home 388 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,200 is Cherokee Bill and the Dalton Brothers. 389 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:03,280 Indian Territory had become a haven for outlaws 390 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,560 because there was no real law there. 391 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,960 The tribal police 392 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,960 could not arrest whites. 393 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,120 They were not of their jurisdiction. 394 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,200 This is where Bass Reeves settled. 395 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:29,200 The former runaway slave will become the outlaws' worst nightmare. 396 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,360 ART: I would say this - Bass Reeves was probably 397 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,200 the greatest gun fighter in the Wild West. Period. 398 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,600 There's no other lawman on note that killed that many people. 399 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,920 If you try to get in a gunfight with Bass, 400 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,800 it was tantamount to committing suicide 401 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,960 because he was so good, he could shoot so good. 402 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,560 They said he shots folks at a quarter of a mile. 403 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,840 So I would put him at the top of the gunfighters in the Wild West. 404 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,040 Ruthless, incorruptible, 405 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,880 Bass Reeves kept his cool under pressure. 406 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,560 Over the course of his prolific career, 407 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,120 he will arrest more than 3,000 criminals 408 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,400 and kill 14 of them. 409 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,480 (WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE PLAYS) 410 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,520 VOICEOVER: The Lone Ranger! 411 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:32,040 This Zorro-like American vigilante was the most famous hero 412 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:33,720 of his time. 413 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,760 Like Bass Reeves, the Lone Ranger rode a proud white stallion 414 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,800 and wore a disguise to catch bandits. 415 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,400 But these two heroes had something else in common - 416 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,520 their faces were black. 417 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,400 When the Lone Ranger started in the 1930s, 418 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,200 he had a black mask that covered his whole face. 419 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,600 (WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE PLAYS) 420 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,520 But why hide the fact that the hero is black 421 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,440 by putting a black mask on a white actor? 422 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:11,960 Black people were invisible. 423 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,760 So they wore a mask anyway, all the time. 424 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,200 Psychologically, to white people, we were invisible. 425 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,720 We weren't seen, we weren't seen as human beings. 426 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,160 We weren't seen, we were just, you know... 427 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:30,120 We were like ghosts, living ghosts walking up and down the street. 428 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,120 (JAZZY MUSIC) 429 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,320 It was not until 1974 430 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,840 that Mel Brooks directed a black sheriff. 431 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:45,520 He no longer hid his face but he still wore the mask of irony. 432 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:51,480 When Blazing Saddles came out, it was a spoof on the Wild West, 433 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:55,800 and they had a black man who was hired to be a sheriff of a town. 434 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,240 (BAND PLAYS FANFARE) 435 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,160 CROWD: Hooray! 436 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,880 Hooray! Hooray! 437 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,480 (BAND STOPS ABRUPTLY) 438 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,600 (SILENCE) 439 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,400 (HORSE HOOVES CLOP) 440 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,560 As chairman of the welcoming committee, 441 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:22,360 it is my privilege to extend the laurel and hearty handshake 442 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:23,880 to our new... 443 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,280 ..ni... (CRASH!) 444 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:31,000 ART: The majority of people had never heard of black marshals 445 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,600 in the Wild West. 446 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,640 Didn't have a clue. And some people even thought it was a joke. 447 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,360 Because they said the only thing they had to relate this to 448 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,120 was Blazing Saddles, 449 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,560 where a black man was a lawman in the West. And that was a comedy. 450 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,800 What does the Lone Ranger's mask really hide? 451 00:33:58,080 --> 00:33:59,120 Alright. 452 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:02,120 Let's do this. 453 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,760 In the 2013 version, the real star of the film 454 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,520 is Bass Reeves' Native American sidekick, played by Johnny Depp. 455 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:12,560 Nobody move. 456 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,680 The Lone Ranger is still white and rather stupid. 457 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:16,840 What's with the mask? 458 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,120 See! I told you. I feel ridiculous. 459 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,560 Stupid white man. 460 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:33,880 But let's get back to the real story. 461 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,320 The rest of Bass Reeves' life says a lot about America. 462 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,160 At the turn of the 20th century, 463 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,440 everything falls apart for him - 464 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,560 his career, his freedom and his family. 465 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:57,000 In 1902, his sense of justice is put to the test. 466 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,080 In 1902, he had to arrest his son for murder. 467 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,480 His son committed domestic murder. 468 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,160 And that was probably one of the toughest times of his life 469 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,480 where he had to go out and arrest his son. 470 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,760 He said, "I'll take the writ, the warrant." 471 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,200 And Benny was tried for murder 472 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,200 and received a life sentence. 473 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:33,400 In a sad irony, it is thanks to the law that he so cherished 474 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:35,720 that he will lose his own freedom. 