Conrad Kohrs

Initially, he used it to hold the beef that was supplying his own operations, but eventually built the operation up until, at its peak, it owned 50,000 head of cattle, grazing on 10 million acres (40,000 km²), spread across four states and two Canadian Provinces and shipping 10,000 head of cattle annually to the Chicago stock yards.

After the disastrous winter of 1886-1887, during which tens of thousands of head of cattle were lost and which began the death of the open range style of ranching, Kohrs and his half-brother, John Bielenberg, were among the first to recover and adopt more modern methods of ranching; buying purebred breeding stock; fencing ranges; raising and storing feed, etc.

[2] He died on July 23, 1920, on the home ranch at Deer Lodge, aged 84.

In 1902, Kohrs and his wife, Augusta, built a library in Deer Lodge for $30,000, as a memorial to their son.

"[3] The home ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana, was held by the family until 1972, when his grandson sold it to the National Park Service.