Smithsonian: The Real Story - True Grit

True Grit - The Real Story: SEASON 4: EPISODE 2 The line between good and evil in the Wild West was often blurred, and perhaps no Hollywood Western captured the realities of the dangerous frontier better than the Coen Brothers' "True Grit." Based on the book by Charles Portis, it's a brutal portrayal of frontier justice, but real life in the West was even more shocking. Explore a violent and unforgiving time in America's history and see how Rooster Cogburn and young Mattie's encounters with hangings, shootouts, and kidnappings would have been part and parcel with life in the Wild West.