475 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:46,120 In 1889, the federal government opens up native Americans land 476 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:47,480 for settlement. 477 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:55,160 At noon on April 22, thousands of pioneers gather 478 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,120 to await the opening of the Indian Territory. 479 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:05,880 When the cannon sounds, thousands of people rush in 480 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,320 to claim a piece of land for themselves. 481 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,240 For Bass Reeves, this influx of white people 482 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:30,200 will change everything. 483 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:37,240 In 1907, the Indian Territory officially becomes Oklahoma. 484 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:41,800 The new government immediately enacts segregation laws. 485 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,080 This is the end of the mixed population 486 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,080 that had characterised the territory. 487 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,800 Bass Reeves is no longer allowed to be deputy marshal 488 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:55,760 and has to resign. 489 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:57,320 It's the law. 490 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:11,280 After working for our country for 32 years... 491 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:16,160 ..suddenly he is denied 492 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,800 rights of a basic citizen. 493 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,680 Even though all those years 494 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,920 he had put his heart into making our nation better 495 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,400 and bringing all these bad guys to justice. 496 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:36,000 But that's how he was repaid. 497 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,520 Bass couldn't even be buried in the city cemetery 498 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,920 due to the laws that were discriminatory 499 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:48,840 against African Americans. 500 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:52,920 January 12, 1910. 501 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:54,920 The day that Bass Reeves died, 502 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,640 the largest comet that appeared in the 20th century, 503 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,560 appeared in the sky on the day that he died. 504 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,160 Going west to live in freedom, only to end up in segregation 505 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:37,960 is also the story of Mary Fields, who touched Gary Cooper's heart. 506 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,120 Icon of the American Western, Gary Cooper, 507 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:45,360 who won an Oscar for High Noon, 508 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,240 is one of the few Hollywood actors who grew up in the Wild West. 509 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,840 Gary Cooper met Mary Fields when he was a child 510 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,600 and she made a strong impression on him. 511 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,320 In 1959, he writes about her in Ebony, 512 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,760 a magazine for the black community. 513 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,680 The legend of Hollywood and the reality of the West collide. 514 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,400 Mary Fields? 515 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:21,680 She was 6 feet tall, weighing well over 200 pounds, 516 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,520 she smoked cigars. 517 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,160 She wore a 38 Smith & Wesson strapped under her apron. 518 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,800 Mary Fields's destiny was exceptional 519 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:34,440 but, as Gary Cooper writes, 520 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,560 it was emblematic of all black women of the Wild West. 521 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:44,240 Born a slave, Mary lived to become one of the freest souls 522 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:45,680 ever to draw a breath. 523 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:52,640 Mary Fields works for a while on the Mississippi River 524 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:56,000 and heads across the United States to Montana. 525 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,640 And in 1895, at the age of 60, 526 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:07,920 she applies for a job with the United States Postal Service. 527 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:11,960 Gary Cooper. 528 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,680 She was a stagecoach driver, the first black woman 529 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:18,600 ever to drive a US mail route. 530 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,800 Maybe because she was a Negro, she was never bothered by Indians. 531 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,800 It is there, as in all the stories of the Wild West, 532 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,440 that the legend of Mary Fields begins. 533 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,560 It is said that in the saloons where she was a regular, 534 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,480 she liked to make a bet - five dollars and a glass of whiskey 535 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:46,880 that she could knock out any cowboy with one punch. 536 00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:53,240 Gradually, her fiery temperament made her a local celebrity. 537 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,520 We know today that the legend of Mary Fields 538 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:01,760 stretches the truth by far. 539 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:06,120 And perhaps, that is why she is a true Western heroine. 540 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:09,560 Her legend goes well beyond the reality. 541 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:22,880 She wasn't six foot. She wasn't 200 pounds. 542 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:25,760 She was a crack shot rifle woman, 543 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:29,360 and she probably was strong enough to beat two men up 544 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,960 but I don't think she ever did. 545 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:37,040 So, I guess one of those is accurate. (CHUCKLES) 546 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:39,800 Mary Fields is well liked, 547 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,800 even becoming the baseball team's mascot, 548 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,200 and she seems to have the unanimous support of the community. 549 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,600 But when the town of Cascade becomes a city, able to pass its own laws, 550 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:55,600 Mary Fields's free ways begin to divide the population. 551 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:01,640 The first law they make is a law 552 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,520 that all women 553 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,880 are not allowed to smoke or drink 554 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,800 and they are not allowed in the saloon. 555 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:14,440 They made that law specifically for Mary Field 556 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,200 so that she could no longer go into the saloon. 557 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:25,560 Mary Fields continued to smoke cigars until the end of her life in 1914. 