and horse breeders who will
take up all the claims and so shut out the sheep," suggested Nort.

"That might happen, but I haven't told you all," said his uncle. "You
see boundary lines out here are pretty uncertain. In some places there
never has been a survey made. So not only may the sheep men jump in
and claim the Indian land that the government has opened, but they'll
over-run land that we now use for grazing cattle and horses. And I
needn't tell you that once sheep have been on land it's ruined for my
business."

This was very true, and though Nort and Dick had once been in the
"tenderfoot" class, they had learned of the deep-seated hatred that
existed on the part of a cattle man against a sheep owner.

There is a real reason for this. Horses and cattle in the West just
naturally hate sheep. It may be that the cattle and horses recognize
that the sheep is such a greedy eater that he practically cleans off
the grass down to the very roots, whereas a steer or horse leaves
enough of the herbage to grow for the next time.

Then, too, the strong smell of sheep seems to annoy horses and cattle.
Often a bunch of steers or a herd of horses will stampede and run for
miles, merely after getting a whiff of the odor from a bunch of sheep.
They will even do this if, in grazing, they come to a place where sheep
have been eating. And if sheep wade through a creek the odor of their
oily wool seems to remain for days, and horses and cattle refuse to
drink, unless almost dying of thirst. So much for the animals
themselves, and because of this there was unending war between the
horses and cattle on one side, and sheep on the other. Though it
cannot be said that the meek sheep did any fighting. They never
stampeded because they had to drink from streams where cows and horses
had watered, nor did they refuse to nibble grass left by the larger
animals.

Aside from the fact that the horse breeders and cattle men were
pioneers on the old open range, and naturally resented the coming of
the lowly sheep herders, there is another reason for the hatred.
Sheep, as I have said, nibble the grass to its very roots. And then
the small and sharp feet of the sheep cut into the turf and so chop
what few roots that are left as to prevent a new crop of grass from
growing--the fodder dies off. And as the sheep are kept constantly on
the march, as they greedily eat their way, they spread ruin--at least
so the ranchmen thought. So it wa