Open-range cattle roamed freely and were branded then left untouched for years.

Evidence

The herds mix on the vast plains at will; along the Arkansas valley 80,000 roam about with the freedom of buffaloes, and of this number about 16,000 are exported every fall. Where cattle are killed for use in the mining districts their average price is three cents per lb. In the summer thousands of yearlings are driven up from Texas, branded, and turned loose on the prairies, and are not molested again till they are sent east at three or four years old. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 167

Categorization

• CANDY: 80,000 cattle wandering the Arkansas valley “with the freedom of buffaloes” is a vivid, tweetable image with a hard number attached.
• FICTION: The branded yearling turned loose for three years before anyone sees it again is a ready-made premise for a story about a man who loses a herd to the open range.