The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-11-05
SHEEP RUIN THE CATTLE RANGE
The Cause of n Hitter reud In the
West.


The perennial fight between Western
cattlemen and sheepmen is study for
both the psychologist and the economist
At first glance the interests of these
great divisions OF the livestock industry
would appear to be in common But, In
truth. this can never be, Cattle and sheep
can no more occupy a range In common
than oil and water can float coherentiy
The COW puncher hates the shepherd with
hatred that is deep and Outlines pic
turesque, and the herder begirts himself
with artillery and sullenly stands on the
defensive
The trouble between the cattle and
sheep industries mainly proceeds from
the natural differences between the two
classes of livestock Cattle are home
keeping in their habits They are as hard
to lose as a house cat, unless, perchance
the cheerful and unreckoning rustler
happens along range COW naturally
Will make her run where she was born
Her owner and his cowboys expect TO
find her within easily defined limits. usu-
any along some certain cattle trail that
starts mt watering place and leads back
to higher ground. In ordinary weather
II water be easy OF access, about all the
cattle VIII be found some time during the
DAY 2long the creeks. IN the shade or
luxuriantly hook deep in the mud The
night Is spent back on the feeding
ground. Drive the COW away. even a
hundred miles, and back she will drift
though her return be to a feeding ground
ny tar the worse. Back home she will
come, though IL be TO starye and die
Sheep. on the contrary. are necessari,v
nomadic. They are gregarious punching
by instinct. one man with HIS dog can
care for even 1000 though only half that
number IL usually allotted A flock Of
sheep Is about as devastating as a prairie
fire. Where 1t has passed the grass Is
a. 81
defoliated and the track so reeks with
the Sleeps peculiar odor that cattle and
horses avoid the ground for weeks after
ward. And the herds in their eeaseless
iourneying I.ver follow one another To
use pat military expression, they come
ZEN echelon," In a path parallel to and
abutting one edge OF the strip devastated
by the preceding Woody army. Thus. IL
one flock eat out a half mile strip. ten
fiocks viii leave a barren area five miles
wide. The better the feed the slower the
rate of travel, The flock moves on when
the grass is consumed No diagram is
needed to show the effect OF such a raid
on cattle range. The rage of tho cattle.
men II not hard 10 imagine.
a quarter OF a century ago, whom the
Wild West was virgin land and pasture
there was plenty Of room for both cattle
and sheep. But as the country has fIled
Up and the area OF untenanted or I'M
claimed land has shrunk. the two branch
ga Of live stock have been driven IN upon
each other more and more, until they
are now ia contention for possession OF
the same field. Little by little the herd
ers and punchers have been forced from
the plains up into the mountains. West
ern Kansas. Nebraska and the Dakotas.
the western portion OF oregon and WASH
ingion. and all Of California which were
once free ranges. have become Iess and
To-
and portion OF Wyoming. because of the
advance Of farmers and miners afford a
constantly shrinking pasturage. Both
sheepruen and cattiemen have been oblir-
ed 20 seek the high and untenahle lands
tn the mountains. where the forests ana
the watersheds are the only sections that
afford sufficient feed.
The struggle between them. therefore.
Is waged chiefly IN what - known a. The
plateau region OF the continent From
lower New Mexico and Arizona and West.
ern Texas nprthward 70 the American
boundary. and from the eastern Montana
line westward 70 the summir % the Cas-
cade mountains. the sheepmen and the
cattlenen are fighting for the control of
the remaining ranges The sheep GO into
the YcrdAnt meadows % the forests. and
the c8ttIemen seek 20 expel them. The
cattlemen occupy some section where The
grasses are succuient and the water plsu-
tifui. only 20 find the sheep working into
the same district cropping the grass 20
It's roots AND taiptiug The air with the
smell which The cattle cannot endure The
closer settlement crowds Ia upon the for
ruerly unsettled lands the more bitter BE-
comes the antagonism. Frequently ID
breaks nut IN brief shooting matches .n
which the cattlemeu generally urovs
Themselves the most expert. More often
Il eliminates IN strained sentiments ans
press reports ~ trouble threatened be.
tween cowboys and sheep herderH "
Again Il breeds faeds which are fully a.
swift and decisive as those Of Kentucky
Capt. James II McClntock In Ainslec's.