Howard shipped cattle on railroad cars from Texas into New Mexico in groups as large as 1,200 at a time.

Howard Louis Kohn was born on November 8, 1861, in the Cherry Creek area of Denver, Colorado.

[1] He was the son of immigrants Samuel and Yetta Kohn, who arrived at Cherry Creek in 1860 to prosper as businesspeople during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.

[2][3] After the Cherry Creek flood of 1864, the Kohn's and their two sons, Howard and George, returned to Kansas for a few years.

The Kohns traveled by oxen-driven covered wagon to Las Vegas, New Mexico.

She operated the post office, a ferry across the Canadian River, a mercantile store, and the 4V cattle ranch, the latter of which was managed by her son Howard.

On a trip to the Texas panhandle to purchase cattle, he shared the last bed with space for another person with Billy the Kid.

[7] In 1902, Howard, his mother, and siblings moved to Montoya, New Mexico, where they established several businesses.

[8] His sister Belle and her husband Albert Calish lived in the Montoya Valley and operated their own ranch in the Mesa Rica area.

[7] He sold up to 1,200 cattle at a time that he bought in Texas and had shipped in railroad cars to the ranch.

[10] Howard operated the family businesses and was a real estate investor after his brothers' and mother's death.

[8] His sister and her family moved from Montoya, eventually living in El Paso, Texas.

Her maternal grandfather, Seth L. Baker, was the head of an extended family which moved across the country with him as he engaged in speculative businesses.

[12] After the kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindberg Jr. (1932), Howard drove his daughter home at the end of every school day.

[13] Howard suffered smoke inhalation and a stroke after fighting a fire at the Kohn ranch and died on November 2, 1933.

[13] He engaged in commercial lending, including partido contracts where he loaned out more than 3,000 head of cattle on the shares.