Jan 23 2009
The Value of Range Land
Real estate these days has lost a lot of value. If you own a home, then odds are good that you have seen and been affected by market fluctuations. Like most things land is defined by what a person is willing to pay for it, and that is defined by the return on investment that a buyer can expect.
In the west the value of most pieces of property was defined by the number of cattle that could be grazed on the land without over-grazing. Cash and credit, however, were often difficult to come by. This means that the value of the land was really determined by the amount of effort and energy a person was willing to put into it and then by the price tag they were willing to put onto that effort and energy.
The primary currency of the Old West was not gold or coin, but sweat and desire. If a person wanted something badly enough they could find a way to get it without cash or they could find another piece of land of equal worth somewhere else without cash.
