TXGenWeb Pecos County, Texas - Branding Irons of Pecos County

Circle Bar

The Circle Bar brand was registered first in Pecos County on September 25, 1901, by F. O. Perry. In the late 1880s he started raising and buying horses for the American and British government and with the profits from these transactions was able to come to Pecos County and buy the ranch that is still in the family. This brand was used for horses and cattle and a smaller Circle Bar was used for sheep. Upon retirement of F. O. Perry, his son, Frank A. Perry used the Circle Bar for many years. Before and during the early 1920s there was a severe drought which put an end to the cattle business, and it was many years before the horse trading was discontinued; so the Circle Bar brand was put to rest and the Cross H Cross and P brand came into use on the sheep and goats.

White Baker Company

The White Baker Company was formed by J. T. (John Thomas) Baker and by G. Rollie White in August 1911. The ranch originally consisted of 43,000 acres located about twenty-five miles east of Fort Stockton. J. T. Baker was born in 1868 in Bastrop County, Texas and died in 1952. The partnership at one time averaged about 4,000 head of cattle on the ranch and an additional 60,000 head on other leased and purchased land.

Bar Eleven

Marsh Lea homesteaded in southeast Pecos County in 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Lea and their infant daughter, Doris, lived in a dugout for the required three years. The ranch was stocked in 1916. The Bar Eleven brand was recorded on October 25, 1915 and is still in use today.

Seven Cross

Maude S. and Herman H. Saenger live on a ranch seventeen miles southeast of Fort Stockton. They reside in the area where the Scharbauer Cattle Company had their main headquarters for the Pecos County ranches. Seven Ozona families bought the Scharbauer Ranch in the early 1930s. Maude S. and Herman Saenger requested their Seven Cross brand in 1943. This is now an inactive brand.

Slashed JD

J. Harrison Dyche registered the first JD brand on October 18, 1943. Harrison failed to renew it and J. R. Dorr, Pecos, Texas, registered JD in 1964. On August 31, 1981, JD was modified by Jim Dyche, manager of Dyche Ranch.

H Six

The H6 Brand was first used by the Rachal family in South Texas in the 1800s. It was brought to Pecos County in 1917 by Guy S. Rachal. It was later used for over forty years in partnership with Moise Cerf as H6 Pasture Company in Pecos and Culberson counties. It is presently in use by the Rachal family.

Running N

The Running N Brand was first used in Sutton County by J. M. Puckett (father of Dow and Clayton Puckett). It was later given to Dow on the retirement of J. M. Puckett and he brought it to Pecos County. It was first used as a horse brand. In 1978 a family partnership of Jerry, Gary and Roger Puckett was formed, and Dow gave it to them to use. It has been used in Crockett, Sutton and Pecos Counties of Texas.

Circle Dash

The Circle Dash brand was recorded by Roland A. Warnock in Pecos County on October 6, 1943. It was used on sheep and cattle until his death in 1976. To perpetuate the memory of Roland, the brand is now used by his son, Dr. Frank B. Warnock and grandsons, Kirby and Miles Warnock.

Backward E

The Backward E was started in Uvalde in 1955 by Gates and Teresa Compton. It is used on Brangus cattle and horses.

J-I

John T Harris came to Pecos County in the late 1930s. His brand is registered on the left hip. It is a combination of his initials. He uses it on cattle. His ranch is located ten miles west of Fort Stockton.

Half Circle L

The Ligon family moved to Tom Green County from Hays County in 1886. They ranched in the San Angelo area until the severe winter of 1896 froze most of their cattle. The drought that followed finished their livestock operation in that part of West Texas. They then began freighting supplies from San Angelo to Trans-Pecos stockmen. In 1898 Seddie Ligon and his seven sons purchased a steam well-drilling machine. The first water well they drilled in Pecos County was just east of Five Mile Mesa southeast of Fort Stockton for Jim Harman on the present Winfield-McCombs ranch. The Ligon sons acquired land in Pecos and Reeves counties. Burney Ligon registered the Half Circle L brand on October 5, 1943, for cattle, horses and sheep. The brand is used on the left side on cattle and horses and the paint brand is used on the right side for sheep. The brand is presently used by J. Burney Ligon and son.

Escondido Ranch Brand

In 1927, the brand was bought with sheep purchased from Frank A. Perry, Sr. by Cleo R. McKenzie and Lawrence Thomson, a partnership. It was used until 1934 when Mrs. Macy Lea McKenzie purchased livestock and operated the ranch until July, 1959, when a family corporation was formed, named Escondido Ranch, Inc. At Mary Lea's death in March, 1967, the corporation dissolved and L. B. (Buster) McKenzie took the brand as his own and he is still using it on the Escondido Ranch.

Rocking C

The Rocking C Brand is used by Worth Clayton and Mathew Court Puckett in Pecos and Jeff Davis counties. These young men took the C from both their names.

