Branding Irons

[Ballistic Therapy]

Just curious if anyone else has collected branding irons over the years.
I have been cleaning out the barn and have a few I have collected over the years.
They all came from working ranches. I worked on several of them years ago.

The two buffalo head irons were my neighbors brand. They are my favorite and mean a lot to me.
His wife gave these to me after his death in 1970. He was 83 years old.
He raised and trained horses. He was the best horseman I have ever met in my life.
The large one was for the flank of the cattle and the small one was for the cheek of the horses.
I remember when branding season came around. His wife was a surgical nurse a the VA Hospital and would bring home medicine to numb the horses cheeks before he branded them. She was a softy when it came to her horses.

Anyway I just thought I would share some pictures of the past.
here are a few. I have more but haven't pulled them from the rafters yet.

 

[Doc]

Is that a Swazi pattern?!

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

The one in the circle was an actual ranch.
It doesn't stand for what you think it does.
The Indians also used that symbol.
The U.S. Army 45 In Infantry Division also used it as their symbol until the 1930's.

 

[Doc]

The one in the circle was an actual ranch.
It doesn't stand for what you think it does.
The Indians also used that symbol.
The U.S. Army 45 In Infantry Division also used it as their symbol until the 1930's.

Oh I’m aware that the Nazi’s took a pre existing powerful symbol and distorted it beyond repair. I think that’s where BLM learned it. Wild.


But I had to ask.

 

[Az desert rat 1]

You have a nice collection there.

 

[Longhair1957]

Until the Nazi’s screwed it up.That symbol has been a symbol of peace for 1000’s of years in many cultures around the world.

 

[Longhair1957]

If you find a “diamond N” with the diamond over the N. I’d sure like to see it. That was grandpas brand, I believe Ggrandpas too.

East side of valley