{"id":2852,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:15","latitude":46.40795345914684588706222712062299251556396484375,"longitude":-112.736557960379315090904128737747669219970703125,"title":"Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/bfe3088f7051f497fb9eab3db056cc64.jpg","address":"266 Warren Ln, Deer Lodge, MT 59722","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"The buildings on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch chronicle the history of cattle ranching in the American West. Métis rancher Johnny Grant began wintering cattle in Montana’s Deer Lodge Valley in the 1850s and found success selling livestock to the Idaho and California gold camps. In 1862, he built a spacious, two-story home for his large Métis family near present-day Deer Lodge. German butcher Conrad Kohrs purchased Grant’s ranch in 1866. Kohrs—in partnership with his younger, half-brother John Bielenberg—soon built a cattle empire, grazing enormous herds on 10 million acres of open range across four states and Canada. Kohrs focused on the business and politics of cattle ranching, serving as both a territorial and state senator and president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association. Always “out in the field,” Bielenberg excelled at breeding and became known for his Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and Thoroughbred and draft horses. Many pieces of historic farm equipment and dozens of well-preserved outbuildings dating from the 1860s to the mid-1900s still illustrate their vast cattle operation. The ranch house, lavishly expanded with a brick addition and decorated in the Victorian style by Kohrs’ wife Augusta, reflects the family’s success and status. In 1929, Kohrs’ grandson Conrad Warren became ranch manager and in 1940, with his wife Nell, purchased the ranch. They focused on two things: the livestock industry and historic preservation. The Warrens’ preservation efforts left behind an unmatched record of America's western cattle ranching history. The ranch, which the Warrens sold to the National Park Service, was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and opened to the public as a National Historic Site in 1977.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Public, National Park Service operated historic site","lede":"","website":"https://www.nps.gov/grko/index.htm","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/bc356345-c429-45ff-91aa-7507e8de9aa9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read more about the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Landmark</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/ae46e181-973a-459e-9ce0-3b1e4455834e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/93838880-f920-4ffe-9245-442b9aab378c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See more photos of the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/bfe3088f7051f497fb9eab3db056cc64.jpg":{"id":4645,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"John E. Grant house and trading post","description":"Pencil sketch view of John E. Grant house and trading post. Note: Tipi at far left. | National Park Service | ca. 1862 | Granville Stuart, artists","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/bfe3088f7051f497fb9eab3db056cc64.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/8eabf0932cb4e41fa4361596915a7fb6.jpg":{"id":4646,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Kohrs Ranch house, Deer Lodge, MT","description":"Augusta Kohrs, the wife of “Cattle King” Conrad Kohrs, was instrumental in molding the Ranch House and its landscape’s Victorian style. The order and refinement that she imposed sharply contrasted with the outlying utilitarian ranch landscape. | Grant Kohrs Ranch House and Yard Cultural Landscape, National Park Service website. https://www.nps.gov/articles/890242.htm#4/35.50/-98.53 | unknown | National Park Service photo","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/8eabf0932cb4e41fa4361596915a7fb6.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/19415ca7cf96ba8e8fcd3f3b0a42175f.jpg":{"id":4635,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Kohrs Ranch house","description":"Exterior of the Con Kohrs ranch house, near Deer Lodge, Montana. A picket fence surrounds the house and yard. A car can be seen parked beside another building on the right side of the photograph. | University of Montana Mansfield Archives | ca. 1940 | photographer unknown","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/19415ca7cf96ba8e8fcd3f3b0a42175f.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/12634afbb76ee42ea6c990deff7cd217.jpg":{"id":4638,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Augusta Kohrs","description":"Augusta Kohrs spent her adult life at the ranch, from 1868 until she died in 1945. According to her grand-daughter Patricia Warren &quot;her legacy is not expressed solely in the cultured and comfortable ranch house that is now the central jewel of a national historic site.