Bud- 1942 -
49 years.
Jonita- What kind of animals do you
run?
Bud- Cows,
primarily Hereford.
Jonita- How did you come to have the
ranch?
Bud- My Grandad bought
it frcm a Simon Off and then he transfered it to my
dad and then on to me.
Jonita- OK, how many brands do you
have on this ranch?
Bud- Cross Box, R
Cross, Fear Box, Bar DO, Jug... 5 kids, one of them got 2
brands ...6 brands.
There is more than that, Bud... Fear Box...Box Fear, Keystone, Slash
Keystone, R Cross, Bar DO, Jug, Sheep..... that's it, ...7 brands.
Jonita - From what stream do you irrigate?
Bud- New Fork.
Jcnita- Who are your neighbors and what are their brands?
Bud- Floyd Bridge,
LAR, Stan Murdock, 2 Bar A, Steve Kanskis' 2N Bar
and Diamond Bar. That's all the immediate neighbors I know.
Jonita- Now, what is the main ranch
brand? And where is it located on the
animal and what it is?
Bud- Slash Keystone K - left ribs.
Jonita- What is the earmark?
Bud- Under bit, right
ear, wattle left neck.
Jonita- How long have you had this brand?
Bud- Since 1935.
Jonita- Where did you get the brand and any history on it?
Bud- It was the original, I drew it up.
My dad helped me; I was only 4 years old.
Jonita- Oh, ok, that's kind of neat. Where did you get your
branding irons?
Budd- Oh....
? - You should tell them about
how you sold that steer and cow to get it.
Bud- I guess we made the branding irons.
Jonita- OK, so what did you do to get your brand?
Bud- The first two cows I sold were 2 bum
calves. I sold them in Omaha for $111.01
and I bought 4 heifer calves, a brand and a saddle for that $111. (laughs)
In 1935-36.
Jonita- Hmmml Has this brand been a good brand and why?
Bud-- Yes, you can see it and it's easy to
draw. It's made with bars
.
Jonita- Do you plan to keep the brand in the family?
Bud- Yes
Jonita- Now, do you want to tell about the other brands and
where they came from?
Who they belong to, I guess.
Bud- Well, Cross Box is my dad's brand
which we're still using--Carl is using it.
He originally drew it up--when I don't know, whether it was 1915 or 1925,
he
got it recorded. And then the UP used it a lot. The 11 Cross--My
dad bought
a permit and a bunch of cattle from Bert Clark and got it.
Jonita- Who has it now?
Bud- Nels has it, and then the old OX Fear
and Spear Box I bought from Wendy
Olson when I bought his cattle and permit up Green River and uh, transfer
goes
to Nels and Carl. And Jug and Bar DO I brought from Dick Liman and
we
transfered those to Julie and Carol.
Jonita- And who has what?
Bud- Julie has Bar DO--Carol has Jug.
Jonita- OK, Bar DO, that was the old Luman brand, right?
Bud- and the Jug was, too.
Jonita- and the Jug, both of them.
Bud - um. hm ... Then what we call the Sheep,
on the left hip, Dad bought that brand
at Thermopolis; then we transfered to Scott in 1975.
Jonita- When do you usually brand?
Bud- In later April or May.
Jonita- Who helps you brand?
Bud- We do it as a family and with sometimes a little hired help.
Jonita- Describe a typical branding day. What the family members do?
Bud- Uh, at the present time?
Jonita- Yes, and get to the latest. (laughs)
Bud- Julia usually runs irons, Nels
runs the knife..or ropes, Carol and Scott usually
wrestle although they change off with Nels to run the knife or whatever,
to..or
rope, if they can get Dad to quit roping. Dad likes to do the ropin.
Miry- Carol used to vaccinate all the time didn't
she?
Bud- Who?
Mary- Carol.
Bud- She was as good branding with
the irons, too, as Julia was..Yeah, those two
girls could really.....
Jonita- What do you get to do, Mary Caroline?
Mary- Cook! I get to cook.
Jonita- Describe your branding work. So you rope your calves and drag them in.....
Bud- Yeah, we bunch our cattle in the open
usually and hold them on horseback and
then drag em in branding the calves the same as their mothers and turn
them
back with their mothers when they're done.
Jonita- OK, has your branding procedure changed over the years?
Bud- Not too much, no.
Jonita- Ok, do you want to tell about how Rex used to do it
out there? On the desert
and mountains?
Bud- Yeah, he'd hire a crew of about
12 kids and about 4 of us would hold up and the
others would .... a couple of sets of wrestlers and he'd usually drag em
in and
somebody'd cut them and run the knife and somebody'd brand them and more
or
less the same manner we do it now.
Jonita- Do you remember any of how he called the brands off?
Like Dad said he'd
called the Tiger Tracks and of course you wouldn't remember the Henneks,
but
the Short Line and Red Willies was for Loos. Do you remember any
of those?
Bud- I can't remember any of the nicknames.
No, He pretty much called them
straight when I was there. He sure used to ..be particular about
the ear marks.
They had to be exactly right .... cause I done that for a number of years
... and I
uh, I made one mistake..and that was all. I never done it again.
(laughs)
Mary- Julia said she learned how to brand through Rex and that
he'd do it right the
first time.
Jonita- Do you have any good stories about branding?
Bud- Just a lot of hard work, lot of fun,
if we got tired enough, we didn't get into
mischief in the afternoon; otherwise we'd find something to do to antagonize
somebody.
Jonita- Ok.
Bud- Get each other bucked off, or whatever, you know.