BRANDING AT THE KD RANCH

Archie Dougherty

BRANDING AT THE KD RANCH

BY WYLIE DOUGHERTY

I was blessed by being born and raised on the KD Ranch, 22 miles north of Clovis with headquarters on the Frio Draw, and fields and pastures on both sides of the draw.  We farmed about 1000 acres of farmland and ranched about 5400 acres of pasture land.

Every fall, around September, we would have a branding of all un-branded critters on the ranch.  Why in the fall? The cows were bred to have calves after the winter snows had melted, when calving was less hazardous for the cows and the calves.  This meant that the calves would be from a few weeks to 9 months old, creating quite a variety of sizes.

On branding day neighbors, friends, classmates and family would saddle-up around sunup, to round up all the cows and calves, corral them and separate the calves from their mothers, for branding and other indignities. 

The branding would begin around mid-morning, after separating the calves.  We had a 55 gallon branding barrel, open at the top,  with a window cut into one side to stick the branding irons into the wood fire inside the barrel.

Crews were generally composed of two cowboys/girls who would work together most of the day.  The bigger calves would be roped by a wrangler, sometimes David or Noel, but sometimes by neighbor cowboys.  The calves would be heeled, roped by the back feet, then dragged to one of the teams, who would wrestle the calf down, one member on the front, the other on the back, careful not to get kicked.  It was important to have the left side of the critter up, as the KD brand went on the left hip.

At this point, several things happened as young bulls were turned into steers, by Daddy or another cowboy with a sharp knife.  If the calf had horns or the beginning of horns, they would be de-horned, cauterized if excess bleeding occurred, and vaccinated against several diseases.  

Before the critter was released, dope(smear 62) was applied to the head and between the legs, this was to prevent blow flies from laying eggs on the open wounds, which, when hatched became screw-worms, a scourge to be avoided.  Also the calf would then get branded and in some cases, ear-marked.

The smaller calves would be roped by cowboys on foot and dragged up to the branding barrel. A pair of crew members, sometimes younger kids, would bull-dog, wrestle or somehow get the calf down, with the left side up, and it began with all the steps mentioned above.

Key elements of branding day:

• Round-up of cows, calves, heifers and any other un-branded critters like bulls or yearlings that had missed being branded.  A dozen or more cowboys/ girls would leave the corrals about sunup, gather the cows and calves in both pastures and bring them to be penned at the corrals ;
• Separate the calves from their mommas for branding;
• Make sure the branding barrel is fired with plenty of firewood for fuel, and all the irons needed were in the barrel;
• Have enough vaccine for the number of calves to be worked;
• Have tools ready—vaccination needles, sharp knives, de-horners and de-horn spoons, have adequate “dope” and a bucket and brush;
• Get cowhands to form 2-person crews for holding calves for branding;
• Need a couple of wranglers to rope and drag big calves to the crews;
• Use “squeeze  chute” for cows, bulls and large yearlings;
• When day was done, calves and cows were reunited and miracles above, every cow and calf were rejoined, then turned back out to pasture.

Next day and every day for a few weeks, one or more of us would go out and check the calves for bleeding, screw worms, infections and any other physical problems that could exist.  Only then could we relax and feel that the branding was a success.

Margaret Dougherty

AFTER THE BRANDING.....

"...THE MEMORIES....WILL LIVE IN OUR MINDS FOREVER"

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We generally had lots of volunteers, nieces, nephews and school buddies to help.  Each of the rookies could be sure that they would be kicked, stomped, bucked off and otherwise initiated into the branding crews.

The things that turned bulls into steers were dropped over the side of the branding barrel to be roasted by the wood fire, done when they split.  They were a true delicacy, Rocky Mountain oysters, which were quickly eaten by crew members.

One of Noel’s daughters, Dru, said that she thought that branding day was a national holiday. None of her cousins or siblings went to school on branding day.

At the end of the day, the crews enjoyed a good meal from Mom and our sisters, sometimes with a freezer or two of home-made ice cream, along with some fruit pies.  

We were always sad when our neighbors loaded their horses and went home, but we knew that we would soon be at their ranch to help with their branding.  And that’s the way it was; neighboring was part of life on the Frio Draw.

The official brand was KD for the ranch, branded on the left hip.  Archie Dougherty had two brands, “Rafter D Bar” on the left ribs, Margaret’s brand was “4 Open A” branded on the left shoulder. Daddy also had an unusual brand, “rafter over the hips”, it could be read from either side of the critter.  

SEE THE BRANDS BELOW

Every one of us, brothers and sisters alike, could tell many stories of brandings they were part of.  Watching the next generations become cowhands was good pay for the work we did.  As one of my sisters-in-law stated, “ the memories of the KD Ranch, and the brandings, will live in our minds forever”.

7/14/15

For Mil's

Wylie Dougherty