I dont know much about the movie myself - even though its been around awhile.
But i do remember seeing reference to it(and some other hollywood movies about the johnson county war) & poltices of the time- while reading up some on the johnson county war in wy awhile ago.
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The
Johnson County War, also known as the
War on Powder River, was a
range war which took place in April 1892 in
Johnson County,
Natrona County and
Converse County in the
U.S. state of
Wyoming. It was a battle between small settling ranchers and larger established ranchers in the
Powder River Country that culminated in a lengthy shootout between local ranchers, a band of hired killers, and a
sheriff's posse, eventually requiring the intervention of the
U.S. Cavalry on the orders of U.S. President
Benjamin Harrison.
The events have since become a highly mythologized and symbolic story of the
Wild West, and over the years variations of the storyline have come to include some of the west's most famous historical figures and gunslingers. The storyline and its variations have served as the basis for numerous popular novels, films, and television shows.
Many
western films and novels have been made that borrow facets of the Johnson County War. One example is the 1970 film
The Cheyenne Social Club with depicts the Club as a brothel taken over by two Texans ultimately besieged by a throng of angry local ranchers.
........
Political effects
Although many of the leaders of the WSGA's hired force such as W. C. Irvine were Democrats, the ranchers who had hired the group were tied to the Republican party and their opponents were mostly Democrats. Many viewed the rescue of the WSGA group at the order of President Harrison (a Republican) and the failure of the courts to prosecute them a serious political
scandal with overtones of
class war. As a result of the scandal the
Democratic Party became popular in Wyoming for a time, winning
the governorship in 1895 and taking control of both houses of the state legislature during the two elections after the events.
[20] Wyoming voted for the Democrat
William Jennings Bryan in the
1896 U.S. Presidential Election.
Cheyenne Social Club
