LIVE STOCK ON THE RANGE 103 



Pueblos and Spaniards alike. Due to their unsettled 

 mode of living, they did little towards raising sheep until 

 they were placed upon a reservation in southern New 

 Mexico near Fort Sumner in the early '60's. There they 

 were forced to take up more civilized industries, and 

 when they were later removed to their present reserva- 

 tion in northern Arizona and New Mexico they had 

 progressed so far in the arts of peace that the Govern- 

 ment aided them by supplying the tribe with 30,000 

 sheep and 2,000 goats. It was the hope of the Govern- 

 ment officials that through such means they would for- 

 sake their warlike methods and become peaceable, and 

 the results have more than justified the trial. No nation 

 with a million sheep scattered out over the deserts and 

 mountains can afford to risk its property by making 

 war upon its neighbors. Hence the Navajos ceased 

 their raids. 



Early Shepherding. The conditions surrounding 

 sheep-raising in New Mexico up to within a few years 

 were almost ideal in their character and much like those 

 of ancient biblical times. The whole people were in- 

 terested in the industry, and it was the sole means of 

 support for a large majority of them. Some of the heads 

 of the older families were veritable patriarchs in their 

 holdings, and the lands and herds descended from father 

 to son for many years. Some of the older Spanish-Mexi- 

 can families have grazed their sheep continuously on the 

 same lands for more than 200 years, and are today occu- 

 pying the same ranges upon which their forefathers set- 

 tled. 



The New Mexican sheep-grower was not so advanced, 

 however, in his ideas as to improving his flocks as Amer- 

 ican flockmasters, and for this reason until recent years 



