American Experience

9:00pm - The legend of Jesse James has always been a romanticized American story, but the truth about James has little in common with the fiction. Less heroic than brutal, James’s initial brush with notoriety was a result of his participation in the murders of 22 unarmed Civil War Union soldiers heading home on leave. This was followed by nearly two decades of robbed banks, stagecoaches, and railroads, always leaving a trail of dead bodies. Historical re-enactments and interviews with historians reveal the true story of the man known as a Western outlaw, despite the fact he had never been west of the Mississippi. Thursday March 27th 9-10p

10:00pm - In 1848, James Marshall found gold near the fork of the American and Sacramento River, and unleashed a massive migration from around the world of those in search of riches. Told through the stories of a group of diverse characters, this program tracks the evolution of the Gold Rush from the first few months to the fierce competition for a few good claims.

11:00pm - In the summer of 1967, thousands of young people from around the nation traveled to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district to join in on the hippie experience and the celebration of free love, music, and an alternative lifestyle. Interviews with individuals that lived there during this “summer of love” provide a portrait of the event that many consider to be the peak of the 1960’s counter-culture movement.