Barbour County index., 1884-07-04

The Wichita Eagle, falling into the same
mistake made by an unreliable and preju-
diced paper in this county, attributes the
killing Of Watt and son, in this county,
to fight going on between stockmcn and
grangers. Such Is not the truth. There
Is no such fight in progress, and there has
never been; but Il Is true that farmers who
are desirous Of cultivating the soil, CON-
bining stock raising with their agriculhi-
raj pursuits have profited by the fences be-
ing erected around large tracts Of land. A
poor man with few head Of stock will
settle on claim inside of large pasture
and turn his stock loose, knowing that he
will not have to worry about it straying
away. He is not hIndcred from plowIng
or raising crops, and the very stockman
whose fence ehcloses him buys all the ex-
ira feed he can raIse.
In Comanche county large pastures are
fenccd, and by mutua, agreement among
the settlers and the stockmen the fences
are to remain for the convenience and pro-
lection OF both elements. There Is no dis
position to keep any one from settling on
. claim ont there, and no dissatisfaction is
expressed at bunches Of cattle being turned
In the pastures by the new settlers.
Were these pastures not enclosed no man
with few head OF cattle could afford to
own them. lie would be compelled to
herl them or rn the risk OF his herd
straying away, and to gather them would
take all his time and prove an expensive
proceeding.
Cut down the fences surrounding the
government Land In this section OF country
and the large cattle owners would have adj
vantagcs over the small owners that they
cannot possibly exercise now. A InAn
with five hundred or thousand head of
cittle can afford to hire men to ride the
range lines and keep his stock from drift-
Ing. The owner OF ten or twenty cannot
afford the expense Of herder. But IL he
Is contented to locate inside q pasture
fence, where he has right to 90, his
small bunch Is protected, and he knows
exactly where TO look for IL.
No, It Is not the actual settlers who are
objecting to the pasture fences, rs suggest
ell by the Eagle u Is q lot Of busy-bodys,
mischief nlakers-men too lazy to work
but just energetic enough to steal; the OBJ
jections come from that class who for
years pillaged the government lands Of all
Its timber, who removed every vestage OF
the magnificent cedar fOrrsts. and now
that they can no longer use these lands
they would be as the ''dog In the manger," |"
and allow no one else the use Of them.
In the case Of the killing Of Watt and
his son: We do not pretend to offer per-
feet justification for tie parties who did
the shooting, not knowing all the detailS
but we believe from the evidence we have
hert and from conversations with parties
perfectly posted, that Watt and his family
were enemies OF the stockmen bccmse the
latter would not permit them to depredate
on government and Cherokee lands; that
they wrre timber thIews their actions
clearly show that they destroyed gates
enclosing lcased lands, aud even decided
lands. the evidence demonstrated. They
would have been alive tO-Az had they
pursued the course Of ninety-nlnc out Of
every hundred settlers In Barber and Co
nlanclie counties.