Some brands inspire tales about their origin, such as the Four Sixes Ranch that Samuel Burk Burnett founded in 1871 in Denton County. The story that his brand represented a winning hand in a high-stakes poker game is not true. But that's just a fable the ranch only covered nine. Whatever it may be, the brand becomes the symbol of the ranch, just like a trademark, and a source of pride for those connected to it. Ever-practical, though, ranchers mainly decorate property with their brand to help it from walking off, he adds.
Most ranchers prefer a very simple brand because of blotching.
Anywhere the steel crosses can make a hot spot, and that causes the brand to blotch the skin, making the brand unreadable. Sammy Kindred agrees that the simpler the design, the better. Kindred, a heavy-equipment contractor, has been making branding irons for friends since making one for himself about 30 years ago. The only real difference between today's irons and the ones Egyptians used is that a cutting torch and a grinder take the place of a blacksmith's hammer and anvil. Using pieces of plate steel or pipe, depending on the shape required, Kindred whips out a branding iron in about 45 minutes.