Cliven Bundy’s Historical Claims To Land Debunked

Brandon Turbeville
The Anti Media 
May 5, 2014

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On April 12, I wrote an article entitled “Turn of the Screw: The Cliven Bundy Standoff” where I attempted to encourage the alternative media and the liberty community to exercise caution when deciding their stanch on the Bundy Ranch controversy.

As time progressed, I became convinced that Cliven Bundy did not have a legitimate case and that his supporters were being caught up in a fight they did not fully understand. I also became convinced (and still am) and that this knee-jerk response would later come back to haunt them in one fashion or another.

Indeed, I explained my position thoroughly on my weekly radio show, Truth on the Tracks, a few days later. 



See here as well.


As more and more evidence emerges about the original controversy, I find my position on the issue consistently reinforced by the facts.

With recent discoveries regarding the actual heritage of the Bundy Ranch, however, many supporters of Bundy may find themselves wondering whether or not they have been hoodwinked.

This is because, despite Bundy’s claims of having “pre-emptive rights” and having had ancestors working the land since 1877, an investigation of Bundy’s actual ancestry by KLASTV shows that his family has no such history on the land at all.

The closest thing to back up any of Bundy’s claims is the fact that census records show that his maternal grandmother, Christena Jensen, was born in Nevada in 1901 and that she helped settle Bunkerville. However, there is no record of her having owned the Bundy Ranch or, for that matter, any other Bundy family member having owned the land.

In fact, Clark County records show that Cliven Bundy’s parents actually bought the ranch in 1948 from a couple named Raoul and Ruth Leavitt.

Of course, water rights were transferred to the Bundy’s with the property. However, only water rights for the ranch were transferred – not the water rights to Federal lands.

According to court records, Bundy’s cattle didn’t even start grazing on the land until 1954.

This information comes to light amidst Bundy’s deceptive statements regarding his family’s history on the land such as when he said “I’ve lived my lifetime here. My forefathers have been up and down the Virgin Valley here ever since 1877. All these rights that I claim, have been created through pre-emptive rights and beneficial use of the forage and the water and the access and range improvements.”

With this in mind, it is important to take a closer look at another one of Bundy’s claims, namely that “My rights are before the BLM even existed, but my rights are created by beneficial use. Beneficial use means we created the forage and the water from the time the very first pioneers come here.”

Thus it bears repeating that, while the BLM was only created in 1946, two years before Bundy was born, Bundy family cattle did not begin grazing on that land until 1954.

Any claims that Bundy claims he has to Federal Lands as a result of ancestral rights can be easily countered when one takes a look at the 8NewsNow investigation into Bundy’s ancestry, which demonstrates that the Bundys are relative newcomers to the Ranch, let alone the Federal lands.

While there are many more reasons to question the veracity of Bundy’s claims and the wisdom in supporting him, these latest revelations might be just enough to convince many activists to abandon this cause. Unfortunately, the Bundy issue has taken on a life of its own with many participants simply refusing to admit the weak foundation of the Bundy case.

For many, the Bundy’s represent a stand against Federal land grabs, Agenda 21, gun control, and political correctness – all issues worthy of a stand. Regrettably, taking a stand on very thin ice is always a bad idea.

While the recent information may be another nail in the coffin of the Bundy story, that will only happen if many of the interests involved in the controversy are not too committed to acknowledge the facts.

************************************************************************************* Brandon Turbeville is a writer out of Florence, South Carolina. He holds a B.A. from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, The Road To Damascus- The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, Codex Alimentarius- The End of Health Freedom, Seven Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions, and Dispatches From A Dissident Vol. 1 and 2. He is a staff writer for Activist Post and has published over 300 hundred articles dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, war, government corruption, and civil liberties. He has been a guest on numerous alternative media broadcasts as well as mainstream outlets. Turbeville is also an occasional contributor to other media outlets such as Natural Blaze, The Anti Media, and Progressive Gazette. His books can be found in the bookstore at BrandonTurbeville.com, www.FalseFlagPublications.blogspot.com, and TheBookPatch.com.

Turbeville is also a the host of Truth on the Tracks, a weekly news round up that serves as a hub for activists, information, and solutions. Truth on the Tracks airs every Monday and Friday night at 9pm EST on UCY.TV/TT.