Grant-Kohrs Ranch Kohrs and Bielenberg Home Ranch Historic Resource Study/Historic Structure Report/Historical Data

Four illustrations of the home ranch graphically portray its development and changes from 1865, when John Grant owned it, to 1907, when the ranch was at its highest level of development under Kohrs's ownership. The first picture is one drawn by Granville Stuart and dated 6 August 1865. The second is the 1883 Stoner "Bird's-Eye View" of Deer Lodge. Many American communities in the 1880s subscribed to this kind of service that resulted in a lithographic view of their town from a low oblique aerial perspective. The one of Deer Lodge includes an inset of the Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch, although it is not so labeled. The third picture is dated ca. 1884, being no later than 1885, and came from M. A. Leeson's History of Montana. It shows a view of the home ranch in close detail, including stock. The final graphic document is a 1907 map, drawn by the Milwaukee Road as they planned their tracks to parallel those of the Northern Pacific running alongside the ranch. [1] The four documents, when examined in sequence, show an increasing sophistication at the site, reflecting the growing numbers and types of animals there and the affluence of its second owners. A discussion of the four documents follows.

A. The Stuart Drawing, 6 August 1865

Granville Stuart is considered to be the first serious chronicler of Montana's history. His drawings of the areas he visited, such as Fort Union Trading Post on the Missouri and the Grant Ranch, alone would qualify him for the honor as Montana's first graphic historian, since he dated and titled his detailed sketches. But he also left his narratives to the state, and assisted in founding its historical society. Those interested in Grant-Kohrs Ranch, therefore, are but some among the many already indebted to him for his work. His 1865 drawing of the Grant Ranch, like many of his other sketches, shows a great deal.

Paramount is the ranch house, now Historic Structure 1 at the park. It is shown presumably as John Grant built it, without landscaping or additions. The clapboard veneer shows clearly, along with the wood shingle roof and chimneys at either end. The green shutters mentioned in an 1865 newspaper article (see Appendix 1) do not, however, appear in this illustration.

To the right of the ranch house (to the north) are a series of long, low log buildings where today's Historic Structure 2 now stands. Presumably some of those structures or all of them are now part of Historic Structure 2, the bunkhouse. Tradition has it that the older portions of the bunkhouse were built prior to the ranch house and that the Grant family lived there until the ranch house was completed. The illustration confirms at least one structure similar to Historic Structure 2 north of the ranch house as of August 1865. This probably became known as the bunkhouse in later years.

Also shown in the picture are two types of fences. In the foreground is the traditional Montana jack-leg fence, erected in a zigzag manner. But to the left and rear of the house (southwest of the house) is a more standard post-and pole fence. A close examination of the area just to the left of (south and west of) the house shows what might be a garden, or orchard. Possibly the fence is in some way associated with these even rows of vegetation, whatever they are.

In what would eventually become the front yard of the house sit two skin lodges and a set of tent poles for a third. This, too, is consistent with the oral tradition associated with the structure. Near the tepees are three wagons, confirming the inclusion of wagons in the instrument of sale from Grant to Conrad Kohrs a year later (August 1866). [2]

To the left of the house, and in the foreground (southeast of the house), are two structures, both built low to the ground. One appears to be a water trough or possibly a feed trough for cattle and horses. The other, a square, flat, floor-like item, defies easy description. Possibly it was a rack for drying skins or even fish from the nearby Deer Lodge River. Since it rests on the edge of a bluff on one end and on poles on the other, there is space underneath. It is not impossible that this was some sort of stock shelter, although, if it was, it was drawn in poor perspective. Possibly, associated as it is with the trough, it functioned as a floor or base for one of the "hay racks" mentioned by Grant in the 1866 deed. [3]

B. 1883 Bird's-Eye View of Deer Lodge City: "The Stoner Picture" [4]

Many of America's communities appeared in the Stoner "Bird's-eye view" sheets in the 1880s, and Deer Lodge, Montana was one of them. The pictures displayed the communities as a unit, providing both a pleasant picture of their home town for the residents of the 1880s and an invaluable historical document for those who would be studying the town in the 1970s. The view is a low oblique one, showing the town and its structures and their general outline. Usually even the detailing of each building is fairly accurate.

The whole project probably involved an advance man selling subscriptions, followed by the preparation of the bird's-eye view once enough funds had been collected. Customarily, those who wished to pay an extra fee could ensure a prominent position for their home, usually with an inset around the border. Presumably this accounts for the Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch. inset in the left margin of the 1883 Deer Lodge drawing.

