These scales were part of the original Schwend Collection. They were used to weigh animal skins in order to establish a price to be paid by fur traders. These scales were manufactured in Germany and were used in the area of Henrietta, Clay County, Texas to weigh Buffalo hides in the mid to late 1870's. By 1880, the Buffalo were no longer in the Wichita Valley as they had been hunted to near extinction. With their disappearance, Indian depredations ceased as well. It is highly likely that these scales were brought to this country from Germany by the original Schwend ancestors in the mid 1850's.