The History of the Old American West – 4 Books in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Emerson Hough
without further investigation one could predict the method and the system of the trade, and see how efficient though rude must be such methods, how just the results obtained by them under the wild surroundings of an unsettled region. One could predict also something of the character of the cowboy. Of all the methods of the cattle industry and of its dominating intention of justice the cowboy was the active agent. He lived his life in a high and not ignoble atmosphere, and he learned a creed whose first tenet was the rugged spirit of fair play. The natural offspring of such surroundings was a normal and manly nature, too bold for craft, too strong for a thing dishonourable. Popular opinion, formed upon impressions entirely erroneous in the first place, clings to the belief that the chief characteristics of the cowboy were his "toughness" and lawlessness. Those who knew him were aware that his chief trait was his honesty.
But if we set so high a standard for our cow-puncher — one which is certainly not too high — let us not be deluded into the belief that the calling transmuted into metal of equal value all the material that came under it. At the very hour that the American cowboy first rode upon the stage of history there rode behind him a man almost his counterpart in the rugged qualities of the physical man, and like to him in every way except in moral manhood. As the cowboy was the guardian of herds, so was this slinking shadow their menace and their enemy. The advent of the cattle thief was simultaneous with that of the cowboy. We shall need to see how the system of marks and brands was concerned with the operations of this dishonest man.
It is very easy to see how temptation was offered to the cow thief and "brand blotter." Here were all these wild cattle running loose over the country. The imprint of a hot iron on a hide made the creature the property of the brander, provided no one else had branded it before. The time of priority was matter of proof. With the handy "running iron," or straight rod, which was always attached to his saddle when he rode out, could not the cow thief erase a former brand and put over it one of his own? Could he not, for instance, change a U into an O, or a V into a diamond, or a half circle into a circle? Could he not, moreover, kill and skin an animal and sell the beef as his own? Between him and the owner was only this little mark. Between him and changing this mark was nothing but his own moral principles. The range was very wide. Hardly a figure would show on that unwinking horizon all day long. And what was a heifer here or there?
The cow thief was a danger to the interests of all cattle men, and the existence of a common danger suggested the idea of mutual organization against it. The cattle men's associations were a necessity, and so came early into life. To-day every State and Territory where there are considerable cattle interests has such an association, and all these are again united in a national association. These organizations are a power in the land, and have had very much to do with the development and expansion of the cattle trade. They enforce the laws bearing upon this industry, and they have secured the enactment of many salutary measures which stand upon the statute books of a dozen different States. Thus a State may make it compulsory for any butcher to produce upon demand the hide of any animal he has butchered, and this hide must show the brand mark, and he must be able to explain how he came in possession of the animal. Always this little mark of ownership is held the "best possible evidence" that the law demands in any case at bar. Altering brands was early made a very serious offence, and the occupation of a brand blotter was a risky one.
Early in the history of the complexity of range brands it became customary for each ranch to have its branding irons made of a fixed stamp or pattern, the brand being a stencil or stamp rather than a pencil or pen for writing upon the hide. This was at first a matter of convenience, but in time became in some States a matter of law. Texas in the '70's passed an act forbidding the use of the "running iron" in branding. The ranchman who had acquired by purchase several brands beside his own original registered brand, and who was in the habit of writing his brands with the single iron as occasion required, was forced to carry with him to his work a separate iron for each brand. This, of course, was a blow aimed at the brand blotter, whose innocent single iron would tell no tales if he were caught out riding across the range. The law made an object of suspicion the man found with the single running iron. He was obliged to explain, and that sometimes before a very urgent jury. To protect their brands and regulate the handling of the increase, the ranchers of the different portions of the range very early saw the necessity for the organization of their protective associations. The by-laws of one of these great bodies (the Montana Stock Growers' Association) will serve to show the purposes of all. Section 2 of the by-laws reads:
"The object of this association is to advance the interests of the stock growers in Montana and adjoining States and Territories, and for the protection of the same against frauds and swindlers, and to prevent the stealing, taking, and driving away of cattle, horses, mules, and asses from the rightful owners thereof, and to enforce the Stock Laws of the State of Montana."
Reference to the Brand Book of this association shows that the State board of stock commissioners numbers sixteen men; that the State association has, besides its regular officers, an executive committee of forty-two men; that its membership numbers nearly two hundred; that the different brands registered by owners of the association run fairly into the thousands; for hardly any ranch exists which does not own cattle bearing marks and brands very dissimilar in their nature. A range covered by a given rancher's cattle may have upon it a great many cattle strayed in from other ranges, which mingle their brands with those owned by the ranch through purchase. Very curious and interesting indeed are the pages of such a "brand book" of a cattle association. A page taken at random from the book of the Montana association shows thirty-five different brands besides the home brand of the owner and his "vent" or selling brand. Each of these brands is registered, and each must come into account in the cattle trade along with those of the many other cattle men of the State. Is it not easy to see to what extent has run the idea of the old Spaniard who first conceived the notion of writing his totem on the hide of his cows? Moreover — for we are concerned not so much with the cattle trade as with the cowboy who conducts that trade — is it not easy to see what intelligence and skill such a calling demands of any man? The brands of a single ranch would confuse utterly the eye of a tenderfoot; but the foreman Jim, or nearly any man under him, will in his riding over the range unconsciously record upon his mind the brand of almost every animal within his vision, and that at a distance which to the unpractised eye would be impossible. He will note the presence of a strange brand upon some animal, and will note that yet another is carrying no brand at all.
This last animal which Jim finds in the category of those met in his daily review, this Maverick of the range, still remains an interesting element in the cow industry. At an earlier day on all the ranges it was customary for any man who liked to rope and brand such animals found wild and unmarked on the open range. Then it became customary to brand only such as were found on that country so circumscribed as to be called the individual range of such certain owner. For instance, in the waterless Southwest, the cattle were limited in their feeding habits by the necessity of going to water. The water of one ranch held its own cattle pretty well distinguished from those of another. At times the round-up in such a country was a very loose affair, perhaps only one or two owners participating in it. In such a country, if in the spring or summer after the round-up a calf was found carrying no brand, it was branded forthwith by the man finding it on his range. The question of drifts and strays was not then so important as it has since become, and the sharp-eyed cowboy who saw an un-branded animal on the range of his ranch took it for granted without investigation that it was the descendant of one of his employer's cows. This might or might not be just, but it was the nearest approach to justice under the obtaining conditions. As the conditions changed with the advent of additional numbers of cattle owners upon the range, so also the demands of abstract justice changed. Thus it is to-day the custom in a round-up district — say, of the State of Montana — to offer at sale in public auction all the Mavericks that may be found in the round-up. These are bid upon and sold at so much a head before the round-up, no one, of course, knowing how many head there will be. The amount of money thus obtained is distributed pro rata among the cattle owners, the sole idea being, as we have above suggested, the intention to be just to all. This is thought to be fairer than to allow each man to hunt up his own Mavericks. Diligence in the Maverick industry is no longer a desirable trait in the cattle country. On the contrary, it is something regarded with much suspicion and watchfulness, and has led to the stretching of many necks as well as many pocketbooks. The "rustler" may brand