Grant-Kohrs Ranch Preserves Montana Past

By Rhonda Ostertag
Published on June 27, 2013
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A legacy of hay wagons and John Deere implements pepper the grounds of Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge, Montana. Cottonwood trees, a sprawling acreage, and the distant, snowy Flint Creek Range fashion a worthy backdrop.
A legacy of hay wagons and John Deere implements pepper the grounds of Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge, Montana. Cottonwood trees, a sprawling acreage, and the distant, snowy Flint Creek Range fashion a worthy backdrop.
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Conrad Kohrs around age forty. 
Conrad Kohrs around age forty. 
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This yoke is part of the historical collection housed at Grant-Kohrs Ranch. Over the course of the ranch's history, several brands have been used.
This yoke is part of the historical collection housed at Grant-Kohrs Ranch. Over the course of the ranch's history, several brands have been used.
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The vast artifact collection of Grant-Kohrs Ranch, like this antique Dietz Kerosene lantern with Fitzall glass globe, traces to the diligence of Conrad Kohrs.
The vast artifact collection of Grant-Kohrs Ranch, like this antique Dietz Kerosene lantern with Fitzall glass globe, traces to the diligence of Conrad Kohrs.
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The beaverslide hay stacker, designed to stack loose hay, traces its beginning to Montana's Beaverhead Valley in 1910.
The beaverslide hay stacker, designed to stack loose hay, traces its beginning to Montana's Beaverhead Valley in 1910.
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Relics from the past, like this horse-drawn cultivator, are displayed around the ranch.
Relics from the past, like this horse-drawn cultivator, are displayed around the ranch.

In Deer Lodge, Montana, off Interstate 90 and about equidistant between Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site (NHS) offers a one-of-a-kind tribute to the American cowboy and ranching’s role in our nation’s history. This 1,600-acre ranch still functions while preserving a rich 120-year history of a once-enormous operation important to the history of the cattle industry.

Opportunity knocks

Grant-Kohrs Ranch owes its choice location and start to Johnny Grant, a Canadian fur trader who took advantage of the times. Grant swapped stock on the Oregon Trail, one healthy animal for two trail-weary ones, growing his herd in 10 years’ time to more than 4,000 cattle, mostly good English breeding stock.

When the ranch came into existence, the area was still wilderness, and the house doubled as a trading post. As the West opened up, however, Grant’s primary language of French and his unconventional lifestyle — he had multiple wives, 26 biological children, and allowed laborers to come and go — hobbled him for conducting business. So, in 1866, two years after the Montana Territory was established, he sold the ranch to Conrad Kohrs and migrated north.

Conrad Kohrs expansion

For Kohrs, owner of butcher shops in several Montana mining towns, the ranch was a natural expansion, securing his meat supply. Kohrs recognized the value of the open range and grew the enterprise, eventually grazing cattle on 10 million acres in four states and two Canadian provinces. This empire rightfully earned him the title “Montana’s Cattle King.”

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