Almost as if it were done for the benefit of future researchers, the detail in the drawing is quite complete. As with all of these bird's-eye views, the vertical perspective is stretched and generally all of the buildings are made to appear somewhat more imposing than they actually were. Nevertheless, the positioning of the structures is accurate, and their detailing is good.

By the time the 1883 scene was drawn, the ranch house had undergone some changes. The front and sides had been landscaped with what appear to be poplars or cottonwoods. The trees seem mature in the picture, indicating they were planted at least in the mid-1870s. Because of the perspective (from the southeast), a third chimney to the rear of the house shows in this drawing. It did not show in the earlier 1865 Stuart sketch, but perhaps this was due to the angle from which Stuart chose to present the structure.

A front porch had been added by 1883. It shows prominently in the sketch, and the porch roof appears to be supported by at least four pillars.

The bunkhouse, Historic Structure 2, appears in about the same position as the log buildings at the Grant Ranch drawn by Stuart. It has a new peaked roof however, replacing the sloping flat roof it had in the 1865 drawing.

Immediately to the east of the bunkhouse, and in line with. it, is a sloped-roof structure higher than the bunkhouse with five large doors. This is obviously the buggy shed, today the easternmost part of Historic Structure 2. It was then a separate building.

Generally parallel to the bunkhouse and buggy shed, but behind them (to the north of them), a large barn shows quite clearly. This might he today's Historic Structure 7, a draft horse barn, or Non-Extant Structure E, a cow barn. Whatever its exact number or title, the barn is a large one with a peaked roof and what appears to be board and batten construction. A hayloft door is shown on the east side as well.

There is a corral, with a double-hung gate at the east end, between the back of the buggy shed and the bunkhouse on one side, and the face of the barn just described on the other, with the other two sides completed by a fence. This is about where a corral is today, and could well be one used in working cattle in the immediate area.

Three other buildings appear as well, somewhat more easily identified. They are long and tall sheds generally north-south in orientation and parallel to the railroad tracks. The easternmost building is Non-Extant Structure D, labeled "Cow Stable" on a later map. On the east side of this cow stable sits what is apparently an open-sided stock shelter, the closest of all the buildings to the railroad track. It appears to be constructed of logs, with a straw or board sloping and flat roof. To the west of Non-Extant Structure D is a third building, probably what is currently called Historic Structure 11, horse barn.

Shown, then, in sum, are the ranch house and five ancillary buildings: the bunkhouse, the buggy shed, a cow stable, a horse barn, and an open stock shelter. It is significant to note that the thoroughbred barn, one of the most important utility buildings at the ranch, is not shown. This argues strongly that it did not exist at the time. If it had it surely would have been included (if the argument that Con Kohrs helped subsidize the drawing is accepted). Neither Con nor John Bielenberg would have allowed such an imposing structure to be neglected in the drawing.

The salient feature of the drawing, when considered as a whole, is that the ranch had become somewhat pretentious by this time, with wagons and buggies enough to warrant a buggy shed. The bunkhouse had been reroofed and possibly refurbished in other ways, and three other major structures had been built, plus at least one corral.

There was, by this time, possibly more to the ranch as well. Four buildings show on the drawing just above the inset illustrating the Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch. Their exact relation to the ranch is not clear, but they appear to be just across the railroad track from the ranch complex and a bit further south, toward the outskirts of town. If this is so, these are probably the buildings in what is today the Tom Stuart Field, where the park's visitor service facilities are located. The grouping consists of a major dwelling, one outbuilding to the southwest, probably a privy, and what seem to be two other smaller dwellings to the north and west. The major dwelling might be what has come to be called (incorrectly) the Tom Stuart Cabin. The grouping contained much more than a cabin. [5]

C. Residence of Conrad Kohrs: The Leeson Drawing

The Leeson volume, too, was a subscription-supported product, much as was the Stoner drawing, and presumably Con Kohrs paid an extra fee to have his ranch illustrated. For the benefit of those who would study the ranch in the years following Kohrs's death, it was a most worthy act. The book was published in 1885, so assuming it took about a year to publish the work, a date of 1885 could be assigned to the drawing. Thus the detailed illustration can corroborate or dispute the 1883 Stoner perspective.

The ranch house is viewed straight on, from a position near the railroad tracks. The porch shown in the Stoner drawing appears, and vertical lattice work on the porch can be seen through the foliage. The windows are shuttered, and have curtains. The two chimneys seen in both the 1865 Stuart sketch and in the 1883 Stoner drawing also appear. There is an addition at the north end of the house, however, the first addition appearing in any of the drawings. Poplars (possibly lombardy poplars) or cottonwoods outline the house in the front yard, and the close-up view allows us to see small round flower beds on each side of the front porch. A wall had been added to the front yard, coming directly out from the porch and front door. The yard is outlined by a picket fence, probably white. Two hitching posts and a mounting box are at the front gate. Con Kohrs strolls on the south side of the yard, while Augusta stands on a walk going north around the side of the house to a gate on the northwest side of the picket fence.

