These records (1873-1991) of the Brand Enforcement Division of the Montana Department of Livestock consist of brand registers (1873-1991) and indexes (1873-1950). Index for 1951-1960 is on SMF 43. There are currently no indexes for 1961 through 1980. These records of the Brands-Enforcement Division of the Montana Department of Livestock consist of brand registration books and indexes. Brands were registered for a ten year time period and had to be re-registered, starting in 1911, in the first year of each decade (i.e. 1911, 1921, 1931...). To use these records you must know a name or a brand and a time period. Look up the name or the brand in the index for the appropriate year(s). The index will provide you with a page number, which refers to the page in the brand register. The register provides the name of the person who registered the brand, the address, the date of registration, a picture of the brand, and the location of the brand on the animal. If a person re-registered their brand, you will need to look in the index for each year it was registered to find the appropriate information.Beginning in 1931, brands were registered in two sets in volumes for each decade, one set for re-recorded brands and one for newly recorded brands. Although there is only one name index and one brand index for each decade, the page numbers refer to different sets of registers. If the page number has a letter in front of it (i.e. C319) it is a re-recorded brand and the information is located in the re-record registers. If there is no letter before the number, it is a newly recorded brand and is in those registers. The letters correspond to the decade--1931=B, 1941=C, etc. Index for 1951-1960 is on SMF 43. There are currently no indexes for 1961 through 1980. (SMF 52)
