Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 211, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1919 — Romance Weaved In Cattle Brands [ARTICLE]

Romance Weaved In Cattle Brands

CausA of Many Battles Between Rival Ranchers and With Outlaws— MORE THAN 8,000 IN TEXAS •‘Cow** Thieves Use Ingenious Methods to Change Marks on Stolen Anlmale —Many Strange Devices Are Used-. Austin, Tex. —Romance, not unmixed with tragedy, might be written about the cattle brands of Texas and the Southwest. Around them have centered many thrilling deeds. ‘ They have been the means of bringing swift retribution to a host of outlaws; they have served as the basis for transactions involving the sale of many millions of head of cattle. The records of the Texas Cattle Raisers’ association show that there are more than 8,000 registered brands in this state. No two, brands are alike. Usually each brand represents a separate ranch. It is often the case that a 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 Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico in the early part of the sixteenth 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 original 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 detention of the brands by all of the ranchmen. Ingenious methods are sometimes used by cattle thieves to change existing brands upon stolen stocks. Most of the members of the Texas Ranger force are experts in the matter of detecting the disguising 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 honor, for bravery and for noble deeds and accomplishment. Announcement that cattle of a certain brand are offered for sale is often sufficient guarantee 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 “O,” which has but one shape, in any position, and therefore can be used only once. True, there is the “O” flattened at the sides, but it is then called a mashed “O,” 'a link or goose egg. “N” is another letter thatis not susceptible of many positions, for horizontally it is “Z.” “I” is another letter with a limited use. It is seldom seen except in combination with other characters, and is usually called a bar. “C” and “K” are examples of letters that are used in four positions. For example, an ordinary “K” makes one position. Turn it to an angle of 45 degrees and you have the “tumbling K”; on its back, horizontally, the “lazy K,” and reversed, a position. There are lazy and tumbling brands In all letters except “O” and “I.’' But when the cattle business becomes general land instead of 100 ranches there are thousands, new brands must be devised. The seeker for a brand naturally gets an insignia

different from that of other ranchmen else the brand would fail of its purpose. So in the latter days the letters were finally all taken up and the necessity for Individual and unique brands has led to many a strange device. Many Novel Designs. For example, there is the “Spur” ranch, the “Turk Track” ranch, the “Tumbling K” of the “Lazy X.” Every ranch has Its principal brand, and some have many others. Ranch owners, who trade extensively, and are constantly acquiring cattle with different brands, have a number of insignias on record. Often the ranchmen’s sons and daughters have their special brands and the dedication of a new brand is not an tmusual form of celebrating a birth on the range. Among the peculiar brands is a pigpen, which means a square with its sides extending to form, the exterior angles. Crescents are common. Only one ranchman has a hatchet for a brand. A bow and arrow gives a name to one big Texas ranch. L. J. Kimberlln’s ranch had a crutch on the hip and a coffee pot on the side. The coffee pot design is not so intricate as one might imagine, consisting of only eight lines. Wine glasses are not uncommon as a brand and the J. W. Friend Cattle company in Crotchett county had 1 a gourd. A rocking chair Is thAlafand of the H. B. Opp ranch in Sutton and Menard counties. Lee Brothers had for their brand the graceful fleur delis. Anchors are ,common, but only the John W. Franks ranch in the Osage reservation boasts of the Swastika.

A hash knife, a hat, the Masonic square, a key, a turkey track, a bell, crossed walking sticks, an hour glass, a tree, a boot, a slipper, a flag, an apple, a flower, ladders, rakes, spades, a fence, a doll baby, a cotton hook, a fishhook, a bottle, bridle bits, a frying pan, a pitchfork and even a comet may be seen among the long list of brands. A “scuple” Indicates that the ranch owner was a druggist before becoming a cattleman. Hearts, diamonds and clubs are found among the records of

brands, but the spades are those of agricultural designs. The tendency is toward smaller brands. Branding causes £ cattle to lose in weight, and the larger the brand the greater the suffering of the cattle and the greater the loss of weight, so the old-time custom of great brands, covering the whole side of a cow, is passing away. Hides are more valuable today, also, and the big brands injure the; leather. The easiest brands to read are those made with the stamp iron, that is, an iron forged into the figure or character desired. Sometimes the cowboys encounter a maverick far from headquarters, and in the exigency of the occasion an iron rod is heated and a “running” brand is executed.