Ranching in Wyoming

Ranching in Wyoming. . From Wyoming's very beginnings and with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, the livestock industry was anticipated to secure a viable ecumenic base for the new territory. Most of the territory consisted of rangeland where buffalo heard has lived for centuries on the vast prairies. By the late 1870's these grass-eating animals had been slaughtered close to extinction. The vast stretches of prairie were now open for cattle and sheep ranching operations. With eastern and foreign investors supplying the money and the railroads providing transportation for the eastern market, only the labor to work the cattle was needed. That labor was supplied by the cowboy. Since the dawn of the American cowboy, 20th century literature, music, and arts has helped make the cowboy an American folk hero. , Although the cowboy often receives more attention, the sheep industry has been a part of Wyoming history since territorial days. Following the cattleman's lead, vast numbers of sheep began competing with cattle for the valuable range land. This competition for the open range between cattlemen and sheepmen erupted with violence by the turn of the century. This conflict continued until the range wars stopped in 1909. The state's leading industry by 1908-1910 was wool production. Today cattle and sheep graze side by side on many ranches in Wyoming, and the conflict between cattlemen and sheepmen is only a remembrance of Wyoming's frontier past.