Facebook Twitter Email
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2003

About 500 horses owned by two Western Shoshone sisters in Nevada are being moved to "safe haven" thanks to a late-night deal brokered with the federal government.

Mary and Carrie Dann faced seizure of their property because they won't pay grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management. They contend the fees are illegal because the land they use has never been ceded to the United States.

With the help of a third party, reported to be a horse enthusiast in California, the animals. won't be impounded or slaughtered. "The BLM was a hell of a lot kinder than they have been," said Mary Dann of the recent talks "In the past they have acted like the cavalry, now they are more civilized."

"They are killing us with kindness."

The 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley describes 23 million acres of land in Nevada under the domain of the Western Shoshone Nation. The Indian Claims Commission (ICC), a body established by Congress to resolve land claims, determined that the land was lost due to white encroachment.

Related Stories:
Deal brokered to save some of Dann livestock (2/7)
BLM moves to seize Shoshone livestock (01/07)
BLM plans to seize Dann cattle and horses (12/20)
Senate approves Shoshone payout (11/14)
Opposition to Shoshone payout mounts (10/15)
BLM auctions seized Shoshone cattle (10/7)
U.S. asked to halt Shoshone auction (10/4)
BLM to auction seized Shoshone cattle (10/2)
Shoshone activists to stage protests (9/30)
Senate panel approves Shoshone payout (9/26)
Shoshone cattle seized, horses feared next (9/24)
Shoshone 'renegades' resist land payout (8/26)
Senate panel debates Shoshone payout bill (8/5)
Western Shoshone are 'homeless' (8/2)
Report finds human rights violations (8/1)
Shoshone land 'not for sale' (7/22)