Teaching Ranch Life History to 4th Graders

The 2007 CCHS annual meeting featured a workshop aimed at teaching history to elementary school children. Presenters were Chuck and Maxine Tichenor. The Tichenors are longtime active members of CCHS and lived for many years in the San Fernando Valley, before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Titled “Presenting a 4th Grade History Program: Ranching,” the presentation was of special interest to educators attending the meeting. Chuck demonstrated how to rope a steer. Videos showed ranch life, cattle drives and ranching tools in the days of the California missions. Using poster board, Maxine illustrated “How to design a proper cattle brand.”

“Even though hot iron branding has been around for more than 4000 years, it is just as tricky to do it today as it was for the ancient Egyptians.” That quote is from the California Brand Book issued by the State of California. A proper design is not just a jumble of ridges; rather it is simple and readable when properly applied.

The brands of the 21 original California missions are shown here along with an approximate number of animals at each mission site (date unknown).
In the photo above, Chuck is dressed as a cowboy. Clothing styles for the “boys” haven’t changed much in over 100 years. Maxine is dressed as a 1880s schoolmarm.