Western Towns (DVD, 2006, A&E Store Exclusive)

I'm a big fan of Wild West Tech. This episode is a very informative look at the technology behind the building of towns in the old West. It even gets into such obscure questions (seldom addressed elsewhere) as to how folks took care of personal hygeine (they built outhouses for the most part). We learn that every town had to have a blacksmith, or it would fail. We also learn about how the availability of water could make or break a newly-founded community. Another interesting fact was that many Western towns consisted of mail-order pre-fab buildings, often bought from such well-established firms as Sears-Roebuck (you can see them in old catalogue repos). Keith Carradine hosts this particular episode, and he adds great commentary to the history, making this a very enjoyable episode indeed. Highly recommended.