Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1457328
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 15 but they brand almost every weekend in the spring as they also chip in to help those who live around them. It is an effort that traditionally requires the help of an entire community of individuals working together. Ranchers use hot branding irons to affix their brand and proof of ownership to every head of cattle. Doing this prevents cattle from getting mixed into a neighbor's herd. It also pre- vents theft, which, believe it or not, still happens today. Branding typically occurs in Montana every weekend in April and May…and occasionally June, too. The rare excep- tion (though not entirely) is Mother's Day. Even cowboys have mothers. Early in the morning, just as the spring sun rises in the east, the prairie starts to come to life. Meadowlarks, prairie chickens and other birds provide the soundtrack of the grassy plains, which is only interrupted when the rounding up of cattle be- gins. Roads that seldom see much traffic on other days sudden- ly come to life as dozens of ranchers and helpers pull trailers with their pickup trucks (a.k.a. outfits) down these lonely grav- el roads. Their destination is often the middle of a large wide- open pasture that is largely empty, but for the grass, cattle, and occasionally a rattlesnake or bullsnake or two. The cowboys and cowgirls don't say too much to each oth- er when the day begins. They still need time to warm in the cool morning air. But they will briefly discuss where they need to go to begin herding cattle. And then one by one, they head off into the distance to find every cow and calf hiding in the nooks and crannies of the prairie. At every branding, it is almost as though they perform this task on autopilot, only because these same people have done so on their neighbor's ranch every spring for the last 10, 20, and even 30 or more years. The plan seldom changes. Only the faces look a little older every year. Over the years, branding hasn't changed much. About the only things that have changed are the tools. For example, today ranchers use long steel panels to build makeshift cor-