The End of the Open Range

The whole ranch in 1870 was regarded as an easy way to earn money, and the open range prospered. But by the end of the 1880's the range of openness was over. There are three main factors.

The whole ranch in 1870 was regarded as an easy way to earn money, and the open range prospered. But by the end of the 1880's the range of openness was over. There are three main factors.

Between the 1870s and the early 1880s, the demand for beef became enormous, and as the price of livestock increased, the rancher began breeding more and more cows in open farms. This means that the open range lawn is backlogged. If you have too many animals living in the meadow, you are overdoing. All the grasses eat soon, the soil corrodes and animals start to starve. In addition, the drought in 1883 caused the remaining grass to die. This means that all the cows do not have enough lawn and the cows begin to lose weight.

At the same time, the demand for beef in the eastern region is decreasing. If there were too much beef, the store had to lower the price to sell. This means that the interests of the ranch are getting less and less.

The last blow of the open range was the winter of 1886 - 87. It is called death. It was a very harsh winter that the temperature dropped to -55 degrees. Due to the heavy snow, it prevented the herd from reaching the meadow, about 15% of the wild herds died. None of the cows surviving in the winter is in a bad state. The launcher attempted to sell the remaining cows they own, which caused the price to fall further. This indicates the end of the disclosure range

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The end of the open range is not due to land reduction due to crop cultivation but over grazing. Each rancher is keeping too many animals in pasture on a public land not owned by "anyone", so each rancher is trying to increase economic interests. However, the cows are non-native species, and despite the mass murder of American bison, the quality of meadow gradually declines as the number of grazing patterns increases. In the winter from 1886 to 1887, many livestock industries went bankrupt as thousands of people due to reduced grazing died due to pressure. Therefore, after this the rancher circumvented their land and began negotiating a personal grazing lease with the US government so that they can better manage the ranches that their animals can use.

Range war is a notorious armed conflict that happens within the "open scope" of the border with the United States. The theme of these conflicts is to manage the lands freely used for livestock grazing and grazing. At the end of the American Civil War, the scope war became more common, many conflicts occurred such as the Pleasant Valley War, the Mason County War, the Johnson County War, the Colorado Mountain War, the fence cutting war, the Colfax County War. , Castel war, Barber Miselle, San Erizario salt war. During the range war in Montana, the warrior organization called Stuart's Strangler organization consisted of cows and cowboys, killing up to 20 criminals and illegal occupants only in 1884. . In Nebraska, stock producer Isom Olive led the civil war in 1878, killing his country's lynch and gun battle, and after that he reached his own homicide. In most cases, formal military intervention is used to quickly terminate these conflicts.