The Johnson County war demonstrates the exchange between the Cattle Barons and the residents of Johnson County, while also displaying the exchanges between the homesteaders and the invaders. The war exhibits that in the 1800's money was a little harder to come by than it is today. Therefore, if the person was rich, they were considered a person of power. However, whenever they would accuse someone of rustling, that person would almost never be prosecuted due to lack of evidence. This is the main reason for the Cattle Barons acting as they did. The Cattle Barons thought that since they fairly wealthy compared to the other citizens of Johnson County, they could afford to hire a large group of gunmen to deal with the rustlers outside of the law without there being any repercussions for having several people killed.