Bio
Conrad Kohrs, born in Holstein (then part of the German Confederation), immigrated to the United States and became a citizen in 1857. After working various jobs as a seaman, butcher, and sausage salesman, he moved to California to search for gold. He eventually settled in Montana Territory in 1862, where he found success not through mining but by selling beef to miners. Kohrs expanded his wealth by purchasing a ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana, in 1866 and building a cattle empire that, at its height, spanned 10 million acres across four U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
Following the harsh winter of 1886-1887, which devastated many cattle operations, Kohrs and his half-brother John Bielenberg were among the first to recover by adopting modern ranching methods. These included breeding purebred stock, fencing in ranges, and raising feed, earning Kohrs the nickname “Montana’s Cattle King.”
In addition to his business success, Kohrs was active in local and state politics. He served as a county commissioner, a member of the Territorial Assembly, and a delegate to Montana’s first State Constitutional Convention. He was also president of the Montana Stockgrower’s Association.
Kohrs and his wife Augusta built the William K. Kohrs Memorial Library in 1902 to honor their son. After he died in 1920 at the age of 84, Kohrs’ ranch became the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.
