Out Our Way: By their brand you will know them

Out our way, you get to know what cows belong to what herd by the ear tags and brands. Back in the day, when most cattle grazed on open range branding was especially essential as cattle from a variety of ranches mixed together. Come roundup, the cattle were rounded up and separated according to their brands. The brand told you whose cattle were whose. Now, Big Mike ran his cattle on fenced land he leased, so when Charlie and I checked the herds, when riding fence and at round up, we seldom had to worry about what brand or ear tags the cattle wore, but now and then a stray got in who didn’t bel...