New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-18
DYNAMITTNG SHEEP
Co'cboys Throso Explosives among
the HuddIed 1nimals Then Uote

<AoeC.
The great secret of the fortunes -,ad, &. 49,.
e'och INDUSTRY IN the last few yeas has been
free range" says Charles Moreau Hsrga. g.
THE Outlook" over vast tert+as,e - -
tending from the open plain Of IT,, -,
through Oklahoma, Kansas Eastern Coloradn
Nebraska and Wyoming to the States a1opo tba
northern border, reached unendinr Ieag,es oe
grass. Most of it even went to waste booa,so
there were none TO take it. On this the herds
and fiocks fed. and there was plenty for OH
But the settlers pushed further into tho W..
oklahoma added other areas Of Indian land.
irrigation took from the land at the base of the
foothills-the stocl1man found thar ba ,,.os he
ing limited In his free pasture He tried 70
drive out the settler but In vain: nersacutiors
and the destruction Of crops We're met nv laws
like the two-mile limit statute keeninq the
agrlculturist safe. The sheepman went on viii,
his flock and took the range as he came to If
the cattleInan could not follow. for the cattle
would not eat after the sheep So the co,,bn,,s
declared war on the shepherds. and sought 70
limit their range. To some extent this has hoe,
done; but the conflict is bitter resuItin, in
bloodshed and deeds Of intoIerable cruelty-nor
is II yet ended. 1t is tempting for the sheen
man to move to new pastures at the risk Of at
tack, even though he knows that a cattleman
has long been in possession and will fight to
maintain his place; for It is we'll understood that
the range is open to all
"A Western authority says that in the last
ten years 100000 sheep have been wantonlv
killed by cowboys. at a loss to the owners OF
$2oOOooO. 1t is also estimated-no one can tell
surely. for all the tragedies of the range do not
come to Hght-that five hundred man killings
have annually accompanied the sheep killings
Sometimes the settlers, whose homes are threat
ened make common cause with the cattemen
and iOin he Or1,
band of masked men, mounted, killed the herd
ers Of several thousand sheep in Central Wy
oming and killed thousands OF the sheep In
addition, $4,000 sheep, which were near by were
left without herders and were scattered on the
hills, resulting in further loss. Rihemen sur
round docks and kill every sheep, driving off
the herGers A flock of 5000 Angora goats was
killed in Western Colorado in August. The pa
pers Of oregon describe the terrible devastation
produced by dynamite thrown among the hud-
died bands OF sheep, the explosion ending the
existence Of whole fiocks, and sometimes killing
the shepherds well. The cattlemen throw
these deadly explosives from some height or
charge on horseback into the frightened focNs
for their scheme OF wrath. Flocks have been
driven into narrow canyons and dubbed TO
death; they have been hurried over precipices
and destroyed. One man fougb+ the battle for
years. finally, after losing 1900 sheep. giving
up the range for which he contended.
THE settler who 'homesteads' q claim in the
edge of the free range has one great terror
what If the focks or herds should come. He
knows that the crops so carefully +o~Sa1 would
go. he garden would be made desoate. He has
recourse through the law. 10 be sure but ~ the
wilder portion Of the West It IS sometimes q
slow process.
Recently the government has issued an order
that the sheep must be kept off the forest re-
serves, the last refuge Of the wandering focks
and their worried owners. These were the only
lands on which the cattle were not generally
grazed. so the sheep were turned in. But they
destroyed the shrubbery in their efforts TO gain
sustenance, and so the order went out TO stop
such practice There seemed TO be choice
but to try conclusions with the cattlemen again.
and hostiIities opened with renewed vigor. The
miners and campers and hunters try TO keep
stock out of the mountain parks, and the
boundaries constantly grow less for the wan
derngs Of the focks and herds. The range is
becoming thin. too. The grass is overpastured.
and In the opinion of expert stockmen. does
not to-day give more than half the sustenance
that Il did a decade ago. Various plans are
proposed 70 renew Il. but they yet in
embryo, and do not help the man with huge
Jocks of sheep that must be fed. In the -
there must be more extensive leasing own
ership OF the grazing lands. and the rights OF
possesston must be obeyed. Until that time
comes the conflict for the free feeding grounds
WIFI rage.