The Oregon Trail | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Duration: 3'09''

Synopsis

Ray explains the route Pioneers would take through the Great Plains and how naturally this was dictated by a river.

Further Information

More clips from How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

2: Great Plains | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

2: Great Plains | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 59'04''

Ray Mears finds out how 500,000 square miles of flat, treeless grassland was the setting for Wild West stories of ...

Blackfeet | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Blackfeet | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 9'32''

Ray meets the descendants of the Blackfeet Native American tribe. The plentiful bison were the lifeblood of the tribes a...

Buffalo killings | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Buffalo killings | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 7'55''

Between 1800 and 1890, the Pioneers killed over 30 million bison, leaving them nearly extinct in North America.

Cowboys and cattle | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Cowboys and cattle | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 8'17''

Ray meets a third generation cowboy and learns about life as a rancher on the Great Plains, running cattle drives.

Death and the Pioneers | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Death and the Pioneers | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 2'15''

Ray examines the types of illnesses common amongst the Pioneers and how many wouldn't survive the long trip.

The Homestead Act | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

The Homestead Act | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 6'59''

Ray visits old sod-houses built during the Homestead Act. The scheme encouraged families to grow crops off the P...

Wagon life | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Wagon life | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 5'41''

Ray meets a wagon master who recreates the conditions the Pioneers endured and what it took to travel in a wagon.

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2: Great Plains | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

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Ray Mears finds out how 500,000 square miles of flat, treeless grassland was the setting for Wild West stories of ...

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Ray describes the war between the Apache's and the Frontier army that lasted over 40 years.

Blackfeet | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Blackfeet | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 9'32''

Ray meets the descendants of the Blackfeet Native American tribe. The plentiful bison were the lifeblood of the tribes a...

Buffalo killings | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Buffalo killings | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 7'55''

Between 1800 and 1890, the Pioneers killed over 30 million bison, leaving them nearly extinct in North America.

Cowboys and cattle | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Cowboys and cattle | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 8'17''

Ray meets a third generation cowboy and learns about life as a rancher on the Great Plains, running cattle drives.

Death and the Pioneers | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Death and the Pioneers | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 2'15''

Ray examines the types of illnesses common amongst the Pioneers and how many wouldn't survive the long trip.

Gold and Boomtowns | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Gold and Boomtowns | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 7'11''

As interest in gold mining grew, small towns and gold mining businesses developed almost overnight. Ray explore...

Outlaws | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Outlaws | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 5'47''

Ray discovers the truth posses and outlaws, the likes of which we see in Hollywood.

Pilgrim origins | The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind the Myth

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The Pilgrims' story that ''Thanksgiving'' celebrates had a tricky beginning. A group of Evangelists were ousted fro...

Pioneer Mountain Men | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Pioneer Mountain Men | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 2'13''

Ray speaks to a modern day Mountain Man about what life was like for the Pioneers who tried to earn money off...

Pioneer routes | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Pioneer routes | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 1'13''

Ray maps out the common routes of the Pioneers as they met and left the Rocky Mountains.

Removal of the Cherokee | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

Removal of the Cherokee | How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears

BBC Four | 2014 | 1'13''

Ray explains about how the government rounded up and rid the Appalachian mountains of the Cherokee.