What is Johnson County War?
The '''Johnson County War''', also known as the '''War on Powder River''' and the '''Wyoming Range War''', was a fight over farmland. It happened in [[Johnson County, Wyoming|Johnson County]], [[Wyoming]] between 1889 and 1893. The fights started when cattle companies started ruthlessly punishing accused [[rustlers]] in the area. Many of the “rustlers” were actually innocent settlers that competed with the companies for land, [[livestock]] and water rights. As tensions swelled between the large established ranchers and the smaller settlers in the state, violence finally reached a peak in [[Powder River Country]], when the ranchers hired armed [[Gunfighter|gunmen]] to invade the county. The gunmen's initial incursion in the territory aroused the small farmers and ranchers, as well as the [[Posse comitatus (common law)|state lawmen]], and they formed a posse of 200 men that led to a grueling stand-off. The siege ended when the [[United States Cavalry]] on the orders of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Benjamin Harrison]] relieved the two forces, although further fighting persisted in the following months. 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 its most famous historical figures. In addition to being one of the most well-known range wars of the American frontier, its themes, especially [[Class conflict|class warfare]], served as a basis for numerous popular novels, films, and television shows in the [[Western (genre)|Western genre]]. [[Category:19th century in Wyoming]] [[Category:Benjamin Harrison]] [[Category:1890s in the United States]]