I'm completely setting aside the usual points on racism , etc, we have heard from Cliven Bundy and the deplorable bunch of armed idiots who have gathered near him. I'd like to focus more on the context of the land itself. For the record, I think that the old way of grazing allottments in the west needs overhaul. Most of these lands today are disturbed landscapes, having been overgrazed by millions of cattle and sheep in the late 1800s, which caused riparian and soil damage which has yet to recover. Ranchers have been getting cheap or in this case free grazing. At the same time, the BLM has often been under funded, under staffed and misguided in it's directive under many an administration. My feeling is the BLM needs to be revamped, better funded and improved. There are also decent ranchers who can be good stewards and who can work with the feds to forge a new model for how to care for and use public lands . This is the only sensible way to forward. Any sensible new model will be drastically different from the old. Ranchers have to acknowledge the damage that has been done .At the same time, it is a hard place to make a living.If all parties could work together , there might be a way to bring that living into the 21st century. There is some new thinking on how to do that . We desperately need to put together the best minds and practices to chart a course for the inter-mountain and arid west. Bundy's failure to recognize the US government gives him no seat at the table, yet I think it is important to understand his situation in the context of the history of the area.
When Cliven Bundy claims propriety over the arid lands surrounding his home he is not doing so as an individual , but as a Mormon. It wouldn't matter to him that his folks bought property in 1949, what matters to him is that he sees the entire region as claimed Mormon country since the mid 1800s and he thinks that gives him the right to use it.
looking up 'Bundyville, AZ' , which is now a ghost town in the northern Arizona area know as the 'Arizona Strip' I found that Bundyville is synonymous with 'Mount Turnbull. Below the fold I have reprinted a lot of excerpted text from a Northern Arizona University article on the history of the Arizona Strip which sheds light on the history of the Strip in general , but with specific reference to Bundyville, Mount Turnbull and the lands 'claimed ' by Cliven's family and the Mormons.I know this is a lot of excerpted text to include in a diary, but it is good reading if you want to understand the history behind the news.
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Northern Az university : Land Use History of the Colorado Plateau
Link: http://cpluhna.nau.edu/...
PlacesThe Arizona Strip (page 2 of 3)
from page 2 of "Landscape Changes and Human History: 1776 to Present"
"The first white men on the Arizona Strip were the Dominguez and Escalante expedition in 1776, who traveled along the base of the Hurricane Cliffs on their return trip from central Utah. Significant settlement of the region by Anglos did not commence until almost a century later, in 1865, as the region's fair stock raising conditions became known to Western newcomers. "
"Within a short time, a variety of Anglo settlers came to the strip, claiming land and establishing ranches. Conflict with native peoples was inevitable, as the Anglos quickly laid claim to the best water and vegetation sources. Disputes between settlers and the Navajo, Paiute and Ute culminated in the Black Hawk Navajo Wars of 1866-1869. By 1870, native resistance had been largely quelled by Mormon paramilitary action, the "Treaty of Mount Trumbull" and the establishment of several Paiute reservations".
my note: not finding a copy of the 'treaty of Mount turnbull, but mount turnbull is essentially bundyville as I understand it.
"While the settlers of the Arizona Strip included a colorful array of ranchers, sheepmen, cowboys and outlaws, the majority of the newcomers were Mormons, dispatched by the Church of Latter Day Saints to lay claim to the choicest land and resources before non-Mormons settled them. Outsiders and the government were strongly resisted in this land which remained largely untouched by the impacts of the industrial age that so profoundly changed other areas of the West: railroads, mineral development, and population booms. A number of large ranches were established, as well as a sawmill and a large dairy, and the rights to limited water sources of the region were swiftly claimed, though often without "valid government title." Range wars were quite common in this lawless frontier, often settled with guns, and cattle rustling, though common, was punishable by hanging. A number of lives were lost over land and water on the Arizona Strip during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even those with valid claims on water holes had difficulty keeping others out. Cattle roamed the Strip freely; the few barb wire fences that were constructed to keep competitor's cattle out were repeatedly cut down. A good example of range competition occurred in House Rock Valley, east of the Kaibab Plateau, which was mostly public domain. Despite this, the Grand Canyon Cattle Company erected fences across the valley in an attempt to control water holes and superior rangeland. Jim Emett, then proprietor of Lees Ferry, repeatedly cut the fences to allow his cattle to graze in the valley, and eventually was sued by the cattle company for cattle theft, but found not guilty. The company retaliated by buying the Ferry from the Mormon church and putting Emett out of business.
Immigration to the Strip was encouraged by two events in 1916: the Stock Raising Homestead Act and the opening of a half million acres of the Dixie National Forest to homestead entry. In addition, a climatic shift in the 'teens and 'twenties brought increased rains and snows which filled water holes and allowed the grasslands to grow lush. Sheepmen from Utah began bringing their herds of "woolies" to graze on the Strip lands, causing further feuding over range lands. Conflicts between cattlemen and sheepmen even led to the massacre of entire herds. Decades of unregulated, unchecked grazing wrought severe, sometimes permanent, damage to the arid habitats of the Strip, particularly in canyon bottoms. Additionally, the government hired "animal control agents" to systematically kill predators such as mountain lions and bobcats, which were percieved as a threat to livestock. Unfortunately, the extermination of these "varmints" allowed the deer population of the Kaibab Plateau to skyrocket, leading to the death of thousands from starvation. Today, natural predators are making a comeback on the Strip.
"Despite high grazing activities on the Strip, actual human residence was limited due to a lack of domestic water. Extremely deep aquifers prevented well digging; water had to be hauled for culinary and sanitary purposes. Although dry farming was possible during the increased precipitation of the 'teens and 'twenties, crop production was limited and homesteaders had to supplement their income by working as cowboys, mill hands or miners. The Strip's largest community of this era, Mt. Trumbull (best known as Bundyville) was founded in 1916 by Mormon patriarch Abraham Bundy and his family. At its peak, the town was home to nearly 300 residents."
"The establishment of the Taylor Grazing Act in 1934 brought much-needed economic and environmental reform to the rapidly degenerating lands of the Arizona Strip. This legislation apportioned grazing acreage to ranchers who had established claim to available water sources, severely reducing the grazing pressure on these rangelands. However, the Taylor Grazing Act was pushed through by one of the most influential cattlemen in the West, and strongly favored a small group of elite stockraisers, ending sheepherders use of the land. In addition, the climate shifted away from increased precipitation, culminating in a drought that lasted throughout the 1930s. By the mid 1940s, most of the homestead sites on the Arizona Strip had been abandoned. Those few tough souls who remained in the area were subject to an isolated existence, as the population was insufficient to maintain any social and economic exchange. The advent of affordable automobiles led to a new land use pattern in which well-off ranchers would live in St. George and commute long distances to their grazing allotments when necessary. By the 1960s, even Bundyville had been deserted."
My NOTE: I also found the following regarding 'Iven Leroy Bundy', who was the oldest son of Roy and Doretta Iverson Bundy, and was born in the Mormon Colony of Moroles, in the state of Sonora, Old Mexico, on June 18, 1908 and became one of the original settlers of Bundyville.