Laserfiche WebLink
-].2- <br />suspected rustlers. The associations also were organized to <br />try and fight off the large ranchers such as Ora Haley. Tlie <br />Snake River Cattle Association worked on a cooper"ti~~e basis <br />to market cattle in such a manner as to undercut Haley's pricing <br />of cattle. They used the OVO brand and proceeded to help drive <br />26 <br />men like Haley out of business. The associations were also <br />interested in eliminating predators such as the grey caolf, <br />In 1902, the Brown's Park Ranchmen's Association was forced to <br />offer a bounty of $20 per caolf hide. This effort did much to <br />rid the range of wolves, coyotes, and other predators. <br />The other major problem that cattlemen faced was the <br />loss of grazing land when the national fozests of the region <br />mere withdrawn. In 1391, the White River Forest Reserve kas <br /> created and soma 750,000 acres of prime grazing land was <br /> withdrawn. Now cattlemen had to compete with sheepmen for <br />grazing rights. By 1907, the reserve was expanded to 1,133,330 <br />acres, In 1905, the Routt National Forest was created and <br />another million acres were taken from the cattle industry. By <br />1912, the National Forest Service had aligned with the smaller <br />cattle interests and the days of open range cattle were at an <br />end. The creation of the National Forests in the region meant <br />that controlled grazing was the rule and that the days of <br />overgrazing and exclusive domain were ended forever. From this <br />27 <br />point on, sheep and cattle received the same treatment. <br />The cattle industry in northwestern Colorado truly boomed <br /> when transportation came to the Yampa Valley. Prior to 1903, <br /> <br /> - the only means of rail transport were by the Uni•-n 1'scific <br />