Two gunmen drawing on each other in the middle of town was actually a rare occurrence in the American west. Still, it did happen, and most historians agree that the first example came July 21, 1865, and involved one of the west’s most famous gunfighters.
The “Great Sedition Trial” uncovered shocking connections at the time with the German reich that we were fighting, and challenged the idea that the nation was of a single mind during the war. It also challenged exactly how far the national commitment to freedom of speech and opinion reached, especially in extraordinary times.