[Rough and Ready resident Weldon Travis sent me his “observations, conclusions, thoughts” on what some have come to call ‘The Battle of Bunkerville’ where earlier this year rancher Cliven Bundy and supporters faced down a company of federales who had come to confiscate his cattle and end his grazing rights on what we know today as ‘BLM land’. I promised to post his unedited words so that RR readers could have another POV on the matter from a local Nevada County resident. Here is a previous RR posting on the standoff.
And as the world turns, this seems to be even more relevant today as the local Left has become hyper-ventilated about the claimed existence of rightwing militia groups in Nevada County. (BTW, I have no direct knowledge of their existence and therefore can add no information to such claims.) In any event, it appears that we haven’t heard the last of such standoffs regarding federal lands and federal overreach in general. Therefore Mr Travis, who belatedly did join Cliven Bundy’s supporters (his initial standdown letter here), provides a unique insight into the sentiments that motivated those who gathered at the Bundy Ranch last spring. gjr]
Weldon Travis
This is a tale ~ my observations, conclusions, thoughts ~ of Cliven Bundy and his struggle against the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Clark County, Nevada, 60 miles from Las Vegas and 10 from Mesquite, bordering Arizona. It may contain errors.
It begins in 1864 when Nevada was admitted to the Union, necessarily ceding vast stretches of public land, almost 85%, to the Federal government; to 1877 when Cliven’s forebears homesteaded; moves on to1946 when Cliven was born and the same year that the BLM was established by President Harry S. Truman. For me, my wife Irene, and our friend Malen “Jim” Jacobs, all Oath Keepers, it culminated (but has not ended) on Easter Sunday, 2014. The previous week was reminiscent of Concord and Lexington and the “shot heard ’round the world.” It was a day that will go down in our proud history, witnessing an intense showdown between heavily armed BLM agents and the Bundy clan, who were backed up by Nevada and other State militias, “irregulars,” Oath Keepers and other supporters. The local Sheriff, Douglas Gillespie (a strong supporter of Obama), Governor Brian Sandoval and the Nevada National Guard had remained obscure.
A new friend with whom I shared a morning cup of coffee is a major contractor and developer, much of it around Las Vegas. He was one of seven snipers set up on Interstate 15, a divided four-lane highway which was totally shut down. As he trained his scoped AR-15 toward the stand-off confrontation, watching developments, some Nevada Highway Patrolmen behind him also stood watch. My friend wondered if the shooting started, what would they do, who would be shooting whom? Shortly, they asked him if it would be okay to open one lane each way. Preposterous, I know.
[To continue reading, please Download BUNDY RANCH ~The Battle of Bunkerville.]
rebanesruminations.com 
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