Winged U

H. W. Chriesman used the Winged U on the left side of the nose for sheep, horses and cattle. The brand registered in Pecos County, Book Three, Page 193 on December 6, 1937. The Chriesman ranch is near the Terrell County line. The brand is still in use.

Lazy S

Pedro Sosa came to the Pecos County area before the county was organized in 1871. According to a birth certificate registered in Fort Davis he had a daughter born in Fort Stockton in 1867. He and his family are listed in Presidio County census of 1870. Fort Stockton, Lylesville, Fort Davis and Presidio del Norte were the towns in the county in 1870. Pedro Sosa came to Fort Stockton to work in the construction of the fort; by trade he was a mason. In his early years he ran a wagon yard and stable on the corner of Callaghan and Nelson streets. Early travelers who came to Fort Stockton stayed at his wagon yard, making his place an early poasada (inn). Some other construction jobs that Pedro Sosa was involved in were the building of the Catholic Church and other buildings in the Fort Stockton area. Pedro Sosa's wagon yard and inn was the center of early social activities held in Fort Stockton and also the beginning of the "Sosa-Frazier" feud in which members of both earlier families were killed, according to Clayton Williams, Pecos County historian. Pedro Sosa registered his brand on August 13, 1875. His brand is number six, according to the first brand book. The Sosa family is known for their association with the O. W. Williams family, Crispin was a guide and surveyor helper to the O. W. Williams, and early surveyor in Pecos County. Macedonio, another son, also worked for the Williams family. Benito Sosa, a grandson, still resides in Fort Stockton. Pedro Sosa has many relatives still living in Fort Stockton; a great-great granddaughter, Sylvia Villalba, re-registered his brand on October 3, 1981

K Brand

The K Brand was first used by J. E. Kay in 1904 in Ozona, Texas. It was next used by W. A. Kay in Ozona from 1915 to 1938. The brand has been used in Crockett and Pecos Counties by the Kays and their descendants. Then it was used in Fort Stockton, Texas by W. A. Kay and Alberta Kay Baze from 1938 to 1953. It was last used by Kay Baze from 1950 to 1953 at Fort Stockton. It has not been used since 1953.

7-B+� and� 74.0 Brands

Colonel Isaac T Hock homesteaded in a dugout in southeast Pecos County on the present Jerry Puckett ranch about thirty miles from Fort Stockton. On July 20, 1886, he recorded the 74.0 Brand for cattle. Later on July 13, 1891, he registered the 7-B+ Brand. Colonel Hock ranched near the H. F. Stephenson family and they took care of him in his last years. He was a very colorful character.

White and Baker Ranch Brand

In 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Farris Baker began ranching on part of the White and Baker ranch. The ranch is in the eastern part of Pecos County near Bakersfield which was named for his father, J. T. Baker. The brand in currently registered to his son, Tom Baker

House Top L

House Top L Brand was started by Bob Lyon, Midland, Texas, in 1978, when Bob bought cattle at the first Clayton Williams, Jr. Sale

S Bar

The S Bar Brand was acquired by purchase by Guy S Combs in 1916 in the Marathon area of Brewster County for his personal herd and was later taken over by his son, David S Combs and has been in continuous use since that time. At this time, Guy S Combs' granddaughter, Susan Combs, is also using the brand on her cattle. This brand is put on the left hip with a slash lower on the leg and an ear mark of Bit 7 to the right.

Rocking P

Pablo Primera came to Pecos County between 1875-1860 when Francis Rooney was opening new farmland around the (Aguja) Needle Point Mountains in the northwest part of Pecos County. He was born in Santa Rosalia (Carmargo), Chihuahua, in 1852. Pablo Primera's first appearance in the records of the history of Pecos County was in the census of 1880 where he listed in a work camp on the Rooney farm. He registered his brank, the rocking P on September 17, 1892. The brand number is 614. Pablo Primera spent most of his life in Pecos County (Fort Stockton), either sharing crops with Francis Rooney, picking cotton, raising horses, mules, jackasses, or carrying the mail between Fort Stockton, "La Posta", "El Venado", and "Haymond" (Marathon). In his younger years Pablo freighted supplies for the Rooney & Butz Store, between Fort Stockton and San Antonio. In 1882, he moved to Blackwell, San Angelo, and Coleman, Texas. He returned to Pecos County in 1884. Pablo Primera was killed in an automobile accident in 1916 in front of Odneil's Saloon on the corner of First and Water Street. Pablo had three sons and a daughter, Margarito (deceased), Serapio (still lives in Fort Stockton), Santos (lives in Monahans), and Agustina (deceased) (As of October 1981)

Upside Down T

The brand was first used on the ranch twenty-six miles from Fort Stockton. The brand was later used in Brewster and Culberson counties. It is now being used thirty-six miles south of Fort Stockton on the Walker Glass Mountain Ranch.

