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Cattle Brands

Photo by Paine Works

"Literally millions of designs have been originated - some romantic, some dignified, some even comical - to distinguish herds. And there have been the robbers of the ranges, the despicable cattle rustlers, gifted at altering brands and claiming the cattle as their own. Some of the rawest stories to come out of the West deal with the crime of cattle rustling, when men often "Shot out" justice.
There is a true story behind every brand, frequently a tragedy, a comedy, a tender romance, more often a proclamation of hope."
(From Irons in the Fire - Cattle Brand Lore by Oren Arnold)

Frequently when cowboys were driving cattle, they would move cattle from several different ranches at one time. In order for the cowboys to be able to identify which cattle belonged to which owner, the cattle were branded with a distinguishing mark or brand.   A cattle brand  made of metal would be heated in a hot fire and stamped against the side of the steer leaving a design in the steer's hide.  Each brand had to be unique and for a brand to have legal power, the brand design had to be registered or copyrighted with the state government.  In addition to helping solve legal issues of ownership, branding cattle was also a way of deterring cattle rustlers from trying to steal the cattle and illegally sell the animals for a profit.  However, some cattle rustlers became adept at altering an existing brand into a new brand by simply adding a few lines.  For a brief history of cattle branding, please click here.

Below are some "brand rules" that students should keep in mind when designing their brands:

  1. Brands are read left to right, top to bottom, and outside to inside.
  2. Letters and numbers represent letters and numbers (a brand that looks like this 112 would be read one hundred twelve; a brand that looks like this 81A would be read eighty-one A).
  3. Letters are always capital letters.
  4. A letter laid on its side is called a lazy letter. For instance, the letter R laying on its side would be read lazy R.
  5. An upside down letter is read as crazy (upside down A, crazy A).
  6. A backwards letter is read as reverse (reverse C).
  7. Some letters can't be crazy or reverse, because then they would look like another letter, such as M W H I X.
  8. A cursive letter made without lifting up the pencil is read as running (cursive R read as running R. The running W is a brand used by King's Ranch.)
  9. Pictures can be used such as quarter moon, half moon, sun, diamond, triangle, heart (hearts can also be lazy or crazy), and #.  
  10. "-" is read as bar; "_____" is read as rail; "/" is read as slash.
  11. You could have a box with a letter or number in it (read as box 2).

Examples of Brands

Texas Cattle Brands

Swinging, lazy and crazy letters.

Typical Brand Designs

 

Assignment

Students are to design and draw their own cattle brand.  Make sure you follow the rules for branding listed on this page. For example, no lower case letters in your designs.  After you are finished drawing, write a short paragraph explaining the significance of your brand design and how the design should be read. Also explain briefly why using a brand would help you to identify your hypothetical cattle if you were driving your cattle along with the cattle of your classmates.  In another paragraph, explain how cattle brands may be similar to and different from identification tags on pets, hospital bracelets on patients, or license plates on cars. Strive to use correct grammar, spelling and punctuation while you are constructing your paragraphs.  You will have one fifty minute class period to complete the design and drawing of your brand and to complete writing your two brief paragraphs.

 

 

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