Larry,

Try:

Terry G. Jordan, Trails to Texas: Southern Roots of Western Cattle Ranching
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1981).

and

Terry G. Jordan, North American Cattle-Ranching Frontiers (Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1993).


He has discussions of branding that you will find useful; and, he is a
material culture specialist so artifacts are a key element to his research.

David.