The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range war that took place in Johnson, Natrona and Converse County, Wyoming in April 1892. It was fought between small settling ranchers against larger established ranchers in the Powder River Country and culminated in a lengthy shootout between local ranchers, a band of hired killers, and a sheriff's posse, eventually requiring the intervention of the United States Cavalry on the orders of 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.
Read more about Johnson County War: Background, The War, Aftermath, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words johnson, county and/or war:
“Alone he rides, alone,
The fair and fatal king:
Dark night is all his own,
That strange and solemn thing.”
—Lionel Pigot Johnson (1867–1902)
“But I would say to my fellows, once for all, As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.”
—Richard Lovelace (1618–1658)