146 



GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



When Battlement Mesa is first seen from the railroad, near Rifle, 

 no hard rock can be discerned on its surface, but near the ^dllage of 

 Rulison small streams that come down from the mesa have made sharp 

 cuts through the terrace on the opposite side of the river and have de- 

 posited at the foot of the terrace a great quantity of boulders in the 

 form of alluvial cones. These boulders are composed of basalt, a dark 

 rock that is very unlike any others which are seen in this vicinity. 

 This basalt was once molten lava that was poured out over the even 

 surface and now caps the mesa and protects its from erosion. Battle- 



the national forest and the valleys 

 also provide valuable winter range, 

 and the irrigated bottoms along the 

 streams are admirably adapted to 

 raising hay and to the winter feed- 

 ing of stock. Such, in brief, is the 

 character of the lands that furnish 

 pasturage for more than 43,000 cattle 

 and horses every year. 



The natural grazing advantages of 

 this part of Colorado attracted cattle- 

 men long ago and led to the first de- 

 velopment of the country. Those were 

 days without laws or regulations, 

 when the more powerful cattle owners 

 had everything their own way. " nin- 

 ning" as many cattle and sheep as 

 they wishetl, rapidly overgrazing the 

 accessible tracts and getting little or 

 no benefit from the others. This 

 " open-range " system, as it was called, 

 resulted in the gradual accumulation 

 of more live stock than the country 

 could properly maintain, and during 

 unfavorable seasons it produced severe 

 losses. 



In those early days the market was 

 very unstable. Prices were less than 

 half those of the present day, and 

 there was a great deal of animosity 

 between cattlemen and sheepmen. So 

 strong was this animosity that be- 

 tween 1890 and 1892 several encoun- 

 ters occurred in which at least one 

 man was killed and thousands of sheep 

 were wantonly butchered or driven 

 over precipices. Ultimately the cattle- 

 men proved to be the stronger and 

 drove the sheepmen from the range. 



By this time the territory then in 

 use had become overgrazed, the range 



depleted, and the water-supply con- 

 taminated and diminished. The strug- 

 gle therefore took on a new phase — it 

 became one for the control of range 

 and water. Homesteads and water 

 holes were taken up in such a way 

 as to control large areas, some home- 

 steaders controlling as many as 10 sec- 

 tions of grazing land. 



After this struggle for supremacy 

 the friiit industry was started and ulti- 

 mately took possession of much of the 

 fertile valley lands in and adjacent to 

 the forest. For a time this new in- 

 dustry flourished, and the value of 

 land increased to a point that prohibit- 

 ed its acquisition for grazing. The 

 fruit industry in turn had its draw- 

 backs, and now many of the orchards 

 are being turned into fields of alfalfa. 

 To dispose of this crop properly live 

 stock is necessary, so there is now a 

 revival of the cattle business. 



Since the Battlement National For- 

 est was established, in 1S92. the graz- 

 ing industry of this region has been 

 reduced to a science. Range privileges 

 have been equitably distributed by the 

 Government on the basis of the bona 

 fide development of permanent homes. 

 Control of the range by rule of might 

 has disappeared, overgrazing has been 

 stopped, and the forest ranges are now 

 used without injury to them. Most 

 important of all, the live-stock busi- 

 ne.^s has been placed on a secure and 

 profitable basis, and stockmen have 

 come to look upon the Forest Service 

 as their friend. 



One of the first considerations in the 

 proper administration of a grazing for- 



