is an old one. The first branding irons were brought from Spain by Cortez and Pizarro. Cattle have always been branded in Spain. We also got our first long-horned stock from the Mexicans, but now it has been bred out, and most of our herds are short-horned Durham and Hereford."
"Where are we headed for?" asked Larry.
"Ultimately we are going to Piñon Valley. This ranch happens to be beautifully located for the round-up. At this time of year all of the cattle are on the lower plateau because the feed is better there. So we cut out a thousand head a day and run them into Piñon Valley and there we hold them until we have branded all the calves and the cows that need it. Then we feed them in through what we call the neck of the bottle that leads to the upper plateau. It takes about ten days to put the entire herd through this process."
When Uncle Henry and Larry arrived at Piñon Valley they found small groups of cattle already streaming into the lower end for the cow-punchers had preceded Larry and his uncle by half an hour. Larry saw that Piñon Valley was about three hundred yards long and one hundred yards wide. The sides of the valley were very precipitate and covered with piñons and junipers. Three cow-punchers had been placed at the head of the valley to keep the cattle from going through to the upper plateau. Larry and his uncle
