it s not like they weren t warned. my dad bought it knowing that there was a problem down there. but he had worked with the federal agencies in the previous ranch in california and got along with them. and he thought, well, you know, i can work with these folks. come to find out you can t get along with somebody when they re actually trying to take your property. why would the government do that? the hages say the feds were trying to strip their rights in order to take control of the land. partly for environmental reasons and the water which in a desert state is like gold. in fact, many western ranchers feel the government would like to end their way of life completely. no sooner had the hage family settled in and the government offered to buy the ranch. hage declined so the government filed a claim for his water rights. wayne sr. wasn t having it. if the government wanted a fight, a fight is what it would get. he contested that claim starting
it s not like they weren t warned. my dad bought it knowing that there was a problem down there. but he had worked with the federal agencies in the previous ranch in california and got along with them. and he thought, well, you know, i can work with these folks. come to find out you can t get along with somebody when they re actually trying to take your property. why would the government do that? the hages say the feds were trying to strip their rights in order to take control of the land. partly for environmental reasons and the water which in a desert state is like gold. in fact, many western ranchers feel the government would like to end their way of life completely. no sooner had the hage family settled in and the government offered to buy the ranch. hage declined so the government filed a claim for his water rights. wayne sr. wasn t having it. if the government wanted a fight, a fight is what it would get. he contested that claim starting
ranch and continue livestock business. the ranch itself is more than 7,000 acres. the purchase also included exclusive access to more than 700,000 acres of adjoining land administered by the federal government, so-called open range. wayne took a couple of days to show us around. do you really need that much property? yes in this country it takes 320 acres to raise one cow for one year. now they couldn t afford to purchase three quarters of a million acres, so instead they paid for their private piece of property and at the same time brought water and grazing. that s the way it s been done out here since the 1860s. these rights have been handed down through purchase or will for more than 100 years. and the reason place like pine creek is economically viable. however, that extra land is public property managed by the forest service and the blm. that s where they say the problems began.
of reality. in all the forest service impounded and eventually sold over 100 cattle. then they sent hage a bill for the difference between the bill and the cost of confiscation. that was the final straw. it was virtually impossible to run cow anymore because there was no way to keep a cow on one side of the imaginary line. they liquidated their herd. their cattle grazing business effectively shut down. there was only one option left, they sued the government claiming their property had been taken without compensation or due process. just four months later as wayne sr. was doing maintenance to get water to his private property, the forest service charged him with a felony. he cleaned a ditch. he cleaned a ditch? he did. the ditch was in disrepair. now, you could not get water through the ditch. and then after we cleared those trees they came and arrested my
father and took him down and convicted him of destroying government property. he was arrested, tried, convicted then went to the ninth circuit court of appeals. and overturned. yes. the ninth circuit threw that case out. but the damage had been done. by the mid-1990s the hages were basically broke and had lost all their grazing permits. both mother and father had to find other jobs to feed the family. the stress was very significant, i think, for my mom especially. ramona is one of wayne s four big sisters. she had five kids, she was running this house. and then this situation with the government on top of it was very difficult for her. 1996 your mother passed away. at a young age complications from stroke. your sister said she believes it was the stress of government harassment that contributed to your mother s death. oh i believe very much. she was a very sweet lady.