Broncho Busting Near Its End

1921

Said There Will Be No More Wild Horses in Rocky Mountain States

CIVILIZATION SPELLS FINISH

Ranches Are Being Fenced and No More Do Wild Horses Range the Plains of Wyoming and Adjacent States

Denver, Colo. — Broncho busters of the northern Rocky Mountain states are about to go out of business, according to reports from officials of wild West and frontier shows. The reason is there aren't any wild horses to bust. At least not around Wyoming and this part of the country.

But down in Arizona they have wild horses to eat. There are 10,000 of them. They belong to the San Carlos Indians, who have a reservation not far from Globe. But there isn't much chance of getting the Arizona ponies for the broncho busters of Wyoming, for the Indians won't give them up.

Growing Shorter

The day of the wild herd of horses roaming the plains of Wyoming and adjacent states has been growing rapidly shorter with the encouragement of civilization. More and more ranches are being fenced in, herds of cattle are reduced or confined, and to make the matter worse for the existence of the wild steeds, oil drilling camps have been extended over wide areas of Wyoming, northwestern Colorado and Utah.

But down on the San Carlos Indian reservation there are 10,000 wild steeds, roaming at will over the fields, destroying mile after mile of grazing land which might be put into good use for cattle, and turning green grass of the prairie into a scrawny covering for their bones which hardly makes even a decent meal for an Indian.

The cattlemen have tried to buy them, but the Indians wouldn't listen. The government, through A. H. Symonds, Indian agent, ordered to purchase them at about $6 a head, invest the money in cattle and save the meat from the horses, giving it back to the Indians for winter food.

Horses Are Worthless

But the Indians would have none of it. The horses are worthless, even for hides. They cannot be domesticated and the meat isn't much of a delicacy, but the Indians insist on their age-old prerogative to have their herds out on the open prairie even as their fathers did. The Indians also have about 2,000 wild burros which they say they will keep.

"And when an Indian makes up his mind," Symonds says, "you've got to have patience to get him to change it. They are proud of the horses and burros for some reason, and although some of their leaders have tried to persuade them to accept the offers made, so far they have refused to sell."