The Gradual Disappearance of the Range Grasses of the West

By I.W. Tourney, 1894

In the early days of our great West almost the only method of travel from the Mississippi Valley to our western coast and intervening points was by caravan.  Wagons drawn by horses or cattle were several months in making this journey.  During this time the stock subsisted entirely upon the natural forage afforded by the country traversed.  For the most part, this forage was perennial grasses, which at that time were everywhere abundant.  Then the whole of the West was a great pasture, unstocked, save for the herds of buffalo, deer and antelope.  Many regions which were covered with a luxuriant growth of nutritious grasses are now entirely destitute of vegetation, if we exclude a few straggling, stunted bushes and the yearly crop of annuals which follow the summer rains.  As a more specific case, the rancher who drove the first herd of cattle into Tonto Basin, in central Arizona, found a well-watered valley, everywhere covered with grass reaching to his horse’s belly.  In passing through this region a year ago scarcely a culm of grass was to be seen from one end of the valley to the other.  This transformation has taken place in a half-score of years. Continue reading →