To the right is the bunkhouse with the peaked roof as in the 1883 Stoner drawing. Close detailing reveals a scallop-like effect on the bunkhouse eaves. This might have been a decorative item, but they are probably just the ends of logs. The bunkhouse has a main door, with two windows east of it and one west of it. The walls are obviously of log.

The bunkhouse is still separated from the buggy shed, which is also part of Historic Structure 2 in today's park. The buggy shed appears much as it does in the Stoner drawing. The number of doors is shown somewhat more clearly, seven appearing in this 1884 view. As in the earlier illustration, the roof is flat and sloping.

Between the two buildings, sitting on a high pole, is a birdhouse. It might have been a purple martin house, or one designed to accommodate any member of the swift family. Swifts and martins are famous for their ability to catch mosquitos on the wing, and the presence of the birdhouse might demonstrate a nineteenth-century mosquito control program. Presumably, the mosquitos swarmed at Deer Lodge then as much as they do now.

To the north of the bunkhouse and buggy shed the corral, partially seen in the 1883 view, is much more clearly delineated, along with the double-hung gate. The fence here is post-and-pole, not jack-leg. This is consistent with fence design for corrals at the site up to 1972 when the park was established.

The two buildings shown to the right (north) of the bunkhouse and buggy shed are somewhat less easy to place. Since the angle of view in this picture is radically different from the one a year earlier, the comparison of the two helps out little. They are in the proper juxtaposition to be possibly Non-Extant Structure E and Historic Structure 7. Historic Structure 7 is a log structure, as shown here, and the cow barn might have been a frame building, as suggested in the drawing. Yet the identification of these two buildings is somewhat speculative If they are Non-Extant Structure E and Historic Structure 7, then the former is the building to the right, the latter the one on its left.

The fences and pastures are somewhat easier to interpret. The jack-leg fence on the right (north) side of the picture shows most clearly. It is in the same form as that illustrated in the 1865 drawing: vertical "Xs" joined by horizontal poles at zigzags, similar to contemporary eastern snake-rail fences. (Both the Stuart drawing and this one show the zigzag quality. The reason for this is unknown.) A jack-leg fence of the same type surrounds a haystack in the adjoining pasture that is bordered on the west by the Deer Lodge River. The size and most especially the elevation of the haystack imply that some sort of stacker was in operation at the ranch at the time. Unfortunately, no farm equipment is shown.

A final note, while not directly involved with the structures, is worthy of mention. The figure on the thoroughbred, "Regent," can be none other than John Bielenberg. His carriage and bearing, as well as the cap he wears, makes identification simple. The two standing men might be ranch hands, or they might be the other Bielenbergs, Nick and Charles.

The ranch in 1884 had evolved dramatically from that shown in the 1865 Stuart drawing. It had reached a level of sophistication that it maintained for the rest of its active life. The 1884 Leeson drawing shows the dynamic Kohrs and Bielenberg cattle enterprise boasting two breeds of high quality cattle and four kinds of thoroughbred horses, and evincing considerable affluence overall.

D. A Partial Map of Deer Lodge Townsite [6]

This 1907 map is the fourth and final documemat illustrating the first forty-five years of the ranch. Complete and detailed as it is, it only covers the grounds and buildings immediately surrounding the ranch house. Yet for the first time the relative location of buildings and pastures, corrals, and lanes are known, and thus this map serves as a most important document for a study of the stock growing activities there.

The data on the map came from the files of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was printed on Milwaukee Road maps as the Milwaukee was preparing to lay tracks parallel to the ones already there. The solid line cutting through four of the buildings, which runs parallel to the Northern Pacific tracks (double lines), is the line on which the Milwaukee laid its rails.

A total of twelve buildings are shown, along with over ten clearly defined corrals, pastures, or lanes. (In some cases it as difficult to determine the exact bounds of some of the pastures.) The relationship of the buildings to the stock corrals and pastures is revealed clearly.

The "DW'g" (dwelling) is shown in its contemporary configuration, with the 1890 brick addition attached to the rear of the 1862 John Grant House. The addition on the north, which first appeared in the Leeson drawing, is outlined, as is an addition on the south, the solarium. Historic Structure 1, the ranch house, then, has changed markedly since the 1884 drawing.

