The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1904-08-02
DIMINISHED RANGES
WEALTH IN FREE RANGE STOCK
ON THE DECLINE.
western Cattlemen wage War Upon
Herders ana FIocks Because
of Destruction to the
Ranges.

''The great secret Of the fortunes
made IN the stock industry in the last
few years has been free range" rays
Charles Moreau Harger in the Outlook.
over a vast territory, extending from
the open plain Of Texas up through Okla
homa, Kansas, eastern Colorado, Me-
braksa and Wyoming to the states along
the northern border, reached unendirg
leagues Of grass. Most Of 1t even went
to waste because there were none TO
take 1t. On this the herds and fiocEs
fed, and there was plenty for all. But
the settlers pushed further into the
west; Oklahoma added other areas OF
Indian land; irrigation took from the
land at the base of the foothills-the
stockman found that he was being linz
tied in his free pasture. He trisd TO
drive out the settler, but in vain; PER-
secutions and the destruction OF crops
we're met by laws like the tWo-mile
limit statute, keeping the agriculturist
safe. The sheepman went on with his
flock and took the range as he came TO
1.-THE cattleman could not follow, for
the cattle would not eat after the sheep.
So the cowboys declared war on the
shepherds, and sought to limit their
range. To some extent this has been
done; but the conflict is bitter, resulting
in bloodshed and deeds Of intolerable
cruelty--nor is 1t yet ended. 1t is tempt
ing for the sheepman to move to new
pastures at the risk of attack, even
though he knows that cattleman has
long been in possession and will fight
to maintain his place; for 1t is well un-
derstood that the range Is open to all.
"A western authority says that in the
last ten years 100000 sheep have been
wantonly killed by cowboys, at a loss to
the owners Of $2,000000. 1t Is also esti-
mated--no one can tell surely, for all
the tragedies of the range do not come
to light--that 500 man killings have an
nually accompanied the sheep killings.
sometimes the settlers, whose homes
are threatened, make common cause
with the cattlemen and join in the
slaughter. Only last July band Of
masked men, mounted killed the herd
ers of several thousand sheep In Central
Wyoming and killed thousand of the
sheep. In addition. $4,000 sheep, which
we're near by, were left without herders
and were scattered on the hills, result
Ing further loss. Rifemen surround
locks and kill every sheep, driving on
the herders. A flock Of 5000 Angora
goats was killed in western Colorado In
August The papers of Oregon describe.
the terrible devastation produced by
dynamite thrown among the huddled'
bands of sheep the explosion ending thei
existence of whole flocks, and some-l
lines killing the shepherds as we'll. The
.attlemen throw these deadly explosives
rom some height, or charge on horse
)ac'' into the frightened tlocks for their
scheme of wrath. Flocks have beenH
driven into narrow canyons and clubbed|
to death; they have been hurried overl
precipces and destroyed. One man
'oueht the battle for years, finally, after
osing $4,000 sheep giving up the range
or which he contended.
"The settler who 'homesteads' claim
n the edge of the free range has one
great terror--what II the fioclxs or herds
should come! He knows that the crops
so carefully tended would go, the garden
would be made desolate, He has re-
course through the law to be sure. but In
he wilder portion of the west 1t Is some
times a slow process.
Recently the government has issued
an order that the sheep must be kept on
the forest reserves, the last refuge of
the wandering flocks 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 no choice but TO try
conclusions with the cattlemen again,
and hostillties opened with renewed
visor. The miners and campers and
hunters try to keep stock out of the
mountain parks, and the boundaries
constantly grow less for the wanderings
of the flocks and herds. The range is
becoming thin, too, The grass Is over
pastured, and, in the opinion Of expert
stockmen, does not to-day give more
than half the sustenance that it did
decade ago Various plans are proposed
10 renew 1t, but they are as yet in en-
bryo. and do not help the man with huge
flocfs of sheep that must be fed. In
the end there must be most extern
sive leasing or ownership of the grazing
lands. and the rights Of possession must
be obeyed. Until that time comes the
conflict for the free feeding grounds
will rage"
Identification Easy.
Mot iauu uun an oCridnn4 ha -.