Arm Brand

In the spring of 1978, we were branding. We had a branding corral next to the corral by the barn in the yard by the house. The branding corral had a smaller pen that let to the alley and a homemade wooden branding chute.

The left side of the branding chute was a swinging door with a smaller door in the side that could be opened for branding. The right side of the chute was on a hinge at the bottom the top of the side had a long pole attached to a post. The handle could be pulled down to make a "squeeze chute". 

This particular year (I was 10 years old), it was my job to wrap my arms around the squeeze chute pole and post to hold the cow while dad applied the brand. After dad pulled the handle down, I would wrap my arms around the pole and post and lock my hands together. 

We had a fire on the ground where Dad was keeping the branding irons hot. At one point, Dad got the interlocking JN iron from the fire (it was glowing hot). As he turned to move to the branding chute and brand the cow, he accidentally brushed the brand on the back of my right arm. The hot iron hit the fleshy part of my arm just above my elbow. OUCH!

Fortunately, the brand only just brushed my arm and did not burn me too badly. We went to the house and put ice on the burn area. For the next few months, I had the partial print of the "J" part of the brand on my arm. However, the burn healed and did not leave a permanent mark on my arm.