Immediately to the north, the bunkhouse has also changed greatly in the years since 1884. In the 1883 and 1884 drawings it had appeared in two parts, but in the intervening twenty-three years the buggy house and bunkhouse had been joined by a stable with a hayloft, and the building now has its modern external form.

Between Historic Structure 1 and 2 sits a small, almost square building entitled "Ice House." It is Historic Structure 3 today.

Behind the bunkhouse (north) is a "Chicken House," Non-Extant Structure G. In 1907 it sat on the ground now occupied by Historic Structure 6.

North of the chicken house is a cluster of other buildings, barns or stables, three of them sharing common walls. The largest of the three is a "Cow Barn," and its west wall is the east wall of a "Horse Stable," Historic Structure 7, today's draft horse barn. The north wall of Historic Structure 7, in turn, is the south wall of one of two "Cow Stables" shown on this 1907 map (in actuality a lean-to), considered today as part of Historic Structure 7. A second "Cow Stable" stands alone to the north. The "Cow Stable" that sits north of Historic Structure 7 is today's Historic Structure 10.

Further north is another long, narrow cluster of four buildings. The westernmost is today's Historic Structure 11, a horse barn, called a "Horse Stable" on the map. It touches the corner of another building, Non-Extant Structure C, labelled "Open Cow Shed." The open cow shed has a smaller building touching it on the diagonal, called a "Machine Shed" and numbered Non-Extant Structure B. In the west the "Open Cow Shed'" joins a long building, "Cow Stable," almost 200 feet long. This is Non-Extant Structure D.

Far to the north of the buildings near the ranch house is another long and narrow building, another machine shed, today's Historic Structure 12. (It has been moved from its 1907 site.)

One building stands alone, west of the others. In bulk, it is the largest on the map, and is entitled "Cow Barn." It is today's Historic Structure 15, the thoroughbred barn.

A total of twelve buildings appear on the 1907 railroad map. The impression conveyed by it is that the ranch is a large operation by that date, a historically correct indication. The buildings are large and numerous; obviously this is no minor subsistence ranching site.

Pastures and corrals are delineated on the map as well, among the three groups of buildings just north of the ranch house. The sides of some of these structures and various fence lines outline five separate corrals where cattle could he worked. West of the "Cow Barn" is part of a pasture, with two others north of it. One lane going west from the utility buildings near the bunkhouse is outlined, and a road is shown passing in front of the bunkhouse. The ranch house fenced area appears in its entirety, as does the pasture just south of the house and a small corral joining the southeast corner of the yard.

Fence lines and fence types appear also. A different fence type, delineated by strength lines with regularly spaced dots, is shown around the house. This is no doubt the picket fence. The bulk of the rest of the fences are shown with "Xs," probably denoting jack-leg fences.

This 1907 map confirms the location of many of the buildings shown in the 1883 and 1884 drawings and their relationships to one another and to the various corrals and pastures. The corral shown on both, which included the north wall of the bunkhouse and buggy shed, is drawn exactly, as are such features as the line of the picket fence in the front yard and the pastures on the south side of the ranch house. It is important as well for what it shows that the 1883 and 1884 drawings do not. This is particularly true for the northern "Machine Shed" (Historic Structure 12) and the "Cow Barn" (Historic Structure 15). The appearance of this imposing structure on a 1907 map and its absence on the 1883 and 1884 drawings is instructive. No building of such proportions would have been omitted in either the Leeson illustration or the Stoner bird's-eye view. It is safe to assign this structure a construction date of between 1884 and 1907, thereby supporting somewhat the traditional building date of 1890.

E. The Four Illustrations: An Evaluation

Much of what can be learned by considering these four illustrations of the ranch in sequence is so readily apparent that it merits but little additional discussion. The main house, for example, is seen to have remained about the same in its overall configurations in all of these drawings until the 1907 map, which is the first document showing the 1890 addition. The appearance of minor exterior modifications and landscaping also is easily determined. The consistent use of the jack-leg fence on all four documents, too, is strikingly clear. But taken as a whole, the four pictures show a little more general, yet substantive, data about the site.

First of all, it appears that the nature of the scene changed a great deal with the change in ownership. The Grant ranch that Granville Stuart pictured is a rougher kind of place than that illustrated in the earliest of the Kohrs period drawings, produced eighteen years later. The yard is full of trees already full grown and mature. The area in front of the house during the last full year of Grant's ownership accommodated two tepees some kind of utilitarian rack, and a trough, and served as some sort of pasture or corral, its borders graced by the rough-cut jack-leg fence. Conrad, Augusta, and John lived in the same house, which by that time was a physically imposing structure sporting a more formal front yard, with flower beds, a picket fence, and walkways, and which, probably because of the addition of soil and grass even seemed to sit on a slightly higher grade. So a big change in veneer and a formalization of the ranch house that now served as the home of a family accustomed to some refinements characterized the Kohrs era as compared with the Grant period.

