Grant-Kohrs Ranch Historic Structures Report

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.

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