| Show Bite or Local Color 7i Experience At NlfjIU-Hcrdii- uj In order to prevent the damage done by the stock and to avoid the exorbitant prices at which this When dry land farming' was first begun in Cache Valley the highlands and mountainous regions were used wholly for pasturage and As the low grazing puqxjses land became crowded people went to the small valleys or basins in the mountains and to the most level strips of highland country where under the different land rights granted by the government they proceeded to cultivate the soil and raise profitable crops As there was no law compelling these people to fence their farms it was a great task for the stockmen to keep their stock during the hot summer months when the grass on the hills was dry from invading the green fields and indicting great damage on the crops In the part of the valley in which I was working several men took advantage of these conditions and planted crops on small open tracts of land near a spring or watering place for stock built a large corral and then waited not to harvest the crop but to collect large sums of money from the stockmen by holding the trespassing stock for damages fre- quent damage was appraised by the land owners it was decided that the eight men employed at the ranch at which I worked should take their — herding the g turn at stock back from the fields thereby checking the night raids Preparatory to this a bell was placed on the neck of each of the leaders of the several bands of horses so that in the stillness of the night when they came slowly down the trail the herder could hear them at a great distance and prepare to turn them back The turns went around and because of niv being away for a few weeks the other men each had three or four shifts Finallv on my arriving at the ranch one afternoon the foreman told me that as I had not yet been out I had better sleep the rest of the afternoon and be prepared to herd that night He said that he woidd get me a fresh horse so that there would be no unnecessary trouble I was awakened at six o’clock that evening and after eating supper saddled my horse and set out for my post All was very quiet during the night-herdin- |
