The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-09-03
b N D
BY ELMO

est single herd of cattle the world has
ever known. 1t was the DOn'S boast
that on 80 days notice he would de-
liver, under his brand, 10000 head of
sucking calves to five-year-olds.
American settlers in what was to be-
come Texas adopted branding, as they
~adopted-and adapted-MeXican range
practices. at the beginning Of the great
western cattle era of the last century.
Where the Mexicans used a meaning
less symbol, the Americans adopted
designs and letters, figures or a symbol
which could be given a verbal nomen-
clature. They also reduced brands to as
small as two by four incheS-never
larger than seven by seven inches-be-
cause large brands reduced, the value
of hides. The Mexican used a large
brand that was meaningless other than
for the distinction of design. Asked to
! dismount and with a stick draw his
design in the dirt. Asked its meaning
or name, he would shrug his shoulders
and reply "Quien Sabe!"
Brands Well Known
i During the American range regime
the brand was the best knoWn-and
just about the most valuable-property
connected with a ranch. The brand was
the ranchman'S signature on the range,
/ sacred to him and his alone. The brand
was his only proof of ownership over
a vast eXpanSe of country, to be re-
spected when it was found on the ex-
terror of a COW critters hide. His brand
was burned o. marked o. cut or every
anima! or piece of movable property
belonging to his outfit-wagons, tarps,
c~orrals, etc. Though an owner might
not be well known personally, his brand
was; and since horses wore the same
brand as cattle, the rider of a horse
was identified with its brand.
Whatever the cowboys of an outfit
might think of their boss, they were
loyal to their brand.I 1t was, so to speak,
their symbol of citizenship and service.
They would fight for ito the death
if necessary. Many a lost grave on the
old ranges and along the old trails
holds the remains Of a cowboy who
died a martyr to his brand, battling
rustlers and brand doctors, trying to
too great exposure protecting the prop
erty bearing the brand which paid his
wages.
Honest brands have always been fixed
dies, bearing the design in forged and
welded metal. In case emergency re-
quired the use of a running iron, its
possession was limited only to trusted
men. And woe to the cowboy caught on
a strange range with a running iron
or a burned cinch ring. For possession
of these implements by strangers juSti-
fled suspicious which usually led to
unpleasant events.
Design of cattle brands is often un-
explainable except by sentiment. There
is the true story of Burk Burnett,
whose brand was $685." Burk was a
cowboy ranging the Texas country
neal the southwestern corner of Okla
homA. He was inclined toward a game
of poker on occasion: One night in a
game he drew a hand with four skies.
When the hands were exposed Burk
He prospered until the oil boom came
to his part of Texas and made him a
multi-millionaire. In contrast to his
poker-hand start, he ~bequeathed 81
OOO,0 O to Texas Christian university
at his death in 1924.
from those shipped from the midwest
and eastern states at market terminals.
After sale, commission firms use brands
to identify western stock for further
handling. Eastern cattle, without
brands, must be identified otherwise,
usually by FASTING q number on each
animal to identify it with a given lot
bought together.
10000 Brands
Montana today has registered close
to 10000 active brands. covering the
stock Of small farmers as we'll as the
herds Of the large and widely known
ranches. Greater or lesser numbers Of
brands are registered in all the plains,
~intermountain and Pacific coast states.
Cattle brands, q factor in the ro-
nance Of the pioneer ranges, are be-
ing capitalized, upon today in a new
time nation, with the old western set
ting as q vacation locale. Fasteners
seek the romantic atmosphere Of the
old west and the vicarious thrill Of q
| ride along the old cattle trails and the