Records: Bundy ancestors were farmers, not full-time ranchers
Posted: Friday, April 25, 2014 12:20 PM EDT
Updated: Friday, April 25, 2014 10:52 PM EDT
By Steve Kanighe
... Claims of ancestral rights to graze in Gold Butte also would not have existed until 1936, at least under federal law. That is when the federal government began regulating grazing on federally-owned land in Southern Nevada under the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. A 1998 federal court ruling established that Bundy’s father, David Ammon Bundy, didn’t begin using Bureau of Land Management acreage for grazing until at least 1954.
Prior to the Bundy ranch purchase in 1948, all the farming by his ancestors in Bunkerville and later in Mesquite came from his mother’s side of the family.
Bundy’s maternal great-grandfather, William Elias Abbott, grew up in Bunkerville and later became one of the founding pioneers of Mesquite. A bronze statue of Abbott erected in Mesquite says in its biographical inscription that in his youth “he raised melons, picked cotton, cared for animals, and made molasses. Later, he delivered mail pony express style, peddled produce to mining camps, hauled salt from St. Thomas to Silver Reef mine, and herded three thousand steer from Arizona to Utah.”
That last passage is noteworthy, both because it is the only mention of cattle and also because it doesn’t acknowledge any connection he may have had to ranching in the Bunkerville area. Instead, the inscription mentions his role as Mormon bishop of Mesquite from 1901 to 1927 and his extensive career of public service. Abbott also was said to have operated a hotel with wife Mary Jane Leavitt ...
http://www.8newsnow.com/story/25341271/historical-accounts-bundy-ancestors-were-farmers-but-not-full-time-ranchers
When reading the article, you may find it helpful to view the Bundy family tree (PDF)
= new reply since forum marked as read
I have both Abbotts and Leavitts a couple branches down my own family tree. 
Cattlemen never get along with sodbusters!
