BRAND INSPECTORS by Al Sachrov Photography: Ed Kosmicki

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July 2013 proof copy.indd 18 8/27/2013 12:12:33 PM “Brand awareness” and “brand infringement” are marketing phrases that have a slightly different twist in the West. Brand awareness refers to the 15,000 different brands and ear- marks identifying livestock on Utah’s ranches and open range. Brand infringement is also called cattle rustling. Utah has 62 full-time brand inspectors, a profession most career counselors overlook when talking to high school seniors. Last year, these men and women oversaw 700,000 cattle being sold or transferred in Ann / Etta and the Sundance Kid. Photography: Ed Kosmicki Utah. Cody James heads the brand inspection bureau for the Utah State Utah's Queen Department of Agriculture. of the Rustlers “Utah brand laws date back to 1886,” Cody says. “A cattle brand has is part Utah legend and a language all its own that you read part outlaw. Born in 1878 in Brown’s like a book.” A rancher pays $75 to Park along the Green River, she was have his brand pictograph registered kicked out of St. Mary’s Catholic with the state. Every cow on the School in Salt Lake for being too wild. open range must be branded in one of She returned home to a cowboying life six locations on its body. This bovine of cattle roping, horse riding and shoot- VIN marker tracks ownership and ing. guards against rustlers. “They’re out there,” Cody says. When her family’s ranch was threat- “This crime didn’t die off in the ened by the powerful Two-Bar Ranch, 1800s. A cow can be sold for about she took to rustling their cattle. The a thousand dollars and can be hauled barons retaliated by bringing in en- off at night in a truck or horse trailer. forcer to settle the score. But Some rustlers have trained dogs to Ann had an ace up her sleeve - her lover herd cattle to a pickup site. Unbrand- was Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance ed calves, called “slicks,” are the Kid. The helped even the toughest. There is no way to prove odds and a was averted. The ownership, and they can be rustled in question to this day, was Ann actually the trunk of a car.” the mysterious who trav- To protect ranchers, the state has elled with Harry to South America? In a livestock theft investigator who any case, she was Utah’s Queen of the spends his days literally riding the Rustlers. range. “It’s the perfect John Wayne- type job in the twenty-first century,” by Al Sachrov

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July 2013 proof copy.indd 19 8/27/2013 12:12:34 PM Cody says. Some aspects of the down the I-15 corridor these days. job have changed over the years. But even with this areas dense devel- No longer are rustlers hung from a opment, in May alone she oversaw cottonwood tree. Now they face a the transfer of 2,000 local cows. third-degree felony charge with up to Ranchers (several near the airport) five years in prison. call Suzanne when they are ready to James grew up on a ranch in move their herds. Sometimes she in- Tooele County and loves his work. spects cows from 5 am to 7 pm, and “You spend your days amongst hon- she can recognize up to 25 brands est, hardworking people. What’s bet- from memory. ter to do than talking about cows?” For any little girl who aspires to The same aggie background helped her career, Suzanne suggests get- Suzanne Butler become an inspec- ting involved with the 4-H and FFA tor for Salt Lake and northern Utah programs. “Stay connected with the Counties. No cattle are being herded land,” she says. § Photography: Ed Kosmicki

Cody James displays the business end of a brand.

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July 2013 proof copy.indd 20 8/27/2013 12:12:34 PM RECENT ROBBERIES

Rudy’s Keys was recently robbed Another robbery, in which the for the second time in the past year. victims do not wish to be named, For 25 years they did business at involved two men dressed as police

Photography: Ed Kosmicki their prior location on 1100 East officers who came to a local jewelry and were never robbed. But since store and cleaned out over $1 million moving to 10th East they suffered of inventory. A Sugar House police from the acts of cowards. The thieves officer said that the perpetrators were broke a side window and spent hours two large men, one black man and ransacking Rudy’s safe, attempting one white, who are 6’ 4” and 6’ 6” to bash it, smash it and torch it. The tall. Police were hopeful they would thieves failed to break the safe, but be apprehended due to their unusual they destroyed the family heirloom. heights. The victims are now moving “We need to buy a new safe now,” to a different location. They have said Ryan Hahn. Just last August received a lot of press, but we will $6,000 worth of musical recording honor their request not to be named. equipment was stolen from from the Hahn’s family business.

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