June 19, 2009

June 19, 2009

Yesterday we learned about the plight of the Indians. Today in our bid for objectivity, we go after the cowboy’s story. From the Big Hole valley we travel to the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. This site is a working cattle ranch dedicated to the history of open range ranching as it was practiced here in the second half of the 1800’s. I must admit I wasn’t expecting much. I saw plenty of farms growing up. Nonetheless it turned out to be interesting. The primary owner, Conrad Kohrs, a German immigrant was the ultimate cattle baron of Montana. At the peak he had cows grazing on 10 million acres of mostly public lands, was heavily involved in Montana politics, and invested in local mining operations. Cattle ranching in the West evolved over time. It started as a trading opportunity supplying Oregon Trail immigrant with fresh oxen. Later the ranchers expanded to feed hungry miners. Soon ranchers were driving excess cattle to faraway Dodge City. Eventually rail lines reached Montana and then the industry took off supplying eastern cities with beef. To this day Montana is still ranch country with some mining operations thrown in.

Aimee and I spend a couple hours moseying in and out of the many ranch buildings and then take a tour of the huge ranch house. The tour docent is surprisingly a descendent of the “real” Rip Van Winkle. Afterwards we make our way back to I-15 and drive north through very scenic countryside. Montana would be a beautiful place to own a small ranch. But who am I kidding; ranching is very hard work. We spend the night at a private RV park in Great Falls, MT.