Get ready to travel 'West'

Although I have been able to preview only 90 minutes of the more than 12 hours that make up "The West," I'm willing to go out on a sturdy limb and declare this PBS mini-series as intriguing and captivating as its progenitor, "The Civil War."

The comparison is called for. Ken Burns, the creator of "The Civil War," one of the best TV shows in history, is the executive producer of and creative consultant to "The West," an eight-part exploration of America between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and between the discovery of the continent and the First World War.

The episode I saw in advance, "The Speck of the Future," chronicles the gold rush that brought Chinese, Chilean, Russian and Yankee "immigrants" to California in search of quick riches.

Photos and faces

Using the techniques perfected in "The Civil War," the series relies on incisive narration by Peter Coyote, understated readings from 19th-century diaries and other ephemera by 56 actors, beautifully photographed scenes of the regions in question, and a treasure trove of still photos.

It is those photos that make the series. The camera lingers on them so we can study faces; it pans slowly to give us perspective; and it sometimes pulls back to reveal something surprising, like a mountain of prospectors gathered for a group portrait that hints at how many men went west for gold.

Other episodes examine the ways people traveled across the continent, the western connection to the Civil War, the building of the transcontinental railway, the conflicts between settlers and Indians, the arrival of homesteaders and the transformation of the wilderness into a civilization.

Along the way, viewers will visit with Hispanic cowboys, Mormon refugees, New York gold seekers, Midwestern settlers, Black slaves seeking freedom and American Indians overwhelmed by the Conestoga-borne population.

Cowboys and Indians

Credit goes to Mr. Burns for trying to keep the multicultural pendulum in the middle. He has been quoted as saying: "For too long, we celebrated a lily-white version of the West: sturdy pioneers fighting savage Native Americans. Then, for the last 30 years, we subscribed to a history in which the European contribution was considered entirely bankrupt and everything Native Americans did was perfect. Obviously, neither extreme is true."

"The Civil War" has few if any peers among documentaries. I called Mr. Burns' next effort, "Baseball," a stand-up double rather than a home run. If the remainder of the episodes are as good as the one I previewed, "The West" rounds the bases and stomps on home plate.

How John got there

Separated by about 300 miles, my sister and I have been spending the summer searching for our family roots, taking turns to browse the internet for clues. There, we found someone with our last name on the rolls of foreign-born California voters in 1872.

John Breig, born in Baden (now Germany), would have been a teenager during the Gold Rush. Did he or his father travel west in hopes of panning for the future? We're still trying to find out. If he did, "The Speck of the Future" has taught me a lot about his life. If he didn't, I got a valuable education anyway about the times in which he lived.

"The West" is like that -- inevitably connecting viewers not only to the general past but also to specific relatives. Either way, it's well worth your time.

("The West" debuts on WMHT, channel 17, on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.)

(09-12-96)

[[In-content Ad]]