New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-01-28
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NEBRASKA CATTLEMEN.
H Defence of the Small Stock
Rasers by Three of Them.

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: So much has been written about the illegal
fencing Of government lands in Nebraska that We
small cattle raisers and homesteaders. Zee! thaI
as a class. we have been placed In false position
In the ey& OF the people OF the East. and we want
to correct that impression.
We are not thieves and murderers. but, instead
are ranchers cattlemen and citizens just like other
people of the United States. We value our MONIES
our families and our good names just as DINERS
do We will see the most OF your rea"elS,
but nevertheless we don't want people in general
think Ill Of class. ana therefore No
write this defence OF the small cattemen-
Most OF US came TO this country twenty or thirty
years ago, when life the plains was filled with
hardships. There were Indians and border despera-
does to contend with; wives did without com
forts and our children without schools while We
the husbands and fathers. struggled to live on the
100 acres Of land which the government gave us
In 1887 and 1885 almost every valley In the sand
hills settled. but BY 1890 s. per cent OF these
settlers had pulled up stakes and moved into
other sections cursirg the short grass country as
worthless.
We who remained and continued the struggle
strung wire fences around our quarter sections or
land and grazed little herds on the bare Nils
and grassy valleys until 1892 when series Of great
billiards came and our cattle drifted over the
face OF the entire country. Many Of US lost every
head Of cattle possessed Some OF the cattle were
found much one hundred miles from nome
and their full value 10 recover Most OF US
be borrowed, and had security on which 70
borrow. Nobody would lend money on our 100 acres
of sand hills. because right by the side OF our own
little ranches thousands Of acres OF free lanoS
Many more OF the people left the country then,
while others Of our number started in 10 rebuild
and recoup.
And right by the side of our lands were thousands
Of acres which no one claimed We had lost every
thing by having stock drift away from US IN
storms Is It any wonder we strung a line or
h07fa of IA nd
to us and so useless TO any but TO Ourselvesf
But string those fences we did. and practically
every man west Of the Tooth meridian in Nebraska
who owned many ten head OF cattle did Just
did. Practically every one OF these men, all
settlers and citizens, broke the law, and whlle We
all either taking down these fences at PreSent'
or nave aIreaoy tdAsl ulSll uJVsL-' 49, - -,
would have done otherwise? We are not raining az
venting great cattle owners from fencing up large
bodies of land and preventing the small settler from
"a" e9lS az bsl{{ se ba1 not single protest from
a small bona hde cattle owner. settler or home
steader is on file in Washington The law SUITS
these small people. and we do not rail at it. But
the law was passed twenty years ago. and condi-
tons have changed since then -
It must be remembered that thls snort grass couIl
try Is distinctly not a farming country. eastern
men cannot conceive OF so large tract or Ial5u
And seCtiOn-6+O aCres-win Craze only thirty
ceeds Of thirty head OF cattle. The soil is sand and
ntne-tenths OF the grass Is bunch grass, whlch
the wind-which blows all day and all night-simply
scoops out great holes. and nothing whatever can
be raised thereon. The valleys be farmed for
away Corn grows only three feet high in the val
leys for these two years. and not at all on the
We have been told that the government is going
over Nebraska with a fine tooth comb The big cat
tlemen stand trial; the little fellows can plead
guilty and take their medicine
Practically all the government land IN Nebraska
is, or has been. fenced. and almost all this has
But there, should be a law which WIN permit the
government. The State OF Nebraska owns certain
school lands which mixed in with the govern
from it's lands; the government secures absolutely
nothing from its own lands adjoining those OF the
It is not desired to lease these lands away from
the bona hde settlers, but these details should be
The small cattle owners favor a leasing PROPOSE
these lands without interfering with homestese-s
either present or future, and they willing
the United states Land DepaTtnent' Thsy b ey
lieve the lands should be classified, as suggested
the rent fixed according to this classification. But
steaders and settlers and not to foreign CORPORA
lions which have no home interests IN that region.
be applied the work Of reseeding the ranges The
Departnlent or Agriculture has spent considerable
and we believe The r,o1av deri15s5 800 III lo Ij
should be placed back on the land in the shane Of
grass seed. thus increasing the value OF the land
and, therefore, increasing the rental to the gov
What We are asking Is not too much: there Is
nothing intricate about renting the lands to the
small settersEand the government viii be in
There are always two sides to every question
You have heard only that side which is against ms
to the sand hills in $50 aHoSer i1 ISsi an same i
other IN lSSs Surely; we have been here long
listed among the small cattle raisers'' and each
W; H REYNOLDS. Chadron Neb.
! ! + + f49SsTETR H I23li. Pul Hns Neb-
January %. 1906