The audio description files for the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Histoic Site Brochure are available to play in your browser, or download below. Each section has an individual text transcript of the audio.
Overview: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Overview: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site OVERVIEW: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, located in Montana, is part of the National Park Service, within the Department of the Interior. This park is situated in Deer Lodge, approximately 38 miles northwest of Butte, and just over 80 miles southeast of Missoula. The park was designated a national historic site in 1972. Each year, thousands of visitors come to discover the role of cattle ranchers in US history and explore the historic connections to the Grant and Kohrs families, who lived and worked here in the 1800s. Visitors can experience the preserved, historic landscape with a working ranch and engage in outdoor activities in the park's scenic setting. A variety of experiences at the park can enhance your visit. Head to the visitor center for an orientation, information, and a bookstore. Follow walkways to over 80 historic structures at the ranch. Tour the Victorian elegance of the Ranch House and the ranch's wide-open spaces. Hike nature trails, where wildlife saddle up to the ranch's livestock. Complete the Junior Ranger booklet and other fun activities. The park is happy to make accommodations to visitors with accessibility needs. The first floor of the main ranch house, the restrooms, and some walkways in the park are accessible. Accessible parking is also available. Please stop in at the visitor center for details. To find out more about what resources might be available, please visit the "Accessibility" and "More Information" sections in this audio-described brochure. You can also visit the park website for more information.
OVERVIEW: About this audio-described brochure Welcome to the audio-described version of the official print brochure for Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. Through text and audio descriptions of the brochure's photos, illustrations, and maps, this audio version interprets the two-sided color brochure that park visitors receive. The front of the brochure explores the history of the Grant-Kohrs Ranch and the cattle ranching era in the United States. The back of the brochure explores the Grant and Kohrs families, provides two maps (the park and the surrounding area), and helps you plan your visit. This audio version lasts about 60 minutes, which we have divided into 101 sections, as a way to improve your listening experience. Sections 6 through 29 cover the front of the brochure. Sections 30 through 101 cover the back of the brochure. This edition is based off the Harpers Ferry Center Visitor Information Brochure GRKO 2018—403-332/82153.We hope you enjoy this experience and learning more about Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.
OVERVIEW: Accessibility The park is happy to make accommodations to visitors with accessibility needs. The first floor of the main ranch house, the restrooms, and some walkways in the park are accessible. Accessible parking is also available. Please stop in at the visitor center for details. To find out more about what resources might be available, please also visit the "More Information" section in this audio-described brochure. You can also visit the park website for more information.
IMAGE: Open Range Cattle Breeds Texas Longhorn cattle were one of the main breeds during the Open Range Era. One shown at left in the foreground stands under bright sunlight. Its hair is rusty brown with swaths of white on its forehead and neck. Its long, textured horns jut outward then curve sharply upward. Its squinting eyes aim at you. It has a pale pink nose and mouth that isn’t exactly smiling. Hereford cattle, like Conrad Warren’s, were also introduced then. Dozens of plump, dark-colored ones with white heads and chests stand, knee-deep in a vast field of tall grass in front of a distant, rising mountain range in a black-and-white background photo.
TEXT: An Open Range of Opportunity It was about wealth-opportunity. It was also about people who, by the early 1800s, made the trying journey west, across North America’s vast plains, hoping for a shot at fortune. Fur, gold, or trade-it didn’t always matter how. It was more about the prospect of it all. They traveled through the Plains, these pioneers, trailblazers forging paths through the wild frontier. They couldn’t do it alone, so a patchwork of people emerged-African, American, Canadian, European, American Indian, and more-trading at outposts, blending as families, and working together. With the 1850s came change. The fur industry ended, American Indians moved to reservations, and people began to wonder: Did the Plains offer more than passage to the next opportunity-gold fields farther west? A few thought maybe they still had a fighting chance on the Plains. They thought of settling and trying their luck at something new. Could they prosper on the wide open range? Was there money to be made in another industry-say, cattle ranching?