558 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:31,880 Her death coincided with the end of the Wild West. 559 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:52,080 So-called civilisation was on the march. 560 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:08,320 As the new world bristled with rails and barbed wire, 561 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:10,520 horses were replaced by motors. 562 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,320 And city dwellers only tolerated cows on their plates. 563 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:20,000 For the former slaves, the West and its promise of freedom 564 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,560 For the former slaves, the West and its promise of freedom 565 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,560 were gone for good. 566 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:31,560 When we meet Nat Love again, he too is looking back. 567 00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:36,400 History seems to have changed direction. 568 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:41,920 The big-hearted cowboy has finally taken a new job on the railway. 569 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:46,920 He is a baggage porter, then a doorman, 570 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:50,120 but his heart is still on the prairie. 571 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,680 "To us wild cowboys of the range, 572 00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:01,440 "used to the wild and unrestricted life of the boundless plains, 573 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,040 "the new order of things did not appeal. 574 00:44:06,240 --> 00:44:09,440 "Many of us became disgusted since quitting the wild life 575 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,400 "for the pursuits of our more civilised brothers." 576 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,200 No sooner than the Wild West had been settled, 577 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,840 it was transformed into a spectacle. 578 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:28,320 It was now up to the movies to tell the story of the Wild West, 579 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:30,960 to distort it and embellish it. 580 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:35,960 In western after western, 581 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,880 the racial and economic violence of the Wild West 582 00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:42,520 was presented as a victory of civilisation over barbarism. 583 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:49,920 In this version of history, 584 00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:53,520 the presence of African Americans was not necessary. 585 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:58,400 We are discovering today that this erasure was nothing but storytelling, 586 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,080 a narrative written by the dominant powers of the time, 587 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:06,440 a legend imposed to keep everyone in their place. 588 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:10,120 I grew up watching Cowboy and Indians, 589 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:12,200 and either I had to be a Indian 590 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,760 or I had to be a cowboy who was a white man, 591 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,880 and so I had no perspective about who I was. 592 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,160 If you don't tell of person their own history 593 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:23,520 or things that happened to their people in the past, 594 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:25,520 they think they don't have a history. 595 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:29,120 And when other people don't know you have a history, 596 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,360 they think less of you. 597 00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:35,280 We are finding out that, you know, we not only were snookered, 598 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:37,000 but whites were snookered too. 599 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,880 They didn't know. They were taught the same things that we were taught. 600 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,280 The story is much richer. 601 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:45,880 The story is about many people, 602 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,400 not just one heroic people that took over. 603 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:51,600 And, "Look at what we've done. 604 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,560 "And look at the civilisation that we brought." 605 00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:58,280 Never mind our inhumane actions 606 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:02,360 and our arrogant attitudes of superiority. 607 00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:06,000 I mean, come on. It's a different story. 608 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:14,920 It's often said that every generation 609 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:16,240 has to rewrite their history. 610 00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:19,880 History doesn't change but our perception of it does. 611 00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:23,680 What we choose to include and what we choose to exclude 612 00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:26,520 differs from generation to generation. 613 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:29,760 I mean, we assume that everybody wants to hear the truth. 614 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:31,200 That's a myth. 615 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,120 (CHUCKLES) Not everybody wants to hear the truth. 616 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:37,800 People want to hear or believe what makes them comfortable 617 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:40,120 and the things that make them uncomfortable, 618 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,000 they will push aside. 619 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:51,560 In the West, in the frontier, 620 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,840 African Americans were freer than they would be later. 621 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:02,400 And in some ways, if we want a truly egalitarian society, 622 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,120 it may be best for us, not to, sort of, project to the future 623 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,040 but to look to the past. 624 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:28,680 The memory of the Wild West is a living thing. 625 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,040 Since the very beginning, it has been constructed 626 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:37,040 on a foundation of distorted facts. 627 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:40,280 Because we know today how political our history 628 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,520 and our image of it can be, 629 00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:47,680 the time has come to recognise all the heroes of the Wild West 630 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:51,360 and to write, in black ink, the missing pages 631 00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:54,480 of the American national novel. 632 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,520 # Oh, freedom 633 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:05,000 # Oh, freedom 634 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:09,600 # Oh, freedom over me 635 00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:12,360 # Before I'd be a slave 636 00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:14,720 # I'd be buried in my grave 637 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:17,800 # And go home to my Lord 638 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:20,000 # And be free. # 639 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:21,880 # And be free. # 640 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:24,600 (MAN WHISTLES WILD WEST REFRAIN) 641 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:29,200 Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2023 642 00:48:30,305 --> 00:49:30,180 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm