Open range

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Muddy Water Red desert.jpg
Red Desert rangeland in Wyoming
2014-08-09 12 07 15 Open Range sign along southbound U.S. Route 93 in far northern Lincoln County, Nevada.JPG
Open Range sign along southbound U.S. Route 93 in Lincoln County, Nevada.

In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; this applies to public roads as well. Land in open range that is designated as part of a "herd district" reverses liabilities, requiring an animal's owner to fence it in or otherwise keep it on the person's own property. [1] Most eastern states and jurisdictions in Canada require owners to fence in or herd their livestock.

Contents

History and practice

A cattle roundup in Colorado, c.1898. Colorado. Round up on the Cimarron.jpg
A cattle roundup in Colorado, c.1898.

The Western open-range tradition originated from the early practice of unregulated grazing of livestock in the newly acquired western territories of the United States and Canada. These practices were eventually codified in the laws of many Western US states as they developed written statutes. [2] Over time, as the Western lands became more populated and more developed (through railroads, mining, farming, etc.), open-range laws began to be challenged and were significantly curtailed, though they still exist in certain areas of most Western US states and Canadian provinces. [2] Open-range conditions existed in Western Canada prior to the 1889 amendments of the Dominion Lands Act , which prohibited cattle from grazing on unleased land, though the practice did not disappear immediately. [3]

Open-range management has also been practiced in other areas, including the Caribbean and some Eastern US states, such as South Carolina during the colonial period. [4] [5] The practice was also widespread in Mexico, and some[ who? ] argue that the Mexican tradition may have been the predecessor to open-range practices in the American West, [2] much of which was part of Mexico prior to the 1840s. American ranchers borrowed many other cattle-raising techniques from Mexico.[ citation needed ]

Unlike the Eastern United States, the Western prairies of the 19th century were vast, undeveloped, and uncultivated. The land was also generally much more arid, with scarce, widely separated sources of water. Until the invention of barbed wire in the 1870s, it was more practical to fence the livestock out of developed land, rather than to fence it in. [2] As the United States government acquired Western territories by purchasing, conquest, and treaty, land not yet placed into private ownership was publicly owned and freely available for grazing cattle, though conflicting land-claims and periodic warfare with Native Americans placed some practical limits on grazing areas at various times.

Free-roaming range cattle were calved, moved between grazing lands, and driven to market by cowboys. Brands on cattle marked who owned them. [2] Unbranded cattle, known as "mavericks", could become the property of anyone able to capture and brand them.

The invention of barbed wire in the 1870s made it easier to confine cattle to designated areas, which helped to prevent overgrazing of the range, and made fencing huge expanses cheaper than hiring cowboys to handle cattle. In Texas and surrounding areas, rapid population growth required ranchers to fence off their lands. [6] This initially brought considerable drama to the Western rangelands. Indiscriminate fencing of federal lands was commonplace in the 1880s, often without any regard to land ownership or other public needs, such as mail delivery and movement of other kinds of livestock. Various state statutes, as well as vigilantism during the so-called Fence Cutting Wars, tried to enforce or combat fence-building, with varying success. In 1885 U.S. federal legislation outlawed the enclosure of public land. By 1890 illegal fencing had been mostly removed. [2] [7]

In the north, overgrazing stressed the open range, leading to insufficient winter forage for cattle and their subsequent starvation, particularly during the harsh winter of 1886–1887, when severely overgrazed rangelands combined with unusually cold temperatures killed hundreds of thousands of cattle. This was called the Big Die-Up by ranchers and across the northern plains, led to the sudden collapse of the cattle industry. [8] By the 1890s, barbed-wire fencing had become standard on the northern plains, railroads had expanded to cover most of the U.S., and meatpacking plants were being built closer to major ranching areas, making long cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas unnecessary. The age of the open range was over and large cattle-drives were no more. [8] At the same time, independently-owned ranches multiplied all over the developing West. [9]

Modern times

An open range sign along the Interstate 10 Frontage Road in southern Arizona. Open Range Sign Interstate 10 Frontage Road Arizona 2014.jpg
An open range sign along the Interstate 10 Frontage Road in southern Arizona.

Where there are "open range" laws, people wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a legal fence to keep animals out, as opposed to the "herd district" where an animal's owner must fence it in or otherwise keep it on the person's own property. Most eastern states and jurisdictions in Canada require owners to fence in or herd their livestock. Many states in the west, e.g. Texas, [10] are at least nominally still open-range states.

