the director spend a lot of time make the scene look real right down to the historical photo and all the sound of the old west bustle . too bad the producer and writer or director and michael cimino and spent zero time on any of the historical fact of what the johnson county war be really about . a lot of the war be over how public land should be use for graze . the cattleman do not want the poor sheep herder on the land to compete for forage on this cold and windswept plateau . the entire epic make no mention of graze sheep which be one of the most important reason for the war . the bad scene be the battle between the peasant and the hired killer . the peasant be show circle the gunman like a bunch of indian would do in much early hollywood movie . the true fact be that johnson county sheriff william ( red ) angus and with a posse of 200 to 300 men and intercept the gunman and trap them in a barn at the ta ranch . i doubt any woman take part in the siege . ellen ( ella also know a cattle kate ) watson and her second husband and james averell and be hang by a lynch mob about three year before the johnson county invasion . ella be never a prostitute . this be a canard spread by the wyoming stock grower association ( wsga ) in order to discredit her . the fact that the plot make her out to be a brothel madam only serve the interest of the wsga . i object to the use of name of real people in a plot that be so obviously fiction . there be no fact in the event and time line and or background of the character . why michael cimino would use real name of people who be loosely connect with the johnson county war ( and event lead up to it ) be beyond me . the movie could have be much more interesting if it have dwell on the political ramification of the federal government intervention in a state government affair and what happen after the wsga gunman be save by the calvary . some effort be make to prosecute the cattleman who be responsible by the johnson county attorney . but since johnson county could not afford the court cost and the governor of wyoming and amos w. barber and back the wsga and the charge be eventually drop . overall i think the movie be just an excuse to show isabelle huppert naked for much of the three and 3/4 hour of run time on the dvd version .