Dear Kim, Finally! A question I can help with! In the local county courthouse there are usually 3 or 4 old ancient dusty books for "marks and brands" for the livestock in the county back in our g-grandpa's day. And they are something to see indeed! Be patient when you go to a county courthouse and ask to see them.... they are usually buried and covered with 150 years of dust. Not many people even know they are there! The brands were just as you might suspect - a hot metal burned into the hide of a cow, horse, mule or steer, etc. just like you've seen them do on old west movies where cattle drives are involved. The marks.... well.... those were really pretty unique and as I understand, they were used mostly for the hogs that ran loose around each farm and onto the other farms nearby. The marks were notches and cuts made in the hog's ears. Each farmer had his own set of "marks" to identify the animal as his, and the "mark" was registered at the local courthouse along with the farmer's "brand" that he put on his cattle. Ofcourse it wasn't required to have these marks recorded and made of public record, but most people did so to protect their livestock and their claims. The books are fascinating to review! There really are different drawings of animal ears so each farmer could show his notches and cuts and make that public record. The first time I ever saw the books I thought they were hysterical, but then it settled in and make perfect sense. This was the only practical way, back then, to identify their hogs. Then when they had the "fall roundup" if you will, everyone could tell which hog belonged to whom. Pretty neat stuff, really. Simple and effective for the time. Amy McCroskie Denver, CO