The Covered Wagon (1923)

In director James Cruze's early epic western, often considered the first great western:

• the first authentic-looking outdoor views of the pioneering Western frontier, including the rugged trail, Conestoga wagons, plains, ranges, and buttes (of Utah and Nevada), and even Native-Americans
• the 1848 "westward ho" trek of "the mightiest caravan that was ever to crawl across the valley of the Platte" - and the many adversities that the pioneers faced, including ferrying wagons across rivers, evidence of a deadly Pawnee Indian attack, quicksand, severe weather, etc.

• with many of the stereotypical scenes included in early westerns, such as Indian attacks and shoot outs, river crossings and braving snow storms, and a buffalo hunt.