Why did ranchers brand their cattle?

Ranchers branded their cattle to show who owned them since the cattle roamed freely without fences.

Name three things that made being a cowboy a difficult job.

Living outside for months, watching for stampedes, and fighting off cattle rustlers.

The cook drove the chuck wagon, which carried food for the cowboys.

I can describe what life was like for cowboys on the Chisholm Trail.

1
During the colonial period, the Spanish brought longhorn cattle to the southwest region of the United States, especially Texas.
2
Cowboys drove cattle from Texas to cow towns like Cheyenne, Wyoming and Dodge City, Kansas so they could be loaded onto trains and shipped east.
3
The invention of barbed wire fencing brought an end to the era of free-roaming cattle and the need for long cattle drives.