OklahomaHorses Magazine November 2022

November / December 2022 • OklahomaHorses 27 Names Are Still Known The names of some ranchers in the brand book are still well known today. C. V. Rog- ers (Clement Vann Rogers, 1839–1911, fa- ther of cowboy entertainer and writer Will Rogers), registered two brands, CR and J4. Some of the cattle with CR were branded on the left side and had a cropped and split left ear and undersloped right ear. Those with J4 were just the opposite — branded on the right, with a cropped and split right ear and undersloped left. Rogers branded his horses with CR on the left hip. Rogers’ post office at the time was at Oowala, a small town in Cooweescoowee District of the Cherokee Nation. His live- stock range was 10 miles above the mouth of the Caney River on the west side of the Verdigris River. It is interesting that Rogers did not reg- ister his Dog Iron Ranch brand, named for his home and ranch between Oologah and Claremore and still well known today. Another familiar name is that of W. E. Halsell (1850–1934), whose post office was at Vinita although his livestock range was on Bird Creek eight miles north of Tulsa. His wife had Cherokee ancestry, and he was an adopted Cherokee citizen. He and his heirs established a huge and profitable live- stock operation and were involved in other business endeavors into the late twentieth century. Halsell used a brand resembling a horse- shoe and marked his cattle with a crop and underbit off each ear. The brand book also shows a circular cattle brand and describes a horse brand of a horseshoe on the left shoulder and neck. Unique in the book, the horseshoe brand is shown on a large picture of a rabbit, for reasons unknown. J. H. Bartles (1842–1908), whose post office was at Bartlesville, was the founder of Bartlesville and Dewey. He registered two cattle brands. D. W. Lipe (1840–1916) also listed Oowala as his post office. His brand was DL, and his marks were a crop, underbit, and overbit in the right ear, a swallow fork and underbit in the left, and a notch in the neck. His livestock range was between the Verdigris River and Caney River. The Lipe family has remained active in ranching and has sponsored a rodeo near Claremore for years. Other ranchers included in the book were related to the Rogers family. J. T. McSpadden of Chelsea ran cattle on Cool Creek, and J. C. McSpadden of Vinita had a range on Pryor’s Creek near the crossing of the A. & P. Railroad. Among dozens of male ranchers, one woman is included in the brand book. Eliza Howell, whose post office was at Bluejack- et, used a brand of a circle with a horizontal line across the middle. Her marks were an underslope in the left ear and a crop and split in the right. Her range was on Little Cabin Creek. Although not listed as a rancher, H. C. Hall, one of the first merchants in Tulsa, ran a full-page ad in the book, touting his store as a headquarters for cattlemen and drovers, with ranch and trail supplies a specialty. Technology and Art The Brand Book of the Cherokee Nation- al Stockmen’s Protective and Detective Association is an interesting example of the letterpress printing techniques of the era. Illustrations were engraved on zinc sheets nailed to small blocks of wood (or possibly, illustrations were engraved on solid blocks of lead) and were then locked into a chase (frame) and inked for printing. The silhou- ette pictures of cattle (and a few horses), tiny but detailed enough to show clearly the marks described on the ears, might even be considered a kind of folk art. Cattle are still lost and stolen today, but think about how many more resourc- es are available to help find them. And sympathize with the efforts of those early stockmen to keep track of their cattle, which inadvertently have left an interesting visual record and have preserved the names and locations of many Indian Territory ranchers. NOTE: Thank you to Melissa Kunz, Renee Harvey, and Abigail Dairaghi of the Uni- versity of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Depart- ment of Special Collections and University Archives, for assistance and for permission to use material from the Cherokee brand book and to Luke Williams of Tulsa Histor- ical Society for additional information. Lindsay Bippus Real Estate Broker / Owner 12342 E. 86th St. N. Owasso 74055 (918) 706-3857 dreammakerrealtyok.com RESIDENCE $185,000 • 20 acres • 50x60 barn 780452 S. 3530, Cushing, OK 74023 2 bd • 2 ba • MLS #2221756 RESIDENCE $435,000 • 40 acres Large barn with stalls, loafing sheds, paddocks 2478 Us Hwy 75, Wetumka, OK 74883 3 bd • 2 ba • MLS #2218801