Is Netflix’s ‘American Primeval’ Based on a True Story? What are facts vs. Fiction

Netflix’s new limited series American Primeval debuted this week and quickly claimed the top spot as the streamer’s most popular show. As you watch, you might wonder how much of American Primeval are based on real events and if the characters are historically accurate.

Directed and executive produced by Peter Berg, with screenplay by Mark L. Smith, American Primeval is a six-episode drama set in the Utah Territory in 1857. The series explores the violent conflicts between Native Americans, pioneers, Mormon soldiers and the US government. The historical drama stars Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Kim Coates, Shea Whigham, Saura Lightfoot-Leon and Shawnee Pourier.

Berg was inspired to create American Primeval after coming across a story about the Utah War in 2020. “I read an article about something called the Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Berg told Netflix’s Tudum. “(It) was something that interested me and I started doing a lot of research on it.”

Here’s what you need to know while you watch American Primeval – from which characters are real or fictional to the events of the deadly Mountain Meadows Massacre, the fate of Fort Bridger and more.

Is American Primeval Based on a true story?

American Primeval is a historical drama that incorporates real events, such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, along with the stories of actual people who lived in Utah during the deadly Utah War of 1857.

What signs in American Primeval is real?

Jim Bridger (played by Whigham) was a real-life pioneer caught between warring factions after turning Fort Bridger into a small frontier town. Brigham Young (portrayed by Coates), the leader of the Mormon Church at the time, commanded his army known as the Nauvoo Legion. Alex Breaux’s character, Wild Bill Hickmanwas a notorious lawman and member of this militia.

While Winter bird (Irene Bedard), the Shoshone tribal chief, is a fictional character in American Primevalshe is inspired by a historical chief who, according to Berg, “was alleged to be a lesbian (and had) multiple wives,” he shared Tudum. The character James Wolsey (Joe Tippett) draws inspiration from a man who was executed for his involvement in the Mountain Meadows massacre.

When Berg told the stories of the real characters above City & Country they needed to feel “congruent with what they were going through based on historical evidence.”

What signs in American Primeval Are fictional?

However, not all the characters in the series are based on historical figures. The central family that anchors the show – Sarah Rowell (Gilpin), Devin Rowell (Preston Mota), Isaac Reed (Kitsch), and Two moons (Pourier) – is fictitious. Because of this, Berg explained that the creators felt they could do whatever they wanted with their stories.

Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) is also a fictional character, but her story draws inspiration from historical accounts of women abducted by Native tribes in present-day Utah. “We wanted to explore the idea of ​​this young Mormon woman who is kind of pushed into a life and a marriage that she didn’t ask for and who, through fate, ends up in a very different world and never quite assimilates,” Berg said to Tudum. .

Did the Mountain Meadows Massacre happen in real life?

Yes, the Mountain Meadows Massacre – depicted in the first episode of American Primeval on Netflix – was a truly historic event. On screen, viewers witness Mormon soldiers disguised as Indians attack a group of pioneers traveling west.

“We chose it because there was this intersection between a couple of different Native nations, the U.S. government, the Mormons, and the American citizens who felt they had a right to move through this area,” executive producer Eric Newman told Tudum . “The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened … and it became, for our narrative purposes, an inciting event of conflict for our cast.”

The Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred in southern Utah on September 11, 1857. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as Mormons, murdered 120 emigrants in Mountain Meadows, Utah on September 11, 1857.

According to Salt Lake Tribunethe massacre occurred during a period of heightened tension between the federal government and the Brigham Young-led theocracy in the Utah Territory. As federal troops were sent to the region, Latter-day Saints, fearing war, became increasingly distrustful of outsiders. When a wagon train of emigrants traveling from Arkansas to California passed through the area, Mormon militiamen surrounded the group and brutally slaughtered more than 100 men, women and children.

Berg said he and Smith conducted extensive research to bring the massacre to life on screen. “We used several books, met with the authors of those books, went to the site of the massacre and tried to get as comprehensive an understanding as possible of how that event happened, from what was going on with the Mormon Church at that moment to what was happening with the pioneers , who tried to move through the area and which Native American tribes were caught in the crossfire,” he told Town & Country.

The director continued, “We used that event to ground us in the story; the Mountain Meadows massacre and the tension between the US government and the Mormon Church could anchor our attempt to tell a story that is in many ways based on fact.”

Was Fort Bridger a real place?

Yes, Fort Bridger was a real fur trading post in the 1850s. According to National Park Serviceit consisted of two double log houses approximately 40 feet long and served as an important resupply point for wagon trains traveling along the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails.

“It was used by all the pioneers (and) the Mormons. It was the stopping place,” Smith told Tudum. “When President Buchanan decided he wanted control over Brigham Young and what was growing in Utah, he stationed his military there. Fort Bridger was the rallying point for everyone.”

The production constructed the Fort Bridger set using massive 80-foot trees to create the surrounding walls. “Back in the 1850s, there were no power tools, so it had to be cut by hand with axes, and those builders were out there every day building it with hand tools,” Berg said.

In Episode 6, Jim Bridger sells his fort to Brigham Young as it burns to the ground, a moment also rooted in history. In 1857, the Mormons set fire to Fort Bridger to prevent it from falling into the hands of the US Army.

“Fort Bridger was perceived as this incredible asset by the U.S. military and the Mormon Church in terms of their ability to defend each other,” Berg explained to Tudum. “Bridger knew that and he hung on as long as he could. (He) took the best deal he could and drove off to maybe one last chapter of his life.”

The director revealed that they burned “about half of it” down during filming. Ultimately, the US Army rebuilt the real fort a year later and used it as a military post until 1890.

American Primeval streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.