In modern times, free roaming cattle can be a nuisance and danger in developed areas. Most western states, even those that are nominally open at the state level, now limit open range to certain areas. [11] [10] Under open range law today, if livestock break through a "legal fence" (defined by law in terms of height, materials, post spacing, etc.), then the livestock owner is liable for damages of the fenced property. Conversely, the livestock owner is not liable in the absence of the "legal fence." An exception exists for "unruly" animals, usually meaning breeding bulls and stallions, which are supposed to be restricted by the owner. [2]

On roadways within an open range area, in a cow-car collision on a roadway, the rancher was at one time not generally liable, [11] but recent law changes beginning in the 1980s gradually increased rancher liability, first requiring cattle be kept off federal highways, then other developed roads, and in some cases, limited open range grazing only to certain times of the year. In some states, such as Montana, case law on the open range has, for all practical purposes, eliminated it altogether, though statutes may remain on the books. Today, a vehicle has a much higher chance of hitting a wild animal than livestock. [11]

Laws are still in flux. In Arizona, livestock must be fenced in within incorporated areas, but are still listed only as a potential nuisance for unincorporated suburbs. [11] Therefore, in that state, bills were being pushed to get rid of this "antiquated" law. Those opposing the legislation said that "eliminating the law would put undue hardship on ranchers. [11] However, the law has sometimes been settled via legal action. In Montana, the Montana Supreme Court in the decision Larson-Murphy v. Steiner, for a short time effectively eliminated some aspects of the open range doctrine altogether, though stating that it still applied in other cases, and required legislative action to update the state's statutes to ameliorate some inconsistent provisions of the decision. [12] In that decision, the Court overturned a 33-year-old precedent that had exempted livestock owners from most liability for wandering stock on roadways (other than certain state and federal highways built with federal funds), holding there was "no duty" to motorists under open range doctrine, in Larson-Murphy v. Steiner', the Court held that there was a relationship between livestock owners and motorists on public roads, allowing motorists a cause of action for accidents involving wandering livestock on grounds of negligence. The Montana legislature then amended the statutes governing the open range to impose liability on livestock owners to motorists only for negligence. [13]

On roads in Idaho, an open-range state, livestock have the right of way: if an animal is hit and killed by a vehicle, the driver is liable for the price of the animal and for the repair for the damage to the vehicle. [1] Idaho counties can and have created herd districts, which require livestock owners to "build and maintain adequate fences to keep their animals off roads and neighboring properties"; in herd districts, the livestock owner is liable. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fence</span> Freestanding structure preventing movement across a boundary

A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbed wire</span> Type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points

Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is the construction of inexpensive fences, and it is also used as a security measure atop walls surrounding property. As a wire obstacle, it is a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowboy</span> Traditional ranch worker in North America

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. Cattle drives ensure the herds health in finding pasture and bring them to market. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend. A subtype, called a wrangler, specifically tends the horses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate in rodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less well-documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements. Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularly in South America and stockmen and jackaroos in Australia, perform work similar to the cowboy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotational grazing</span> System of grazing moving animals between paddocks around the year

In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the needs of the livestock, such as food, water and sometimes shade and shelter. The approach often produces lower outputs than more intensive animal farming operations, but requires lower inputs, and therefore sometimes produces higher net farm income per animal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural fencing</span> Used to keep animals in or out of an area

In agriculture, fences are used to keep animals in or out of an area. They can be made from a wide variety of materials, depending on terrain, location and animals to be confined. Most agricultural fencing averages about 4 feet (1.2 m) high, and in some places, the height and construction of fences designed to hold livestock is mandated by law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grazing</span> Feeding livestock on forage

In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible cellulose within grass and other forages into meat, milk, wool and other animal products, often on land that is unsuitable for arable farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common land</span> Land owned collectively

Common land is collective land in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Range war</span> Conflict over control of range land used for grazing

A range war, also known as range conflict or cattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, or conflicting sheep pasture, which gave these conflicts its name. Typically they were disputes over water rights, grazing rights, or cattle ownership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattle drives in the United States</span> Movement of cattle by herding over land

Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the 19th and early 20th century American West, particularly between 1850s and 1910s. In this period, 27 million cattle were driven from Texas to railheads in Kansas, for shipment to stockyards in St. Louis and points east, and direct to Chicago. The long distances covered, the need for periodic rests by riders and animals, and the establishment of railheads led to the development of "cow towns" across the frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grazing rights</span> Legal right of a livestock owner to allow their animals to feed in a given area

Grazing rights is the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spade Ranch (Nebraska)</span> United States historic place

The Spade Ranch is a large cattle ranch located in the Sandhills of western Nebraska between the towns of Gordon and Ellsworth. Founded in 1888 by Bartlett Richards, the ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

A remuda is a horse herd from which ranch-hands select their mounts. The word is of Spanish derivation, meaning 'remount', i.e.: "change of horses", and is in common use in the American West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranch</span> Large area of land for raising livestock

A ranch is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to livestock-raising operations in Mexico, the Western United States and Western Canada, though there are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called ranchers, cattlemen, or stockgrowers. Ranching is also a method used to raise less common livestock such as horses, elk, American bison, ostrich, emu, and alpaca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Prairie (nature reserve)</span> Nature reserve in Montana, United States

American Prairie is a prairie-based nature reserve in Central Montana, United States, on a shortgrass prairie ecosystem with migration corridors and native wildlife. This wildlife conservation area is being developed as a private project of the American Prairie Foundation (APF), a non-profit organization. The reserve covers 462,803 acres (187,290 ha). The organization hopes to expand it greatly through a combination of both private and public lands.

The Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is a refuge for a historically significant herd of free-roaming mustangs, the Pryor Mountain mustang, feral horses colloquially called "wild horses", located in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming in the United States. The range has an area of 39,650 acres (160.5 km2) and was established in 1968 along the Montana–Wyoming border as the first protected refuge dedicated exclusively for mustangs. It was the second feral horse refuge in the United States. About a quarter of the refuge lies within the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. A group of federal agencies, led by the Bureau of Land Management, administers the range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971</span> 1971 Act of Congress

The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA), is an Act of Congress, signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 18, 1971. The act covered the management, protection and study of "unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on public lands in the United States."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheep wars</span> Grazing rights conflicts in the Western United States

The sheep wars, or the sheep and cattle wars, were a series of armed conflicts in the Western United States fought between sheepmen and cattlemen over grazing rights. Sheep wars occurred in many western states, though they were most common in Texas, Arizona, and the border region of Wyoming and Colorado. Generally, the cattlemen saw the sheepherders as invaders who destroyed the public grazing lands, which they had to share on a first-come, first-served basis. Between 1870 and 1920, approximately 120 engagements occurred in eight states or territories. At least 54 men were killed and some 50,000 to over 100,000 sheep were slaughtered.

Grazing rights in Nevada covers a number of rangeland Federal and state laws and regulations applicable to the state of Nevada. Rangelands are distinguished from pasture lands because they grow primarily native vegetation, rather than plants established by humans. Ranchers may lease or obtain permits to use portions of this public rangeland and pay a fee based on the number and type of livestock and the period for which they are on the land.

The Fence Cutting Wars occurred near the end of the 19th century in the American Old West, and were a series of disputes between farmers and cattlemen with larger land holdings. As newcomers came to the American West to farm, established cattlemen began to fence off their larger tracts of land with barbed wire in order to protect them from the farmers' claims. The settlers viewed this as a closing of the open range, and began to cut fences to attempt to reclaim lands in the public domain. The ensuing, widespread series of conflicts was known as the Fence Cutting Wars.

The Big Die-Up refers to the death of hundreds of thousands of cattle on the Great Plains of the United States during the unusually cold and snowy winters of 1885-86 and 1886-87. Many ranchers were bankrupted as a result and the era of the open range in which cattle roamed unfenced on the plains began its decline.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gordon Morris Bakken (ed.), "Law in the western United States", 2000, ISBN   0-8061-3215-9, Chapter 3, "Open Range Law in the American West", by Roy H. Andes
  3. MacLachlan, Ian (2006). "The Historical Development of Cattle Production in Canada". University of Lethbridge. hdl:10133/303.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Sluyter, Andrew (2009). "The Role of Black Barbudans in the Establishment of Open-Range Cattle Herding in the Colonial Caribbean and South Carolina". Journal of Historical Geography. 35 (2): 330–49. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2008.08.003. S2CID   162300236.
  5. Potter, Amy E.; Sluyter, Andrew (2010). "Renegotiating Barbuda's Commons: Recent Changes in Barbudan Open-Range Cattle Herding". Journal of Cultural Geography. 27 (2): 129–50. doi:10.1080/08873631.2010.494404. S2CID   144341713.
  6. Malone, John William. An Album of the American Cowboy. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1971. SBN: 531-01512-2, p. 76
  7. Anderson, Terry Lee & Leal, Donald (2001). Free Market Environmentalism. 0-312-23503-8. pp. 30–31.
  8. 1 2 Malone, John William. An Album of the American Cowboy. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1971. SBN: 531-01512-2. p. 79.
  9. Malone, Michael P., and Richard B. Roeder. Montana: A History of Two Centuries. University of Washington Press; Revised edition, 1991. ISBN   0-295-97129-0, ISBN   978-0-295-97129-2.
  10. 1 2 "Five Strands: A Landowner's Guide to Fence Law in Texas" (PDF). Texas Farm Bureau. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Arizona Rethinking Open Range Laws", by Marc Lacey, New York Times , October 11, 2010
  12. Larson-Murphy v. Steiner, Google Scholar
  13. Section 81-4-215, MCA (2003)