Netflix's epic period Western series American Primeval is based on a handful of real-life events and historical figures with some altered details. American Primeval is a new major Western streaming series that was released on Netflix on January 9, 2025. The series takes place on the frontier of the American West in 1857, particularly in the somewhat lawless terrain of Utah. The grim, violent, chaotic, and unforgiving American Primeval shows early American settlers, cultists, and indigenous tribes as murderers and survivors in a series of gruesome fights for control of the newly found territory.
American Primeval was written by Mark L. Smith, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Revenant with Alejandro G. Iñárritu. In fact, there are many stylistic similarities between The Revenant and American Primeval in both narrative and visual techniques. Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Lone Survivor) directs all six episodes of American Primeval. Taylor Kitsch leads an ensemble cast, which features Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Shea Whigham, Lucas Neff, and Kim Coates. By the end of American Primeval, Kitsch's Isaac Reed finds his purpose, although his character is not based on a real person.
Are Sara Roswell & Isaac Reed Based On Real People?
Both Reed and Roswell were invented for the series
American Primeval is a work of historical fiction. The stories of its main characters, Isaac Reed and Sara Rowell, were made for the story and their characters are not based on actual people of the same name. Although Reed is a white frontiersman, he is fluent in Shoshone since he was raised as a member of their tribe. While there could have been people similar to Reed in American history, the character was invented for the series. The same goes for Sara Rowell, a resilient mother on the run with a $1500 bounty on her head for murdering an abusive man out of self-protection in Philadelphia.
American Primeval has all kinds of fantastic settings throughout its Western story, and here is what settings the show used to create the frontier.
The characters in American Primevalbased on actual people include Jim Bridger, Brigham Young, Wild Bill Hickman, Winter Bird, and James Wolsey. Bridger and Young are at the center of the conflict surrounding ownership of Fort Bridger in what is now Unita County, Wyoming. Wild Bill was a notorious lawman worthy of his own story. Both Winter Bird and James Wolsey were inspired by real people, the former a lesbian Indigenous chief and the latter a man who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre (via Netflix).
The Utah War In American Primeval & President Buchanan's Role
Roughly 150 people were estimated to have been killed
Image via Netflix
Many of the realistic aspects of American Primeval were centered around the Utah War, which took place between May 1857 and July 1858. Berg revealed to Netflix that the inspiration for the series arose after the director read an article about the Utah War. "I read an article on something called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. [It] was something that interested me, and I started doing a lot of research on it.” The Utah War was primarily an armed conflict between Mormon settlers and United States military troops.
American Primeval is a massive Western epic, and here is every group and faction in the new Netflix miniseries and what they do in the show.
Following the events of American Primeval, President James Buchanan sent military troops to the Utah Territory, which made Young and his Church of Latter-day Saints uneasy and prepare for war. The Mormons took measures to prevent U.S. troops in Utah from getting provisions and blocked them from entering Salt Lake City. The fearful Mormon militia even killed unarmed settlers and accused several of being spies sent by the U.S. government. Roughly 150 people were estimated to have been killed during the Utah War, which ended with a Presidential pardon of the Latter-day Saints and the replacement of Alfred Cumming for Brigham Young as Utah's governor.
American Primeval's Brigham Young Compared To Real-Life
Most historians have a more neutral account of Young
Image via Netflix
American Primeval casts Brigham Young as an antagonist who is intensely focused on spreading the word of God through the Church of Latter-Day Saints. In the series, Young is friendly and supportive to members of his church and people he is trying to convert to his religion. However, the series paints him as a vicious force toward those who act against his vision, particularly Jim Berger and U.S. military troops. Nicknamed "American Moses", most historians have a more neutral account of Young. PBS describes him as "fiery yet full of doubt, frequently ill yet strong when it mattered most."
Was Fort Bridger Really Burned Down?
It was burned down but rebuilt in 1858 by the U.S. Army
Image via Netflix
As depicted in American Primeval, Brigham Young and the Mormons of Utah Territory truly set Fort Bridger on fire once they discovered that President Buchanan planned to replace Young as governor. The Mormons had hope that burning down Fort Bridger would keep the U.S. Army out of Utah Territory. Colonel Albert Sydney Johnston and his troops, who arrived in Utah Territory in November 1857, were forced to winter at the nearby Camp Scott, which they established temporarily. In June 1858, the U.S. Army advanced toward Salt Lake City. By that time, the Mormons had cleared out of Fort Bridger and the Army rebuilt it (via Wyo History).
The Shoshone & Ute People Explained
They are both historic tribes of Utah Territory
Image via Netflix
There were seven distinct Shoshoni groups during the time of American Primeval. The group depicted in the series is The Eastern Shoshoni. According to the state of Utah's official website, "The Eastern Shoshoni, numbering about 2,000 under their famous Chief Washakie, occupied the region from the Wind River Mountains to Fort Bridger and astride the Oregon Trail. Their descendants today live on the Wind River Reservation."
According to Southern Ute, "The Ute people are the oldest residents of Colorado, inhabiting the mountains and vast areas of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Eastern Nevada, Northern New Mexico and Arizona." The language of the Utes in Shoshonean. "The Utes settled around the lake areas of Utah, some of which became the Paiute, other groups spread north and east and separated into the Shoshone and Comanche people."
Was The American West Really That Brutal In The 1850s?
It was violent but not as non-stop as American Primeval portrays
Image via Netflix
It's widely contended that the American West wasn't as violent as depicted in popular culture but was still filled with various acts of violence due to the relatively lawless layout of the land. American Primeval condenses and intensifies acts of violence that all plausibly occurred, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre that truly did happen. While American Primeval can't be regarded as a historical account of the violence of the American West, there are certainly inklings of the truth about violence and the grim realities of living on the American frontier during the expansionist era of U.S. history.
American Primeval is a Netflix limited series that follows the lives of several men and women in the middle of the expansion of the American West. Social dynamics clash as men and women battle for a piece of the new world against rivals and each other.
Release Date
January 9, 2025
Network
Netflix
Cast
Taylor Kitsch
, Jai Courtney
, Dane DeHaan
, Betty Gilpin
, Nick Hargrove
, Kyle Bradley Davis
, Derek Hinkey
, Saura Lightfoot Leon
, Preston Mota
, Shawnee Pourier
, Joe Tippett
Character(s)
Isaac
, Sara Rowell
, Gant
, Buffalo Run
, Jacob Pratt
, Abish Pratt
, Red Feather
, James Wolsey
, Virgil Cutter
, Two Moons
, Jim Bridger
Creator(s)
Peter Berg
, Eric Newman
, Mark L. Smith
Custom Image by Yailin Chacon
English (US) ·