The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-07-06
WAR ON THE RANGES.

WAR ON THE RANGES.
 The Cattlemen and the sheepmcn.
 As shown by reports presented by
 the Denver Stockman," cattle receipts
 at the Colorado capital have declined
 to only fourth the equal number, all
 because of the lack of feed caused by
 destruction of the forage in the wild
 scramble for the free range,
 Heretofore by drift fences and vari- ous devices for inclosing the arid
 ranges on the public domain the stock
 men have managed to control and pre-
 serve some feed. But now it is decided
 that these fences and inclosures are
 contrary to law, and the government is
 tearing them down and those who used
 them are being criminally indicted. The
 cattle interest is the principal sufferer,
 because the moment sheep are driven
 on the range cattle leave it, as they will
 not feed where sheep run, An actually i free public range means range mo ! llpJpliNCNl py 1lfSCD, dili ll!Cy l9pOll JUL II
 1t into a desert. So say the cattle
 men.
 | In this manner sheep first drove
 cattle from the Oregon range, and now
 MT. Mills, livestock agent of the Oregon Railway and Navigation com pany, says that 100000 sheep will starve in Oregon this year unless they are taken elsewhere to feed It is pro- posed to send them to the pubic ranges of Nebraska and Kansas
 A dispatch from Pierre s. D., says that sheep are pouring into the Black Hills by tons of thousands, and the best cattle range are being occupied by them. In consequence cattlemen See their doom and are selling their herds at a sacrifice or moving them on, knowing that the range destroying sheep will overtake them wherever they go,
 The cattlemen in the Peeos Valley, New Mexico, have been driven out by invading sheep and have retreated, fighting. One man has been killed in the war.
 In Star Valley. Wyoming, the cattle men are also land owners, as cattle men usually are, and the sheep have fed the range bare to their fences. Tht y have organized in self defense and [ sent warning notice to the sheepmen, | with the intention of offering armed re- sistance.
 At Pine Bluffs and Grover, in that state, the small growers and ' farmers, finding themselves likely to be starved out by sheep, have assaulted [ three sheep camps burned the wagons [ and driven the shesp off the range.
 At Easton and Lone Tree, Colorado, | the sheepmen are in a Winchester war with invading sheepmen from Wyom- | ing.
 The railroads have promised not to bring any more sheep into Colorado from the ranges that have been fed out by them in Southern Utah. But ten of thousands of sheep have been driven to the Colorado line, which is patro.lsd by an armed guard to keep them out
 In Gunnison county, Colorado the sheep got across the line and the Col orado fighters have killed several thousand of them, first making prison CTS of the herders
 Near Cheyenne q cattfeman rented section of land and put l20 herd of cattle on it. His stock was driven off in the fight by sheepmen and SO scattered that he did not recover them.
 A citizen of Wyoming admi ts that the cattlemen have no defense left but their Wncllesters He says. Person ally I am not in favor of that kind of ] fight, but there are p'enty of men on the range who are, and promise to soon as the word is given. The con 3ervative sheepmen and Cattl men are lolng all they can to prevent an lpen conflict. but the situation is grow Ing worse every day. It is the small ,attle owners and farmers who are the worst. The sheep mean 'uin to them, and they feel they have he moral right to protect their range y force The sheepmen are fully as lesperate They are all struggling for 'nough to keep their sheep alive. and , hey feel that the public range is as much theirs as the cattlemens. They ( Ire organizing, and while they are on { he defensive now it will take but little l O put them on the other side of the f -ame. We may stave off trouble till the ( ences are all torn down, but after f hat, look out for bloodshed." I On Otter Gre K, Wyoming, 2,o0O sheep ave been killed by driving them over |
 cliff, and the she pmen at Sheridan \ re arming for war. 9 The Denver Stockman' admits that r shen the fences are removed the eitu- q tion will be unbearable, as it will take | ut a short time to permanently de- Il troy the feed, leaving nothing for f keep or cattle. Sheepmen anticipate n gut in the market because sheep that q an not be fsd must be sold, and q attlemen foresae a shortage in feed h efore the end of summer and the ex- q uson of their herds from the range q y sheep. II So it goes on in other states, incud- a lg California. The San Francisco n all suggests a remedy designed to Q romote peace, It's Ilan is to lease the O lnges and devote the proce ds to ir- D gation-Dallas News. f,