OCR Text |
Show No doubt one of the most trying jobs in being a sheep-herder was that of trailing a herd of sheep to and from seasonal ranges in Utah. Distances seemed always longer as John K trailed from a spring range to another one for summer, and from that to a desert winter range for a longer time, then to the spring range again to repeat the cycle. In Bible days a man watching a flock of sheep was called a shepherd. Many flocks were small and were led, while other larger herds were driven to avoid straying of individuals or groups of them. There have been various names applied to one who watched over sheep: herdsman, shepherd, herdboy, drover, sheepherder, and herder. The last two have been most widely used in Utah. At the turn of the century and for some time previously, there were a few sheep herds of mammoth size in the west, and a few sheepmen owned several or even many herds. Some of them were trailed afar-coming from neighboring states at times- and vast areas of land were seriously damaged by such hordes on the move. But the average one-herd sheepman was fighting for his chance to provide for himself and family. He. it was who honestly tried to co-operate with the controls of government as they were set up, and he willingly paid his grazing fees and taxes. Controls later became so burdensome, and costly that many sheepmen who were already discouraged with, conditions closed their business rather than continue to work under the stringent regulations and controls, with so little profit. 55 |