The court records say 1953 was the beginning. But then, when one is in court, one needs to have EVIDENCE. It seems Bundy has none of prior payments.
Rather than an evidentiary issue, this is far more about yet another government agency getting way too big, too authoritarian, and too aggressive. The BLM of course wins on rules and regs... they get to write them and change them at their whim. The issue here is whether individuals will finally start taking a stand against out-of-control hyper-government. This may be one of the first steps. Prayers all around for smaller government, with as little harm as possible... but government of every stripe do not give up power without a struggle... and judging by the number of firearms the BLM brought for the cow-collecting, they are apparently itching for blood.