Emphasis Preaching Journal

When it was time for the big roundup, the cowboys would gather all the cattle from the range into a large herd. Singling them out, the cowboys would check each animal to see if it was already branded. Those that were not were tied up, held down and marked with that particular outfit's brand. Those which were branded were passed over by the branding crew because it was clear that the particular animal either belonged to someone else, or had been previously branded. In a majority of cases, the brand insured that the animal would end up in its owner's corral and not someone else's.