TEXT: The Lucky Few By the mid-1860s the western cattle industry was set to boom. Dwindling bison herds, from 60 million in the early 1800s to under 1,000 by 1884, opened up the range to cattle. The growth of eastern cities, primarily due to the new industrialized economy, led to a demand for beef. Soldiers returning to Texas after the Civil War found millions of roaming, unbranded cattle. Too many cattle in Texas, not enough beef in the eastern cities-this meant the same cow selling in Texas for $2 could sell in New York City, Boston, or Chicago for $30 to $40. Montana’s industry took off. Poindexter and Orr were the first to register a brand in Montana in 1864. From April to December, 1866, Nelson Story made the first cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Driving more than 1,000 Texas Longhorns, he and his twenty-five cowboys defied the US Cavalry and continued through Sioux territory. After surviving several attacks, they arrived in Bozeman, where hungry miners paid ten times the purchase price for his cattle. It seemed the Plains did offer more than passage west. People could prosper on the open range, and money could be made in cattle ranching-at least, for the lucky few. This site, where the families of Johnny Grant and Conrad Kohrs ranched for over 130 years, helps tell the story of the many people of the Open Range Era.
This is a black-and-white, historic portrait photo of an older white man, angled to the right. His pale-colored eyes gaze off to the right. Story has thin, straight white hair parted neatly on the left side and cropped very close to his head. His longish nose juts out above a long, scraggly, white goatee that seems to fork a little bit at the end. He wears a dark, double-breasted suit with dark, decorative buttons on his jacket. Underneath, a dark v-shaped vest covers a white, collared dress shirt with white buttons. A dark bowtie is half-hidden by his goatee.
US Historic Cattle Trails and Railroads
Brief introduction to US Historic Cattle Trails and Railroads
Ranchers could profit off the open range by supplying beef to cities. For six months or longer some cowboys drove thousands of cattle thousands of miles from Texas to the northern plains. They fattened up the cattle then trailed them to railheads for shipment east.
MAP: Overview: US Historic Cattle Trails and Railroads
In this illustrated map, the United States of America is shown from the West Coast eastward to just past the Mississippi River, and from its northern border with Canada down into northern Mexico and the Gulf states.
In this illustrated map, the United States of America is shown from the West Coast eastward to just past the Mississippi River, and from its northern border with Canada down into northern Mexico and the Gulf states. Pale green indicates the lower-elevation Plains states. Darker green shows higher elevations. Tan indicates desert areas. Blue indicates water. Red solid lines indicate historical cattle trails. Black solid lines with intersecting dashes evenly spaced throughout indicate historical railroad routes. Gray lines indicate state and international borders. The following states are labeled, west to east/north to south: California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Several other states are shown but not labeled. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are more brightly colored to highlight the states in a regional map below. Cities and towns labeled on the map, west to east/north to south, are Deer Lodge and Miles City, Montana; Fort Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming; Denver and Pueblo, Colorado; Fort Buford, North Dakota; Julesburg, Colorado; Ogallala, Nebraska; Dodge City and Ellsworth, Kansas; San Antonio, Texas; Caldwell and Abilene, Kansas; Fort Worth, Texas; Newton and Wichita, Kansas; Red River Station, Dallas, and Brownsville, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Houston, Texas; Sedalia and St. Louis, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois.
MAP: Cattle Routes: US Historic Cattle Trails and Railroads
Illustrated map showing historic cattle trails in the west. Five cattle routes are labeled. Others are not labeled.
Five cattle routes are labeled. Others are not labeled. The Kohrs Trail (1879) starts many miles north of Deer Lodge, Montana, and heads east to Miles City, Montana, where it meets the beginning of the Bozeman Trail. The Kohrs Trail (1870-78) runs west to east/north to south from Deer Lodge to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, where it joins up with the Bozeman Trail. The Bozeman Trail runs from Miles City, past Fort Laramie, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where it splits, either heading east to Ogallala, Nebraska, via an unnamed trail to join up with an unnamed north-south trail or continuing south past Denver and Pueblo, Colorado, to merge into the Goodnight-Loving Trail. The Goodnight-Loving Trail runs due south through the length of New Mexico before turning sharply east at the Texas border, where it meets the unnamed cattle trail mentioned before many miles north of San Antonio. This unnamed trail runs from Fort Buford, North Dakota, through Ogallala, where it can connect to the Goodnight-Loving Trail, then through Dodge City, Kansas. At Dodge City, it can split off to join the Chisholm Trail, then end at San Antonio. From San Antonio, the Chisholm Trail is a north-south trail that either splits off toward Houston or Brownsville, Texas, a little ways north of San Antonio or continues through Fort Worth and Red River Station, Texas, with a junction toward Dodge City. At Dodge City, it continues north to Caldwell, Kansas, where it branches off further, either northwest toward Ellsworth, Kansas, or northeast toward Wichita, Newton, and Abilene, all in Kansas .An unnamed trail starting in Brownsville heads to the northeast past the Houston-Chisholm trail junction, through Dallas, Texas. It then forks at the northeast Oklahoma border three ways: north to Kansas City, northeast to Sedalia, and east-northeast to St. Louis, all in Missouri.
MAP: Railroad Routes US Historic Cattle Trails and Railroads
Three railroad routes are shown, all running west to east.
Three railroad routes are shown, all running west to east. The northernmost has stops at Denver, Julesburg, Ogallala, Omaha, and Chicago. The middle route has stops at Denver, Ellsworth, Abilene, and Kansas City; then, it could head northeast to Chicago directly or east to Sedalia, St. Louis, and Chicago. The southernmost has stops at Pueblo, Dodge City, Newton, and Kansas City; then, it could head northeast to Chicago directly or east to Sedalia, St. Louis, and Chicago.
MAP: Grazing Sites for Conrad Kohrs' Cattle
Illustrated map showing where Kohrs' cattle grazed 10 million acres
By the 1890s Kohrs’ cattle grazed on over 10 million acres of public land. Green dots show where his cattle grazed. In this illustrated map, against the tan background of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, thirteen grazing sites are shown as green dots. Montana has ten sites. The nearest to Idaho is at the town of Deer Lodge, labeled in western Montana. Seven sites are northeast of Deer Lodge, two of which meet the US-Canada border. Two more sites are southeast of Deer Lodge, one of which crosses the Wyoming border. Wyoming also has a south-central site and a site southeast of here that is mostly inside the Colorado border. Finally, Idaho has one grazing site near its border with Wyoming.
For centuries Spanish ranch hands (vaqueros) roamed North America’s western lands. They honed skills and techniques in horsemanship and raised cattle in vast, arid terrains. Spanish land grants led to many of the West’s first ranches. Spain granted some land to women. Maria Rita Valdez, of Spanish and African descent, owned a 4,500-acre cattle ranch in California. Her ranch, Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas, is now the site of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and Rodeo Drive is named after it. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole raised cattle in the Indian Territory as early as the 1830s. By 1861 the Cherokee Nation’s herd had grown to 250,000. Their approach of communal land ownership suited open-range grazing. When the last grazing ground opened to white settlement in 1893, tribes lost over 300,000 cattle. Cattle ranching was established in Mexico by the 1860s. Many Mexicans owned ranches, especially in the Southwest and California. Some Mexican ranchers ventured northward into the Plains. Some women found success as cattle ranchers. Widow Margaret Borland took over her husband’s cattle business, grew the herd to 10,000, and became the first woman trail boss. She once drove over 1,000 head up the Chisholm Trail from south Texas to Wichita. As a single woman, cattle rancher Lizzie Johnson registered a brand in her name. In 1879 she and her husband signed a premarital contract that allowed her to keep control of her financial affairs and keep her property separate. By her death her estate was worth almost $250,000. Nearly one in four cowboys were of African descent. Born enslaved in Tennessee around 1854, Nat Love wrote one of the few surviving first-hand accounts by a black cowboy. Cowboy Daniel Webster “80 John” Wallace bought a ranch of about 1,200 acres and 600 cattle. Many born into slavery could find new freedom on the range and experienced less open discrimination. Along with Americans and Europeans of Dutch, English, French, German, Scottish, and other backgrounds, the open range became a colorful landscape of people and cultures connected through cattle ranching.
A young white woman poses in this historic, black-and-white photo. Borland wears dark, shiny shoes; baggy pants; a baggy, fringed jacket cinched at the waist with a belt; a light-colored cravat; and a plaid shirt underneath. A darker-colored, cowboy-style hat with a narrow brim rests askew on her head. Her dark hair is pulled back, she is unsmiling, and under a furrowed brow her gaze aims at the camera. She stands against a dark, indistinct background. In her right hand she holds a dark rifle barrel; the rifle stands at rest beside her.
An African American man poses against an indistinct background in this historic, black-and-white photo. Love wears loose-fitting chaps with large, covered pockets at the hips. He stands with one leg straight and the other bent with its foot resting atop a horse saddle surrounded by a haphazard pile of reins, a lariat, and related gear. Off his hips hangs a belt of bullets, arranged vertically side-by-side, which he holds in the crook of his right hand. He wears a loose-fitting medium-colored top with sleeves rolled back to three-quarter length. A light-colored cravat is knotted loosely under his shirt collar. The broad brim of his large, white cowboy-style hat is angled straight up toward the sky. His long, dark hair with bangs curls outward, to as wide as his hat’s brim, and comes to just below his shoulders. He has a strong angled jaw and looks directly at the camera.
An elderly African American man poses for this historic, black-and-white portrait photo against an indistinct background. He wears a closed pinstripe suit jacket with a notched lapel; a light-colored, collared dress shirt; and a light-colored tie. Covering most of his bright, white hair is a wide-brimmed cowboy-style hat, tilted upward.
The American Cowboy: Myth or Reality?
Is the legendary image of the American Cowboy Myth or Reality?
He was a young man, late teens or early twenties, with a great responsibility: driving his cattle across the Plains. Awake through lonesome, starry nights on the open range, he sang soothing melodies to calm his cattle. Fearless and strong, he swam with his herd across swollen rivers and stayed with them during dangerous stampedes. A lover, a fighter, a just man, he was an American cowboy. But were cowboys really like this? Since the first trail drives, people were captivated by stories of the rugged men who herded half-wild longhorns across America’s prairies. Articles and dime novels treated readers to Wild West adventures. Handsome, honorable, and brave, cowboy heroes in these popular books and later movies rode proudly. They were tough and hardworking, independent and free. Many stories exaggerated cowboy life. Clothes, for example, were worn for specific purposes. A wide-brim hat protected him from the sun, a bandana covered his face from dust the cattle kicked up, and high boots shielded him from needles and thorns. Yet these practical aspects of cowboy life became cultural symbols of the values cowboys portrayed. Part myth, part truth, the American cowboy lives on.
This is a colorful painting of a rust-colored horse with a white nose and feet arched up to buck off his rider, a dark-haired cowboy who is in the air, half out of the saddle. They flail in front of a wagon full of food, run by a man in a white apron. The horse has trampled the cowboys’ campfire, where pans of half-cooked food and pots of coffee are turned over to the surrounding dust. A cowboy sitting in the horse’s path has dropped his food plate and recoils, his hat flying off his head. A cowboy crouching behind him in a bright red cravat seems ready to spring out of the way. Behind them, cowboys and horses observe the scene with interest, while one man who has climbed onto the wagon wheel reaches out either to help the rider or catch his black hat as it flies through the air. The scene is a flat area that is part tall grass, part dry dirt. Behind them rises a purple and white mountain range tinged pink with sunlight.
The Impact of an Era
Discover how the Open Range Era still impacts America today.
The open-range cattle industry boomed for only a short 30 years. Railroads became more convenient, homesteaders fenced off land, and ranchers faced loss due to disease, theft, encroachment, overgrazing, and environmental challenges like the Hard Winter of 1886-87. The long trail drives of the Open Range Era were over. This era of ranching helped shape America’s character, and its impact endures. With new technologies and techniques, ranching has brought new ways to raise and market cattle. Ranching continues to feed populations and provide economic opportunity for many. Established in 1972, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site is the only national park dedicated to this story. The park preserves buildings, furnishings and decor, operations, skills, and the many stories and ways of life connected to this era. Ranch records give an unbroken story of past operations. Though this ranch was only a small portion of the huge cattle empires of the West, the site symbolizes ranching heritage and the evolution of the American West while inspiring future generations.
TEXT: Timeline List follows: • 1804-06: Explorers Lewis and Clark pass close to Deer Lodge Valley. They take back descriptions of this fur trapper’s paradise. • 1850s: Johnny Grant marries Quarra (Lemhi Shoshone). Her brother Chief Tendoy poses for a portrait. • 1861-65: The Civil War depletes cattle supplies in the Mississippi Valley, creating shortages in eastern markets. The cattle industry responds. • 1862-66: Johnny Grant builds the “first good house” in Deer Lodge valley. In 1866 Conrad Kohrs buys the house and ranch for $19,200. • 1860-70s: Homesteaders want cheap, durable fencing. The first US patent for barbed wire is issued. Open-range grazing continues. • 1886-87: During a hard winter some ranchers lose 95 percent of their herds. Kohrs loses 60 percent of his valley herd. • 1880-1900: Barbed wire enclosing farms signals the end of the open range. Ranchers develop ways of producing and harvesting quality hay. • 1940: Conrad Warren’s stock-raising operation is nationally acclaimed for its Hereford cattle and purebred Belgian horses. He buys the ranch. • 1977: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site opens to the public. Members of the Kohrs, Bielenberg, and Warren families attend festivities. • 1993: Conrad Warren dies. A horse-drawn wagon carries his casket to Hillcrest Cemetery. This wagon is displayed at the park today. • Ongoing: The National Park Service, Deer Lodge community, and volunteers preserve the Grant-Kohrs Ranch for future generations. End of list.
IMAGE: Chief Tendoy
Historic black and white photo of native gentleman.
IMAGE: Chief Tendoy In this black-and-white photo, Chief Tendoy poses for a portrait. His gaze looks directly at the camera, and he is unsmiling. He has high cheekbones, a prominent nose, deepening lines under his cheeks and around the corners of his mouth, and a strong, square jaw and chin. His long, straight, dark hair is turning a silvery color. It comes to a point in the middle of his forehead. Two braids come down along each side of his face to about the middle of his chest. Feathers splay upward out of his left braid. He is wearing a gray suit jacket with notched lapels; a white, collared dress shirt; and a medium-color tie.
TEXT: John "Johnny" Grant John “Johnny” Grant was born in 1831 to a Canadian fur trader employed by Hudson’s Bay Company. His Métis mother died, and his grandparents raised him. At 17 he joined his father at Fort Hall, a fortified trading post in today's Idaho, and worked as a fur trader. Recognizing cattle and horses could graze all winter in “this luxuriant grassy valley,” Grant settled in Deer Lodge valley, established his ranch, and built a permanent home. Others-mostly traders-joined him, and together they founded the town now known as Deer Lodge. Grant prospered in Deer Lodge's community of Mexican, French-Canadian, and Métis families. He ran many businesses and traded with American Indians and many immigrants traveling west to Oregon and California. When gold strikes in places like Bannack and Last Chance Gulch changed Montana's population, he sold his ranch and cattle to German immigrant Conrad Kohrs and returned to Canada, as did most of the French Canadians and some of the Mexican families of Deer Lodge valley. Throughout his ventures in Canada, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, he was a caring father to over thirty children, biological and adopted.
IMAGE: John "Johnny" Grant This is a grainy, black-and-white historic photo. Grant is standing. His right hand holds a hat, which hangs down in front of his knee. His left hand rests at his hip, as if his thumb were hooked inside his pants’ pocket. He wears dark pants and a cravat. His dark, long-sleeved shirt with tightly buttoned cuffs has a widely spread collar, buttons down the front, and a light-colored edging around his collar and in two straight lines beside the buttonholes. He has a dark, trimmed goatee. His dark hair is swept to the left and curls outward a couple inches below his ears.
TEXT: Conrad Kohrs Conrad Kohrs came to Montana with little more than the clothes on his back and a bedroll slung over his shoulder. He primarily made money from cattle ranching and selling water rights to mining camps and a nearby gold mine. He faced many challenges-transporting his cattle to market, major losses during the Hard Winter of 1886-87, and livestock rustling. But his perseverance, keen business sense, and hard work contributed to his success.
Conrad Warren, age 6, and Conrad Kohrs, age 79. This historic, black-and-white portrait photo shows an elderly white man with a young white boy behind him. Both gaze off to the right. The elder Kohrs is dressed formally in a medium-colored suit, dress shirt with a starched white collar, and a cravat. He has smooth white hair, combed over to the left and cut short, and a fluffy, white goatee with no moustache. Behind him, positioned a head higher than Kohrs, is young Conrad Kohrs Warren. He has short, medium-colored hair, parted far to the right with a gentle wave in the middle. He wears an all-white outfit with an undershirt and long-sleeved jacket with lapels so wide they drape over his shoulders. The boy’s left hand rests lightly over his grandfather’s left shoulder.
John “Johney” Bielenberg was Kohrs’ younger brother and an expert cattleman. At 18 he arrived in Montana to help with Kohrs' gold camp butcher shops. Their family partnership lasted over 50 years. His passion for breeding horses grew with the need for superior saddle horses on the range. As early as 1873, he was breeding Thoroughbred stallions to native mares, producing some of the best horses for working cattle in the state.
Conrad Warren
Brief description of contributions of Kohrs' grandson.
Conrad Kohrs Warren spent many summers here with his grandparents and his Uncle Johney. He developed a love of animals and the family ranch. At 25 he became the ranch manager. He experimented with artificial insemination, a breeding program for draft horses and cattle, and veterinary skills. In 1940 he bought the ranch. His and his wife Nell's foresight and determination helped preserve the buildings, artifacts, records, and lore of his family that are today part of the park.
Pioneer Woman
Discover how Augusta Kohrs made her way on the frontier.
When newlywed Augusta Kohrs arrived at the ranch, she found a rough, pine-floor house-an informal home for her husband Conrad, and his ten hired men. Her first mattress was a homemade, straw-filled sack infested with bedbugs. She waged a “war of extermination” until no bug could be found. Pregnant with their first child, she kept floors “spotlessly white by scrubbing” made soap and candles, cooked, roasted coffee, tended chickens, and milked cows. Her hard work over the next 20 years created the luxurious Victorian home her family enjoyed.
Proud, tall, beautiful, Augusta (age 33 in this portrait) met Conrad Kohrs when children in Germany. They married in Iowa February 23, 1868, after dating for about three weeks. This is a historic, black-and-white portrait photo of a white woman gazing to the right. Kohrs’ has high cheekbones; dark, arched eyebrows; and soft features. Her coiffed hair is parted deeply in the middle and pulled back. Her clothing is dark with a small, dark pattern, buttons at the neck, and a white ruffle showing above the collar. A dark fabric covers both shoulders. An earring is visible hanging from her earlobe to her jawline. A choker with a chain made of large links has a large, diamond-shaped pendant that rests just below her neck.
The visitor center and ranch are open daily except Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. Memorial Day – Labor Day: 9:00 am to 5:30 pm Labor Day – Memorial Day: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
A guided tour is the only way to visit the inside of the ranch house. Tour size is limited. You may have to wait. You may visit the grounds until your tour begins.
A guided tour is the only way to visit the inside of the ranch house. Tour size is limited. You may have to wait. You may visit the grounds until your tour begins.
