Conrad Kohrs - An Autobiography - Montana Cattle Rancher - Signed 1st Edition. 1977, Photos 1, 2 and 3 show the front cover, back cover and binding. The cover pictures comes from from a reproduction of a photograph taken probably in 1906. The original was badly faded, so Conrad Kohrs Warren had it rephotographed and enlarged and Short Shope of Helena, Montana repainted the picture in oil. This was done in the late 1930's, thus preserving the most detailed roundup picture that Conrad Kohrs Warren had ever seem. There are 2000 steers and about one hundred horses ready for the Cattle Drive to the railroad. The picture wraps around the book, front cover, back cover and binding. Photo # 4 shows the publishing information that this book is the First Edition. Photo # 5 shows the Signature Page signed by Conrad Kohrs Warren. Photo # 6 shows the Table of Contents. Conrad Kohrs Warren is the Grandson of Conrad Kohrs The Montana Cattle King.
Montana's Gold Rush began in the early 1860's, and with it came an end to Grant's solitude beneath the big sky. The influx of prospectors would bode well for the beef market, but as a native French speaker, he felt taken advantage of in business dealings through the sole use of English contracts. While there was money to be made, Johnny Grant, the original owner of the ranch wanted out. In 1867, he sold his herd and ranch to Conrad Kohrs for $19,000. Conrad Kohrs, a German immigrant who arrived in Montana during the gold rush, found more money was to be made selling food to fortune seekers than in the actual gold that was attracting them. One industry paved the way for another, and by the 1880's, the herd at the Grant-Kohrs ranch grew to 50,000 head grazing over 10 million acres. Kohrs was one of the nation's major beef suppliers, selling not only to miners in the West but also to Americans east of the Mississippi River. On an annual basis, the ranch was shipping 10,000 head to Chicago's Union Stock Yards. As word got out of Kohrs' surmounting wealth, lore began to form around the deep-pocketed cattle baron. He was dubbed the "Montana Cattle King" by the populous, and this fame helped propel him into local politics. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention in 1889, playing a role in defining the freedoms and laws upheld in Montana to this day. Shelf # 35.