Just a few months after moving to Meeker, Tracy and I were at a barbecue downtown, sitting under a tent. A native recognized us as newbies and started a conversation. Tracy was describing the colorful garden she had left in Westminster. Our host told us not to plant annuals in Meeker until after the “last snow has left the top of EL-0H-SEVEN.” Our native must have been amused by our blank looks. She pointed south, to an imposing hill named LO7. I learned later the area had adopted its name from a large ranch and its brand, LO7.
I grew up in Lafayette, on the plains. I was a city boy with friends who were coal miners, farmers and commuters. We had no sprawling cattle ranches, just wheat fields. So, what I am writing about, brands, is all knowledge gained here in Meeker. If you are from a ranch family, you can stop reading now. This is a primer for us city folk.
In later weeks, I will be spotlighting some old RBC brands and their history. This week, I am just getting the city folk, like me, up to speed, so they can understand the importance of cattle brands in Northwest Colorado in 1876 up to today. I will go into sheep brands too.
In the American West, brands were an economic necessity. Cattle came to Colorado to graze free on our tall grass in vast unfenced areas. No fences also meant that your bunch of cows mixed freely with everybody else’s cows. Brands were the only feasible way to separate your wealth from somebody else’s pocketbook.
Brands started out as simple designs and became more complex as more ranchers registered their brand. Some of the brands got so complicated and large that I suspect sometimes the branding turned into an unintentional barbecue. Cattle rustlers took advantage of simple brands by altering them with another iron.
Your free-range cows, if they got lucky, begat little cows. It was important that the calves were branded with your brand as soon as possible. Branding new calves became what NYSE stockbrokers now call wealth growth management.
In the West, brands became your identity. Brands are the Western version of the European Coat of Arms. There are gravestones in Highland Cemetery with carved brands.
Early cowboys were independent contractors who often changed who they worked for. Ranches also changed hands, but often the brands were transferred as part of the deal. A cowboy would refer to the ranch by its brand, not the owner. If you were working for a ranch, you were part of “the XYZ outfit.”
The outfit provided you with several working horses (also branded). The early cowboy owned a horse or two of his own, a bedroll, a saddle, saddle bags, a firearm, a duster (long coat), a canteen, and his hat. Notice the lack of a tent. Cowboys on a three-month cattle drive from Texas to Dodge City got to “sleep under the stars.” He also got to sleep on the muddy ground in a downpour. Ahhh… the good old days. We will cover some more of this fun stuff in weeks to come, stay tuned.
Sources: Colorado Brand Commission; Paul Knowles Museum of Northwest Colorado. The Boys at the Geezer Gather in Meeker; Ed Coryell and many others who have educated me. If you have an old RBC brand you would like highlighted, and a story to go with it, let us know.
By ED PECK – Special to the Herald times
