Range wars

A range war is a type of armed conflict that occurs in agrarian or stock-rearing societies. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, which gave the conflict its name. Typically they were disputes over water rights or grazing rights.

Range wars occurred in the American West, prior to the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 which regulated grazing allotments on public land. Range wars included the Pleasant Valley War, Colfax County War, Castaic Range War, Mason County War, Barber–Mizell feud, Johnson County War and others.

Range wars have been the subject of movies and novels. Some examples are:

While in previous centuries violence may have been involved, the term is used for nonviolent competition for scarce resources, perhaps between ranchers and environmentalists, or between ranchers and fans of wild horses.

A range war is also a slang term for a or disagreement about proper hierarchy or relationship and is often used in a joking manner. The term is in politics, or business.

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