222 SADDLE AND CAMP 



hands. The government charges them a nomi- 

 nal price for the privilege of grazing herds on 

 public lands; they have grown to feel that they 

 own these lands and send up a cry of horror at 

 any hint that their privileges be curtailed. 

 Many of the wealthy sheep men of to-day be- 

 gan a dozen years ago with practically nothing. 

 They grew rich at the expense of the public. 

 In many instances the government had better 

 have voted them a competence, for large over- 

 stocking has ruined the ranges for many years 

 for any purpose, where a moderate stocking 

 would have resulted in little or no damage and 

 preserved their value. 



Not only have wide territories in Idaho, Wy- 

 oming, and Montana been thus rendered value- 

 less for either cattle or sheep grazing, but ab- 

 solutely uninhabitable for antelope and elk. 

 Had reason governed the sheep men and gov- 

 ernment officials concerned in this, wide areas 

 that to-day will not support a grasshopper 

 might have still held herds of domestic sheep, 

 as well as wild antelope and elk. This applies 

 to much of the public land in national forest 

 reserves through which I rode, from southern 

 Utah to Montana. 



Beyond Giveout the road rises steadily, and 

 at last abruptly, to the summit of the pass. 



