THE EANGE. 23 



have but little care during the summer. The sheep herder claim- 

 ing as good a right to the free grass of the range as anyone, naturally 

 drives his flocks where the best feed is found; and, on account of 

 the necessity of securing green fodder for the lambs, he travels up the 

 mountains in the spring as fast as the feed and weather conditions 

 permit and returns to the desert areas again during the winter, often 

 close to the possessions of the "cattleman." The latter claims that 

 on account of his owning propert}^ and paying taxes for the support 

 of the*local government, which the sheep owner often does not, he has 

 a right to the free range in his vicinity. 



The greatest difficult}^ and hardest feelings relate to the migratory 

 sheep bands which come, not only from neighboring counties, but 

 occasionally from neighboring States, and deprive the settlers of the 

 good mountain pastures which they consider belong to them on account 

 of their residence, their holdings, and. their support of township and 

 county governments. The sheep industry, in the southern portion of 

 the region especially, is in a peculiar condition. All of the water on 

 the fertile lowlands was taken up in early days by cattle interests, and 

 the cattlemen looked upon the use of the mountains for grazing pur- 

 poses as a natural right. In recent years sheep have been driven from 

 great distances both east and west into the mountains to take advan- 

 tage of the luxuriant pastures of blue grasses and fescues. Another 

 element entering largely into the controversy is what is denominated 

 the alien sheep interests. It is said that a very large proportion of 

 the sheep in the region belong to Basques, who own no land, and who 

 in many cases are not citizens. 



THE RANGE. 



It would be very difficult indeed to find a range in which the pasture 

 zones as well as the general floral areas were better marked than they 

 are in the southern portion of the territory covered. The vast barren 

 tracts in the basins are bordered by the alkali-inhabiting vegetation, 

 such as salt grass, greasewood, and others of similar habits. These 

 give place beyond to shrubby plants, such as the black sage and the 

 salt sages, described elsewhere. The former occupy the lower por- 

 tions of the general mesa regions and extend into the foothills and 

 mountains. The prevailing characteristic of the foothills and moun- 

 tain regions, however, is the presence of the nutritious grasses which 

 furnish the summer feed for the numerous herds of cattle and sheep. 

 While the species of grasses in this region are numerous, there are 

 about four which furnish the largest quantity of feed. The most 

 important of these is Buckley's blue grass (JPoa bucMeyiana), which 

 grows at the lowest altitude in the foothills and extends into the 

 mountains. On the steeper embankments, rocky slopes, and canyon 

 sides are usually found large quantities of Wheeler's blue grass (Poa 



