Why was their conflict between cattle ranchers and homesteaders?

Why was their conflict between cattle ranchers and homesteaders?

1. The Cattle Ranchers wanted the same land as the homesteaders. The success of the cattle ranchers led to conflict between the two groups.

2. Early conflicts were caused when the homesteaders tried to stop the cattle drives. They were afraid of damage to their crops and of Texas fever infecting their animals. This conflict was one of the reasons for the end of cattle drives.

3. From the 1870's onwards, disputes about land and access to water arose. The cattle ranchers wanted the range to be "open range" with access to water for their cattle. The homesteaders wanted to fence off their crops to protect them from straying cattle, as well as wild beasts. This could cut off access to water and bring the two sides into direct conflict.

4. Sheep Farmers

   • By the 1880's flocks of sheep were a serious threat to cattle, as they were competing for grazing. Sheep rearing was most common in south-western states. Sheep outnumbered cattle ten to one in Arizona, there were 5 million sheep in New Mexico, and also large numbers in California and Utah
   • The advantage of sheep-rearing was that it required a smaller initial investment and offered quicker returns than cattle. There was some violence by cattle ranchers which took the form of killing shepherds, slaughtering sheep and burning the hay of farmers who sold fodder to sheep farmers. Racial and religious intolerance fed this hostility. As many sheep farmers were often immigrants e.g Mexicans, Indians, and sometimes Mormons

5. Barbed Wire

   • In some places the invention of barbed wire led to conflict between the cattle ranchers and homesteaders. Homesteaders used it to fence of their land. This initially aroused the hostility of the cattle ranchers. Later, cattle ranches realised the value of fencing, and on some larger cattle ranches vast areas of range were fenched off. Smaller ranches fought back to avoid being cut off from water or squeezed out, they did this by fence-cutting.