Flying V

The McKenzie family came to Texas from Patton's Ferry, Tennessee in 1839 and settled in Pecos County around the turn of the century. The Flying V Brand, used in conjunction with a bar, was registered to Cleo R. McKenzie in 1901, at the age of six years. Cleo later transferred the Flying V brand to his son, Roy Neal McKenzie, when he was sixteen. It is registered at the present time to Roy Neal McKenzie (As of October 1981)

JR (Connected)

The brand of Fredie Joseph Riley Alexander was first used in 1912 in Schliecher County, Texas, where he and his wife, Olive Ruth Redford Alexander lived in the Rudd community northeast of Eldorado, Texas. They moved to Pecos County on the Morgan Livingston headquarters ranch about thirty miles east of Fort Stockton in 1928. The brand was used by Mr. Alexander until his retirement in 1962 when he sold his livestock to his two sons, Hollys Redford Alexander and Joseph Riley Alexander. Joe Riley retained the brand with a running iron, a straight rod with an open "J" bent at the top of the "J" at a thirty-five to forty degree angle.

Open A

The Alph Harral brand (Open A) orginated about 1919 in Pecos County when alph and Arthur Harral dissolved their partnership. W. Alpheus Harral started using the brand in 1946 when he started his ranching business, also in Pecos County. The Alpheus Harral family continues to use this same brand to the present date (1981)

J Nine Bar

Mrs. Clayton Puckett's father, John Calvin Johnson, and his wife, Eunice Berry Johnson, drove their little bunch of cattle from Buffalo Gap to the Dry Devil's River near Juno. Her sister and her husband settled nearby. They dug the first well in the area and built a small house. The families took turns living in the house, with the other families living in tents. The cowmen had the largest brands possible, so they could determine at a distance to whom the cattle belonged. The herds ran loose and it was difficult to separate the cattle. The John Calvin Johnson brand was J Nine Bar. This brand could be made with a J iron by turning the J upside down and save time. Thelma Johnson Puckett, the daughter, was given a TJ Brand. The J was taken from her father's brand and the T from Thelma. After Thelma Johnson married Clayton Puckett the TJ Brand was used on their cattle.

RL (Connected)

In 1945, Mr. and Mrs. R. L. (Bob) Walker began ranching on part of the White and Baker ranch. Mary Baker Walker is the daughter of J. T. Baker of the White and Baker ranch. The ranch is in Eastern Pecos County near Bakersfield which was named for her father and has been owned by the family since 1911. The brand is registered to their son, J. T. Walker.

Bar L

R. W. E. (Robert) Hirst, Sr and his wife, Penelope, came to West Texas from Yorkshire, England in 1886. Mr Hirst was ranch manager for the McCutcheon Brothers (Jim and Beau) in the Fort Davis and Fort Stockton areas for several years. Mr. Hirst was a cattle inspector for Pecos County and was fascinated with brands. He registered nine brands for himself and his children. In the early 1900s the Hirst family bought the Buck Chadborne ranch west of Fort Stockton on the Pecos road. On February 27, 1903, Mr. Hirst registered -L on the left side for catte. He was killed by lightning in 1911. Mrs Hirst sold the ranch.

EDV Brand

Martin V Adams, better known as Mart Adams, came to Pecos County in 1889 at the age of sixteen; he worked for Presnall-Mussey and went on two cattle drives to Montana. Later, Adams was foreman of the Gibson-Baldridge Ranch. He fed out cattle from his pens in downtown Fort Stockton which covered several blocks. Their home was located west of Main Street in the 200 block. His brand was EDV which was recorded in 1900

Quarter Circle A

The brand of Hollys Redford Alexander was used only in Pecos County. It was first recorded in the early 1940s. In cattle the brand is placed on the left thigh.

Propped H

Hock Stephenson registered in Pecos County the Propped H on the left hip for his daughter, Shirley Ann, soon after she was born. The brand is used on her ranch near Brownwood, Texas

MT Brand

Mrs. Carrie Lea Thomson came to Texas from Missouri in December 1909, after her husband died the preceding February. She and her four young daughters were to spend Christmas with her two brothers, Marsh and Alf Lea, who were already established in Fort Stockton. The two brothers thought it such a good opportunity to take up land for homesteading that they persuaded her to stay. She and her daughters moved to a location twelve miles southwest of Fort Stockton. Her neighbors were people name Durstine, Tanquary, Roberts, Davenport and Mr. Lowe. Mr. Lowe had to give up his land for some reason and return to his old home. Mrs. Thomson was able to acquire his land and she and her family moved to finish living out his land also. Her cattle brand, M Left Hip, T Left Side, was registered in Pecos County in December 1912. She chose the M because all four daughters' first names began with the letter M