, 1908-03-12
DISCUSSES
RANGE LAW
RANcHMAN HEARD
AGAIN IN DEFENSE OF THE
RIGHTS OF SMALL OWNER.
Big Outfits Should Be Curbed in Their
Rapacity and Made to Observe the
Rights of the Small Ranchman to
live-Better Breeding Can Be
Done Only BY Fencing.
Garrett, Wyo., March 10, 1908

10 the EdltOr OF II Republican.
1t is with great interest that | read
the many articles in The Republican
of d in regard to the range question
| will say that l am proud TO be the
subscriber to a paper that will give
both sides of the question and stand
up for the right side. OF course, some
people will throw clubs, which is alb
solutely unnecessary and doesn't i'm.
prove matters in the least. Americans
are all taught from childhood that this
is a free country; therefore, every man
has a right to his opinion, and should
try and express it in a way not to of
fend his friends as neighbors.
Privilege of Sheepmen.
| am a cattle man, but if my neigh
bors wish to run sheep, that's their
privilege and they should not meet
with opposition, providing they know
their range and keep on it. But the
question now on hand is, which is their
range? OF course, different people
have different ideas as to that; and al
their ideas should be made known, and
what the majority wishes will not be
far from right, if they are interested
parties. Until we all know which 8
BILE and things will be unsettled. There
will always be stock killed and out
laws made of men who seek but to pro
tect their own wives and children, for
they must live, and in order to live
they must have room.
A Small %Ranchman.
| am what is commonly called q
small ranchman, and came to wyoming
sixteen years ago with Is cents in ny
pocket. Walked thirty miles through
a foot of SHOW to my present location
and went to work among the sage
brush end rocks, after that many
years of hard work. %grubbing sage
brush, digging bitches with pick and
shovel and rustling a grub stake be-
tween times. l have finally succeeded
in building UP a nice little home, and
nearly every small rancner in Wye
ming has been through the same mill.
Now, after all of these years of har.i
work and worry, We are not certain
benefit OF our labors or whether in a
few years the sheep or cattle of some
big outfit will be eating the grass out
of the doorsteps of deserted homes.
Warning for the Future.
There are a few old tumble-down
places now as a warning FOR what is
coming if something isn't done-places
where there would have been happy
homes had the homesteader not been
forced to go by being driven out. ]
can show anyone places where for
merly there were hundreds of dollars
worth of hay cut eacn year that wasn't
used for anything last summer but a
sheep range. Wyoming would indeed
be a glorious Cd state to live in if we
could protect ourselves or else have
the protection of Uncle Sam, whom
our ancestors fought and died for that
we may be free and prosper.
Meaning of Lease Law.
There are a great many people who
do not seem to understand what a
lease law means. They are of the opin
ion that it is a free-for-all, with an IN.
limited amount of land for every man
to grab and the biggest man win. #
such was the proposed lease law, /
not be in favor of 1t myself il
the big outfits we're allowed to gobble
m oil tho ola SnntinnS IN thic vipin |
ity, then, it would be a a of out Of
the frying pan into the fire for the
small rancher and the big man 10
feed the range, whether it be leased,
government or d home comfort; wneth-
er it's with sheep, cattle or pitch pine
could only hope then that we would
be toe green to burn.
Show FOR Young Man.
Let us hope that if there is a law
passed, that it will be beneficial to the
nomesteader. Let the big out
fits, who have the railroad grant like
a checker board, throw their land in
a block, so the small man can play too
without being jumped at every move
Ne ludhtS. maj VIII give LIE yOul5
man a show who wishes to build a
home in the future, so that they may
also lease land around their home.
and not be compelled to cross
corners of railroad sections or be kept
out by big outfits leasing all the gov
eminent sections.
Should Enclose Pastures.
We can never be successful in thu
stock business until we have our stock
under an enclosure, where we can
breed them up and eventually breed
better stock. We a raise just ds
good stock as they can in the east If
we have them where we can handle
them right, but where they all run to-
gether on the range, there are always
a certain number of scrub stock which
have been overlooked in the roundup,
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