In the 1930s and 1940s, an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 wild horses roamed the area, according to the discussion at the bottom of page 38 in a 2019 EA for resource enforcement actions in the HMA.
By the mid-1950s, fewer than 50 horses remained.
The EA does not say how that happened or who was responsible.
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Western Horse Watchers Association 