Johnson County Stock War: Big Business versus Small Ranchers Essay

Johnson County Stock contend Big Business versus Small Ranchers On March 10, 1892 the Billings Gazette reported, The fountain of spring may be more red than green for the add up thieves and cattle thieves of Johnson County (Brash, 143). The writer of the article could little have known how unsophisticated their premonition would prove to be. The late 1800s were turbulent times in the West. Large tracts of publicly held range ground would be at the nerve of Wyomings very own civil war. Gil Bollinger, author and western researcher, reports that by the 1870s and 1880s fencing of land to enclose both crops and piss sources was common (Bollinger, 81). This practice, however, was still illegal according to the federal government. In 1877, the get together States Government sued Swan Land and Cattle Company, in an effort to case-hardened an example that all fences on open range must number down (Bollinger, 81). The fencing of lands was a major problem, as verdant producers need ful open access to the limited resources, especially water. Johnson County, in northern Wyoming, was an agricultural nucleus for cattle and sheep producers who knew the lush grass and good water supply would greatly benefit their operations. Since fencing was illegal, these resources were available to everyone. Cattle operators, large and midget alike, ran their livestock loose and participated in large roundups once a class where all the cattle were branded. Slick calves, called mavericks, were often unrightfully claimed. Lack of fencing make any free ranging livestock available to whoever was devious enough to weigh them (Smith, 25). Helena Smith quotes Horace Plunkett, a producer, in a letter he wrote to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association as saying, The relations bet... ...576. Harvey, detect E., A Civil War in Wyoming A Centennial memorialization of the Johnson County War. M.A., American Studies Program, December 1992. Pfeifer, Michael J. (2004). Rough Justice Lynching and American indian lodge 1874-1947. Chicago University of Illinois Press. Retrieved October 30, 2006 from . http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_County_War. Norman, David. (1994) The Johnson County War against Nate Champion and the Red Sash Gang. Retrieved October 30, 2006 from http//www.gunnyragg.com/redsash.htm. Robert, Phil. (2006) Events leading up to the Johnson County War/Invasion. History of Wyoming class syllabus. Retrieved October 30, 2006 from http//uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/RobertsHistory/Johnson_County_Invasion_06.htm. Smith, Helena H. (1966). The War on Powder River The History of an Insurrection. Lincoln, NE University of Nebraska Press.