Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1919-08-27
Cause of Many Battles Between
Rival Ranchers and
With Outlaws.
MORE THAN 5000 IN TEXAS
Sow" Thieves Use Ingenious Methods
to Change Marks on Stolen AMI
mais-Many Strange De-
vices Are Used.

Austin, Tex.-Romance, not unmixed
with tragedy, migh+ be written about
the cattle brands Of Texas and the
Southwest. -lrouni them have cen
tered many thrilling deeds. They
have been the In5ii1s of bringing swift
retribution to a host of outlaws; they
have served as the basis for transac-
tions involving the sale of many mill
lions of head of cattle.
The records of the Texas Cattle
Raisers' association show that there
are more than 5000 registered brands
in this state. No two brands are alike
Usually each brand represents a sep
arate ranch. 1t is often the case that
ranch is much better known by the
brand of its cattle than by the name
of the owner. Owners may change,
but the brand never.
When fernando Cortez conquered
Mexico in the early part of the six
teenth century he established a ranch
upon the isthmus of Tehauntepec. The
cattle bore his brand. Although that
was nearly 400 years ago the cattle
upon that ranch today bear the orig
inal Cortez brand.
Origin Lost in History.
The origin of the cattle brand dates
back to the dim dawn of history In
the days of free grass and open range
the brand was an absolute necessity in
order that the owners might identify
their cattle in the annual rOund-ups.
With the coming of wire fences this
necessity was largely obviated. but the
brand served still to place guilt upon
cattle thieves. This purpose is still
served and this fact accounts largely
for the retention of the brands by all
of the ranchmen.
Ingenious methods are sometimes
used by cattle thieves to change exist
Ing brands upon stolen stocks. Most
of the members of the Texas Ranger
force are experts in the matter of de-
tecting the Disgusting or changing of
brands.
The cattle brands of some ranches
are an intangible asset of great value.
These brands have come to stand for
honesty in breeding, honesty in weight
and honesty in dealing, just as the
Nheraldry of knighthood stood for hon
or. for bravery ana for noble deeds
and accomplishment. Announcement
that cattle of a certain brand are Of
fered for sale is often sufficient guar
antee that no precautions against
fraud of any kind are taken.
Every Letter Is Used.
In the record of brands, every letter
of the alphabet is represented, and
most letters are found in three or
four positions. An exception is 90"
which has but one shape, in any posi-
ton, and therefore can be used only
once. True, there is the 90" fiattened
at the sides, but it is then called
mashed So" a link or goose egg.
en- is another letter that is not sus-
ceptible of many positions, for hori-
gontally it is ~" ~ is another letter
with limited use 1t is seldom seen
except in combination with other
characters, and is usually called a bar.
&C. and *" are examples of letters
that are used in four. positions. For
example, an ordinary tx" makes one
position. Turn it to an angle of 45
degrees and you have the "tumbling
X; on its back, horizontally, the '1azy
K" and reversed, a fourth position.
There are lazy and tumbling brands
III all letters except 20" and 81"
But when the cattle business be
comes general and instead of 100
ranches there are thousands, new
brands must be devised. The seeker
for a brand naturally gets an insignia