Soapweed
Well-known member
The SPEARHEAD BRAND by Steve Moreland, January 10, 2016
The Spearhead brand came to Cherry County, Nebraska in the 1880's with the James Goodfellow family from Ashland, Nebraska. Ralph Goodfellow, one of James' sons, claimed this brand and called his property the Spearhead Ranch. It is the place near Medicine Lake, south of Eli, where the Rex Adamson family now lives.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Goodfellow had two children, Bill and Belva. Bill became a veterinarian and moved away from Nebraska. He first practiced at Sheridan, Wyoming, and then moved to Mexico to help with the eradication of hoof and mouth disease in that country. His sister, Belva, married Royal McGaughey from Gordon, Nebraska, and they took over operation of the Spearhead Ranch south of Eli. They had no children of their own, but Bill's daughter and son, Marion and Smokey, stayed with them at times during the summers. Much of the original large ranch sold during the 1950's and more sold during the 1960's. Royal and Belva had not used the Spearhead brand for several years, but instead applied the U Bar U brand to their cattle. Belva died in 1964, and Royal married Jean Ravenscroft McCrory, a widow with four children, in 1968. Jean's third child, Carol McCrory, became my bride in June of 1979.
When Carol and I tied the knot, we started ranching on our own south of Merriman about twenty miles. We pulled in a 16' x 80' mobile home on land that our family had owned and used for summer range since my dad, Bob Moreland, had purchased the place from Lester Leach in 1967. There was a large barn on the premises that was badly in need of repair. I hired a carpenter (Frank Thompson from Martin, South Dakota), who stayed with Carol and me for about three weeks that first fall, and we refurbished the old barn. It needed new foundation, new doors, and steel siding. The dimensions of it were 66' x 62', and it was 30' high at the center. We had scaffolding set up to apply the steel siding, and it seemed the perfect time to implicate a large brand into the general décor of the building. At the time I was using the same brand as my dad. He branded the Rafter M on the left hip, and I used it on the left rib of my cattle.
We put up brown colored siding on the upper part of the barn in the morning, and when the carpenter and I came in for dinner, I asked Carol what she thought about us trying to buy Royal's Spearhead brand. She said, "Go for it." I called Royal on the telephone, and told him I was willing to pay him more for that brand that day than I would ever pay again, for the simple reason that we wanted to put the design on our barn. I offered him $500 for the brand. He said he would think about it. I said, "Don't think about it too long, because tomorrow I am putting a brand on the front of the barn, and whatever brand goes on the barn will go on our cattle from now on." About ten minutes later Royal called back and said, "Come for supper tonight, and we will visit about the deal."
After supper that evening, Royal proclaimed, "If I was going to sell that brand, I would not take a nickel less than $2500, but I am going to give it to the two of you. The only stipulation is that it has to be in both of your names." We had no problem with that part of the deal, and are forever grateful for his gift.
We did put the brand on the east side of the barn in big white figures contrasted against the brown siding. It is still visible from Highway 61, if you look off to the west about a mile south of the ETV tower. The brand doesn't appear real large from the highway, but it measures 23' wide and 16' tall. It looks like an arrow pointing to the left, with the shaft not quite attached, or it could be a Lazy V Bar. It is a good one-iron brand.
We no longer live on the old Leach Place. We sold that land to the Shadbolt family in 1986, and at the same time purchased the Ronald Snyder Ranch northeast of Merriman. This new property was contiguous to the east side of my parents' ranch. We now call our present ranch the Spearhead Ranch, and operate it as well as my folks' Green Valley Ranch, where our son Brock and his family now live and own. Both ranches are run as one unit, and Brock is pretty much in charge. We still try to put the Spearhead brand on the best cattle we know how to raise, and he puts his Circle M brand on some mighty good cattle as well.
Other brands that our family has are the Rafter M (which was owned by my dad, Bob Moreland), the J Lazy F (my sister, Sybil Moreland), the Rafter Y (purchased from Cecil Dahlgren of Gordon, Nebraska and now used by our son, Will), and the T Upside-down T (our daughter Tiffany Moreland). All of these brands are used on the left hip, with ownership for the whole left side. A brand is a signature or a trade-mark, and we are proud of the heritage and history of all of our ranch brands.
