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As summer temperatures soar and as the Cash Family Ranch Life Learning Center comes to fruition, we thought we’d recall cooler days and check in with Hank the Cowdog for his commentary on spring works.

This passage is excerpted from John Erickson’s Ranch Life Book 1: Ranching and Livestock. The entire CFRLL is based on Hank’s perspectives of the ranch. The topics and the tone in which he communicates inspired much of how we will tell the story of ranching to our visitors. (edited for length)

As the days warm up, and if we get some rain, grass begins to grow on the hillsides and up on the flat country. The more grass the cattle eat, the less interested they are in sacked feed, and one day you realize that winter is over and it’s time to quit the feed run.

That’s a happy day, because a guy gets tired of making the same feed run, day after day, for five or six months.

Once we quit feeding, it’s time to start thinking about the spring roundup and branding. That’s an exciting time around here, because we get to “neighbor” with the other ranches in our area, which means that the neighbors pitch in and help us with our spring work, and then we help them with theirs.

You might remember that Every Dog Has His Day begins on a spring roundup morning, and you might also remember that I sang a little song about it, called “Saddle Up Overture in CMaybe.” Great song. You need to listen to that one, if you haven’t already.

Here’s what we do on a typical roundup morning. Slim and Loper get up early and eat a big breakfast. By the time the sun has peeked over the horizon, they have saddled their horses. Then the neighbors arrive, hauling their saddled horses in stock trailers. The size of the roundup crew depends on the size of the pastures we have to gather. The bigger the pasture, the more riders you need to cover the country.

Around here, an average-sized pasture would be one “section,” or one square mile (640 acres), although some pastures might contain four or five sections or even more.

Once the crew has arrived, the roundup boss (usually the guy who owns the ranch) will explain the layout of the pasture (its size, shape, and terrain), and he might say something about the disposition of his cattle, particularly if they happen to be a little on the wild side.

The roundup boss doesn’t have to say much, because his neighbors are skilled professionals, experienced at gathering cattle, and they know their business. In fact, if the boss says too much and gives too many instructions, the fellers on the crew might take it as an insult.

Once the boss has explained how and where he wants the cattle gathered, the riders mount their horses and ride off to the “back side” of the pasture. They will spread out and start pushing the herd toward the pens where the branding work will take place.

Once the herd has been gathered in the pen, one or sometimes two of the cowboys ride into the bunch and start catching the calves by the hind legs with their ropes. This is called “heeling,” and it’s one of the skills that ranchers and cowboys are proud of.

They throw their rope in such a way that it catches the calf by the hind legs. Then they turn their horses and drag the calf to the branding fire. There, two cowboys on the ground flip the calf over on his side and hold him down, while others brand and vaccinate the calf, and sometimes attach a device to its ear that will keep flies away.

A “brand” is the ranch’s mark. It says, “This animal belongs to suchandsuch ranch.” If cattle weren’t branded, it would be impossible to distinguish one ranch’s cattle from those of the neighbors.

A ranch’s brand must be registered in the county where it’s used. No two ranches can use the same brand, and it’s against the law to alter a brand. Those who do that are called cow thieves or rustlers, and they end up in jail.

That was our problem in The Case of the Midnight Rustler, remember? Some guy was slipping into one of our pastures at night and stealing calves.

Well, once the calves have been “worked,” we open the gate and let the herd drift out. Then the crew rides to the next pasture and goes through the same process with another bunch of cattle, until all the calves have been worked.

On an average familysized ranch, the roundup work will take one or two days. Then we’ll move to a neighbor’s ranch and do his branding, and on and on until all of the spring work is finished. ★

This article appears in the Spring 2023 issue of the Ranch Record.  Would you like to read more stories about NRHC and ranching life? When you become a member of the Ranching Heritage Association, you’ll receive the award-winning Ranch Record magazine and more while supporting the legacy and preservation of our ranching heritage. Become a member today.