Great Ranch Vacations

Range Wars and the Cattle Ranch
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Cattle Ranch.

There was a classic episode of the old TV series The Rifleman that dealt with a sheep rancher moving next to an area that was primarily a cattle ranch settlement. Now, while those not familiar with history may not be able to guess what was the plot point of that episode, those with even passing knowledge of history realize that the plot dealt with a potential range war.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, numerous range wars were fought between cattle ranch herders and sheep ranchers. And the term war is not used as a colloquialism. Many of these range wars were very violent. So what was it that was at the basis of the range wars between a cattle ranch and a sheep ranch? Was it just the differences between the animals that were raised that were the root of the problem, sort of like an employment matter of pride.

No, the tensions between the cattle and sheep ranches were hardly based out of anything so trite as pride. The problem lay in the fact that if a cattle ranch a nomadic sheep herd were in too close of proximity to one another, the grazing area would not be enough to support both animals.

Sheep and cattle required different environments in order to survive. And a ranch, for example, that was already established, would not be in a rush to welcome a sheepherder into the vicinity. And since shepherding required an pen range,?sheepherder had a tendency to cross into cattle ranch territory.

In time, civility (and legal actions) would diminish the battles between the sheepherders and the local cattlemen. Today, the legend of the range wars has been filed away in the dustbins of western lore, legend and history, but it has never truly been completely forgotten.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, Amazon, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.