THE SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EARLY CATTLE RANCHING IN THE LITTLE-COLORADO RIVER BASIN

Commercial cattle ranching began in east central Arizona during the la te 1880s when thousands of head of cattle were introduced onto the pre viously unexploited grasslands of the Little Colorado River Basin. Mos t of these animals were imported from western Texas where serious over grazing had resulted in both catastrophic cattle losses and widespread range deterioration. By the rum of the century, the Texas experience had been repeated in Arizona, because Texas cattlemen continued to fol low the same destructive stocking practices in this new region. This p aper examines: (1) the early development of cattle ranching in the Lit tle Colorado River Basin; (2) the various factors which contributed to overgrazing in the region; and (3) the consequences that commercial c attle ranching had on the local environment and on the pre-existing fa rming communities of the region.