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Branding and Corriente Cattle
The
First Cattle Breed In The New World...
GRAND
CANYON WEST RANCH raised Corriente cattle which were free to
roam over 106,000 acres of mountainous terrain. These
cattle were raised not for beef but to be used for roping in the professional
rodeo circuit. The hardy Corriente can be traced back to the first
cattle brought to the new world by the Spanish as early as 1493.
These cattle were
chosen because they were and are a hardy breed able to withstand the
rigors of ocean crossing and adapting to different climates. In the
early 1800’s Europeans brought over other breeds of beef cattle and
nearly pure descendants of the original Spanish cattle nearly
disappeared. With the increase in popularity of professional rodeo
the Corriente became the cattle of choice for steer roping. The
animal is ideal with big horns, a lean fast body and is challenge to
any cowboy. The Ranch is dedicated to preserving these cattle as a
specific breed.
Grand Canyon West
Ranch Corriente Cattle Drive, circa 2002.
Brief History
on Cattle Branding
Cattle
Brands have been used as marks of identification at some time in all
countries and civilizations. Cattle branding scenes can be seen on
Egyptian Tomb walls dating back as far as 2000 B.C.
Until modern times, to prevent theft, livestock being driven across
country were required to be “road branded.” The brands were painted
on with pine tar or paint in early history. Later on, when the vast
trail herds of cattle were driven north to market, hot iron brands
were used.
There
were two types of branding iron, the “stamp iron” which included the
full brand and the so-called “running iron” which had a hooked tip
that could be used to change or make any brand. This running iron
was a favorite tool of the cattle rustler. Latter being caught by a
vigilante group with a running iron in one’s possession… could mean
certain death by hanging if the law wasn’t around!
Brands
in the Old American West are more than means of identifying cattle
and brands have been called “the heraldry of the range.” Burned into
a cow’s hide, a brand identifies the animal’s owner – a necessary
task in open range where several different “outfits” may run their
cattle together. But the brand does more – it has come to stand for
the outfit itself – the ranch, its owners, its workers, and its
traditions. Brands are used in many places – on vehicles, table
china, pressed into the damp cement of the ranch house porch, and as
sculptural embellishments to gates, and the like.
Brands also provide mental exercise for ranch people, for they have
been turned into a kind of rebus game, and can be “read” by the
adept. Some inventive American cowboys have made of brands a kind of
Victorian parlor game, in which the brand is “read.” Thus a “bar,”
and “J” is the “J Bar” brand. “BQ” becomes the “barbecue” sign, and
so forth. A favorite sport of many cowboys is to argue over the
correct reading of a particular brand. Disagreements sometime arise,
and that’s where the six shooter comes in handy… but that’s a whole
other story, “buckaroo!”
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ANIMALS ON GRAND CANYON WEST RANCH >>
Cattle Branding
at Grand Canyon West Ranch. |
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Branding
and Corriente Cattle
