One interesting tidbit about Bundy I found interesting if it in fact is true.
Bundy, based upon info I’ve seen published owns less than 160 acres of land.
The rest is gov’t land he was running his cattle on and not paying the grazing
fees for many years now. If his land acreage is correct then Bundy is
essentially a tenent rancher using someone else’s land. Based upon the
contractual arrangement to use the land Bundy depends upon someone else
to establish the rules.
It is true and what most people don't realize, is that Congress set it up that way.
In earlier times I read history books on the west, and settling the west.
Congress had an aversion to dispersing these lands in large tracts. That wasn't a problem back to the east in the wet zone, because settlers could make a living off of small tracts. But in the west, it was a problem.
So an individual could get the land, often by homesteading, and could then graze out onto the federal lands. And Bundy claimed that his family homesteaded/owned that 160 acres and grazed those federal lands since the 19th century and because of that, he owned not just the 160 acres but also those grazing lands.
But then it came to light that Bundy's claims about this land is not true.
The TV station KTLA 8 has done a great job of reporting on the Bundy issue. One of their reporters went to the courthouse to research the deed and found out that Bundy's parents bought that 160 acres in 1948 and didn't begin grazing that federal land until 1954.
Channel 8 also did those extensive interviews with Metro police officers who were on the scene. These interviews took place after the FBI interviewed the officers.
Gilespie insisted that the officers wear no protective gear or carry long guns because he didn't want to agitate the militia. All these officers were talking how threatening the militia was. But they negotiated the deal between Bundy's son and the BLM on releasing the cattle, but before they could do that, Bundy gave the order to the militia to move on the corral. The officers all fled the scene and the BLM was in the corral and that is where the shooting almost occurred.
Channel 8 also covered that story about the militia making the bomb threats to the Holiday Inn in Mesquite because the BLM was staying there.