Dreams of wealth lured the first cattlemen to Montana. The range was open and unfenced, and ranchers could fatten their cattle on the lush bunchgrass and push on to new pasture when the old areas were overgrazed. The main obstacles were buffalo and the Indians, and by the 1860s 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 1870s 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.

Frontier military posts and mining camps bought most of the first beef produced. When the railroads opened up this region in the 1870s, the big market was back east. Beef was becoming the favorite meat of the teeming populations of eastern cities, and it could now be shipped long distances economically in refrigerator cars. 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. By 1890, many cattlemen were practicing a new kind of range management: they brought the feed and water to the cattle. As feed crops replaced native grasses, river bottoms became useful for growing hay, and water-or the right to it-became a valuable asset, making the land far more productive than it otherwise might be. The quality of livestock became more important than the quantity. Improved range management and selective breeding produced cattle that yielded more beef and better withstood the rigorous winters. With these changes, the old life of the cowboy passed. He now spent less time herding cattle and more time growing feed and repairing fences.

The open-range cattle industry lasted only three decades. Few of its pioneering men and women made their fortunes 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.

Ranch Life
The ranch house and the bunkhouse, though only 50 feet apart, were two different worlds. The cowboy’s day was spent tending cattle, mending fences, and taking care of horses and equipment. It was a strenuous, often monotonous life, relieved by spring or fall roundups or a few days in a railroad town after a cattle drive. On the occasional trip to town he had a chance to replace worn-out boots or buy a pair of pants. Since a cowboy made only $20 to $30 a month, and a new hat might cost $20, he had to shop carefully and buy clothes and gear that were functional and durable.

The bunkhouse—home for the cowboys and ranch hands—lacked the amenities of the ranch house. Its pleasures were few and simple but appreciated. The food was plain. Yet, the meals at the long table were banquets compared with the rough fare on the trail or during roundups. A Chinese cook served beef, beans, and sourdough bread, a menu sometimes varied by bacon and eggs, vegetables, pies, cakes, and sweet biscuits called “bannocks.” In the evening the cowboys gathered around the stove to chew tobacco or smoke, swap stories, or listen to news brought in by cowboys from other parts of Kohrs’ far-flung empire.

While the rancher and his family might have been better fed and clothed, they hardly had an easy existence, at least in the early years. A rancher worked as hard as the hands, and his wife had to endure isolation and loneliness, not to speak of her labor on countless everyday chores. When they did achieve some success, their prosperity showed in the furnishings of the ranch house. The rancher’s wife tried to make her home as comfortable and gracious as possible and a good place for raising children and entertaining friends. The Kohrs, better off than most, lavished improvements on their house—the latest furniture, a brick addition, indoor plumbing, lighting, and central heat—and traveled widely.

For all the tangencies of their lives, the rancher and the cowboy were partners in an intricate, often risky business: a rancher depended on good cowboys; a cowboy appreciated a rancher who could make the ranch pay and was sensible and fair. They shared the common bonds of open grasslands, cattle, horses, and hard work.