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Ranchers drive cattle along I-84 Sunday

Posted at 5:40 PM, Jun 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-22 19:40:47-04

MORGAN COUNTY, Utah -- Here’s some proof Utah is still part of the Wild West: A herd of cows caused some delay on I-84 Sunday.

A group of ranchers drove the cattle up the highway from Stoddard to Croydon to get the cows to their summer pasture.

“Years ago this wasn't such a big thing, everybody did it,” said rancher Tracy C. Woosley. “But now days very few people do it anymore. It's more of a challenge. There's more automobiles. There's more people. People have become less patient.”

The Pentz family drove cattle up Weber Canyon back when the highway was only a dirt road. The ranchers have an old stock trailing right going back four generations, which allows them to use the highway to move cattle.

“Their family was here before the freeway, so they are grandfathered in,” family member Bell Navarro said. “So they have the rights to move their cattle up the freeway at any time.”

The ranchers try to limit the amount of time they spend on the highway, by moving the cows early Sunday morning and taking frontage roads wherever they can.