Brands I have known

Dad had two brands; one for Montana and one for Wyoming. The reverse C was selected because the normal C was not available in either state. C was for Chapman. K was for Kinsfather. Years later it became Chapman minus Kinsfather. :-) The Pitchfork brands were from the first dude ranch Dad and Mom had in Meeteetesee Wyoming, about 75 miles south and west of Cody.

The bar was simply added to denote dude ranch animals.

The 4K brand was the brand of the second dude ranch that Dad and Mom operated, just south of Dean, Montana. Note that the name of the ranch was also the brand. A western tradition, I would suppose. Members of my family were also ranchers, i.e. raised cattle. Uncle Martin's brand to me was always the most descriptive to my way of thinking, i.e. Martin Linse. Tim Mullowney was my Uncle Martin's next door neighbor. The Mullowney family was always considered family by us. The Linse family and Mullowney family shared such chores as branding, grain harvest, beet harvest, butchering, etc.

Mike, Tim's son, of course is like a brother to us all. His brand, too, is very descriptive, i.e. MM for Mike Mullowney. However, I don't believe he still holds the brand. He does, however, still hold his dad's brand.


I have no idea where the brand of my Uncle Walt came from, i.e. what's with the P for Kinsfather? I'm sure there is some significance that I'm not aware of. Maybe maiden name from Wisconsin. Sure wish I knew, though because it is a very old brand. I remember the brand being displayed on the side of Uncle Walt's barn.

My best friend Sonny Kinsfather (Uncle Walt's oldest son) who died of lung cancer at a very young age, had the L slash 6 brand. Where in the heck that brand came from I guess I'll never know. ;-( We all knew that some day Sonny would be governor of the state of Montana. He loved the political scene and was very active in Montana politics. President Reagan sent him a get well letter while Sonny was in the hospital. He died at age 41. What a loss. I miss him to this day.

Barry Kinsfather, Sonny's younger brother, has the inverted triangle K brand. This seems to make more sense to me than his dad's brand. At least it has the K for Kinsfather. Barry still farms the home place, i.e. the place my mother always thought of as being "home". During one of my last conversations with my mom, she said that she had talked with her dad, John, about coming home. Home was the "Evergreen Farm". She is home now.

I'll leave it to the reader to figure out Dad's neighbor's brand. If you can't figure it out, leave me a comment!

I suppose brands have little meaning to non-westerns. But to those of us who were raised on ranches, brands represent a way of life, family, friends, and recollections of times gone by. I see these brands and I think of "place"; an important concept to those of us raised in Montana.

A thank you to Mike for helping me remember some of these brands.

Gordon et al