This area was a center of hostilities during the 1880s conflict between landless cattlemen trying to keep use of free grass and open range and those erecting barbed wire fences to create permanent ranches. On L.B. Harris Ranch, 3 miles west of here, posts and wire worth $6,000 were burned by an anti-fence group during the crisis. The war was brought on by severe drought in the 1880s, when men without land found the best waterholes fenced in. Many ranchmen owned or leased the land they fenced, but some overambitious ones enclosed public lands, farms, and small ranches belonging to homesteaders recently arrived in Texas. Widespread resentment prevailed against these fencers, who, by blocking a road, had little regard for the convenience of travelers. When drought pushed landless cowmen to the brink of financial ruin, violence was inevitable. They blamed barbed wire fences for their predicament. At first, cutting fences that blocked roads or waterholes occurred, but soon all fences were threatened. Armed "nippers" cut fences in almost every Texas county. Fence cutters were then viewed as outlaws rather than crusaders. When laws were passed in Governor John Ireland's administration to stop the war, Texas had suffered much damage to its property and reputation.