THE HISTORY OF CATTLE BRANDS

Branding proves ownership when the design and its placement are registered with the county.
Branding -- burning a design into an animal's hide to permanently identify its owner -- has been practiced since ancient times. The Spanish brought cattle to the New World long before they began to fence its wilderness, so branding has been part of Texas' history since the time it was part of Mexico. In Texas, brands are registered with the county clerk in each county where the owner's livestock graze. Currently, brand registration expires after 10 years.


Earliest Brands


In 1537, the king of Spain established a stockmen's organization in New Spain and required every cattle owner to have a unique brand to identify his cattle. Brands were registered in Mexico City until 1778, when the brand book relocated to San Antonio. In the mid-1700s, as cattle raising spread through Texas, the Spanish ruler ordered all cattle to actually be branded. These early brands, with rare exception, contained no letters or numbers and were pictographic in nature. The designs soon became ornate; as each Spanish colonist's son acquired his own cattle, he would add a curlicue or pendant to his father's design.


Anglo-American Brands


When Anglo-Americans arrived in Texas, they designed cattle brands that were easy to read from horseback. The earliest of these "Texian" brands usually sported initials identifying the livestock's owner or his ranch. These brands were created with "dotting" irons, a set of standard shapes used together to form letters and other shapes. Richard H. Chisholm registered the first brand in Texas, in 1832, in Gonzales County. Following independence from Mexico, the Republic of Texas encouraged ranchers to register their cattle brands but did not require it until 1848, after joining the United States. In that year, Texas passed a law that cattle theft could be prosecuted only if stolen cattle bore a registered brand.


Mavericks and Updating Brands

When beef markets collapsed during the Civil War, many Texas ranchers neglected their herds. Samuel A. Maverick, an influential Texan with vast tracts of land, did not even bother branding his cattle. At roundups, any unbranded calves were designated "Maverick's." After the war, the Union's appetite for beef made cattle drives profitable. Herds formed with cattle from several owners encouraged the use of "stamping" irons that produce the entire brand with one application. In 1943, to reduce the number of registered brands no longer in use, the legislature required reregistration of every brand, including the famous Running W of the King Ranch, which has been registered and in use since 1869.


Modern Methods


In 1966, at Washington State University, Dr. R. Keith Farrell developed freeze branding, which reduces hide damage and remains visible year-round. Branding irons chilled in a mix of dry ice and alcohol destroy the hide's pigment-producing cells, so the animal's hair grows back white. Electric branding irons apply a uniform heat and avoid the risk of fire in drought-prone Texas. Tattooing and electronic chips under the skin constitute legal proof of ownership in Texas but are not readily visible, so branding remains the dominant means of identifying cattle ownership.

In: http://www.ehow.com/ adapted and edited to be posted by Leopoldo Costa