9. FAQ: Why Samuel Maverick didn't brand his cattle?

Question: Why Samuel Maverick didn't brand his cattle?

Answer:

Maverick acquired 400 head of cattle in 1845 as payment for a debt. Instead of branding them, he left the cattle in the care of an African American family and didn't pay much attention to them. His reasoning for not branding the cattle was that he didn't want to inflict pain on them .

Some ranchers suspected he was hoping to claim unbranded cattle as his own, but that is unlikely given that his herd didn't grow during the time he owned it.

Maverick later sold the herd in 1856.