Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-08-20
THE ILLEGAL ENCLOSURES

Each day the interest in the illegal
inclosing OF land increases, and any def
mite information as to parties who have
made Enclosures and the amount Of land
held by them, is eagerly sought for by the
public. The Alta California of the 18th
inst, gives the following information edi-
torially:
Agents of the Interior Department have
reported TO it partial list of the cattle-own-
ers who have illegally fenced in public lands,
with the area enclosed by each firm or indi-
vidual. The object of obtaining this infor-
nation is to enable the Government TO
commence suits against the illegal occupiers.
A glance at the long list of names, with the
figures expressing the extensive areas of
Government land upon which these men have
severally fastened, makes 1t reason for re-
joicing that the passage OF the Illegal Inclo-
sure law was not longer delayed, for if the
barbed-wire-fence barons had been given
time to multiply much more they would have
been almost too numerous for the Govern
ment to deal with. Their miles on miles of
barbed-wire fence were becoming a spiders
web, in whose iron meShes the poor settler
was caught like a helpless fly. Colorado,
Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming and Utah are
enclosure has hourished most, according to
the reports presented to the Interior Depart
ment, but when Investigations have been
made in other States and Territories it will
be found that the business has been extern
sive in all of them. Among the illegal oc-
cupiers are the following: Livisey Bros,
Pueblo county, Colorado, $4,000 acres: John
Herspenger, same county, 10000, and John
q. Haas, same area. In all, there are 20S.-
740 acres illegally enclosed in the single
county of Pueblo, Colorado. There are
10000 acres of illegal enclosure in Luder and
Eureka counties, Nevada. The Dakota Stock
Company, of Nebraska, has 61,OO0 acres;
James Beatty, of Rent county, Colorado,
has 21 900 acres, and PoindeXter d Orr, of
Beaverhead county, Montana, 90,SS0 acres
In all, the last batch of names certified to
the Department includes forty-nine individ-
uals, firms and corporations, and the aggre-
gate number of acres they are illegally oecu-
pying is $50, ,2S0 But these figures are small
compared with some previously reported.
For instance, in the Brighton ranch of Ne
braska there are l2j,OO0 acres, and John
Bowers, of Colorado, has wired in some
100000 acres. But the two greatest grab
bers of public land are the Arkansas Valley
Land and Cattle Company and the Prairie
Cattle Company. Each of these corpora
tions has 100000 acres in Colorado, and if
the necessity for removing their fences,
erected at great cost. should bankrupt them,
no one ought to regret such a consequence
of their greed 1t is estimated that in ad-
dltion to what has already been reported,
there are 100000 acres of illegal inclosure
which shows the magnitude of the task
that the Government has in trying TO make
the occupiers yacate. The consequence of
rigid enforcement of the law will be that
they will make strong demand to be al
lowed TO rent the public lands which they
have hitherto occupied free of charge,
and this demand they will make heard
at the approaching session of Congress.