MovieChat Forums > Heaven's Gate (1981) Discussion > immigrants

immigrants

posted 12 years ago by jimprideaux2
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What was the nationality of the immigrants? At times I thought I saw hints of German or Scandinavian. Other times they looked Eastern European. I think the church had an Orthodox Christian cross on the steeple. Do the nationalities in Heaven's Gate bear any actual historical correspondence to those involved in the actual historical events in Johnson county Wyoming?

[–] col_rutherford 12 years ago

In the movie the immigrants belonged to different ethnic groups.

In reality the majority of Johnson County's population in the 1890s was born in North America. Most residents were of German, British, Irish or Scandinavian ancestry. There weren't as many Slavs as depicted in the film.