Another difference is degree of sophistication of the entire cattle raising operation. Grant's ranch is hardly representative of a serious cattle growing business. Yet by 1883 and 1884 the Kohrs and Bielenberg ranch is proudly acclaiming that it is the home of "Clyde of Brant . . . Strideway, Miss Ella & Colt . . . Regent . . . Figaro," and the "Residence of Conrad Kohrs, Deer Lodge. Mont., Kohrs & Bielenberg, Breeders of Short-Horn & Hereford Cattle, Thoroughbred, Clydesdale, Percheron-Norman and Coach Horses." So, during the eighteen intervening years the entire site had become quite complex compared to the large house in the wilderness that John Grant owned near Deer Lodge City in 1865. The level of sophistication really did not change very much after that, although the ranch acquired more buildings, of course, such as the large barn—Historic Structure 15. But this is a matter of degree, and the essential change had already occurred. The 1907 map confirms a few of the details hinted at in the 1883 and 1884 views. The road in front of the bunkhouse is shown a bit more clearly, and the land determined by the jack-leg fence to the rear of the birdhouse in the 1884 drawing is also shown, as are the pastures adjacent to it. The 1883 and 1884 views picture a family proud of its accomplishments, aware of the imposing nature of its ranch headquarters. In that sense, the addition of lands and buildings in the decade of the 1890s was not very important . The essential quality of the Kohrs family, as an important unit in Montana play their material gains, was already established.

The change from the simple to the elaborate, from the merely functional to the heavily landscaped, was dramatic. The difference in the use of the home and in the kind of family that occupied the dwelling house during the two different periods of ownership was most apparent as well.

B. 1883 Bird's-Eye View of Deer Lodge City: "The Stoner Picture" [4]

Many of America's communities appeared in the Stoner "Bird's-eye view" sheets in the 1880s, and Deer Lodge, Montana was one of them. The pictures displayed the communities as a unit, providing both a pleasant picture of their home town for the residents of the 1880s and an invaluable historical document for those who would be studying the town in the 1970s. The view is a low oblique one, showing the town and its structures and their general outline. Usually even the detailing of each building is fairly accurate.

The whole project probably involved an advance man selling subscriptions, followed by the preparation of the bird's-eye view once enough funds had been collected. Customarily, those who wished to pay an extra fee could ensure a prominent position for their home, usually with an inset around the border. Presumably this accounts for the Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch. inset in the left margin of the 1883 Deer Lodge drawing.

Almost as if it were done for the benefit of future researchers, the detail in the drawing is quite complete. As with all of these bird's-eye views, the vertical perspective is stretched and generally all of the buildings are made to appear somewhat more imposing than they actually were. Nevertheless, the positioning of the structures is accurate, and their detailing is good.

By the time the 1883 scene was drawn, the ranch house had undergone some changes. The front and sides had been landscaped with what appear to be poplars or cottonwoods. The trees seem mature in the picture, indicating they were planted at least in the mid-1870s. Because of the perspective (from the southeast), a third chimney to the rear of the house shows in this drawing. It did not show in the earlier 1865 Stuart sketch, but perhaps this was due to the angle from which Stuart chose to present the structure.

A front porch had been added by 1883. It shows prominently in the sketch, and the porch roof appears to be supported by at least four pillars.

The bunkhouse, Historic Structure 2, appears in about the same position as the log buildings at the Grant Ranch drawn by Stuart. It has a new peaked roof however, replacing the sloping flat roof it had in the 1865 drawing.

Immediately to the east of the bunkhouse, and in line with. it, is a sloped-roof structure higher than the bunkhouse with five large doors. This is obviously the buggy shed, today the easternmost part of Historic Structure 2. It was then a separate building.

Generally parallel to the bunkhouse and buggy shed, but behind them (to the north of them), a large barn shows quite clearly. This might he today's Historic Structure 7, a draft horse barn, or Non-Extant Structure E, a cow barn. Whatever its exact number or title, the barn is a large one with a peaked roof and what appears to be board and batten construction. A hayloft door is shown on the east side as well.

There is a corral, with a double-hung gate at the east end, between the back of the buggy shed and the bunkhouse on one side, and the face of the barn just described on the other, with the other two sides completed by a fence. This is about where a corral is today, and could well be one used in working cattle in the immediate area.

