1. Cattle Branding
Experts say that branding is not actually painful to the cow. Most of the noises you hear the cow make is from fear of being caught and tied, not from being branded!

2. Warm-up: Tuesday
The use of brands as a mark of identification dates back some 4,000 years. Inscriptions on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs indicate that cattle were branded as early as 2000 B.C.  The American custom of cattle branding was adopted from Mexico. The large Mexican cattle ranches marked their herds with their family coat-of-arms and, as the cattle industry moved northward into Texas, this method of indicating ownership gradually became accepted by American ranchers.
Today there are hundreds of thousands of cattle brands registered in the United States. When a rancher decides upon the type of brand he wants to use, the legal procedure is to register his mark. State laws designate a brand inspector or similar official who is responsible for assigning and recording brands. In some states registration must be made with the county clerk in each county or counties where the rancher expects to operate. This makes it possible for men in different parts of the country to use the same brand, although the reading of the brand may differ from one locality to another.
Why do you think ranchers use branding?
Why is it necessary for ranchers to register their brands?

3. Warm-up: Tuesday answers
Ranchers use branding to show ownership of their cattle.
Ranchers must register their brands so that no one in the neighboring area can copy their brand. This also allows others to know who owns the cattle if there is a wandering herd.

4. What do you think about this legend?
Four Sixes Ranch
Legend tells us that Samuel Burk Burnett was playing a poker game. He bet all of his money, and when he was dealt his last hand, the cards he had were…
FOUR SIXES!!!
What do you think about this legend?

5. What does that running W represent?
King Ranch
What does that running W represent?
The many diamondback rattlesnakes found on the ranch
The horns of the longhorn
Unity of past with present and ongoing movement toward the future
What do you think???

6. Where do you think their brand came from?
Oldest ranch in the Texas panhandle
Funded by John Adair
Managed by Charles Goodnight
Where do you think their brand came from?