Wyoming Brand Research: What is a Brand?

An iconic feature of the American West is the livestock brand.  By placing a distinctive mark on horses or cattle, an owner lays claim to those animals.  

• Brands can be letters, numbers, geometric forms, and figures or a combination of two or three characters.

Why would you need to read a brand?

• Knowing how to read a brand will help you find them in the brand book or index.
• Brands are arranged alphabetically by the first character, followed by the second character.
• In Wyoming brand books, letters A-Z are first, followed by number 0-9, then symbols.

What are the building blocks of a brand?

• Brands are made up of components, usually letters and numbers and additional characters, like circles, arcs, dashes, slashes, and angles.
• The components can be arranged in any manner, including upside down, leaning, or backwards.
• The components may also be simple drawings to represent a symbol like a cross, anchor, or anvil.

What are the rules of a brand?

• Brands have a structure just like a word or a sentence.
• The characters are generally read in a certain order: Left to right, top to bottom, or outside to inside.

Examples:

• 2- is Two Bar
• UX is U cross

These notes on how to read a brand come from the Wyoming Brand Book, 1916 issued by the State Board of Live Stock Commissioners of Wyoming.

Sub Neg 19063, Branding Time at CM McNeese Ranch

Wyoming State Archives
2301 Central Ave
Cheyenne, WY 82002

Hours:
Mon. to Fri.: 8:30am to 4:30pm

Sat. and Sun.: Closed

Phone: 307-777-7826

Fax: 307-777-7044

Email: wyarchive@wyo.gov

If you are looking for ABANDONED BRANDS, CURRENT BRANDS, OR TO TRANSFER A BRAND OR TO FILE FOR OR RENEW A BRAND

please contact the Wyoming Livestock Board at 307-777-7515