Adventures Of the Old West

"Poor baby, she'll be a woman someday," says one grandmother of a new girl child, and while few would maintain that women's lot today is a bed of roses, fewer still would want to return to the middle of the 19th-century, especially if that meant being a pioneer woman out in the boonies. Produced in conjunction with U.S. News & World Report, this nicely filmed series, narrated by Kris Kristofferson, combines archival stills, diary and letter readings, period music, and contextual narration to tell the stories of the men and women of the Old West. We watched Pioneers and the Promised Land, which included a segment on Bernard Reed, a young man with wanderlust that traveled from Pennsylvania to California and back before settling down with his sweetheart from years back (who had rejected Bernard earlier because she didn't think he'd stay put--which he didn't). Another piece looks at the rough life of Abigail Scott Dunaway who had to raise a family, care for an invalid husband, work full-time as a teacher, and crusade for women's rights (at the age of 78, Abigail finally got to vote for the first time in her life). There's also a profile of Nicodemus, Kansas, an all-black town, advertised by a white profiteer as rolling country with sparkling waters (one arrival said "I looked with all the eyes I had," but like many others all she saw was flat, dry terrain); and a brief look at the orphan trains that brought children (i.e. labor) to families in railroad towns. Good writing, fine production values, and a keen sense of story make the Adventures of the Old West an excellent choice. Other titles in the series include: Texas Cowboys and the Trail Drives, Frontier Justice: The Law and the Lawless, and Great Chiefs at the Crossroads. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)