Cowgirl Sass & Savvy (revisited)

Leaving the gate open becomes a high-priced mistake

by Julie Carter

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.

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, or 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, barbwire 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 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. A stiff $5-$10 fine surely straightened that problem right up. Or did it?

Apparently not, as 114 years later, the issue was again before the state lawmakers. In the most recent New Mexico Legislative session, House Bill 391 was introduced and ultimately signed into law by the governor, thereby enhancing the penalty for leaving a gate open.

Now should the 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. The process of enforcement will be interesting.

This 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, breath 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.

4/17/11