by Julie Carter
Gates left
open, ones that were found closed on approach, have been an ongoing issue in
ranch country for more than a century.
In 1897, a New Mexico state law was written
levying a penalty for leaving a gate open. The fine was to be not less than $5
and not more than $10. In 1919, the law was amended and the misdemeanor crime
came with a stiffer penalty of not less than $10 and not more than $25.
Obviously the law was put in place because people were as
disrespectful about another man’s business as they are today. Somebody was
leaving the ranch gates open causing untold issues with escaped or lost cattle.
Barbwire, sometimes referred to colloquially as “bob wire or
bobbed war,” was invented in the late 1860s and followed by as many as 570
patents for additional “improved” versions.
The “devil’s rope,” hated by some, sought after by others,
was a highly effective tool that quickly became the fencing method of choice.
As it worked its way to the West, it impacted life in that era as dramatically
as the telegraph, windmills and the railroad.
With fencing came the necessary gates. Anyone that has ever
had to figure how to open a well-constructed barbwire gate can attest to the
difficulty that can be built into it.
Generations of skilled fence builders, in my opinion,
focused more on making sure the gate was impossible and impassable than on the
function for which it was intended. This reasoning comes from years of needing
to get through gates that required practically dismantling the gate in order to
open the portal it guarded.
However, certainly not all of them earned a reputation for
that level of difficulty. And in that was born the problem of the gate left
carelessly open by some unknown soul who either didn’t know better or didn’t
bother to care.
And so, a law was written to address the crime but the
financial penalty changed nothing.
So 114 years later in 2011, the issue was again before the
New Mexico state lawmakers. House Bill 391 was introduced and ultimately signed
into law by the governor, thereby enhancing the penalty for leaving a gate
open.
Should outlaws, renegades or thoughtless idiots running the
back roads of New Mexico ranch lands leave a gate open, they can be fined not
less than $250 and not more than $1,000. However, as in the century preceding,
the process of enforcement is almost impossible and/or non-existent.
The
litigious society we live in mandates the effort. Livestock let loose as a
result of a gate left open can put motorists in a life and death situation. A collision with livestock causing injury or
death to a roadway motorists could result in not just the economic loss of
livestock to the rancher, but financial liability for damages for the
Department of Transportation. It’s simple economics.
Ranch kids are ingrained from birth to “shut the gate.” No
questions asked, no discussion. They walk, talk, eat, breathe and shut the
gate. It’s part of life. The penalties for not doing so are quite unpleasant.
They often go hand-in-hand with witnessing the destruction or loss caused by
that simple failure to follow that cardinal rule.
My suggestion would be, if in fact you can catch the culprit
and prove that he did it, to give him the same punishment universal to ranch
kids throughout the millennium.
A good swift kick in the pants is cathartic for the giver,
and if administered with proper skill, is quite memorable for the receiver.
Instant gratification and not a lawyer in sight.
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