Wyoming and Colorado Sheep Wars

the plains herder n.c. wyeth, 1909.

the sheep wars in wyoming , colorado exceptionally violent , lasted until after turn of century. in texas , arizona, cattlemen of colorado unwilling share pastures sheepherders, crossing state southern wyoming. in wyoming alone there twenty-four attacks , @ least 6 deaths between 1879 , 1909, though other accounts on sixteen people killed. well-known of conflicts routt county sheep war, in cattlemen of routt county, colorado attempted keep wyoming sheepherders entering grazing ranges. on may 23, 1895, newspaper cheyenne leader reported 4 days riders sent out scour country , warn settlers sheepmen holding flocks on snake river @ wyoming line [border], contemplating invasion of bear river cattle ranges. effect electrical, , noon today 350 cattlemen , feeders assembled decide upon positive action keep sheep back.... shortly after that, cattlemen adopted series of resolutions established deadlines , banned sheepherders entering northwestern colorado. however, cheyenne leader reported sheepherders disregard ban , enter state anyway. enforce resolutions, newspaper said, stock feeders , cowboys [cattlemen], force of 8 hundred thousand holding in readiness forcibly resist advance made south of hahn’s peak sheep owners.... war imminent , unless more conservative heads prevail, rifle figure conspicuous part in routt county sheep war. sheep causing trouble sixty thousand head belonging j. g. , g.w. edwards , others in wyoming.

despite newspaper s claim, of sheepherders respected cattlemen s resolve, defused situation before became serious. there were, however, @ least 4 violent episodes in region during time. first occurred in 1894, in garfield county, when 3,800 sheep driven on cliffs parachute creek. sheepherder, carl brown, attempted stop cowboys killing flock shot in 1 of hips. when posse parachute, colorado rode out scene, found wounded brown , mass of dead sheep @ foot of 1,000-foot bluff. craig courier reported following on september 14, 1894; owners [of sheep] residents of parachute rights adjacent range , posse made futile race apprehend raiders. john miller owned seventeen hundred of sheep , charles brown, uncle of wounded man, twenty-one hundred. 1,500 more sheep massacred same year in same county. according jack edwards of wyoming, in late june 1896, 2 of sheepherders killed colorado cowboys , 300 of herd massacred. upon learning of raid, edwards headed towards scene intercepted party of masked men, ordered him remove rest of flock across border. after raid, on january 23, 1897, edwards told omaha reporter following; have armed force of fifty [men] ready clash when comes. compelled keep small army place time. short time ago 3 hundred sheep killed , 2 herders; while looked though entire colorado militia have called out, sheepmen , cattlemen looked out themselves, , there several graves in vicinity of meeker go show know how this. incident took place on morning of november 15, 1899, when forty masked men attacked sheep camp located on lower snake river. during foray, on 3,000 sheep clubbed , scattered , shepherds robbed , wagon burned.

some of more serious raids, outside of northwestern colorado area, occurred in 1887, 1896, 1902, 1905 , 1909. in 1887, 2,600 heads belonging charles herbert perished when cowboys burned down corrals @ tie siding, wyoming. in 1896 in wyoming, 12,000 sheep slaughtered in single night being driven off cliff near north rock springs. violence reached height after turn of century. in 1902, near thermopolis, wyoming, several thousand sheep slaughtered , herders killed. during summer of 1905, ten masked men attacked sheep camp on shell creek, in big horn basin. there cowboys clubbed 4,000 sheep, out of 7,000, burned wagons , 2 sheep dogs. owner of massacred flock, louis a. gantz, lost $40,000 result. out of sheep raids, serious incursion spring creek raid of april 2, 1909. southwest of ten sleep, wyoming, sheepherder joe allemand , 2 of companions shot , killed 7 or 8 masked men. raiders killed twenty-five sheep , 2 dogs, , burned wagons kerosene. because sheep raiders had never been prosecuted in wyoming court before, many believed murderers away massacre. however, 7 men arrested, 5 of whom sent prison. conviction of ten sleep murderers brought peace big horn county. after 1909 attack, cattlemen reluctant raid sheep camps because risked being punished it. though there 2 more wyoming sheep raids in 1911 , 1912, no more sheepherders murdered. last known sheep raid in colorado occurred 8 years later, in 1920, when 150 sheep slaughtered grazing in white river national forest.

according robert elman, author of badmen of west, sheep wars ended because of decline of open rangeland , changes in ranching practices, removed causes hostilities. taylor grazing act of 1934 eased of tension.