Next Up in Fiber Nation: The Sheep and Cattle Wars

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In our minds, the American west is a mythic place: wide-open spaces; Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane; cattle drives, and cowboys. In reality, the American west was a place of constant violent conflict. One of the most drawn-out of those conflicts was the so-called range wars. Beginning in the 1880s, cattlemen and sheepmen fought over land and water; dozens of sheepherders were murdered, and up to 100,000 sheep were slaughtered, all before a Colorado congressman ended the violence in 1934. 

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So what led to this conflict? Sheep and cattle came to the Americas with Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s and immediately made their mark on the landscape. That is, they ate everything in sight. While sheep get all the blame, overgrazing by both sheep AND cattle helped turn the dry west into true desert in places. 

Our guest Andrew Gulliford describes how the range wars were more for than a fight for grass. 

Sheep mostly belonged to Hispano ranchers in New Mexico Territory; cattle came from Texas. Despite the awkward matter of secession during the Civil War, Texas cattle were still seen as resolutely “American.” This is part of the reason why cattlemen and cowboys got away with murder, literally. Sheep were slaughtered, and herders were shot at, tortured, and killed. 

The courts were no help. Sheriffs were unwilling to prosecute, and juries rarely found cattlemen guilty. This wouldn’t change until the late 1890s, when the violence became so great (including the murder of a 14-year-old boy) that public opinion shifted.  

The Great Depression and the Taylor Grazing Act finally put an end to the Range Wars; few people know they lasted so long.  But the 1970s would see a surprise happy ending for many sheep-raising families: tune in to learn why. 

Happy listening,
Allison 

Links for this Episode

The Woolly West: Colorado’s Hidden History of Sheepscapes 

• Buy at Amazon 
• Buy from the publisher 

The Colorado Experience: Sheep & Cattle Wars 

PBS documentary, including commentary from Andrew Gulliford 

More About Teofilo Trujillo 

• https://www.sangreheritage.org/history-of-the-trujillo-homesteads-by-katie-dokson/

Further Reading 

• Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West: https://www.amazon.com/Cattle-Kingdom-Hidden-History-Cowboy/dp/1328470253
• Wyoming Range War: The Infamous Invasion of Johnson County: https://www.amazon.com/Wyoming-Range-War-Infamous-Invasion/dp/0806142618
• Hell on the Range: A Story of Honor, Conscience, and the American West: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Range-Conscience-American-Western/dp/0300198264
• Oregon History Project Records: https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/central-oregon-range-wars/#.YSVc5dNKhpR
• Podcast on cattle drives, range wars and the hidden history of the American west during the 19th century: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/05/30/cattle-cowboys-change-old-west

Be sure to check out the latest episode of Fiber Nation, The Crochet Coral Reef! You can listen on the player above, or wherever you prefer to get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode!

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