What An Unbranded Cow Has Cost byFrederic Remington, which depicts the aftermath of a range war between cowboys and supposedrustlers. 1895
Arange war, also known asrange conflict orcattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in theAmerican West. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, or assheep pasture, which gave these conflicts its name. Typically they were disputes overwater rights,grazing rights, or cattle ownership.[1]
While in previous centuries violence may have been involved,[2] the term is now applied to nonviolent competition for scarce resources, such as between ranchers and environmentalists,[3] or between ranchers and fans of wild horses.[4]
A range war is also a slang term for aturf war or disagreement about proper hierarchy or relationship and is often used in a joking manner. In this sense, the term is found in politics[5] and business.[6]
Shane is a 1953 movie (featuringAlan Ladd) that tells the story of a gunfighter taking the side of the farmers against cattlemen during a fictional range war loosely based on the Johnson County Range War.
To The Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War, is a novel by Western authorZane Grey exploring thePleasant Valley War in 1880s Arizona.
Oklahoma! (1943 Broadway musical, 1955 film) Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about a cowboy in love with a farm girl, complicated by a rivalry between local farmers and ranchers over fences and water rights.
El Dorado is a 1966 movie about an aging gunfighter who goes "straight" to help a lawman friend after being hired to intervene in a range war.
Centennial (1978) features an episode titled 'The Shepherds' , which depicted a range war between cattlemen on one hand, against farmers and sheepherders on the other.
Texas (1985) details the evolving conflicts due to the introduction of barbed wire in cattle country in the 1880s.
"The Range War," a ballad byTodd Rundgren, focuses on a relationship between a boy whose "uncle runs cattle" and a girl whose "daddy runs sheep," and hints their relationship was opposed by both families, fueling this particular range war.[8]
Open Range (2003), a film in which free-grazers take on a cattle baron who tries to use hired assassins to steal their herd.
A range war was the subject of at least one episode of long-running old time radio show,Gunsmoke, called "Jaliscoe".[9]
1923 (2023), a prequel to theYellowstone franchise written by Taylor Sheridan, features a ranch war in several episodes.
Several episodes ofHave Gun Will Travel feature the conflict between farmers and ranchers over control of range land.
The 2005 video gameGun also featured a range war described as the "Resistance" that was based around theColfax County War.[10]
The 2009 Western gameCall of Juarez: Bound in Blood features a side mission that was reminiscent of a range war, involving assisting a settler against a powerful cattleman.[11]
Range wars were featured in many stories depicting comic book characterJonah Hex.[12] One of these is the story "Hanging Woman", which was adapted into amotion comic in 2010.
^Johnson, Marilynn S. Violence in the West: The Johnson County Range War and Ludlow Massacre: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford Series in History & Culture: First edition (2008). p. 12.ISBN978-0312445799
^For example, from theSanta Clarita Valley Historical Society siteCecilia Rasmussen."Castaic Range War Left Up to 21 Dead". Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. Retrieved2004-07-04. (sourced from theLos Angeles Times):"The violent, long-running Jenkins-Chormicle feud, which started in 1890 over a boundary dispute, is a colorful and cruel saga – part fact, part myth – of barn burnings, ambushes and gun battles on horseback. It lasted more than two decades." describes a Southern California range war that started in 1890.
^For example, from theU of Idaho Range Management siteArchived 2006-04-27 at theWayback Machine telling of conflict in Idaho:" Range wars continue, just as they did a century ago, between those who have grazing rights and those who do not. Today these range wars pit ranchers, with state grazing leases, against the environmental groups that are trying to restore the grazing lease areas to a healthy and pristine land. The weapons have changed from the cold steel of a gun to the amount of cold hard cash a rancher or an environmental group will pay for a piece of land."
^For example, from theMSNBC site, telling ofBureau of Land Management policy changes and impacts:"The mustangs' current troubles come thanks in part to another Western icon: cattle ranchers. There are currently 37,000 mustangs sharing public rangelands with several million head of cattle. The result has been overgrazing, exacerbated by six years of drought. To restore the land, the BLM has cut the number of cattle allowed, and ranchers say the horses and burros have to be pared substantially. "If we don't receive relief, and soon, we'll be out of business," Lemoille, Nev., rancher Kenneth Jones"
^For example, theIrregular Times site describes a disagreement amongDemocratic Party regulars in upstate New York as a "range war". In this case the "unfenced territory" is an election district, and the hearts and minds of Democratic party regulars
^For example, theMac Observer site characterises the conflict betweenIBM and theSCO Group as a "range war". In this case, the "unfenced territory" is theUnix/Linux marketplace, and the hearts and minds of technical, purchase influencing, IT people.
