Four prominent ranchmen were to supply the beeves to the number of
three thousand. Nearly every hoof was in the straight ranch brand of
the sellers, only some two hundred being mixed brands and requiring
the usual road-branding. In spite of every effort to hold the herd
down to the contracted number, we received one hundred and fifty
extra; but then they were cattle that no justifiable excuse could be
offered in refusing. The last beeves were received on the 22d of the
month, and after cutting separate all cattle of outside brands, they
were sent to the chute to receive the road-mark. Major Mabry was
present, and a controversy arose between the sellers and himself over
our refusal to road-brand, or at least vent the ranch brands, on the
great bulk of the herd. Too many brands on an animal was an objection
to the shippers and feeders of the North, and we were anxious to cater
to their wishes as far as possible. The sellers protested against the
cattle leaving their range without some mark to indicate their change
of ownership. The country was all open; in case of a stampede and loss
of cattle within a few hundred miles they were certain to drift back
to their home range, with nothing to distinguish them from their
brothers of the same age. Flesh marks are not a good title by which
to identify one's property, where those possessions consist of range
cattle, and the law recognized the holding brand as the hall-mark of
ownership.
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