When I was a kid working on ranches, we had some modern things to work with. I remember gathering cattle and bringing them into wooden corrals and working them there. I also remember dipping vats, leather whips, pickups with racks and open-top stock trailers. I saw the evolution of even more modern equipment such as squeeze chutes, sprayers replacing the old dipping vats, cattleprods replacing the leather whips and the ever-changing techniques of working livestock. I also knew the ways of the19th century because I knew and worked with old cowboys who had actually cowboyed back then.

My Grandfather was born in 1884 and saw changes that the 20th century brought upon the cattle industry. They had to work cattle on open ranges without the convenience of stockpens or fenced-in pastures. Their branding irons were heated on wood-fueled fires and during branding time, the cattle were roped and mugged to the ground to be branded. When the cow work was finished, the cattle were herded to stock yards and sold to buyers who processed them for beef and leather products.

If everyone knew just how much work goes into the production of beef products, even with 21st century technology, they should certainly be very appreciative of cowboys the next time they eat a hamburger or a top sirloin steak, or use fine cowhide leather.