The early years of Mark Twain’s writing career are presented in this episode of Bonanza.

Includes some tall tales, literary predecessors of today’s ‘fake news.’

Originally aired 1959.  H/T Rope and Wire.

On Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area.

Don’t you wish you had a counter-commute?

Welcome to the Virginia Range.  Here’s what 9.4 horses per thousand acres looks like, roughly ten times the population density of your average HMA.

Photo taken 03/31/18, Mt. Rose in the distance.

What do you get when local ranchers join forces with the BLM to fix the ‘wild horse problem’ on Beatys Butte HMA?  The Beaty Butte Wild Horse Training Facility.

Next, add a trainer with experience in the horse racing industry.  Throw in bits and shoes for good measure and you’ve got utopia, everything those mustangs dreamed of while on the range.

Finally, justify all of it by ‘the growing list of uses’ of the HMA.

Like the Wild Spayed Filly Futurity, it has its share of clapping seals.

The upper value of the AML yields a stocking rate of 1748 acres per horse (roughly 0.6 horses per thousand acres), almost nothing.

But horses will be gathered annually and fertility control will be applied.

The program started with a 100% gather in 2015, followed by selective return.

The first annual adoption will be held April 13-14 2018 in Adel, OR.

The greatest ore discovery on the Comstock, 1873.  Now you know why they call it ‘The Silver State.’  What else is on the reverse side of the Nevada State Quarter?  Wild horses, of course.

Looking east across the Virginia Range to Flowery Peak (left) and Emma Peak (right) from Virginia City, 02/24/18.

The cover photos at St. Mary’s FB page show many scenes in and around town.  Click the photo on this page to start the slide show.  Note the man-made hills (mine tailings).

On Theodore Roosevelt National Park, south unit.

Update 05/01/18: Video has been removed or marked private.

Answers to the second round of questions for transfer of ownership of the Virginia Range horses have been posted.  More discussion this time.

A few miles north of Virginia City, 03/31/18.

On Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The American Wild Horse Campaign has filed a lawsuit in the Nevada First Judicial District Court to stop the Nevada Department of Agriculture from transferring ownership of the Virginia Range horses to a non-profit advocacy group, according to a press release dated 03/19/18.

Trailcam image below shows some VR horses just before sunset on 06/05/17.

Yep, in Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area.  Refer to this article in Smithsonian.com.

Like most wild horses, they are beneficiaries of humane management practices.

Where to see them?  This post in Southeastern Traveler has some suggestions.

On the north side of I-94, near the town of Medora, ND, you’ll find Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It consists of three areas: North Unit, South Unit, Elkhorn Ranch Unit.

A video overview appears on this page.

Wild horses roam the South Unit, along with bison and other wildlife.  The horses, of course, are subject to ‘humane’ management practices.  Excess horses are offered for adoption through the General Services Administration.  The North Dakota Badlands Horse Registry maintains a database of adopted horses and advocates for WH preservation in TRNP.

The park is managed by the NPS, not the BLM.

Follow-up to the post of 03/13/18 regarding the potential for public comment on the RFP for the Virginia Range horses at the next Board of Agriculture meeting.  Remarks begin at 0:03:55 in the following video and continue for about 22 minutes.

Check out the newly minted symbols of freedom, ruggedness and self-reliance at this FB page.

This episode of Bonanza tells the story of Henry T. P. Comstock and one of the greatest mining discoveries in the American West.  Originally aired 1959.  Watch out for the gooey blue stuff.

H/T Rope and Wire.

Video posted June 2017 by liberal/modernist/progressive NBC Left Field.  At least they admit their bias.  Shows PZP darting of mares.

You want to build a house?  Buy some land.

New factory or chemical plant?  Get some land.

You want to graze livestock?  Run to government.

Farming and ranching are two of the most respectable professions out there.

But get your own land.  Like everybody else.  And leave the horses alone.

Second Q&A period closes today, refer to sections 5 and 6 in the RFP for details.

On the Virginia Range.

Hard-working mom defends herself and newborn foal against some bachelors in this FB video, filmed in 2015.  Looks like the Pryor Mountains, confirmed by this post at Wild in the Pryors.