I woke up this morning thinking about ranchers I have known. Since I grew up on various ranches throughout the southwest I have known a few of them. None of them were anything like that welfare rancher in Nevada Cliven Bigot Mouth Bundy who seems to think that our nation owes him, even though I dont understand how that can be, since he doesnt recognize we are a nation and he thinks that only a sheriff can legally arrest him. The ranchers I knew as a child were for the most part easy going people who recognized the USA as their country and who sometimes complained about the government but always worked hard, paid their taxes and didnt mooch off of government land and they werent bigots or racist either. The lady who owned the 76 Dude and Cattle company on which I lived briefly with my mother during WWII, which was located 45 miles northeast of Wilcox Arizona had been a Broadway Chorus girl who married a wealthy Az rancher who also grazed some of his cattle on government land and paid what was due the government for the right to do so. She took over the ranching operations when he died and decided in a effort to make the ranch more profitable to add a small hotel and guest rooms so friends and rich dudes from back east could partake of that good old western hospitality and have a place to come to for a little rest and relaxation. My Mother served as hostess there for about a year during WWII and I climbed my first mountain out behind the barn where they milked the 20 or so cows every morning and evening and feed the ranch cats (of which there about 20) fresh milk in their individual bowls which each cat knew belonged to them - dont ask me how but they did). Me and my friend Juan climbed it one Saturday morning because we wanted to see the ocean which one of the cowboys told us was on the other side of that mountain. Of course he failed to point out that it was another 8 or 9 hundred miles further on. Boy were we disappointed, but thats another story. When we lived on the Rafter O ranch near Shamrock Texas the lady that owned and ran that ranch also from time to time grazed some of her cattle on government owned land and gladly paid the small fee the government charged for the right to do so because it saved her money and it helped the government as well because the cows fertilized the land and made the grass better. Both sides were winners. That has been true of all ranchers I know about. Having lived in Vernon Texas when I went high school and my mother having been a Judge there for 25 years I was aware of the vast sprawling Waggoner Ranch which had holdings in West Texas, Colorado and New Mexico and often grazed their cattle on government land and paid for the right. The Waggoner ranch also used to graze their cattle back in the day in the Big Pasture in southern Oklahoma when that land was owned by the Comanche Tribe, along with Burk Burnett who owned the Burnett ranch they originally made the deal with the great and only Comanche Chief Quanah Parker to graze their cattle on the Big Pasture for a $.50 a head. It was a good deal for both the Comanches and the ranchers. The jist of my story is that western ranchers have been using public lands for over a hundred years to graze their cattle when they needed to it was a good deal for the ranchers and a good deal for the government. The ranchers paid what they owed and gladly because it saved them money and in fact mostly helped their bottom line especially in lean years. And they recognized our government and believed they were citizens of it and they didnt foment armed insurrection nor did they try to use their status to push a return to slavery! Cliven Bundy is an racist bigot who wants something for nothing and that, in my opinion does not qualify him as a patriot nor a hero but it does make him an a**hole! Bob Bearden PS I dont know what to do about people who will get this post more than once since I will be posting it to other groups that I am a part of. Defriending me is an option then you wont get my posts and that should solve your problem. I dont know how to keep you from getting my posts. If anyone has a suggestion I am open to suggestions!
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 14:01:16 +0000
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