The Gunslingers of '69: Western Movies' Greatest Year in Bloomington, MN

In 1969—the counter-cultural moment when
Easy Rider
triggered a "youthquake" in audience interests—Westerns proved more dominant than ever at the box office and at the Oscars.
It was a year of masterpieces—
The Wild Bunch
,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Once Upon a Time in the West
and
True Grit
. Robert Redford achieved star status. Old-timers like John Wayne, Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum appeared in two Westerns apiece. Raquel Welch took on the mantle of
Queen of the West
. Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin tried their hand at a musical (
Paint Your Wagon
). New directors like George Roy Hill reinvigorated the genre while veteran Sam Peckinpah at last found popular approval. Themes included women's rights, social anxieties about violence and changing attitudes of and towards African-Americans and Native Americans.
All of the 40-plus Westerns released in the U.S. in 1969 are covered in depth, offering a new perspective on the genre.