&quot; Augusta was intimately involved in the operation of the ranch, as evidenced by her name on corporate documents -- revealing her involvement as partner and shareholder in various corporations that operated the ranch through the years. Her role as one of the caretakers after Conrad Kohrs and John Bielenberg&#039;s deaths in the early 1920s was key as the Trustees downsized the home ranch and its remaining lands and livestock. This included the decision to bring in her grandson Con Warren as manager. Augusta&#039;s &quot;caretaker&quot; period lasted from the late 1920s till 1940, when Con Warren purchased the ranch from the estate. | Courtesy of Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Archives. Accessed online at https://www.facebook.com/GrantKohrsRanchFoundation/photos/a.362505083829859/992591197487908/?type=3&amp;theater | ca. 1875 | J. P. Ehlers &amp; Maler, Altona, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/12634afbb76ee42ea6c990deff7cd217.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/faa429631b6205ddddbb2694065b4f6a.jpg":{"id":4640,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch","description":"Lithograph showing livestock and bunkhouse row area of the Kohrs &amp; Bielenberg Ranch. | Leeson, M. A. History of Montana. Warners, Beer, &amp; Co., Chicago, IL, 1885. | ca. 1883 | unknown artist","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/faa429631b6205ddddbb2694065b4f6a.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/14656701fd888278082775883b5ec982.jpg":{"id":4636,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Kohrs Ranch original cabin/bunkhouse","description":"View looking southwest at original John Grant family cabin built ca. 1861. After 1862 and construction of the main house, the cabin became the ranch bunkhouse, sheltering ranch hands for nearly 100 years. | Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), National Archives collection.  | ca. 1974 | Jack Boucher, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/14656701fd888278082775883b5ec982.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/145c368b385234d23d3b341bac8eabf9.jpg":{"id":4637,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Chuckwagon at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch","description":"Men and horses gathered around a chuckwagon on the Con Kohrs Ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana. Several ranch buildings are seen in the photograph. | University of Montana-Mansfield Archives, Kohrs Family papers, MSS 073. | ca. 1899 | unknown photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/145c368b385234d23d3b341bac8eabf9.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/480b24890c86bcff556435ce653cf6c8.jpg":{"id":4643,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Doorway to Leeds Lion Barn, Deer Lodge, Powell County, MT","description":"View of facade | Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Record No. HABS MONT,39-DELO,1-F--1. Accessed on May 4, 2020 at https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/mt0052.photos.100843p/ | 1974 | Jack Boucher, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/480b24890c86bcff556435ce653cf6c8.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2803843acf078c1b3386aa6510cd40c2.jpg":{"id":4641,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Beaverslide hay stacker at Grant-Kohrs Ranch","description":"Jiusto, Chere and Christine Brown, Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana, Montana Historical Society Press, 2012.  | 2010 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/2803843acf078c1b3386aa6510cd40c2.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/a51d17ca47684bad1ad47b1eed9232e0.jpg":{"id":4644,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Stallion Barn no. 1, Grant-Kohrs Ranch, Deer Lodge, MT","description":"Jiusto, Chere and Christine Brown, Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana, Montana Historical Society Press, 2012. | 2010 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/a51d17ca47684bad1ad47b1eed9232e0.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/0f23c7c33ce56ad9e24ec97b71a9fcb8.jpg":{"id":4642,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Kohrs Ranch, Draft Horse Barn, Deer Lodge, MT","description":"Perspective view of south elevation | Jiusto, Chere and Christine Brown, Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana, Montana Historical Society Press, 2012. | 2010 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/0f23c7c33ce56ad9e24ec97b71a9fcb8.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/02e3e471c9d0b766fc92126896ec03d7.jpg":{"id":6007,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Khors Ranch","description":"Photo of facade of ranch house.  | Montana Historical Society | 11 September, 2021 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/02e3e471c9d0b766fc92126896ec03d7.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/e4e23672efe7f135a2c938231e87c080.jpg":{"id":6008,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Khors Ranch","description":"View from house porch.  | Montana Historical Society | 11 September, 2021 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/e4e23672efe7f135a2c938231e87c080.jpg"},"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/d6a05ee98cadb9d038e0b2a1e9acc0f0.jpg":{"id":6009,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Grant-Khors Ranch","description":"Photo of ranch structures in front of mountains. | Montana Historical Society | 11 September, 2021 | Tom Ferris, photographer","thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/d6a05ee98cadb9d038e0b2a1e9acc0f0.jpg"}}}