The Modern West

 One hundred and forty years after the Rock Springs Massacre killed 28 Chinese coal miners, descendants return to tell the story and dig up clues. The commemoration happens as the town reckons with new immigration tensions. 

 A new book, "The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier," weaves together the stories of seven historical characters as they crisscross the American West in the 1800s. Some of them, like Sacajawea, you’ll recognize. Pulitzer-finalist Megan Kate Nelson says there are others we should know more about but just don’t. We discuss why setting Western history straight is so crucial to the American project. 

 Love stories set in the American West are often extra romantic and heart-wrenching because of all the moving around the lovers are forced into. Jenny and Brian Drollinger’s story takes them to every nook of the American West. But they actually met in high school in Alaska. It’s a real life 80’s rom-com, with all the miscommunications, near misses and twists of fate. 

 It’s not just human animals that migrate around the West. So do wildlife. We start this season learning about how humans are adapting to the expanding range of grizzly bears. We head out into the field with wildlife photographers, go toe-to-toe with a robo bear, pick apples to reduce food rewards, and meet a herd of cattle getting radio collared. 

Mountain Migrations Trailer