The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-09-29

steers nlQe. instead, there Will De q
cold iron, dipped into chemical and applied to
the yearling A few days after this application
the chemical, without pain to the animal, will
have eaten away the hair, turned the red skin
TO white and produced permanently the owners
mark. This new method introduced by doctor
in Amarillo, Texas has been tried successfully"
If this method proves successful and is gen.
orally adopted it will not only mark the passing
of instrument which, along with the rifle, the
axe and the prairie pillow were symbols Of vari-
GUS phases in American pioneer life, but IT will
also satisfy the main objections to a custom
which was very necessary to the development Of
the cattle industry TO the proportions which it
attained during the three decades after the Civil
war.
One of those objections economic one
the fact that the deep burn inflicted by the
branding iron damaged the hide of the steer and
decreased the value Of this by-product of the
cattle business This objection was largely done
away with when il was learned that all Eastern
buyers ciassed all Western hides as branded
stuff even If they were not, and made a certain
reduction In their value. So the new branding
method may lead to a revaluatfon Of hides from
Western CATTLE since the chemical will not DAM
age the hide as the red-hot iron did.
The other objection to branding was humani-
tartan one, based the belief that 1t inflicted
unnecessary suffering on dumb animals Consid-
ering that angle, ii might be well to repeat the
words OF Stewart Edward White, uttered in his
book, Arizona Nights" many years ago. He
wrote:
1T seems to me that great deal Of unneces-
sary twaddle is abroad to the extreme cruelty
of branding. Undoubtedly it is to some extent
painful and could some other method of ready
identification be devised, 1t might be well to
adopt it in preference.
But as have intimated even the inevitable
branding and ear-marking not so painful as
one might suppose. The searching hardly pene-
trates below the outer tough skin-only enough
10 kill the roots of the hair-besdes which it
must be remembered that cattle are not so sensi-
tive the higher nervous organisms A calf
usually bellows when the iron bites but soon
as released he almost invariably goes to feeding
to looking idly about"
The custom of branding horses and cattle
dates back at least 400 years, to the first white
occupation Of North America by the Spaniards.
Soon after fernando Cortez conquered Mexico,
he established a ranch on the Isthmus of Tehuan-
tepec and began branding his live stock with a
distinctive mark. 1t is reasonable to suppose
that the Indians who had been forced TO bow to
the will OF the hated white men were not averse
10 stealing an occasional steer or COW for food
or horse for transportation, thus becoming the
first "rustlers" Of the cattle trade in America.
So the Cortez brand animal was Hands
off," warning to hungry redskins. Incidentally
I0e original OOFIeZ DFanO Is Sdl0 10 De sui IN
use in Mexico thus illustrating the truth OF the
saying that ownership of a brand may change,
but the brand itself never.
The necessity for cattle branding in the United
States goes back TO the days of free grass and
open range when the brand was an absolute
necessity in order that owners might identify
their property in the annual round-ups With
the coming OF fenced range this necessity was
largely obviated. but the brand still served to
place guilt upon cattle thieves and made il pos
sible to stamp out cattle rustling. Then followed
period when cattle branding fell somewhat into
disuse. But recent years have seen revival Of
cattle rustling and the motorized cattle thief
who uses truck in which TO carry away three
10 ten prime beef steers. began cutting into the
Western stockman's meager profits. Only short
time ago the board OF brand inspectors of one
Western state declared that a return to the