PBS Ken Burns The West 5of9 The Grandest Enterprise Under God 1995 DVD 720p Egilman

The West— is a documentary film about the American Old West. It was directed by Stephen Ives, the executive producer was Ken Burns and the narrator was Peter Coyote. The film originally aired on PBS in September 1996.

Stephen Ives and Ken Burns had worked together on several films, including The Civil War (1990) and Baseball (1994). In 1988, Ives created his own production company, Insignia Films, and began working on The West as director, with Burns signed on to the project as executive producer. In order to create The West, the film crew traveled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) via airplane, conducted 72 interviews, visited 74 archives and collections, and filmed more than 250 hours of footage. The film's production was funded by General Motors.

Episode 5: The Grandest Enterprise Under God (1868–1874)

Aired, September 19th 1996; Narrator Peter Coyote

In the tumultuous history of the American West, there are many events that "changed everything." Episode five, covering the years from 1868 to 1874, explores what is undoubtedly the biggest of these big events -- the building of the Pacific railroad. Stretching from Omaha to Sacramento, this incredible feat of engineering and hubris utterly transformed the lands it connected -- previously remote prairies, suddenly there for the taking, attracted peasant farmers who began to plant wheat; cattle ranchers transported their vast herds to markets in the east; swaggering buffalo hunters pillaged native lands; Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge became boom towns. Furthermore, thanks to the increased pace of commerce and the easy accessibility between coasts, the United States became a real contender for world power. Specific topics in this episode include: the politics of funding and commissioning the railroad project, the recruitment of Chinese labor and the appalling death toll, Charles Goodnight and the birth of the cattle-driving industry, the national celebration at the driving in of the final stake, Emmeline Wells and the winning of women's suffrage in Utah, the loneliness and determination of foreign immigrants, and cowboys. And, of course, the stunning cinematography of the still-untamed West.

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