Three other buildings appear as well, somewhat more easily identified. They are long and tall sheds generally north-south in orientation and parallel to the railroad tracks. The easternmost building is Non-Extant Structure D, labeled "Cow Stable" on a later map. On the east side of this cow stable sits what is apparently an open-sided stock shelter, the closest of all the buildings to the railroad track. It appears to be constructed of logs, with a straw or board sloping and flat roof. To the west of Non-Extant Structure D is a third building, probably what is currently called Historic Structure 11, horse barn.

Shown, then, in sum, are the ranch house and five ancillary buildings: the bunkhouse, the buggy shed, a cow stable, a horse barn, and an open stock shelter. It is significant to note that the thoroughbred barn, one of the most important utility buildings at the ranch, is not shown. This argues strongly that it did not exist at the time. If it had it surely would have been included (if the argument that Con Kohrs helped subsidize the drawing is accepted). Neither Con nor John Bielenberg would have allowed such an imposing structure to be neglected in the drawing.

The salient feature of the drawing, when considered as a whole, is that the ranch had become somewhat pretentious by this time, with wagons and buggies enough to warrant a buggy shed. The bunkhouse had been reroofed and possibly refurbished in other ways, and three other major structures had been built, plus at least one corral.

There was, by this time, possibly more to the ranch as well. Four buildings show on the drawing just above the inset illustrating the Kohrs and Bielenberg Ranch. Their exact relation to the ranch is not clear, but they appear to be just across the railroad track from the ranch complex and a bit further south, toward the outskirts of town. If this is so, these are probably the buildings in what is today the Tom Stuart Field, where the park's visitor service facilities are located. The grouping consists of a major dwelling, one outbuilding to the southwest, probably a privy, and what seem to be two other smaller dwellings to the north and west. The major dwelling might be what has come to be called (incorrectly) the Tom Stuart Cabin. The grouping contained much more than a cabin. [5]

C. Residence of Conrad Kohrs: The Leeson Drawing

The Leeson volume, too, was a subscription-supported product, much as was the Stoner drawing, and presumably Con Kohrs paid an extra fee to have his ranch illustrated. For the benefit of those who would study the ranch in the years following Kohrs's death, it was a most worthy act. The book was published in 1885, so assuming it took about a year to publish the work, a date of 1885 could be assigned to the drawing. Thus the detailed illustration can corroborate or dispute the 1883 Stoner perspective.

The ranch house is viewed straight on, from a position near the railroad tracks. The porch shown in the Stoner drawing appears, and vertical lattice work on the porch can be seen through the foliage. The windows are shuttered, and have curtains. The two chimneys seen in both the 1865 Stuart sketch and in the 1883 Stoner drawing also appear. There is an addition at the north end of the house, however, the first addition appearing in any of the drawings. Poplars (possibly lombardy poplars) or cottonwoods outline the house in the front yard, and the close-up view allows us to see small round flower beds on each side of the front porch. A wall had been added to the front yard, coming directly out from the porch and front door. The yard is outlined by a picket fence, probably white. Two hitching posts and a mounting box are at the front gate. Con Kohrs strolls on the south side of the yard, while Augusta stands on a walk going north around the side of the house to a gate on the northwest side of the picket fence.

To the right is the bunkhouse with the peaked roof as in the 1883 Stoner drawing. Close detailing reveals a scallop-like effect on the bunkhouse eaves. This might have been a decorative item, but they are probably just the ends of logs. The bunkhouse has a main door, with two windows east of it and one west of it. The walls are obviously of log.

The bunkhouse is still separated from the buggy shed, which is also part of Historic Structure 2 in today's park. The buggy shed appears much as it does in the Stoner drawing. The number of doors is shown somewhat more clearly, seven appearing in this 1884 view. As in the earlier illustration, the roof is flat and sloping.

Between the two buildings, sitting on a high pole, is a birdhouse. It might have been a purple martin house, or one designed to accommodate any member of the swift family. Swifts and martins are famous for their ability to catch mosquitos on the wing, and the presence of the birdhouse might demonstrate a nineteenth-century mosquito control program. Presumably, the mosquitos swarmed at Deer Lodge then as much as they do now.

To the north of the bunkhouse and buggy shed the corral, partially seen in the 1883 view, is much more clearly delineated, along with the double-hung gate. The fence here is post-and-pole, not jack-leg. This is consistent with fence design for corrals at the site up to 1972 when the park was established.

The two buildings shown to the right (north) of the bunkhouse and buggy shed are somewhat less easy to place. Since the angle of view in this picture is radically different from the one a year earlier, the comparison of the two helps out little. They are in the proper juxtaposition to be possibly Non-Extant Structure E and Historic Structure 7. Historic Structure 7 is a log structure, as shown here, and the cow barn might have been a frame building, as suggested in the drawing. Yet the identification of these two buildings is somewhat speculative If they are Non-Extant Structure E and Historic Structure 7, then the former is the building to the right, the latter the one on its left.

