SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

Public lands

by Larry Gabriel

Some people assume every West River rancher is in favor of cheap grazing on federal lands. They are wrong. What I support is our Constitution.

Many people are deeply impressed by the concept of public lands. For some it is an awesome thing to view several million acres and say, "Wow. I am a part owner of all that."

It works especially well on folks accustomed to real estate measured in city blocks. I have heard of such an effect on a writer who moved to Colorado. I am reminded of it each time people argue about "our lands", "the people's land" or "public lands".

The federal government is the biggest landlord in the nation with about 28 percent of the land. That government had no land at all until two states donated ten square miles of land for a new federal city. Virginia later got part of that back. The rest of us aren't that fortunate.

The United States Constitution gives to Congress the power: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings.

The first thing to notice is that federal legislative jurisdiction applies only to lands that Congress buys from a willing seller state.

The second obvious limit is that the land purchased from the state must be needed for forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other buildings.

Why does the central government have 650 million acres for needful buildings when there are no buildings on most of it?

Shouldn't the remnants (areas never deeded to anyone) of the Louisiana Purchase belong collectively to the sovereign states instead of the federal government?

How can Congress have jurisdiction over lands never purchased from any willing seller state as Section 8 prescribes?

You may think these questions are out in left field, but some of the best legal minds available did a study of them for President Eisenhower. They even surveyed the attorneys general for the states about it. They came up with no definitive answer.

So, when a guy from New Jersey comes out here and demands that all the cows be removed from "his federal lands," remember that not everyone agrees with his premise.

People misread the Woody Guthrie song. The side of the no-trespassing sign we see is blank because we are standing on our own land.

This land was made for you and me, as private property owners.

Larry Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture


It’s all in the jingle of the spur

By Julie Carter

Rural dilemmas are usually completely foreign to the majority of the population living urban or suburban lives.

How many soccer moms do you calculate get up before good light, start the dinner makings while she cooks breakfast, turns out the roping steers to pasture, feeds a barn full of stalled horses, and then spends a little time throwing a loop at the practice dummy?

All this before the real world is “at work” so she can begin making phone calls to find someone who can put new rowels in her spurs. Losing one in the arena the day before created a near catastrophe.

Finding a spur maker is not a problem if she is native to the area but transplant her somewhere out of her homeland and it becomes a major project.

This is a predicament the world usually doesn’t spend much time pondering. But to the world of the ropin’ and ridin’ folk, a spur rowel is on a list of critical items. Contrary to what the fancy-dancy cowboy clothing promotion industry would have you perceive, it is not a decoration but a much needed tool.

Magazine stands are full of slick covered advice on how to expeditiously accomplish housework, cooking, shopping and laundry-- all while keeping up on the local and national news in order to be a scintillating conversationalist on all levels.

Even more pages are full of instruction for the wonders of skin care and proper makeup application for the belles of the world to remain beautiful for the men in their life, cowboy or not.

Female health issues garner regular headlines that instruct scheduling mammograms and other assorted tests to insure healthy longevity and even more pages promise a wrinkle free face and teeth that glow whiter than those in Hollywood.

These are all concerns that women worldwide face daily in their lives but the rural girl will find little expert advice on how to quickly locate someone to replace a spur rowel. It is crisis unique to the lifestyle.

Once located, the spur maker will first assume the broken-spur toting woman to be another Tahoe driving, Wrangler wearing wanna-be, the like of which is flooding rural areas of America.

The signature on her spurs will redeem her reputation. Little did even she know that the name stamped in the silver on her spur was one that was legendary to spur makers. She’d known the cowboy to be just one of a fleet of brothers who worked cattle in the Texas panhandle and he was the one that happened to make spurs, bits and buckles.

That moment of name recognition obviously elevated her on the “genuine cowfolk” meter and the spur maker immediately introduced her to his wife, children and all eight of his dogs, each of whom was apprised that this gal owned a pair of Jerry Cates spurs.

This was followed by a litany of rodeo exploits and wild cow chasing stories the spur maker felt obliged to tell to establish his own credibility. The cowgirl just listened as her bona fides had been established by ownership of good spurs.

Cowboy dude designers, including Ralph Lauren, are wasting their time making all that fancy dude stuff to establish the cowboy look. Anybody that wants to be recognized as a genuine cowboy just needs to find themselves a pair of half worn out quality spurs.

© Julie Carter 2005