Re: The American West. I normally enjoy programs like the American West and rarely challenge quoted 'facts'. However, I must take exception to one glaring error which the narrator (I believe to be Robert Redford) quotes about 20 minutes into the first program in the series. He states "from the Missouri River to the coast of California the frontier is almost 500 million square miles of wide open land". Whilst I appreciate that correct grammar is often sacrificed in order to provide the viewer with the basic facts, this statement is clearly wrong. The entire surface of the Earth is just under 197 million square miles which is well short of "almost 500 million square miles". Please keep the program factual. Bob Langridge

I really enjoy western history and so I was interested in watching the series. The "Hollywood" aspect made for moderate entertainment but the historical element leaves much to be desired. I think Redford should have paid more attention to what he put his name on before it was aired. I will watch the final episode of the series but I am not anticipating that it will change my opinion over all, maybe I will be wrong. There are "qualified historians" who serve as narrators and as such makes me want to trust the actual documentation of the characters depicted. When I check the actual history of the events, why the discrepancy? Also some of the "special narrators" like John McCain and other celebrities leave me asking myself what do they know about the old west?? But then they were obviously invited by Mr. Redford, whom I doubt knows much more than film festivals at Sundance can offer.

Would not recommend anyone to take this series too seriously. The props are lower end. Using Colt Peacemakers before they were even invented. Jesse James flashing a Colt Dragoon, just after the civil war, with engravings from the Indian wars. General Custer carrying his Colt army holster backwards. Hats are plain awful and don't look anything like they did in the west. Worth noting is that all the props seem to be cheap Pakistani made reenactor gear. Everything from hat-cords to boots. This type of gear is generally considered not up to standard among reenactors. Due to its inaccurate construction and appearance. Guns are mainly non-firing Spanish made Denix replicas.Looking at the facts they present its also debatable. As an example the description of the Pinkerton raid on the James ranch is more or less completely wrong.To summarize. A series with OK screen value but with very low historical accuracy.

For me and for most Americans there is nothing more interesting than the story of the West. From the Civil War until World War 1, the West was full of adventure, opportunity, drama and tragedy. AMCs series "Hell on Wheels" was an excellent attempt to portray one aspect of this period, the building of the railroads. But their far more ambitious "The American West" is a big disappointment on a number of levels.For a documentary, the use of "expert" opinion from movie stars is hardly a good idea. Have we stooped so low that we get our history from movie stars?Perhaps the reliance on movie stars for the primary documentation is one of the reasons this 8 part series has so many errors (e.g., Jesse James and Billy the Kid met, Wyatt Earp went to Tombstone to be their Sheriff).Another weakness of the series is that there is no real underlying theme. There are brief episodes about Jesse James (Missouri), Billy the Kid (New Mexico), Wyatt Earp (Kansa and Arizona), and Custer and Sitting Bull (the Dakotas). But there is no real glue that holds the episodes together (e.g., the demands of capitalism to obtain natural resources, the political post war climate, the economic problems and the challenges of currency, etc.)Telling the story of the West is an important project, but this series fails to do it in a meaningful way. FWIW - I really like the TV series "Centennial" (1978-79) and "Hell on Wheels" (2011-16). They both gave a comprehensive history of the West and did so in a more entertaining manner. For sheer pleasure, "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973) is my favorite telling of this story.