The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917 Page: 13
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History of the Cattle Industry in the Southwest
The lion might lie down with the lamb, but never the steer with
the sheep. The cowboy might marry a squaw, but he deigned
not to associate with the shepherd. If you wish to provoke him
to shooting, call him a sheep-herder-not a shepherd, for he
might not understand you. The nature of sheep and cattle caused
the trouble. Sheep can live on less than cattle, they can utilize
steep slopes where cattle would fail. Moreover, cattle dislike
sheep very much. Cattle will not graze where sheep have run,
and they refuse to drink the same water. When the pasture has
become too poor to support cattle, sheep, can thrive in it, but it
is more seriously depleted.8
Cattle men early learned these facts and resented the ba-a of
a sheep as much as any enemy that could be imagined. They
realized that this was a war to the end, and that sheep would
probably be the victors. It is a law of psychology that one takes
up some of the characteristics of his associates. The cowboy be-
came more aggressive because of his occupation. Ie wore a gun
as part of his attire. The shepherd was a calmer, quieter man,
who carried a gun only when expecting trouble. Frequently, even.
then, his gun was rusty and useless.
Usually the method of the cattle men was to send word to the
sheep men to keep their distance. If they were not heeded, the
advancing herd was met, the sheep slaughtered and the herder
driven out of the country if he was lucky enough to escape un-
hurt. From 1893 to 1903 a score of men were killed and five,
times that number wounded in this series of petty wars, which,
extended pretty well over the grazing states. On one occasion 800,--
000 sheep were driven from Utah and Wyoming into Colorado.
The cattle men there took the herders and held them until every
sheep was killed, after which they warned the herders not to re-
turn. In 1895 two sheep kings determined to break down the
tradition. Armed cattle men attended a convention on the lower
Snake River. A body of two hundred and fifty men was organ-
ized and scouts were sent out to locate the sheep camps. The
sheep men recruited a force, but were overwhelmed by numbers
and bound to trees while the sheep were killed. Other flocks
asHouse Ex. Does., 46 Cong., 2 sess., no. 40, vol. 22, p. 501. Iough,
The Cowboy, II, 300-301. Michelson, Chas., "The War for the Range,"
Munsey, XXVIII, 380.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 20, July 1916 - April, 1917, periodical, 1917; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101070/m1/19/?rotate=270: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.