12 PASTURE LANDS AND GRAZING CONTROL 



The stockmen were at once seized with the desire to make 

 every dollar possible out of their opportunity, and it was not 

 long, of course, until the lands were seriously overgrazed. In- 

 stead, therefore, of the cowmen continuing to be " cattle kings," 

 each with a ''princely kingdom," innumerable large owners 

 were forced into bankruptcy. In the beginning, the beUef hav- 

 ing prevailed that the ranges had unlimited carrying capacity, 

 no thought had been given to the conservation of the forage 

 resource on a permanent business basis or for future generations. 

 The same condition existed in Maryland and Virginia and other 

 Eastern States prior to the western frontier movement. 



Range abuses by domestic animals can invariably be traced 

 back to overstocking. The carrying capacity of any pasture 

 can safely be estimated only on the basis of the number of stock 

 it will support in good condition in years of average or, prefer- 

 ably, slightly less than average forage yields. By proper stock- 

 ing, the lands steadily increase in value, the carrying capacity is 

 augmented, and the profits from transforming the grass into 

 meat are increased as a result of the improved condition of the 

 animals. But the lands could not be stocked within the Hmits 

 of their carrying capacity in the absence of grazing regulations; 

 and, before suitable regulations could be perfected, the cow- 

 men and sheepmen insisted on having their fling. 



Range Wars. — Despite the threatened depletion of the 

 native pastures in the early nineties of the last century, still 

 more cattle and sheep were crowded on the lands, and a des- 

 perate struggle for range ensued. Cattle owners would crowd 

 the sheep breeders, and the latter would work their herds up 

 the mountains in the spring as early as forage and weather con- 

 ditions would permit, and the feed upon which the cattlemen 

 were dependent would be consumed (Fig. 4). The feeling be- 

 tween the two hvestock interests soon became extremely bitter. 

 The sheep breeders, claiming as good a right to the free forage 

 as anybody, would graze their bands up to the very doors of the 

 cattle owners. The cattlemen, on account of owning property 

 and paying taxes for the support of the Government, which 

 many of the sheep breeders did not do, claimed prior right to 



