What an Unbranded Cow Has Cost by Frederic Remington 1895

A range war, also known as range conflict or cattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. The subject of these conflicts was control of " open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, or as sheep pasture, which gave these conflicts its name. Typically they were disputes over

water rights Water right in water law is the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In o ...

grazing rights Grazing rights is the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area. United States Grazing rights have never been codified in United States law, because such common-law rights derive from the English concept of the ...

, or cattle ownership. Range wars occurred prior to the

Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 (TGA, ) is a United States federal law that provides for the regulation of grazing on the public lands (excluding Alaska) to improve rangeland conditions and regulate their use. The law initially permitted of prev ...

, which regulated grazing allotments on public land. Range wars included the Pleasant Valley War, Colfax County War, Castaic Range War,

San Elizario Salt War The San Elizario Salt War, also known as the Salinero Revolt or the El Paso Salt War, was an extended and complex range war of the mid-19th century that revolved around the ownership and control of immense salt lakes at the base of the Guada ...

Mason County War The Mason County War, sometimes called the Hoodoo War in reference to masked members of a vigilance committee,Sonnichsen, C.L., 1957, 10 Texas Feuds, University of New Mexico Press, was a period of lawlessness ignited by a "tidal wave of rustl ...

, Porum Range War, Johnson County War, Pecos War, Fence Cutting Wars, Sheep Wars, Barber–Mizell feud, Stuart's Stranglers conflict, and others. While in previous centuries violence may have been involved, the term is now applied to nonviolent competition for scarce resources, such as between ranchers and environmentalists, or between ranchers and fans of wild horses. A range war is also a slang term for a turf war or disagreement about proper hierarchy or relationship and is often used in a joking manner. In this sense, the term is found in politics and business.

In literature and the arts

Range wars have been the subject of movies and novels. Some examples are: *'' Range War'' (1939) is a movie (featuring Hopalong Cassidy) about a group of ranchers in conflict with a railway company. * The Westerner (1940) is a film dealing with cattlemen versus homesteaders in a territory run by Judge Roy Bean. * ''Range War'', a 2000 novel by

Lauran Paine Lauran Bosworth Paine (born Lawrence Kerfman Duby Jr.; February 25, 1916 – December 1, 2001) was an American writer of Western fiction.Whitehead, DavidLauran Paine Keith Chapman's Black Horse Extra Early life Paine was born in Duluth, Minne ...

about the Johnson County War. *'' The Virginian,'' a 1902 novel by

Owen Wister Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer. His novel ''The Virginian (novel), The Virginian'', published in 1902, helped create the cowboy as a folk hero in the United States and built Wister's reputation as the " ...

, was based on the Johnson County Range War, presenting the case of the large ranchers and justifying the

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

s as frontier justice for cattle rustling. It was adapted four times as films. *'' Shane'' is a 1953 movie (featuring

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

) that tells the story of a gunfighter taking the side of the farmers against cattlemen during a fictional range war loosely based on the Johnson County Range War. *'' The Redhead from Wyoming'' a 1953 film with Maureen O'Hara featuring a fictionalised Johnson County War. *'' Man Without a Star'', 1955, with Kirk Douglas. *''To The Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War,'' is a novel by Western author Zane Grey exploring the Pleasant Valley War in 1880s Arizona. *''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' (1943 Broadway musical, 1955 film) Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about a cowboy in love with a farm girl, complicated by a rivalry between local farmers and ranchers over fences and water rights. *''

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

'' is a 1966 movie about an aging gunfighter who goes "straight" to help a lawman friend after being hired to intervene in a range war. *'' Centennial'' (1978) features an episode titled 'The Shepherds' , which depicted a range war between cattlemen on one hand, against farmers and sheepherders on the other. * ''Texas'' (1985) details the evolving conflicts due to the introduction of barbed wire in cattle country in the 1880s. *''

Tom Horn Thomas Horn Jr., (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, rodeo performer, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committ ...

'' (1980), scripted from the journals of Horn,

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

. *" Johnson County War" is a 1989 song by Country Western singer/songwriter Chris LeDoux for the Powder River album. *"The Range War," a ballad by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

, focuses on a relationship between a boy whose "uncle runs cattle" and a girl whose "daddy runs sheep," and hints their relationship was opposed by both families, fueling this particular range war. *'' Open Range'' (2003), a film in which free-grazers take on a cattle baron who tries to use hired assassins to steal their herd. *A range war was the subject of at least one episode of long-running old time radio show, ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', called "Jaliscoe". *'' King of Texas'' is a 2002 American television movie transposing the plot of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' into the 19th-century American West. *''

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

'' (2023), a prequel to the ''

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

'' franchise written by Taylor Sheridan, features a ranch war in several episodes. * Several episodes of '' Have Gun Will Travel'' feature the conflict between farmers and ranchers over control of range land. * The 2005 video game ''

Gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

'' also featured a range war described as the "Resistance" that was based around the Colfax County War. * The 2009 Western game '' Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood'' features a side mission that was reminiscent of a range war, involving assisting a settler against a powerful cattleman. * Range wars were featured in many stories depicting comic book character

Jonah Hex Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the r ...

. June 16, 2025 One of these is the story "Hanging Woman", which was adapted into a motion comic in 2010.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Range War American frontier Cowboy culture 01

In literature and the arts

See also

Notes and references