Chapman Ranch
1
◗ Large crowd shows again for annual branding event at Chapman Family Ranch D ressed in full cowboy attire complete with a light brown vest and spurs on his boots, John Chapman approaches the tackled steer with a blistering hot iron rod construct- ed with his family’s insignia. Pressing the rod to the back left hip of the deeply-squealing baby bull, thick white smoke rises. All it takes is just a few quick sec- onds and the cow is branded as a Chapman for the rest of its life. While this may seem like just an afternoon of work for the every- day rancher, this particular brand- ing event is far from a regular day on the farm. The Chapman family has been branding cattle since the 1950s, and included in their fes- tivities of doing so, hundreds of friends, family, well wishers and lovers of the ranching style of the outdoors have been coming out to witness this yearly get-together/ cook out. Brothers John and Barney Chapman coordinate the event now. As John plays the role of the branding cowboy, Barney keeps the cook out tradition going strong by making sure there’s plenty of food to go around. “We would have a big barbeque and maybe 100, 150 friends show up,” Barney Chapman, dressed in a red apron and 10-gallon cowboy hat, said. “It’s just grown bigger and bigger every year and more and more people come.” All the food is cooked to perfec- tion the old fashioned way. There are no stoves, no battery pow- ered devices; just dutch ovens and solid iron cooking tools. And if that wasn’t enough, all the food is cooked by authentic cowboys who travel from event to event. “You can cook anything on a Dutch oven you can cook at home and most of it’s better,” Barney Chapman said. “Everybody just comes out, everybody knows about it, they talk about it and invite each other.” As the food cooks on top of the hot open flames, a crowd gathers over at the bullpen. But this wasn’t to watch a closer prepare for the bottom of the ninth inning, this was to watch cowboys rope and tackle young heifers and steers who would soon be branded. Equipped with cameras and steady eyes, spectators young and old watched several cowboys take their positions. Some were there to wrestle, others were there to rope and vaccinate, but all in all, it was all about tradition and the thrill of the Old West. “(The cattle) are roped, drug out, they’re flanked, which is O LD -T IME T RADITION throwing them to the ground, then they’re castrated, they’re branded and they’re given the same shots you give your children,” Barney Chapman said. “The cowboys all show up because it’s an awesome opportunity to go out and round up a heard of cattle, rope ‘em and flank ‘em and do it the way they did it 100, 150 years ago. “It’s what they want to do, it’s the life they live, but they have to do it nowadays in a different fashion.” The castration of the steers is done a slightly different from days of the old West. Today a rubber band gun is used to cut off cir- culation to the specific area of the cow’s body. It’s what’s called bloodless castration. “It just tightens around the testicles and then after so long of time they just drop off,” John Chapman said. “It’s not anything like some other method.” When all was said and done, numerous cows were branded, 100 to 200 pounds of fajitas and sausage were cooked along with 300 to 400 biscuits. The iron insignia of the Chapman family sits in a heating pit filled with coal and wood before it is used to brand the herd of cattle. John Chapman brands a young steer as cowboys hold the animal down for a bloodless castration and vaccination. • Photos and story by Dominic Genetti •
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Annual castration
Transcript of Chapman Ranch
BLife&Communityy M a y 1 4 , 2 0 1 0THE COMMUNITY NEWS
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! Large crowd shows again for annual branding event at Chapman Family Ranch
Dressed in full cowboy attire complete with a light brown vest and
spurs on his boots, John Chapman approaches the tackled steer with a blistering hot iron rod construct-ed with his family’s insignia.
Pressing the rod to the back left hip of the deeply-squealing baby bull, thick white smoke rises. All it takes is just a few quick sec-onds and the cow is branded as a Chapman for the rest of its life.
While this may seem like just an afternoon of work for the every-day rancher, this particular brand-ing event is far from a regular day on the farm. The Chapman family has been branding cattle since the 1950s, and included in their fes-tivities of doing so, hundreds of friends, family, well wishers and lovers of the ranching style of the outdoors have been coming out to witness this yearly get-together/cook out.
Brothers John and Barney Chapman coordinate the event now. As John plays the role of the branding cowboy, Barney keeps the cook out tradition going strong by making sure there’s plenty of food to go around.
“We would have a big barbeque and maybe 100, 150 friends show up,” Barney Chapman, dressed in a red apron and 10-gallon cowboy hat, said. “It’s just grown bigger and bigger every year and more and more people come.”
All the food is cooked to perfec-tion the old fashioned way. There are no stoves, no battery pow-ered devices; just dutch ovens and solid iron cooking tools. And if that wasn’t enough, all the food is cooked by authentic cowboys who travel from event to event.
“You can cook anything on a Dutch oven you can cook at home and most of it’s better,” Barney Chapman said. “Everybody just comes out, everybody knows about it, they talk about it and invite each other.”
As the food cooks on top of the hot open fl ames, a crowd gathers over at the bullpen. But this wasn’t to watch a closer prepare for the bottom of the ninth inning, this was to watch cowboys rope and tackle young heifers and steers who would soon be branded.
Equipped with cameras and steady eyes, spectators young and old watched several cowboys take their positions. Some were there to wrestle, others were there to rope and vaccinate, but all in all, it was all about tradition and the thrill of the Old West.
“(The cattle) are roped, drug out, they’re fl anked, which is
OLD-TIME TRADITION
throwing them to the ground, then they’re castrated, they’re branded and they’re given the same shots you give your children,” Barney Chapman said. “The cowboys all show up because it’s an awesome opportunity to go out and round up a heard of cattle, rope ‘em and fl ank ‘em and do it the way they did it 100, 150 years ago.
“It’s what they want to do, it’s the life they live, but they have to do it nowadays in a different fashion.”
The castration of the steers is done a slightly different from days
of the old West. Today a rubber band gun is used to cut off cir-culation to the specifi c area of the cow’s body. It’s what’s called bloodless castration.
“It just tightens around the testicles and then after so long of time they just drop off,” John Chapman said. “It’s not anything like some other method.”
When all was said and done, numerous cows were branded, 100 to 200 pounds of fajitas and sausage were cooked along with 300 to 400 biscuits.
The iron insignia of the Chapman family sits in a heating pit filled with coal and wood before it is used to brand the herd of cattle. John Chapman brands a young steer as cowboys hold the animal down for a bloodless castration and vaccination.
• Photos and story by Dominic Genetti •
