Re: looking at history - "good" and "bad" To me, one of the good things about history is that it is "there" for us to look at if we so choose. For any "big event" socially speaking - we can view it in retrospect as something we're "proud of" or "not so proud". But, I feel that there are always a zillion "individual stories" operating "inside of that" - of folks like "you and I".! In the story I shared, for example - for each person who was behaving "not so well" in the throws of survival and the lure of gold - there were likely a hundred others just getting up each morning and trying "again" to eek (spelling!) out a living. I won't get into "politics" - or what kind of history we're all taught in our school systems (back when I went - or now). I'm just glad that someone took the time, crew, money, etc - to try to tell stories - using all kinds of media - traditional - and on down to diaries and journals - to try to do the very thing I think "we" try to do in our family history. Present a balanced view - "in context" - of what was going on. In one of the ealier episodes - I was one minute "cheering" for one particular group - be it "Americans" - "Mexicans" - "Indians" - "Mormons" - "mountain men" - etc - and the next wanting to bop them over the head! LOL But that's the way life "is". Who knows what folks later will say of "our" times! I would certainly want them to look at more than whatever the "national events" were - and dig down to try to learn we folks were like - on the day to day of it - "in our context". Kit Carson came up in one of the episodes. He's the fellow that so many stories were written about. They got "bigger and bigger"! LOL Then - they showed a photo of him - and read from a letter "he" wrote talking about how "he" would like to meet that fellow sometime! LOL But - I don't think we can advance as a civilization - or a culture - or humans - unless we "do" try at least to take a look at what's happened before us. Themes happen again and again - both bad and good. Personally, I like to concentrate on the positive - and build on that. But, now and again, "being reminded" of the not so good isn't such a bad thing. Me - watching these - learning some things I never knew - is like younger people today not understanding about the Holocaust. To talk about that doesn't mean dishonor or disrespect to "all germans" - any more than talking about the American's policies re: "Indians" or "Chinese" means "all WASPs" aren't "ok". We all know the majority of human beings in "any" timeframe are more than likely thinking about their immediate family - putting food on the table - tucking kids into bed at night! So - I agree that CONTEXT is all important when looking at "the past". And - I say that "most folks" were good, decent ones - trying to live their lives as best they could. But - now and again - taking time to comtemplate those at the extreme "low end" and "high end" of the human spectrum - mourning a bit for the actions of some - celebrating a bit for the actions of others - helps us find "a balance" there somewhere. Anyway .... I really wrote all that in the original .. to show how an "average person" got swept up in a national "thing" (the gold rush) - had an "adventure" - then returned home to grow peaches! And - that in telling that story - the documentary "didn't" dwell on any one "point" - making it all the more "poignant". One minute, people are killing each other. The next minute - Swain or his wife are writing love letters. I liked that. (Sorry to go on "again"! LOL) It's just that the notion of "being ashamed" was larger in this particular episode because of the topics at hand. However, rest assured that I'll be the first to say "history" is ever a complex weave of factors. Like I said - "who knows" when the dust settles - what future generations will think of "us"! I hope - in the scheme of all the "big things" of our times - like that gold rush was - or the building of the railroad to come - that in the midst of it - there were "everyday people" - sitting here - reading Vee's daily life stories! :) Documentaries are just one art form that can try to take on such a task. In these - that's part of why I like them so much. It's NOT just national stories. It's INDIVIDUAL stories too. Ok - I'll stop yammering now. LOL Deb