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Show Romance Weaved In Cattle Brands -ii . . different from that of other ranchmen else the brand would fal! of Its purpose. pur-pose. So In the latter days the letters were finally all taken up and the necessity neces-sity for Individual and unique brands has led to many a strange device. Many Novel Designs. l''or example, there Is the "Spur" ranch, the "Turk Truck" ranch, the "Tumbling K" of the "Lazy X." Every ranch has its principal brand, and some have many others. Uanch owners, own-ers, who trade extensively, and are constantly acquiring cattle with different differ-ent 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 hrnnd Is not an unusual form of celebrating cele-brating a birth on the range. Among the peculiar brands Is a pigpen, pig-pen, which means a square with ita sides extending to form the exterior nngles. Crescents are common. Only one ranchman has a hatchet for a brand. A bow and arrow gives a name to one big Texas ranch, h. J. Klmher-lln's Klmher-lln'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 a gourd. A rocking chair Is the brand of the H. B. Opp ranch In Sutton and Menard counties. Lee Brothers had for their brand the graceful fleur de lis. 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 ere those ot agricultural designs. The tendency Is toward sm.iile brands. Branding causes cntiie to lose in weight, and the larger tbe 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, if passing away. Hides are more valuable valu-able today, also, and tbe big brands injure the leather. The easiest brands to read are those ma'de with the stamp Iron, that is, an iron forged into the figure or character charac-ter desired. Sometimes the cowboys encounter a' maverick far from headquarters, head-quarters, and in the exigency of the occasion an iron rod is heated and a "running" brand is executed. Cause 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. Animals Ani-mals Many Strange Devices De-vices 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 cen-tered 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 transac-tions Involving the sale of many millions mil-lions 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 sep-arate 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 six-teenth 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 orig-inal 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 retention of the brands by all of the ranchmen. Ingenious methods are sometimes used by cattle thieves to change existing exist-ing brands upon stolen stocks. Most of the members of the Texas Ranger force are experts in the matter of detecting de-tecting the disguising or changing of brands. The cattle brands of some ranches ore 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, hon-or, for bravery and for noble deeds and accomplishment. Announcement that cattle of a certain brand are offered of-fered foivsale is often sufficient guarantee guar-antee that no precautions against fraud of any kind are taken. Every Letter Is Used. In the record of brands, every letter of tile 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, posi-tion, 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 that Is not susceptible sus-ceptible of many positions, for horizontally hori-zontally It is "Z." "I" is another letter wdth 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 fourth position. There nre lazy and tumbling brands in all letters except "O" and "I." But when the cattle business becomes be-comes general and instead of 100 ranches there are thousands, new hrands must be devised. The seeker for a brand naturally gets an Insignia |