i guess most of us have a perception on the the wild west, which is heavily build up on the wild west movies of sergio leone. also games like desperados, red dead redemption, ... seem to be build up on that movies too. and as far as i got it, leones "wild west" has not much to do with the real wild west.

i'd like to ask for sugesstions (especially from american gogers) on series or documentations about the wild west, which are focused on reality?

how about the amc series "the american west" from 2015?

would you say that the wild west period had its peak towards the end of the civil war?

As an American whose furthest westward movement on the ground was a few days in Nebraska, here are my impressions:

First, here is the History Matters video on the Wildness of the Wild West:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKnKYZFKMP0

When I was a kid I would watch Wild West Tech on the History Channel, other interesting things would include the writings of the day including newspaper descriptions and recollections of lawmen such as Wyatt Earp.

I would also recommend InRangeTV on Youtube (they are a general gun channel but they talk a lot about Old West stories and weapons technology):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0-5RMOBjcs&list=PLj9u4Ts2NpEta0X05fZVFyBE_03fVaqxJ


Second, it's kind of a mixed bag. But, before all of that, I would personally peg down the peak of the era we refer to as the wild west as being from the 1870s to the early 1900s (most movies, based on on the technology present in particularly the repeating rifles should be set in the 1880s at the earliest and the 1890s more likely). It seems that a lot of the romanticization and the aesthetics of the era were based on German and Italian renditions and stories (like Karl Friedrich May) in addition to sensationalist stories from the era in books and newspapers. Now, there is rarely smoke without a fire and there were plenty of reasons for the portrayal the Old West got in these stories, after all we do have the legal proceedings and pictures of plenty of what we think of when we think wild west, such as the lineup of the Dalton Gang on Wikipedia.

You might try this :

When the Western Genre Perished, 1968-75 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6zD1sjnClM

It is both analysis/interpretation of the historical Wild West and how the idea of the Wild West was presented by the Western movie genre over time.

Sergio Leones wild west was accurate in that the west was mainly and already populated by Mexicans (or new Spaniards).
In that it correctly contradicts the popular view that it were mostly John Wayne type of cowboys over there.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

And I raise you a Legend!

Legend trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5fSpFv-hS8

As was already mentioned, the era usually referred to as the Wild West years began with the end of the Civil War as former soldiers moved West (the "Old West" era began much earlier).

I could list a million movies and books... but...

... it's important to understand that entertainment always tells you more about the time in which it's made than the period it attempts to depict (ie Spaghetti Westerns tell you much more about European politics and corruption than the American West).

I'll think on a list, but I would first suggest...

... the movie BAD COMPANY.

I think Bass Reeves was an interesting figure. He was born in Arkansas and died in Oklahoma. I'm not entirely sure if that counts as the Wild West. If it doesn't, someone please correct me. He was born as a slave and became a Marshall. Here's a 17 minute video if you are interested:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y9yjOVsuoo

Brutal, short lives in the old west. Men were men, women were men, children were men. The rest were bears, cougars and snakes. Not much fun. But they had some great engineers!

I raise you Blazing Saddles; possibly the most accurate Wild West documentary.

More accurate than Three Amigos?

Deadwood. HBO. 2004-06. One of best series I've ever seen.

thanks to all for the suggestions, after taking a look at some of them, i want to specify my request. there is definitely much that the wild west offers such as civil war, navite-americans, bandits, railroad, ... for a series or documentary. but i'm interested on a series or documentary that focuses on a small town on wild west territory and the live of people in it during that wild times. wild west tech sounds interresting, will take a look at it will take a look at deadwood looks promising

that western genre in media analysis was interesting, although i probably got only the half of it. since my english skills as a non native english speaker aren't that good watched bad company (1972), was great. i didn't get every conversation. that southern accent was hard to understand that was very interesting, perfect stuff for a great wild west movie. with wesley snipes as reeves

there is not much focus on reality in blazing saddles, as far as i got it right from the youtube clips from the movie. but its probably entertaining

Bass Reeves has a number of great biographies. Certainly he's the West!