AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. (L to R) Preston Mota as Devin Rowell and Betty Gilpin as Sara Rowell in Episode … [+]
Justin Lubin/Netflix
Netflix’s new limited series American Primeval debuted this week and quickly claimed the top spot as the streamer’s most popular show. While watching, you might be wondering how much of American Primeval is based on real-life events and if the characters are historically accurate.
Directed and executive produced by Peter Berg, with writing by Mark L. Smith, American Primeval is a six-episode drama set in 1857 Utah Territory. The series explores the violent conflicts between Native Americans, pioneers, Mormon soldiers, and the U.S. 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 on 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 to know while watching 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. (L to R) Joe Tippett as James Wolsey, Lucas Neff as Dellinger and Kip Weeks as … [+]
Matt Kennedy/Netflix
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 1857 Utah War.
Which Characters In American Primeval Are Real?
Jim Bridger (played by Whigham) was a real-life pioneer caught between warring factions after transforming Fort Bridger into a small city on the frontier. 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 Hickman, was a notorious lawman and a member of this militia.
While Winter Bird (Irene Bedard), the Shoshone tribal chief, is a fictional character in American Primeval, she is inspired by a historical chief who, according to Berg, “was purported to be a lesbian [and had] multiple wives,” he shared with Tudum. The character James Wolsey (Joe Tippett) draws inspiration from a man who was executed for his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
When telling the stories of the real characters above, Berg told Town & Country they needed to feel “consistent with what they were going through based upon historical documentation.”
Which Characters 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 — Sara Rowell (Gilpin), Devin Rowell (Preston Mota), Isaac Reed (Kitsch), and Two Moons (Pourier) — is fictional. Because of this, Berg explained that the creators felt they could do what they wanted with their storylines.
Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) is also a fictional character, but her storyline draws inspiration from historical accounts of women abducted by Native tribes in what is now Utah. “We wanted to explore the idea of this young Mormon woman who’s being kind of pushed into a life and a marriage that she did not ask for, and through fate, ends up in a much different world and never fully assimilates,” Berg told Tudum.
Did The Mountain Meadows Massacre Happen In Real Life?
AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. (L to R) Preston Mota as Devin Rowell and Betty Gilpin as Sara Rowell in Episode … [+]
Courtesy of Netflix
Yes, the Mountain Meadows Massacre — depicted in the first episode of American Primeval on Netflix — was a real historical event. On screen, viewers witness Mormon soldiers disguised as Native Americans attacking a group of pioneers traveling westward.
“We chose that because there was this intersection between a few different Native nations, the US government, the Mormons, and the American citizens who felt they had the right to move through this area,” executive producer Eric Newman told Tudum. “The Mountain Meadows Massacre did happen … and it became, for our narrative purposes, an inciting incident of conflict for our cast of characters.”
The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened in southern Utah on September 11, 1857. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as Mormons, murdered 120 emigrants at Mountain Meadows, Utah on September 11, 1857.
AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. Joe Tippett as James Wolsey in Episode 101 of American Primeval. Cr. Netflix © … [+]
Courtesy of Netflix
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the massacre happened during a period of heightened tensions between the federal government and the Brigham Young-led theocracy in Utah Territory. As federal troops were dispatched to the region, the 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 that he and Smith conducted extensive research to bring the massacre to life on screen. “We used several books, met with authors of those books, went to the site of the massacre, and tried to get as comprehensive a understanding of how that event happened as possible, from what was going on with the Mormon church at that moment to what was happening with the pioneers trying to move through the area, and what Native American tribes were caught in the crossfire,” he told Town & Country.
The directed continued, “We used that event to ground us in history; the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the tension between the U.S. government and the Mormon Church could anchor our attempts at telling a story that is, in many ways, based upon fact.”
Was Fort Bridger A Real Place?
AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. Fort Bridger in Episode 102 of American Primeval. Cr. Matt Kennedy/NETFLIX © 2023 … [+]
Matt Kennedy/Netflix
Yes, Fort Bridger was a real fur trading post in the 1850s. According to the National Park Service, it 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 ground,” Smith told Tudum. “When President Buchanan decided he wanted to get control of Brigham Young and what was growing in Utah, he stationed his military there. Fort Bridger was the gathering 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 that had to be cut by hand with axes, and those construction guys were out there every day building that set with hand tools,” Berg said.
AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. Shea Whigham as Jim Bridger in Episode 101 of American Primeval. Cr. Matt … [+]
Matt Kennedy/Netflix
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 U.S. Army.
“Fort Bridger was perceived to be this incredible asset by the US military and the Mormon church in terms of their ability to defend each other,” Berg explained to Tudum. “Bridger knew this, and he held out as long as he could. [He] took the best deal he could and rode off for perhaps one last chapter of his life.”
The director revealed that they burned down “about half of it” during filming. Ultimately, the U.S. Army rebuilt the real fort a year later and used it as a military post until 1890.
American Primeval is streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.
