The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1903-01-31

the settler had rights they must re-
spect. The government said to the
sheepmen Tin the two mile limit''),
you, too, must give the homesteader
Il chance, must not allow your crea-
lures to grub and devastate at will.
The 1.-TWO mile limit" is a statute
prohibiting the sheep from grazing
within two miles of any inhabited
dwellings,; and as the dwellings are
increasing in number so fast the
Sleeps struggle for existence is get
ting to be much more of struggle
than formerly.~
The settler and cattlemen war on
the sheep because wherever this in
defatigable grubber goes, he works
great havoc. He leaves nothing be-
hind, no blade of grass, not thing
for any creature that may come aft
en-. As he nibbles he makes clean
sweep of everything, biting way down
below the blades into the roots. And
not only is he ruthless as TO getting
what he can for himself, but focks
travelling ever in the wake of a lead
er, everything underfoot is de-
stroyed. TO add to his unattractive-
ness on the range, the odor of
sleeps hoofs is very unpleasant to
both horses and cattle, who there
fore do not care to browse in his vi
cinity.
Because of his monopolistic tenden-
cies every mans hand seems against
him. Lately he has been prohibited
the forest reserves, and now nothing
is left for him but to fight the cat
tlemen for the open range. And
fighting it is that is going on out
there i'll the grazing lands of the
northwest, cowboys and shepherds in
desperate straits to find sustenance
for their herds and focks.
Retribution falls heavily upon the
Unsuitable focks, occasionally set,
tiers uniting with cowboys in
wholesale slaughtering of the sheep.
Shepherds, needing new pastures,
will fully conscious of the danger at
tending the move, push on into re-
gion where cattle are feeding, or they
will encroach on settlers lands.
Fierce hostilities follow, both sheep
and shepherd often losing their lives.
Last summer a band of masked riders
out in Wyoming planned and exc
cuted border deed most bold and
lawless. They attacked and muir
| dered the herders of large flock,
killed thousands of sheep, and turned
loose other thousands to die of ex-
| posture and want.
| Even in this day of newspaper fer
/ oil 1,n{ L, N.
range gets to the eye of the reader.
The life of the western shepherd is
not the peaceful, contemplative thing
depicted in fairy tales. The tender
of f1ocks in the disputed lands must
be keen on the alert against hui
man enemy, knows that sudden at
tack may end all for both herd and
herdsmen. 1T is estimated that in
the last ten years 500 herders and
100000 sheep have lost their lives at
the hands of the cowboys. A heavy
loss of property, a grievous waste of
life!
The methods of slaughter are va
rious. Sometimes flock is surround
ed, the herders captured or chased
away, and the rifles kept cracking
until the whole flock is destroyed.
Dynamite is occasionally employed
in the work of determination, the
bombs being thrown into the midst
of the huddled creatures, for whom,
and for the herders, there can be
no escape.
The governments attention is at
present considerably taken up with
this cattlesheep-settler question in
the northwest, and it looks as though
the doom of free range were at hand.
A settlement of the matter may be
made among those most nearly con-
cerned, or the government may give
out the range in leases, as is done
with the school lands in most of the
states. The wild picturesqueness of
life on the range may fade away ut
/ terly, but perhaps one can be re-
signed to that in the contemplation
of peaceful ranches and of myriads
of homesteads for myriads of land
less folk. KATHERINE POPE.
|