Branding on Saturday

On Saturday we got to help "Pop" and uncle Bryan brand. We branded 193 heifers and steers on Saturday setting a record since nobody knows when in one day. Adding to the challenge on Saturday was the size of the cattle. They were mostly several months old to a couple years old. Big cattle. When they brand they gather help from the "neighborhood" and invite a few cow savy friends. Sheila always cooks breakfast at 6 and we load up lunch, sodas, vaccinations, and propane and drive out to the ranch. There were 8 of us helping including Andrew and Grant. Andrew was poking the cattle in the pens just right to get them to move all day. By the end of the day he would go back with James English, one of the cowboys, and bring another dozen or more forward walking behind them with his stick and protected by James. Everyone has a job and I am usually the pipe guy. Once the cattle come forward they enter a round pen with a gate that swings in the middle on a center pivot. The only way out is an about 24" wide slender chute that is about 25 ft long. The cattle stack up in there 1,2,3 or as many as six at a time. Sounds easy right? No. It is organized chaos the whole day. Cattle have other ideas and find themselves backwards in my line, upside down with legs in the air or any host of combinations. I have these pipes that I can place between the cattle and behind them so that the whole line does not back up back into the round squeeze pen and run Bryan over. Bryan is usually the guy in the squeeze pen pushing and shoving and getting stepped on. Russ, Donnie(Pop) Dusty and Rusty did most of the branding, cutting, tagging, ear cutting, ear tagging and vacinations.


This is a picture of Deanna's family's Chiricahua Cattle Company cowboys in 1911 near where we branded on Saturday.

Russ and Rusty tackle a wild one.

Andrew climbing over to me above the cows




Bryan Riggs over seeing his operation

Bryan is standing where the cattle come through my little operation. That is Grant on the fence.

Here is Big Don (Pop) and Dusty working with a cow in the squeeze chute

Russ, Rusty, Pop and Dusty

A few of the steers had different ideas about getting branded. This one got out of the chute and almost got away but they roped him up quickly and he did not miss the fun.




That night Deanna's Mom's organization, the Willcox Cowbelles had their annual Diner Dance at the Willcox Elk's Club and everyone comes into town. There were 400+ for dinner and the dance with a band from Texas and everything. The dance floor was packed wall to wall even for the waltz songs. If you have never been to an event like that in a small town you have to see it. The old couples can jam on the dance floor all night! I won this cowboy hat in a silent auction. No one else bid on it. Not one piece of the hat touches my head accept for the top. It was way to big. I wore it all night, it was hilarious, or at least I thought so. Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for watching the boys till late.