Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site - Montana

On July 31, 1997 I visited Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site run by the National Park Service. This was the headquarters for an early ranching operation that once grazed cattle on 10 million acres of open range in several States and Canada. A lot of the history here tied in with the earlier places I had visited.

Dreams of wealth lured the first cattle men to Montana. The range was open and unfenced, and they could fatten their cattle on the lush bunchgrass and push on to new pastures when the old areas were overgrazed. The main obstacles were buffalo and the Indians, and by the 1860's both were fast being overcome.

Many of the herds were built through trade with westward-bound emigrants, who gladly swapped two or more trail-worn cows for a single well-fed one. In the late 1870's cowboys drove herds of rangy longhorns up from Texas to the better grazing lands of Montana, adding a Spanish strain to the English shorthorn breeds already established there and greatly multiplying the herds.

By 1885, cattle raising was the biggest industry on the High Plains, and foreign investors and eastern speculators rushed to get in on the bonanza. As ranches multiplied and the northern herds grew, there came a predictable consequence: overgrazing. This and the fierce winter of 1886-87 caused enormous losses, estimated at one-third to one-half of all the cattle on the northern plains. Many cattlemen never recovered.

If the snows of '86-87 foreshadowed the end of open range ranching, the homesteaders, with their barbed wire and fenced-in 160 acre claims, finished it off.

The open-range cattle industry lasted only three decades. Few of its pioneering men and women made their fortunes or are remembered today. But from their beginnings has evolved the more scientific ranching of today, with its own risks and uncertainties. That is the legacy of the Grants and the Kohrs, whose pioneer ranch, complete with original furnishings, is a reminder of an important chapter in the history of the West.

The present ranch is small but is operated to retain the old west flavor including some bighorn cattle and old style haying operations. A number of buildings have been preserved which include a lot of vintage stuff like wagons and harness, etc.

The ranch was created and owned by Grant for about four years then Kohr took over. Kohr's wife had a feel of their importance in history and took pains to preserve all the records and the furnishings.

The main ranch house is well preserved. It was once a trading post that has been added onto as the owners became more prosperous.

The house has almost all the original furniture including wallpaper, etc. It is very impressive and interesting.

Had an interesting guide who is a college professor in Wisconsin in the winter. His home, however is in Bozeman, MT. Interesting fellow who grew up in Colorado apparently on a ranch.

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Photo Gallery

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site informatiion