Western Americana Cowboys Roping Calves for Branding in Kansas circa 1910

Western Cowboys

Photograph

Reid, Hal. No. 2. Cow Boy’s Delight. Bringing Calves to Brand, circa 1910, records the mounted labor involved in gathering cattle for branding on the western Kansas plains. The image supports research into ranch work, livestock management, cowboy occupational history, and the visual construction of the American West during the early twentieth century. Rather than presenting a posed studio portrait, the photograph captures working cowboys engaged in a specific stage of cattle handling, preserving evidence of the horses, ropes, animals, and open-range setting associated with regional ranching practice.

Sepia-toned real photo postcard published by Hal Reid of Liberal, Kansas, measuring 5½ by 3½ inches. Two mounted cowboys occupy the foreground, using ropes to bring calves away from a larger herd; an adult cow follows at the right, while additional cattle extend across the background. The printed caption reads in full: “No. 2. Cow Boy’s Delight. Bringing Calves to brand.” An institutional description of another example identifies the same arrangement of two horsemen, roped calves, following cow, and background herd, while Fort Hays State University records Reid as a Liberal, Kansas photographer responsible for a numbered series of western cattle scenes.

Produced during a period when real photo postcards circulated localized images of western work to audiences beyond the communities depicted, the postcard joins documentary observation with the popular imagery of cowboy life. Its emphasis on coordinated movement between riders, horses, calves, and herd provides a compact visual record of ranch labor while the promotional title “Cow Boy’s Delight” shows how such work was packaged for postcard consumers. Light expected handling wear; sepia toning remains clear and the printed caption is legible. Very good. A visually specific record of early twentieth-century cattle work and the commercial postcard culture through which western Kansas presented its ranching identity.

Item #5646

Price: $145.00