Series 597

RECORDER OF MARKS AND BRANDS [98]

BRAND REGISTERS, 1849-1921.
7 microfilm reels and 8.6 cu. ft. (15 vols.)

DESCRIPTION: Brand registers were maintained by the territorial and state brand inspectors as a way of recording all marks and brands officially registered in Utah. They were also used in the preparation of the published brand books which were then mailed to County Clerks, who used them as an aid in brand registration and for the control of livestock locally. County Clerks, as auxiliary recorders, took brand registration applications and application fees. Both were then sent to the Recorder of Marks and Brands in Salt Lake City, who recorded them in these registers.

Marks and brands are recorded separately within each register. Marks differ from brands in that the mark is a tattoo or small section that has been cut or clipped from the ear, while a brand is placed upon the hide of the animal with a hot iron. Entries in the main registers record the name of the applicant and place of residence, and illustration of the brand symbol or description of where the symbol appeared on the body of the animal, the date of registration, and the line number.

Each register was maintained for a certain number of years and then closed; new registers were then opened with a new set of sequential registration numbers. The time periods covered by the registers correspond to the publication of cumulative editions of the brand books.

ARRANGEMENT: The registers are organized in rough chronological order. After 1900 separate registers exist for both marks and brands. Index volumes follow those registers that they index, except for the 1912-1921 volume where it is filmed before the register. The brands themselves are recorded in order by line number in each volume.

RELATED RECORDS: Series 540, BRAND BOOKS, is the published version of what is recorded in this series. The publication history of the brand books has determined in large part how and when the registers in this series would be opened and closed. Series 607, BRAND LETTER BOOKS, contains letters that might discuss individual registration applications. The BRAND APPLICATIONS FILES, series 80579, seems to be a successor series.

FINDING AIDS: Three types of indexes exist in the series: Indexes to Marks, Indexes to Brands, and Indexes to Name Owners of Marks and Brands. The first two are organized by the brand or mark symbol. References are to the line number in the main register were data about the owner and date of recording can be found. These indexes also contain diagrams that show, by means of a number code, where the mark or brand appears on the body of the animal. The Name Owners index also leads the searcher to the line number in the main registers. In addition, it also indexes line and page number in the other two indexes just described.

This elaborate indexing system was begun with the 1885-1901 volume and expanded with the 1900 to 1912 volumes. The index to the former is combined in one volume, while separate indexes to marks, brands, and to name owners were created to the registers opened after 1900.

CUSTODY HISTORY: A Recorder of Marks and Brands kept these registers from 1849 until 1917, when the Livestock Board was created and assumed responsibility for the registration of livestock brands and marks. For all but the first seventeen years, the territorial and state auditors acted as the recorders of marks and brands. Appointments were made to each office separately until 1897, when the State Auditor was made ex officio Recorder of Marks and Brands.

PROCESSING NOTE: Archival processing was completed in 1988 by Val Wilson. The first record book was filmed on 35 mm microfilm in 1970; the bulk of the series was microfilmed in 1988. Two missing volumes were located in 1994 and filmed. The long missing Index to Name Owners of Marks and Brands L-Z, 1900-1912, was filmed in January 2005.

CONTAINER LIST

Reel	Box	Description
1	1	Record of Marks and Brands, Dec. 29, 1849-Dec. 9, 1874; Record of Marks and Brands, Dec. 11, 1874-Dec. 31, 1884
2	2	Record of Marks and Brands, Jan. 20, 1885-Mar. 5, 1901
2	3	Index to Record of Marks and Brands, 1885-190l
3	4	Record of Marks Feb. 23, 1900-June 12, 1912
3	5	Index to Record of Marks, 1900-1912
3	6	Record of Brands, Feb. 23, 1900-Jun. 26, 1912
3	7	Index to Record of Brands, 1900-1912, page 1-387
4	7	Index to Record of Brands, 1900-1912, page 388
4	8	Index to Name Owners of Marks and Brands A-K, 1900-1912; Record of Marks, Feb. 1, 1912-Apr. 20, 1921 [see reel 6, box 13]; Index to Record of Marks, 1912-1921 [see reel 6, box 14]
7	15	Index to Name Owners of Marks and Brands L-Z, 1900-1912
4	9	Record of Brands, Feb. l, 1912-Apr. 25, 1921
4	10	Index to Record of Brands, 1912-1921, p.1-225
5	10	Index to Record of Brands, 1912-1921, p.226-389
5	11	Name of Owner's of Marks and Brands A-K, 1912-1921
5	12	Name of Owner's of Marks and Brands L-Z, 1912-1921
6	13	Record of Marks, Feb. 1, 1912-Apr. 20, 1921
6	14	Index to Record of Marks, 1912-1921