Pioneiros do Velho Oeste

And interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatever motives excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven. -Daniel Boonel

There's a lot of great stuff to enjoy in this series, but as usual it's a typical case of Anglo-American-centric history, ignoring two important players.

Fur trader Anthony Sadowski was the first white man to explore the fledgling "western territories." His grandson Jacob Sadowski was by some accounts the first to guide Daniel Boone down the trails allegedly "blazed" by Boone.

The Sadowskis, like the Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the earliest Polish settlers in the early 1600s, routinely get shafted by American historians (and the History Channel) who continue to toe the official Anglo-American party line - furthering an incomplete view of our national history to serve a political agenda instituted after the Revolution.

It's great to finally see some real history shows back on the History Channel. The best thing about this series is that it gives a broad and sweeping overview of the frontier history of the United States from the time of the Revolutionary War to the Texas Revolution. It hits on most of the major historical events and some of the big names involved like Daniel Boone, William Henry Harrison, Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, etc. But as many others have pointed out there are some really glaring historical inaccuracies and some really bad editing. A couple of the historical errors that stand out to me was describing the Battle of Fallen Timbers as being fought between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison. Wrong. The American forces that defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers were commanded by Gen. Anthony Wayne. Harrison was merely one of the officers in Wayne's camp. And while Tecumseh certainly fought against the Americans at Fallen Timbers, the Indian force was commanded by the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket. And the problems with uniforms is just horribly distracting. The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811, but shows William Henry Harrison and his troops dressed in Revolutionary War era uniforms complete with knee breeches and tricorn hats! Inexplicably there are other battle scenes where some of the soldiers are shown in Revolutionary War era uniforms while others are shown in more accurate War of 1812 style uniforms. This may seem like nitpicking, but these kind of editing gaffes should be below the History Channel on a show with this level of production values. Legends of the Old Northwest, a show from the History Channel in the late 1990s did a much better job of portraying the history of this era. I applaud History for creating a series like this and I think it is well worth watching for those interested in the early history of the United States, but I wish they had done a better job in some respects.

I have only seen the Daniel Boone episode at this point, but I loved it. They left out a lot, but it's the History Channel and they tend to do that, plus they only had a certain amount of time.

I like how they included Boone's daughter as being a strong woman.

I beg of anyone who knows, to tell me the theme song.

This series is very informative, well-balanced, and covers the critical time in the US history as we emerged from a colony until we were literally coast-to-coast. Of course many areas and many people are ignored in order to cover the scope of the enormous events and some people get a little more attention than perhaps they should. In addition, there are some notable errors (e.g., the battle of the Alamo didn't take a single day). So don't expect a history lesson. It's entertainment and along the way there is a lot to learn about the country's history, most of it true.