John Copeland

John Copeland, Award Winning Producer of The Wild West TV Docu-Series Presents “The Way West” Lecture Series: “Dreamers & Wayfarers” September 29, 2019 and “Townspeople” on October 27 at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum

Residents of the Santa Ynez Valley and fans alike of Western TV programs such as the 1990s TV docu-series The Wild West and Deadwood, are intrigued by life during the taming of the Old West. Stagecoach and railway routes were the life-giving arteries of a New America, bearing settlers and supplies for building new communities, very much like the small towns in our area. Each community had saloons, churches, schools, banks and stores to support the growing population of people that traveled across our land to find freedom and a new way of life. John Copeland, a Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum (SYVHM) board member, Los Olivos resident, and producer of The Wild West, an award-winning TV documentary series, is no stranger to telling true tales about the Old West.

Now the public has an opportunity to spend time with this consummate raconteur when the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum (SYVHM) presents “The Way West” lecture series. Mr. Copeland’s first presentation,  “Dreamers & Wayfarers” and the second installment, “Townspeople,” is on Sunday, October 27th.

In Mr. Copeland’s first presentation, “Dreamers & Wayfarers – A Nation Complete from Sea to Sea,” the audience will learn about the visionaries who conceived of spanning the country with transportation, communications, stage coaching, the construction of the transcontinental railroad and an oft over-looked aspect of western travel – riverboats. The second  program, “Townspeople – Taming the West,” Copeland explains how towns sprang up, grew and underwent social development that saw the establishment of schools, religion, civic organizations, like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and entertainment to our country’s wide open spaces. He says that what’s interesting about these topics it that, “The early growth of the Santa Ynez Valley mirrors the boom and bust of towns throughout the Wild West. The coming of stage lines, the railroad and influx of families all had a fundamental impact on the valley’s towns.”

$15 for members and $20 for non-members.