The Spearhead brand came to Cherry County, Nebraska in the 1880's with the James Goodfellow family from Ashland, Nebraska. Ralph Goodfellow, one of James' sons, claimed this brand and called his property the Spearhead Ranch. It is the place near Medicine Lake, south of Eli, where the Rex Adamson family now lives.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Goodfellow had two children, Bill and Belva. Bill became a veterinarian and moved away from Nebraska. He first practiced at Sheridan, Wyoming, and then moved to Mexico to help with the eradication of hoof and mouth disease in that country. His sister, Belva, married Royal McGaughey from Gordon, Nebraska, and they took over operation of the Spearhead Ranch south of Eli. They had no children of their own, but Bill's daughter and son, Marion and Smokey, stayed with them at times during the summers. Much of the original large ranch sold during the 1950's and more sold during the 1960's. Royal and Belva had not used the Spearhead brand for several years, but instead applied the U Bar U brand to their cattle. Belva died in 1964, and Royal married Jean Ravenscroft McCrory, a widow with four children, in 1968. Jean's third child, Carol McCrory, became my bride in June of 1979.
When Carol and I tied the knot, we started ranching on our own south of Merriman about twenty miles. We pulled in a 16' x 80' mobile home on land that our family had owned and used for summer range since my dad, Bob Moreland, had purchased the place from Lester Leach in 1967. There was a large barn on the premises that was badly in need of repair. I hired a carpenter (Frank Thompson from Martin, South Dakota), who stayed with Carol and me for about three weeks that first fall, and we refurbished the old barn. It needed new foundation, new doors, and steel siding. The dimensions of it were 66' x 62', and it was 30' high at the center. We had scaffolding set up to apply the steel siding, and it seemed the perfect time to implicate a large brand into the general décor of the building. At the time I was using the same brand as my dad. He branded the Rafter M on the left hip, and I used it on the left rib of my cattle.
We put up brown colored siding on the upper part of the barn in the morning, and when the carpenter and I came in for dinner, I asked Carol what she thought about us trying to buy Royal's Spearhead brand. She said, "Go for it." I called Royal on the telephone, and told him I was willing to pay him more for that brand that day than I would ever pay again, for the simple reason that we wanted to put the design on our barn. I offered him $500 for the brand. He said he would think about it. I said, "Don't think about it too long, because tomorrow I am putting a brand on the front of the barn, and whatever brand goes on the barn will go on our cattle from now on." About ten minutes later Royal called back and said, "Come for supper tonight, and we will visit about the deal."
After supper that evening, Royal proclaimed, "If I was going to sell that brand, I would not take a nickel less than $2500, but I am going to give it to the two of you. The only stipulation is that it has to be in both of your names." We had no problem with that part of the deal, and are forever grateful for his gift.
We did put the brand on the east side of the barn in big white figures contrasted against the brown siding. It is still visible from Highway 61, if you look off to the west about a mile south of the ETV tower. The brand doesn't appear real large from the highway, but it measures 23' wide and 16' tall. It looks like an arrow pointing to the left, with the shaft not quite attached, or it could be a Lazy V Bar. It is a good one-iron brand.
We no longer live on the old Leach Place. We sold that land to the Shadbolt family in 1986, and at the same time purchased the Ronald Snyder Ranch northeast of Merriman. This new property was contiguous to the east side of my parents' ranch. We now call our present ranch the Spearhead Ranch, and operate it as well as my folks' Green Valley Ranch, where our son Brock and his family now live and own. Both ranches are run as one unit, and Brock is pretty much in charge. We still try to put the Spearhead brand on the best cattle we know how to raise, and he puts his Circle M brand on some mighty good cattle as well.
Other brands that our family has are the Rafter M (which was owned by my dad, Bob Moreland), the J Lazy F (my sister, Sybil Moreland), the Rafter Y (purchased from Cecil Dahlgren of Gordon, Nebraska and now used by our son, Will), and the T Upside-down T (our daughter Tiffany Moreland). All of these brands are used on the left hip, with ownership for the whole left side. A brand is a signature or a trade-mark, and we are proud of the heritage and history of all of our ranch brands.
retty: :tiphat: :help: