Grant-Kohrs Ranch Cultural Resources Statement

Because this newly established area contains fifty-three historic structures, an as yet unnumbered quantity of original furnishings, and literally miles of fences and irrigation ditches, the immediate and potential cultural resource needs are unbounded. Some of them are already being met. Since February 1975 a historical architect has been working actively with the maintenance crew at the park, and such projects as roof replacement where needed and the installation of intrusion alarm systems in the ranch house have begun. All the structures have been inspected by the historical architect and the maintenance crew, and emergency measures have been taken on those structures needing them. There is no prospect of a structure collapsing within the immediate future if repairs are not made.

In addition, the current planning underway, which includes a Statement for Management and an Outline of Planning Requirements recognizes the need for careful site and structure inspection, evaluation, and maintenance. There appears to be no immediate prospect of neglect of the cultural resources at the park.

Nevertheless, Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS does present numerous current and future cultural resource needs (or demands). The most apparent of these are discussed below.

A. Furnishings

The furnishings at the ranch include items in the home, ranging from furniture to art pieces, and numerous pieces of equipment, both large and small, used at the ranch and located in the various ranch utility buildings. While the collection is currently being cataloged, it presents other demands on the Service. Technical care and routine curatorial management needs of the collection are great, and should be addressed as soon as possible. The atmosphere of the first and second floors of the ranch house, for example, is rather dry and stable compared to that within the drafty barns and outbuildings and the ranch house basement. The goals and techniques of caring for the furnishings associated with these divergent situations need to be carefully considered and, once determined, passed on to the park staff for action. This need was recognized when composing the team assigned to prepare the General Management Plan, and a curator was assigned to it. It is unlikely, however, that all the curatorial needs will be met during the writing of the General Management Plan. Following the cataloging, and during the preparation of the General Management Plan, the custodial needs of the extensive collection at Grant-Kohrs Ranch should be considered.

B. Structures

The structural needs of the fifty-three historic structures at the ranch will be discussed in the Architectural Data section of this report.

C. Development

At this time (February 1976) the initial development of the ranch is basically complete. Two old wooden ranch structures, typical of the area and of the active years of the Kohrs and Bielenberg ranching enterprise, have been moved from their original locations on the "Upper Ranch" south of Deer Lodge and put into the open field in the southwest corner of the fee simple land. One serves as a visitor contact station, the other houses toilet facilities. A graveled walkway leads toward the ranch house. It is complete except for the two culverts under the railroad tracks that will be necessary for passage and that have not yet been constructed. A twenty-six-car parking lot completes the visitor facilities in the field, called the "Tom Stuart Field" after the family who lived there late in the 19th century.

The ownership in fee simple of the "Tom Stuart Field" is fortunate in relation to the development of the park. The area is generally flat, although it has some uneven surface, especially toward the railroad tracks. But it is across the tracks and, because the tracks are raised somewhat at that point, almost hidden from the historical structures of the ranch on the other side. Thus there is a convenient space separating the development area and the historical area that existed long before the park was created and that contains enough natural vegetation that there is no visual intrusion either way, except in the winter. During that season the rooftops of the two development area structures can he seen from the front yard of the ranch house, and the front of the ranch house can be seen from the development area. There is, then, some limited visual intrusion. This can easily he corrected by the judicious placement of perhaps four medium sized evergreen trees native to the area.

Future visitor services expansion, should it ever be undertaken, should be confined to the Tom Stuart Field if at all possible. This would preclude visual intrusion onto the ranch site while retaining proximity to it. It is a built-in solution to avoid any visual or physical intrusion onto the historical scene.

D. Scenic Easements

The scenic easements on the lands immediately adjacent to the historical areas (the fee simple lands owned by the National Park Service) protect the integrity of the historical scene. Indeed , since the easement restricts uses of the land to traditional agricultural enterprises, it enhances the scene while simultaneously affording the visitor a look at ranching and farming as it is conducted today in contrast to the Kohrs-Bielenberg era. However, the scenic easement lands provide only a limited buffer against two separate developments in the area. One potential intrusion is the northward movement of the homes of Deer Lodge residents. The area north of the ranch and generally east of the tracks is becoming filled with houses. Should the southern edge of this development move further in that direction, visual intrusion onto the historical scene will be unavoidable.

In addition, directly east of the fee simple lands, at a distance of about one-quarter mile, lies Interstate Highway 90, and to the east-northeast is an interchange, presently the scene of two gas stations and two restaurants. Their potential visual intrusion onto the historical scene is obvious. Whether strengthening of the present scenic easements is worthwhile or even necessary, and whether additional fee simple lands need to be acquired, should be considered at as early a date as possible. It is unlikely that the costs of acquiring fee simple land or additional scenic easements will lessen in the future. Recent history indicates just the opposite. In addition, it is ironic to contemplate the probable sequence of events causing intrusions onto the historical scene: once open, the park will bring large numbers of visitors to Deer Lodge, and this will warrant the construction by commercial investors of additional service facilities.

The benchlands and pastures west of the scenic easement zone are not under any development restrictions. Yet the natural character of the scene immeasureably enhances the overall historical environment. Consideration should he given to adding these lands, if possible, to those currently protecting the park.

E. Status of Research

Despite the importance of the ranch to local, regional, and national history of the range cattle industry, surprisingly few formal works have been written on the site. Yet it is mentioned, as is Conrad Kohrs, in virtually every major work on the range cattle industry. So its importance is recognized, but little formal work has been done on it. This might be due to the fact that the papers concerning the park have remained in private hands, a situation that exists today. This is discussed in more detail below.

1. National Park Service Research

The Historic Resource Study of the site is currently in preparation and this report forms a portion of that study. Accompanying the resource study is a Historic Structure Report containing both Architectural and Historical Data sections. These studies, which will include maps, an Initial Historic Base Map, illustrations, appendices, and some HABS quality structural drawings, should be available for general use by mid-Summer 1977.

The prime historical asset of the site, however, has not yet been tapped. This is the historical collection of documents and photographs at the park office in Deer Lodge. A word of explanation is in order concerning these papers. They had been photographed once before, in 1972, by National Park Service personnel unfamiliar with archival quality microfilming procedures, and thus, while the owner of the papers, Conrad K. Warren, had permitted Service researchers to use them, the films were of such condition that active use of them was not practical. Accordingly, as part of the Historic Resource Study, attempts were made to gain permission to refilm the entire collection this time to meet archival standards. The filming was done, resulting in a well organized and comprehensive set of seven rolls of microfilms and almost 300 historical photographs to be put in the park files. They are there and available for future research. Yet scheduling of current research prohibited their use in this research study. The original papers remain the property of Conrad Warren, and although the films are in the park's files, the only persons allowed to use them are Service personnel. Thus they are not completely open for use by any except Service researchers.

It is probable that the papers will eventually be donated to the Montana Historical Society. Should this happen, the rather small collection of Service-owned papers at the park could be transferred to the Society also on a long-term loan basis, thus putting most of the known Conrad Kohrs material in one location, accessible to all.

2. Other Research

As noted above, there is limited formal material on the Kohrs Ranch. One of the best sources on Kohrs and Bielenberg and their influence is Robert Fletcher, Free Grass to Fences. Another Montana cattle history that puts some emphasis on Kohrs and Bielenberg is Mark Brown and W. R. Felton Before Barbed Wire. A work frequently cited, but which requires careful, critical scrutiny is Larry Gill, "From Butcher Boy to Beef King: The Gold Camp Days of Conrad Kohrs," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 8, No. 2. A major source of Kohrs and Bielenberg data, and of Montana history in general, of course, is the Montana Historical Society collection at Helena, about a 1-1/2-hour drive from the park.

Introduction
Historic Resource Study | Cultural Resources Statement | Historic Structure Report