Dreamers Westward Ho!
Settling Thoughts
My intention with this project was to draw upon my Midwestern roots while showing a world we cannot enter presently. I wanted my film to illuminate a more profound appreciation while narrating to the living what difficulties the westward-bound pioneers endured on the Oregon Trail. Firearm wounds, snakebites, drowning, starvation, weather, attacks, and disease were mid-journey inevitabilities. These anxieties didn’t sway the minds of brave dreamers who still decided to journey to a promise of ground to build new homes and farms.
Given the period of the event, I didn’t have many photographic references. Luckily there’s a museum local to me with an Oregon Trail exhibit that I could capture images from, otherwise, digging for visuals was complicated. Another concern I encountered in the creative process was creating a successful narrative that’s informative and not a complete drab. I understand our present technological culture doesn’t have a heavy heart for the generations before that fought for freedom. Many people don’t know that these settlers built the nation we live in today with their relentless motivation to migrate west from the then overpopulated east. They also aided in spreading culture and religious beliefs along the coast.
In conclusion, I am grateful this project allowed me the opportunity to understand the history of my home further. It gave me an excuse to dive deeper into some of the historical events that happened where I walk every day. I can say I am confident in acknowledging the trials these early pioneers endured to earn us a more comfortable life.