The fences and pastures are somewhat easier to interpret. The jack-leg fence on the right (north) side of the picture shows most clearly. It is in the same form as that illustrated in the 1865 drawing: vertical "Xs" joined by horizontal poles at zigzags, similar to contemporary eastern snake-rail fences. (Both the Stuart drawing and this one show the zigzag quality. The reason for this is unknown.) A jack-leg fence of the same type surrounds a haystack in the adjoining pasture that is bordered on the west by the Deer Lodge River. The size and most especially the elevation of the haystack imply that some sort of stacker was in operation at the ranch at the time. Unfortunately, no farm equipment is shown.

A final note, while not directly involved with the structures, is worthy of mention. The figure on the thoroughbred, "Regent," can be none other than John Bielenberg. His carriage and bearing, as well as the cap he wears, makes identification simple. The two standing men might be ranch hands, or they might be the other Bielenbergs, Nick and Charles.

The ranch in 1884 had evolved dramatically from that shown in the 1865 Stuart drawing. It had reached a level of sophistication that it maintained for the rest of its active life. The 1884 Leeson drawing shows the dynamic Kohrs and Bielenberg cattle enterprise boasting two breeds of high quality cattle and four kinds of thoroughbred horses, and evincing considerable affluence overall.

D. A Partial Map of Deer Lodge Townsite [6]

This 1907 map is the fourth and final documemat illustrating the first forty-five years of the ranch. Complete and detailed as it is, it only covers the grounds and buildings immediately surrounding the ranch house. Yet for the first time the relative location of buildings and pastures, corrals, and lanes are known, and thus this map serves as a most important document for a study of the stock growing activities there.

The data on the map came from the files of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was printed on Milwaukee Road maps as the Milwaukee was preparing to lay tracks parallel to the ones already there. The solid line cutting through four of the buildings, which runs parallel to the Northern Pacific tracks (double lines), is the line on which the Milwaukee laid its rails.

A total of twelve buildings are shown, along with over ten clearly defined corrals, pastures, or lanes. (In some cases it as difficult to determine the exact bounds of some of the pastures.) The relationship of the buildings to the stock corrals and pastures is revealed clearly.

The "DW'g" (dwelling) is shown in its contemporary configuration, with the 1890 brick addition attached to the rear of the 1862 John Grant House. The addition on the north, which first appeared in the Leeson drawing, is outlined, as is an addition on the south, the solarium. Historic Structure 1, the ranch house, then, has changed markedly since the 1884 drawing.

Immediately to the north, the bunkhouse has also changed greatly in the years since 1884. In the 1883 and 1884 drawings it had appeared in two parts, but in the intervening twenty-three years the buggy house and bunkhouse had been joined by a stable with a hayloft, and the building now has its modern external form.

Between Historic Structure 1 and 2 sits a small, almost square building entitled "Ice House." It is Historic Structure 3 today.

Behind the bunkhouse (north) is a "Chicken House," Non-Extant Structure G. In 1907 it sat on the ground now occupied by Historic Structure 6.

North of the chicken house is a cluster of other buildings, barns or stables, three of them sharing common walls. The largest of the three is a "Cow Barn," and its west wall is the east wall of a "Horse Stable," Historic Structure 7, today's draft horse barn. The north wall of Historic Structure 7, in turn, is the south wall of one of two "Cow Stables" shown on this 1907 map (in actuality a lean-to), considered today as part of Historic Structure 7. A second "Cow Stable" stands alone to the north. The "Cow Stable" that sits north of Historic Structure 7 is today's Historic Structure 10.

Further north is another long, narrow cluster of four buildings. The westernmost is today's Historic Structure 11, a horse barn, called a "Horse Stable" on the map. It touches the corner of another building, Non-Extant Structure C, labelled "Open Cow Shed." The open cow shed has a smaller building touching it on the diagonal, called a "Machine Shed" and numbered Non-Extant Structure B. In the west the "Open Cow Shed'" joins a long building, "Cow Stable," almost 200 feet long. This is Non-Extant Structure D.

Far to the north of the buildings near the ranch house is another long and narrow building, another machine shed, today's Historic Structure 12. (It has been moved from its 1907 site.)

One building stands alone, west of the others. In bulk, it is the largest on the map, and is entitled "Cow Barn." It is today's Historic Structure 15, the thoroughbred barn.

