A range war is a type of armed conflict that occurs in agrarian or stock-rearing societies. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, which gave the conflict its name. Typically they were disputes over water rights or grazing rights. Range wars occurred in the American West, prior to the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 which regulated grazing allotments on public land. Range wars included the Pleasant Valley War, Colfax County War, Castaic Range War, Mason County War, Barber–Mizell feud, Johnson County War and others.