Grant-Kohrs Ranch Administrative History

Superintendent Eddie Lopez, who came to the ranch about a month after Taylor's departure, brought still other diverse perspectives to the issues facing management. Having been in the maintenance field, both as a workman and as a manager, Lopez was drawn to the facilities deficiencies at the site. The recent acquisition of the remaining Warren lands within the boundary afforded a fortuitous opportunity to re-examine the park's alternatives for housing visitor, administrative, maintenance, and curatorial functions. The need for permanent facilities plagued the park since its establishment. For nearly two decades, Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS had limped along with only temporary, stop-gap solutions. Administrative offices had been located in a leased storefront in downtown Deer Lodge since 1974. A "temporary" visitor contact station and rest rooms remained in an old granary and log cabin, respectively, near the parking lot at the ranch.

Superintendent Eddie L. Lopez and Con Warren, 1989. (Courtesy Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS)

By 1991, most of the park plans were either inadequate or obsolete, and Lopez won support from the Rocky Mountain Regional Office to combine several of these into a single comprehensive document. This effort, headed by Michael D. Snyder, associate regional director for planning and professional services in the Denver office, recognized the lack of such basic data as a resource management plan and an approved interpretive prospectus. And, it pointed up the critical requirement for providing long-term direction to the site's facilities development.

The revised plan, released two years later, reflected the essence of the preferred development scheme presented in a 1980 GMP, in addition to the standard "no action" alternative found in all such documents. However, a variation of the 1980 plan suggested that the U. S. Forest Service share both the costs and the occupancy of a 12,000-square-foot administrative building to be located in the southeastern corner of the site, near the studs-out granary. One floor of the proposed building would lie below-grade to reduce the visual impact. Even though the construction of a new visitor center/headquarters on that tract was a viable solution to the problem, the purchase of the Warren home property opened still other possibilities. The NPS had long desired to have a public entrance near the heart of the ranch, but it was impossible so long as Con Warren continued his cattle operation. An improved entrance road past the red barn was designated for staff only, in accordance with the original 1970 use agreement between Warren and the National Park Foundation, to which the NPS also was bound. As it was, visitors commonly drove Through and out of the existing parking lot at the main entrance in the belief that they had experienced "the ranch," when in actuality they had seen only the two structures moved to the site in 1975. Indeed, the railroad grade running through the site nearly masked the historic ranch.

During 1992 a multi-disciplinary team, composed of no less than seventeen contributors from the park and regional office, resurrected the "if and when" concept of adaptively modifying Warren's 1950s red barn. This enormous structure stood a couple of hundred yards north of his residence and east of the railroads, yet within the designated administrative development zone. The plan proposed that the barn's ground floor be refurbished to house a visitor center and the second floor adaptively modified to serve as administrative offices for the park. A fifty-car parking lot would be nearby on land formerly occupied by corrals. Concurrently, a new 10,000-square-foot building is to be constructed especially to house the park's curatorial operation. This building will be sited on Tract E, in the southeast corner of the park, and is scheduled for construction in 1999. At the time of this writing, however, funding for "a modern visitor center is presently not foreseen." [61]

The ranch witnessed the end of private operations, other than those allowed by permit, when Con Warren died in March 1993. With him passed the Kohrs family legacy of cattle raising in the Deer Lodge Valley. According to Eddie Lopez, Con seemed resigned to his passing during most of his last year. "He was just very happy though that the Park Service was here," Lopez remembered in 1996. Despite his past battles with the NPS, Con obviously took satisfaction in knowing that he had placed the ranch in the stewardship of the Service for all time. The park staff displayed their respect for the old rancher by arranging to carry his coffin to the city cemetery aboard one of the ranch wagons drawn by a team of horses. A saddled horse, with boots reversed in the stirrups, followed behind. Included among the pall bearers were Superintendent Lopez and Park Ranger Lyndel Meikle, a long-time friend who had been particularly close to Con. [62]

According to the provisions of the life estate on the Warren residence, the NPS took possession of the house and other buildings on June 30, 1993. Lopez advised the executor of the estate that all personal property would have to be removed on or before that date. Fortunately, the park curatorial staff was allowed to photographically document the interior of the home with the furnishings in situ. Later that year, much of the contents were publicly auctioned, a topic detailed in another chapter. [63]

Aware that Con Warren probably did not have long to live, Lopez had initiated the preparation of a new combination general management and development concept plan. This is something the Site had needed for a long time, especially considering the changes in land status, that had not been envisioned in the 1980 plan. With the acquisition of the rest of the Warren lands, as well as numerous buildings, the park had to be prepared to assume ownership and have plans established for the use and operation of these major acquisitions.

Only a few small remnants of land remained to be dealt with inside the park boundary. Tract 103, for instance, included a right-of-way for the Western Montana Railroad consisting of 57.45 acres, with a borrow pit along the east side near the highway. Conrad Kohrs originally sold this land to the Union Pacific Railroad, which later leased it to the Burlington-Northern. In 1986 the Burlington sub-leased to the Western Montana company. The GMP recognized the historical importance of maintaining the railroad, or at least the grade and tracks, through the site. At the same time, the borrow pit, which was fenced for many decades, represented a unique sample of ungrazed Montana prairie. The acquisition and preservation of this parcel remains a management objective. [64]

Also addressed was the viewshed along the hills west of the ranch. This vast expanse has been owned by the Rock Creek Ranch for some time. Since they, too, must maintain a productive cattle operation, the owners of the Rock Creek property have shown no interest in dealing with the government, though it may be possible someday to negotiate a scenic easement with them to ensure that traditional uses of the land continue. A large white letter "P" on the far hillside continues to be a distraction for visitors. The viewshed issue was addressed in the park's 1987 Cultural Landscape Analysis and is, as yet, unresolved.

Land and water have always been a significant factor in the history of Grant-Kohrs Ranch. Grass and adequate water were essential ingredients to growing beef cattle. Just as Kohrs and Bielenberg relied on the land to support their enormous cattle empire, so did Con Warren need a smaller land base to successfully operate a modern livestock raising business. National Park Service requirements are similar, though on a much smaller scale since the ranch now exists for purposes of public education, rather than a family's livelihood. But, this has brought with it new considerations for preserving the historic scene and protecting the viewsheds across park boundaries. Future managers must continue to be mindful of the special qualities of the ranch, maintaining a careful vigilance in their stewardship of this unique place.