A total of twelve buildings appear on the 1907 railroad map. The impression conveyed by it is that the ranch is a large operation by that date, a historically correct indication. The buildings are large and numerous; obviously this is no minor subsistence ranching site.

Pastures and corrals are delineated on the map as well, among the three groups of buildings just north of the ranch house. The sides of some of these structures and various fence lines outline five separate corrals where cattle could he worked. West of the "Cow Barn" is part of a pasture, with two others north of it. One lane going west from the utility buildings near the bunkhouse is outlined, and a road is shown passing in front of the bunkhouse. The ranch house fenced area appears in its entirety, as does the pasture just south of the house and a small corral joining the southeast corner of the yard.

Fence lines and fence types appear also. A different fence type, delineated by strength lines with regularly spaced dots, is shown around the house. This is no doubt the picket fence. The bulk of the rest of the fences are shown with "Xs," probably denoting jack-leg fences.

This 1907 map confirms the location of many of the buildings shown in the 1883 and 1884 drawings and their relationships to one another and to the various corrals and pastures. The corral shown on both, which included the north wall of the bunkhouse and buggy shed, is drawn exactly, as are such features as the line of the picket fence in the front yard and the pastures on the south side of the ranch house. It is important as well for what it shows that the 1883 and 1884 drawings do not. This is particularly true for the northern "Machine Shed" (Historic Structure 12) and the "Cow Barn" (Historic Structure 15). The appearance of this imposing structure on a 1907 map and its absence on the 1883 and 1884 drawings is instructive. No building of such proportions would have been omitted in either the Leeson illustration or the Stoner bird's-eye view. It is safe to assign this structure a construction date of between 1884 and 1907, thereby supporting somewhat the traditional building date of 1890.

E. The Four Illustrations: An Evaluation

Much of what can be learned by considering these four illustrations of the ranch in sequence is so readily apparent that it merits but little additional discussion. The main house, for example, is seen to have remained about the same in its overall configurations in all of these drawings until the 1907 map, which is the first document showing the 1890 addition. The appearance of minor exterior modifications and landscaping also is easily determined. The consistent use of the jack-leg fence on all four documents, too, is strikingly clear. But taken as a whole, the four pictures show a little more general, yet substantive, data about the site.

First of all, it appears that the nature of the scene changed a great deal with the change in ownership. The Grant ranch that Granville Stuart pictured is a rougher kind of place than that illustrated in the earliest of the Kohrs period drawings, produced eighteen years later. The yard is full of trees already full grown and mature. The area in front of the house during the last full year of Grant's ownership accommodated two tepees some kind of utilitarian rack, and a trough, and served as some sort of pasture or corral, its borders graced by the rough-cut jack-leg fence. Conrad, Augusta, and John lived in the same house, which by that time was a physically imposing structure sporting a more formal front yard, with flower beds, a picket fence, and walkways, and which, probably because of the addition of soil and grass even seemed to sit on a slightly higher grade. So a big change in veneer and a formalization of the ranch house that now served as the home of a family accustomed to some refinements characterized the Kohrs era as compared with the Grant period.

Another difference is degree of sophistication of the entire cattle raising operation. Grant's ranch is hardly representative of a serious cattle growing business. Yet by 1883 and 1884 the Kohrs and Bielenberg ranch is proudly acclaiming that it is the home of "Clyde of Brant . . . Strideway, Miss Ella & Colt . . . Regent . . . Figaro," and the "Residence of Conrad Kohrs, Deer Lodge. Mont., Kohrs & Bielenberg, Breeders of Short-Horn & Hereford Cattle, Thoroughbred, Clydesdale, Percheron-Norman and Coach Horses." So, during the eighteen intervening years the entire site had become quite complex compared to the large house in the wilderness that John Grant owned near Deer Lodge City in 1865. The level of sophistication really did not change very much after that, although the ranch acquired more buildings, of course, such as the large barn—Historic Structure 15. But this is a matter of degree, and the essential change had already occurred. The 1907 map confirms a few of the details hinted at in the 1883 and 1884 views. The road in front of the bunkhouse is shown a bit more clearly, and the land determined by the jack-leg fence to the rear of the birdhouse in the 1884 drawing is also shown, as are the pastures adjacent to it. The 1883 and 1884 views picture a family proud of its accomplishments, aware of the imposing nature of its ranch headquarters. In that sense, the addition of lands and buildings in the decade of the 1890s was not very important . The essential quality of the Kohrs family, as an important unit in Montana play their material gains, was already established.

The change from the simple to the elaborate, from the merely functional to the heavily landscaped, was dramatic. The difference in the use of the home and in the kind of family that occupied the dwelling house during the two different periods of ownership was most apparent as well.