American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

Membership pin for the "Cattle Raisers' Association of Texas" featuring a cougar on top of a key inscribed "Key to Fort Worth" and below "34th Annual Convention." Suspended below the cougar is a hangar in the shape of Texas with a cattle head at center, surmounted by a ribbon reading "Cattle Raisers' Association / Member 1910." Approx. 4 x 2 1/2 in. (Oxidation, working pinback, modern repair to pinback.)

Three-tiered membership pin for the "Texas Cattle Raisers Association." Features top tier with a Texas longhorn and "Member," second tier "San Antonio / Mar. 9-10-11 / 1915" and third tier with a five--pointed star enclosing an image of the Alamo. Approx. 4 x 1 3/4 in. (Light oxidation, light wear.)

Multi-tiered membership pin for the Panhandle Old Settlers Association. Pinback hangar on top tier with ribbon and suspended Texas hanger. "Amarillo Tri-State Exposition" on top tier, a separate "25" hanger, red, white, and blue ribbon, and Texas-shaped bottom hanger featuring a vignette of a settler home with animals, windmill, and frontier homestead building. Approx. 2 x 4 in. (Oxidation, fraying to ribbon, wear.)

"Cattlemen's Convention" badge featuring a Texas longhorn pendant atop a five-pointed Texas "Lone Star". Schwaab & Sons, Milwaukee back marks. Ca 1898-1909.

[With:] A "101 Ranch" longhorn emblem attached to a leather strap. -- Portion of a 1905 Texas Cattle Raiser's Association pin. -- Pressed penny from the March 1915 Cattleman's Convention in San Antonio.

According to the Texas State Archives, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Records, 1875-2009: "The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association was organized at Graham, Texas, in 1877 as the Stock-Raisers' Association of North-West Texas. Around 1893, it acquired a large membership from South Texas and became the Texas Cattle Raisers Association. The present title [Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association] was adopted in 1921 when the Panhandle and Southwestern Associations merged with the Texas group. With membership extending over several states, it is the largest organization of its kind in the United States. Its membership has included leading cattlemen such as James C. Loving and C. C. Slaughter, who were organizers of the 1877 group, Richard Mifflin Kleberg and Robert J. Kleberg of the King Ranch, and Dolph Briscoe, Jr., all former presidents, as well as hundreds of owners of small herds. The organization was incorporated in 1882, the same year it adopted a 'per head' assessment system to curb cattle rustling by employing brand inspectors to verify ownership. The association monitors legislation and represents its members' interests at both state and national levels. Its policy is determined by a board of directors with an executive committee headed by the president of the association. Since 1914, it has published a magazine, The Cattleman , that provides news of the industry to its membership. The organization's office is located in Fort Worth, Texas."