Finished watching the series. Nice try, some great footage, but curiously lacking in historical facts, with some simply odd charcter portrayals. I have never seen portraits of Boone or Andrew Jackson with beards, and seldom Crockett either. Yes, in the wilderness I'm sure they had them, but there are plenty of illustrations of them all, and they look like the series portrayal. (Wanna great portrayal of David Crockett? Billy Bob Thornton owns it.)
And now for the historical inaccuracies: 1) At the Battle of Fallen Timbers, it was suggested the British were quickly routed, enabling the quick defeat of the Indian Confederacy by American forces under (portrayed as) the ruthless William Henry Harrison. Truth? The British never even took the field that day, and in fact didn't even allow retreating Native Americans sanctuary into British Fort Miami. And, the American forces were led by Anthony Wayne, not Harrison. 2) It was suggested Lewis and Clark headed overland from Fort Mandan in North Dakota, unable to proceed further by water. Wrong. They proceeded up the Missouri even beyond Great Falls MT, where they executed an arduous portage. To omit their adventures on the upper Missouri, which they thought might be the Northwest Passage that led all the way to the Pacific, ignores a significant part of the trek. 3) Andrew Jackson portrayed as ruthlessly commanding the slaughter of the Red Sticks at Tallushatchee. While Crockett was there, Jackson was not; the force was commanded by Gen. John Coffee. Brutal encounter to be sure, but the frontier was a brutal place at times, with no quarter shown. You may recall, Tallushatchee was in retaliation for Ft. Mims getting wiped out. 4) Jackson and Crockett bitter rivals stemming from a run-in at Tallushatchee? Nonsense. Crockett was a firm supporter of Jackson's presidential run, and Jackson for Crockett's run for Congress. Their fallout stemmed from the Indian Relocation Act. The Trail of Tears is a blight on Jackson's presidential record, but he certainly did not hat all Indians. In fact, he adopted an orphan from the Red Stick war into his own home. 5) It is almost suggested that Crockett, who by the way preferred the name David, was in charge of the Alamo. Command of that garrison and its volunteer/militia force was split between Jim Bowie and William Travis. And Santa Ana didn't just show up ahead of schedule and overrun the Alamo in 90 minutes; it took the Mexican force 13 days to finally accomplish their victory, and the final assault commenced at night, not under daylight. The time the plucky Alamo defenders bought by bogging down Santa Ana was invaluable for Sam Houston to begin to raise an adequate army to eventually defeat the Mexican dictator and liberate Texas. 6) Kit Carson? Mind telling me how he could fight a battle against the Mexicans firing both a percussion cap AND flintlock rifle when he was carrying just the one rifle? And...John C Fremont raising the original 13 Stars and Stripes over Los Angeles in 1846, when there were already 28 states? Oh, by the way...Fremont was the one with the beard, Carson was clean shaven.
This effort, though admirable in its intentions, reminds me of a line from SNL: "Learn a book, Seth!" Come on...You guys had a worthy idea in trying to bring some historical insight to a public sorely needing knowledge of their heritage. We NEED stuff like this! Don't be lazy, motivated by your own opinions, or sloppy. Finish the deal...You're the History Channel! Try mixing in more...History.
And now for the historical inaccuracies: 1) At the Battle of Fallen Timbers, it was suggested the British were quickly routed, enabling the quick defeat of the Indian Confederacy by American forces under (portrayed as) the ruthless William Henry Harrison. Truth? The British never even took the field that day, and in fact didn't even allow retreating Native Americans sanctuary into British Fort Miami. And, the American forces were led by Anthony Wayne, not Harrison. 2) It was suggested Lewis and Clark headed overland from Fort Mandan in North Dakota, unable to proceed further by water. Wrong. They proceeded up the Missouri even beyond Great Falls MT, where they executed an arduous portage. To omit their adventures on the upper Missouri, which they thought might be the Northwest Passage that led all the way to the Pacific, ignores a significant part of the trek. 3) Andrew Jackson portrayed as ruthlessly commanding the slaughter of the Red Sticks at Tallushatchee. While Crockett was there, Jackson was not; the force was commanded by Gen. John Coffee. Brutal encounter to be sure, but the frontier was a brutal place at times, with no quarter shown. You may recall, Tallushatchee was in retaliation for Ft. Mims getting wiped out. 4) Jackson and Crockett bitter rivals stemming from a run-in at Tallushatchee? Nonsense. Crockett was a firm supporter of Jackson's presidential run, and Jackson for Crockett's run for Congress. Their fallout stemmed from the Indian Relocation Act. The Trail of Tears is a blight on Jackson's presidential record, but he certainly did not hat all Indians. In fact, he adopted an orphan from the Red Stick war into his own home. 5) It is almost suggested that Crockett, who by the way preferred the name David, was in charge of the Alamo. Command of that garrison and its volunteer/militia force was split between Jim Bowie and William Travis. And Santa Ana didn't just show up ahead of schedule and overrun the Alamo in 90 minutes; it took the Mexican force 13 days to finally accomplish their victory, and the final assault commenced at night, not under daylight. The time the plucky Alamo defenders bought by bogging down Santa Ana was invaluable for Sam Houston to begin to raise an adequate army to eventually defeat the Mexican dictator and liberate Texas. 6) Kit Carson? Mind telling me how he could fight a battle against the Mexicans firing both a percussion cap AND flintlock rifle when he was carrying just the one rifle? And...John C Fremont raising the original 13 Stars and Stripes over Los Angeles in 1846, when there were already 28 states? Oh, by the way...Fremont was the one with the beard, Carson was clean shaven.
This effort, though admirable in its intentions, reminds me of a line from SNL: "Learn a book, Seth!" Come on...You guys had a worthy idea in trying to bring some historical insight to a public sorely needing knowledge of their heritage. We NEED stuff like this! Don't be lazy, motivated by your own opinions, or sloppy. Finish the deal...You're the History Channel! Try mixing in more...History.