Branding History & Movie

Click on the questions about branding below to see the students' answers.

Branding--Past & Present

2001-2002, 4th grade

Click here to see a QuickTime movie of the Williams family branding new calves the Spring of 2002

A brief history--from "Ranching in the Okanogan" Okanogan County Historical Society
"In the spring of 1863, a herd of cattle moved up the west side of the Okanogan River. There were about a thousand head of scrubby, long-horned Spanish stock... Driven by lean, sunblackened cowboys, the cattle had struggled across the Columbia River near present-day Bridgeport. It took them 10 days to pass through Okanogan County. The herd forded the Okanogan River just south of its confluence with the Similkameen and was hurried past the swamps bordering Lake Osoyoos." Ben Snipes planned to sell to the mining camps in Canada, and "These great cattle drives up the Cariboo Trail, by Snipes and others, marked the beginning of the history of the livestock industry in Okanogan County."--Bruce A. Wilson
--from Okanogan County Cattlemens Association: "Most of Okanogan County is 'Cow Country' and cattle have the right-of-way, even on State Highways. Please drive carefully and enjoy your stay with us."

1. Who were the first cowboys in North America?

2. Why did people use brands?

3. What was the first brand in North America and in Washington State?

4. What is the old process of branding?

5. How do the electric and freeze brands work?

6. What is a running iron and why is it used?

7. What are "slick-eared" cattle?

8. Describe the process for using the cattle chute.

9. What are earmarks and why do they use them?

10. How do you register a brand?

11. How do you read a brand?

12. What does a brand inspector do?