HOW THE WEST WAS WON
(TV Series)
MGM TELEVISION
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
The Macahans, a family from Virginia headed by Zeb Macahan,
travel across the country to pioneer a new land
and a new home in the American West.
Series Cast
James Arness ...Zeb Macahan (25 episodes, 1976-1979)
Bruce Boxleitner ... Luke Macahan (25 episodes, 1976-1979)
Kathryn Holcomb ... Laura Macahan / ... (25 episodes, 1976-1979)
William Kirby Cullen ... Josh Macahan (25 episodes, 1976-1979)
Vicki Schreck ...Jessie Macahan (25 episodes, 1976-1979)
Fionnula Flanagan ... Molly Culhane (21 episodes, 1978-1979)
Peter Hansen ... Major Drake (7 episodes, 1976-1978)
and many more...
Series Directed
Vincent McEveety ... (14 episodes, 1977-1979)
Bernard McEveety ... (13 episodes, 1976-1978)
Burt Kennedy ... (4 episodes, 1976-1977)
and many more...
Series Produced
John Mantley ... executive producer (21 episodes, 1976-1979)
John G. Stephens ... producer (20 episodes, 1976-1979)
and many more...
Series Writing Credits
John Mantley ... (17 episodes, 1976-1979)
Earl W. Wallace ... (16 episodes, 1976-1979)
Calvin Clements Jr. ... (14 episodes, 1977-1979)
and many more...
Trivia
The Russian hunting expedition that serves as the basis for conflict with the
Sioux tribes of the Dakotas in the miniseries, is based on the actual
highly publicized state visit to the United States by
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia in 1871-72.
The miniseries fictionalizes the historic meeting between the Sioux,
the visiting Russians and their US Army hosts, into fabricated subplots
of hostility and violence that devolve into a melodramatic tale of poaching,
kidnapping, murder, political crisis, warfare and genocide before the absurdity reaches
its climax with a ritual suicide.
Thankfully, history records a far more benign encounter with the Sioux
during the Grand Duke's visit. US Army preparations for the hunt were
conducted well in advance of the Russian hunting expedition.
The assistance of William "Buffalo" Cody was employed in negotiations with the Sioux.
Rather than being itinerant poachers on Sioux lands as portrayed in the miniseries,
the US government provided the Sioux tribes under Chief Spotted Tail with a wagon train
containing tons of coffee, sugar, tobacco and other provisions in exchange for the use of
the Sioux hunting grounds. Spotted Tail and hundreds of warriors greeted the expedition
at the expedition's camp and received the Grand Duke and his party as guests of the Sioux nation.
Not only did the Sioux approve of the hunt, they participated in it,
being eager to demonstrate their style of horsemanship and marksmanship
to the "great white chief from across the water".
Luke and Josh Macahan were called Seth and Jed in the pilot.
The first shot of the title sequence where the camera zooms over the treetops of
Oregon's Rogue River was first used in Gunsmoke: The River [1972]
which was filmed along the Rogue River.
Filming Locations
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Bent's Old Fort National Monument - 35110 Highway 194 East, La Junta, Colorado, USA (location)
Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway - 1193 Fremont County Road 3A, Canon City, Colorado, USA
Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA (episode 7)
Deschutes National Forest - 1001 Southwest Emkay Drive, Bend, Oregon, USA (episode 6)
Johnson Canyon, Kanab, Utah, USA
Franklin Canyon Reservoir, Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Kanab Movie Ranch - 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah, USA
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Walt Disney's Golden Oak Ranch - 19802 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA
