Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-30
ocile as an old COW when taken for family
How the branding is Done.

docile as an old cow when taken for family
use.
How the branding Is Done.
The great and in fact the prime feature
Of the roundup is the branding. III done
out In the open it is a tedious process.
The creature is lassOed or. more commonly
speaking. "roped." being caught by foot or
mead and thrown, and a second rope is at
/. tached 10 the end that is free the moment
ne touches the ground. A puncher Jumps
on the kicking creatures head while Two
DINERS on their ponies hold the ropes taut
anu lcurth clasps the hed-rot branding
IRON on haunch or ribs. sometimes on both:
the ojOr that il raises is a cross hetween
n tan yard, abattoir and glue factory fra
erahce. The care are usually split clipped
oI puhcned' according TO the style OF the
owners brand. This is for the purpose of
hentlfyirg the stock as the owners ride
rapidly through the herd, the ears being
Always In sight and other brands are not
III the branding Is done IA a pen II IS built
especially for the purpose. nearly cIrculsr
IN form. or thick tmbers and flare. at the
top like an old-fashioned ash ho,.per: the
fnuhnine post Is in the middle. and to this
the cattle are fastened till the branding
l. done. The process is not particularly
painful. but the Older the steer IS the worse
II viii pitch under the soaring AS fast
as me branding is done the animals are
turned loose 10 go where they will on the
rafEc, AID no more attention is paid TO
them til the owner concludes to sell a
bunch or cattle Of a certain age and then
TREY are Rounded up Till sufficient num-
her are secured. After that they feed from
ECrth TO south till the roundup comes
again. and they and their progeny no
through the same old routine OF bcng driven
UP among the plateaus and grasslands OF
the cooler north GOO feet above the level
of the sea
A brand is proof Of property 20 rAc man
who has that brand registered. i-nhrsnded
cattle picked Up in passage through the
I range arc called mavericks and A. came
about in this way: 4 Texas st0c<man Of
That name once turned his cattle loose
upon the plains. unbranded. and meyer
tried 10 claim any OF them afterwari
OF course the range was oyerrun with his
unbranded stock and all careful stock
men brand even the calves, when any OF
these unbranded ones were encountered IL
was said Of them that they were MAYER
lex Thus the name mas been pc-p-t-
uate1 for all that class OF stock There
have been man on the range who got rich
through branding NAV tricks, but they stole
them outright. going out on the range
seeking them out and branding them
wherever found. Then in the grand round
Up they came in and claimed their prop
known. however. for there &c a peculiar
sense of honor among stocknea: they wink
at good many SLY practices. bu; they
usually have an impromptu necktie party
when they find a man who is branding
mavericks which have not been secured 70
him In a perfectly legitimate way.
Big Herds DwindIiaE.
The cattle business is not what Il wss
| once. and the big herds dvindle year by
year. Stockmen are learning that fewer
cattle well cared for are more remunerative
than enormous herds not cared for at all
On the big ranges the cattle are not fed at
all and have no shelter other than they
get from the river and creek banks ON the
range or i'm the gOrges and canons. Con-
segUently during a protracted drOuth the
cattle die by the thousands for lack OF
water and OF starvation: the hot dry winds
Kill the grass. the only sustenance. In
winter the suffering among cattle on the
range Is something dreadful. And I'm the
spring, after Rn unusually severe winter
the range will be covered thick with the
Whitening bones OF cattle killed by the
cold. Men ply a brisk business gathering
and selling these bones for fertilizing pur-
poses, for cattle are valuable. dead or alive
and there Is scarcely an atom of the whole
Carcass that can not be utilized.