Ignorance isn't Patriotism

One more  quick rant: Massive tax scofflaw and world class bigot, Clive  Bundy came to the defense of his son Ammon and the other domestic terrorists involved in the standoff with federal officials in Oregon, following the arrests of several and the suicide by cop of one. He plaintively said that they were "Just trying to teach people about the Constitution."  This joke of a patriot can barely spell the word. Let's look at what is really going on here.

        In the mid to late 1800s, ranchers in the West used a system called "Open range" grazing to avoid having the expense of maintaining pasture land to feed their cattle and supply the ever increasing market for beef back East.

        This was especially common in the region east of the Rockies, the sites of current day Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. Of course they had paid nothing for the land, simply squatting on it minus deed. If they owned land, they grazed their herds elsewhere, far and wide and they liked it that way - free cattle food, all profit. This became especially significant (and even more profitable) as the Union Pacific pushed ever westward into  Nebraska and beyond, as now the "long drives" were not as long to get beef to the railhead.

        In 1826, to encourage settlement in the West, Congress had passed the Homestead Act, which provided that persons moving west onto land which was, even at that time, not privately owned and under the aegis of the Federal Government, (regardless of what the wealthy and formidable "Rancher's Associations" thought) could acquire "homestead" the land for five years and then gain title to it.   .  Between 1862 and 1934, the federal government granted 1.6 million homesteads and distributed 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi) of federal land for private ownership. This was a total of 10% of all land in the United States, and some  following the law had moved from the  Midwest farther west  into cattle country, homesteading farmland along river bottoms.  Even worse, in the eyes of these free range freeloader ranchers was the fact that some of these homesteaders practiced  sheep farming., and others, mining.

        Remember, the ranchers had never owned most of the land they grazed their herds on, and the homesteaders had complied with  federal law in gaining title to it. Complicating the issue was the fact that not all homesteaders were actively claiming their 160 acres in perpetuity, but some gained title and sold to larger entities who used the land for timber or mining efforts. Either way, the federal government, which held title to the land had legally transferred some of this land to persons other than the ranchers who believed it was theirs to use as they saw fit.

        So what did these paragons of American frontier virtue do?  They hired men like legendary shootist Tom Horn as "range detectives."  Regardless of the Steve McQueen portrayal of Horn in the eponymous 1980 biopic, Horn was, simply put, a hired killer who shot not only rustlers, but miners and sheep farmers. In one instance Horn and associates bludgeoned 60 or so sheep to death as a "message" but  local law enforcement had largely ignored Horn's exploits due in no small part to political influence of the wealthy cattlemen who used his services.

        The last straw was the shooting death of a 14 year old, son of a sheep rancher. Horn  confessed to killing the young Willie Nickell with his rifle from 300 yards, which he boasted as the "best shot that I ever made and the dirtiest trick that I ever done."  Horn was arrested the next day by the county sheriff.  Judge Richard H. Scott, who presided over the case, was running for reelection. Horn was supported by his longtime friend and employer, cattle rancher John C. Coble. He gathered a team for the defense headed by a Judge and 4 or 5 high powered attorneys.  Reportedly, Coble paid for most of the costs of this large team. According to Johan P. Bakker, who wrote "Tracking Tom Horn", the large cattle interests by this time found Horn "expendable" and the case provided a way to silence him in regard to their activities. He wrote that 100 members of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association paid $1000 each toward the defense, but wanted a minimal effort.  

       Tom Horn was found guilty and hanged in Cheyenne in 1903 on an experimental water powered gallows (trivia bit)! While some dispute his role as the Nickell shooter, no one disputes that he was a hired killer who worked for large cattlemen's associations in opposition to rightful owners of the land which had, indeed, been the federal government's to sell.   

    Cliven Bundy and his litter  obviously miss one key factor in their  assertions regarding land usage and rights, and that is simply that the Constitution is "The Supreme law of the land." Congress and the President  pass and sign into law bills. The land in question, both Cliven Bundy's government owned grazing leases ( for which he owes 20 years worth of fees) and the Oregon territory held until recently by his son, are and have been for centuries, property of the federal Government until purchased by private entities. The Bundys, far from being heroes or champions of the "people," are simply throwbacks of the same ilk as those who hired Tom Horn to do their dirty work.