Tehama - The Magazine - Red Bluff Daily News
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/398008
24 TEHAMA - THE MAGAZINE, October 2014 The California brands are something that morphed out of the Spanish brands, which were entire coats of arms, Darrell Mullins said. Mullins, who serves as board vice president and museum curator, said the brands were seen as a cow's return address. "They used to run open range land," Mullins said. "The cattle would get mixed up and a few times a year they'd sort them out. Using the brand is real personal for some people. They pass from family member to family member. Kind of like an heirloom." "While the pieces of leather, which are a rainbow of colors, shapes and sizes, are often just a brand, a tag and maybe a name and date attached, they are so much more than that," he said. "Every brand has a story," Mullins said. A personal favorite is the Quong Fung Cattle Co., represented by a Q with a line under it. "Many people think of the Chinese and they think of the railroad," Mullins said. "This brand shows a different part of the story. It shows they were in cattle too. It's fascinating to look at these and see what they're about." In addition to the display of actual brands, there is an upstairs display that is also a piece of history as it comes from the first McDonald's in Red Bluff. For Paul Quinn, a board member and docent, the upper display, which is a board where people burned their brands to display it in the restaurant, is a piece of his past. "In 1980, when I first visited Red Bluff these were the panels on the wall," Quinn said. "They also had the plastic child's seats in the shapes of saddles and historic pictures on the wall." When the McDonald's underwent a change in motif, the museum was able to acquire two of the four panels originally on display, Quinn said. The museum, which will have the brands on display for at least a few months, is open 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For information on tours, call 384-2595. Other places to find brands include the Branding Iron café at the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard and on placemats once created