The Newark journal., 1919-08-28
Cause of Many Battles Between
Rival Ranchers and
With Outlaws.
MORE THAN 5000 IN TEXAS
"coWs Thieves Use Ingenious Met beds
to Change Marks on Stolen , M
mals-ManY Strange De.
vices Are Used.

Austin, Tex<-Romance. lot Umnixed
with tragedy, might he written about
the cattle brands of Texas and the
Southwest. Aredad them have cen
tered many thrilling deeds. They
have been the means Of bringing swift
retributieH to n nest of outlaws; they
have served as the basis for transac-
tons Involving the sale of many nil
lions of head tf cattle.
The records of the Texas Cattle
Baisers' association show that there
are more than 5000 registered brands
in this StHte. No two brands are alike.
Usually each brand represents a sep
arate ranch. II is often the case that
a raneh is much better known by the
brand of its cattle than by the name
of the owner. Owners may change,
bat the brand never
When fernando Cortez conquered
Mexico in the early part of the six
Seenth century he established ranch
upon the isthmus of Tehauntepee The
cattle bore his brand. Although that
was nearly 400 years ago the cattle
upon that ranch today bear the orig
hnal 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 obyiated. 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 ranehmen.
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-
teeting 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
heraldry of knighthood stood for hon
or, for bravery and for noble deeds
and accomplishment. Announcement
that cattle of n certain brand are of
fered for sale is often sufficient guar
nntee that no precautions against
fraud of any kind nrc taken
Every Letter Is Used.
In the record of brands. every letter
of the alphabet is represented. and
most letters are found in three er
four positions. An exception Is go, :"
which has but one shape, III any posi-
ton, and therefore can be used only
once. True. there is the o. ilattenea
at the sides. but it is then called n
mashed 90" link or goose egg.
IN" is another letter that is not sus-
. ceptible of many positions. for hori-
zontally 1t is 81" az is another letter
with limited use. 1t is seldom seen
except In combination with other
characters. and is usually called bar
&C. and TX are examples of letters
that are used in four positions. For
example. an ordinary TX" makes one
position. Turn it to an angle Of 10
degrees and You have the "tumbling
X; on its back, horizontally. the lazy
X" and reversed. a fourth position.
There are lazy and tumbling brands
in all letters except co. and Il"
But when the cattle business he
comes general and instead of 100
ranches there are thousands, new
brands must be devised The seeker
for brand naturally gets an insignia