Riding for the Brand: 150 Years of Cowden Ranching

Folks all over West Texas and eastern New Mexico will tell you: Cowdens have been ranching here for as long as anyone can remember.

The Cowdens, in fact, have been at the forefront of the cattle business for 150 years. Arriving in Texas in the 1850s, Cowden men and women raised and trailed cattle, sought out water and better grazing land, tangled with Comanches—and helped extend the western line of Anglo settlement as they raised their families. They eventually moved to New Mexico, where th...