Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site

Visited: May 2016

Nearby town: Deer Lodge, MT

This working ranch in western Montana is one of the best preserved ranch homes and estates from the late 19th century. Just outside the small town of Deer Lodge, the Grant-Kohrs Ranch serves as a great roadside attraction to spend an hour or two and tour the ranch. Best of all, the tour is free.

The surrounding countryside of the ranch, like most views in the Treasure State of Montana, is a spectacular vista.

The ranch started in 1859 by Johnny Francis Grant, and he built his home there in 1862. Grant founded the town of Cottonwood (later to become Deer Lodge). Grant had grown up in Quebec and came to the American West in the 1840s to venture in the fur trade. However, the trade was quickly dying out at that time and Grant switched to the cattle business. As more settlers moved to the area, Grant quickly became outnumbered because he only spoke French (being from Quebec) and all the new settlers spoke English. Grant moved back to Canada and sold the ranch to Conrad Kohrs in 1866.

Conrad Kohrs had moved to the west during the California Gold Rush period and made his fortune not by striking it rich, but by selling beef to the hungry miners. His cattle empire eventually grew to over 50,000 head of cattle and grazing pasture of 10 million acres. He became known as the undisputed "Cattle King of Montana."  

After purchasing the Grant ranch, Kohrs expanded the home and the operations of the ranch. Kohrs modernized the methods of ranching: by fencing his rangeland, raising and storing fodder, and buying purebred breeding stock to produce high-quality beef. When the devastating and severe winter of 1886-1887 hit, and temperatures hovered at 30-40 degrees below zero for months and months, Kohrs' modern methods helped him weather the storm. Indeed, ranchers that had been using open range for their herds lost upwards of 90% of their cattle to brutal cold and lack of feed. With many ranchers going bankrupt, Kohrs managed to stay in business. Kohrs also dabbled in politics, serving as county commissioner, in the Territorial Assembly, and as a member of the Montana State Constitutional Convention.

Kohrs passed away at his ranch home in 1920, at the age of 84. The family maintained possession of the ranch, until his grandson sold the property to the National Park Service in 1972. The NPS runs the site as a living history ranch, and strives to keep all operations as close to the late 19th-century as possible, such as using draft horse teams to hay the land, and blacksmiths to make horseshoes, etc.

Once you arrive at the Visitor's Center, get your free ticket for a guided tour of the home. A guided tour is the only way to go inside the home. Tours are available throughout the day, but they are first come, first served...so arrive early.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed inside the home. The home is beautifully preserved and full of heirlooms and priceless antiques belonging to the cattle baron's family.

front of the home, originally built in 1862

Kohrs expanded the home by adding this portion in the back.

Tara loved the back porch

After the guided tour, you can walk around the other ranch buildings on your own. Check out the website to see if any ranger programs are going on: they have wagon tours, blacksmith demonstrations, test out your roping skills, etc. The thing that interested me the most was the display of all types of vehicles and wagons used at the ranch. It's quite the collection.

blacksmith

If you are in the Deer Lodge area (about halfway between Butte and Missoula), the Grant-Kohrs Ranch is a great place for a quick stop to learn about ranch life in the American West during the 19th century. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/grko/index.htm

Nicodemus National Historic Site

Visited: March 2016

Nearby town: Hill City, KS

"I am anxious to reach your state ... because of the sacredness of her soil washed by the blood of humanitarians for the cause of freedom."

-from an 1879 letter of S.L. Johnson, an African-American from Louisiana

 to the Governor of Kansas, John St. John

As the era of Reconstruction came to an end, many African-Americans in the South looked to other places in the country to experience freedom and economic prosperity. These recently freed slaves still endured great hardship and inequality, and began to move elsewhere. Many went to the big urban centers of the north, but a number of them looked west.

These Black Pioneers were enticed by tales of a fertile wilderness and the opportunity to own land through the homestead process in the frontier of Kansas. To many African-Americans, Kansas was known for the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist John Brown. Kansas seemed like a promised land. More than a dozen African-American settlements popped up in the wild reaches of western Kansas. Most of these towns quickly folded, the last remaining village is Nicodemus, now preserved as Nicodemus National Historic Site.

The town was named for a legendary slave from the story "Wake, Nicodemus" (1864), who passed away and was buried in a hollow tree and asked to be awakened on the Day of Jubilee. Nicodemus was founded in 1877 by Reverend W.H. Smith, a black minister, and W.R. Hill, a white land developer from Indiana. By the mid-1880s Nicodemus boasted two newspapers, three general stores, three churches, hotels, an ice cream parlor, bank, and a livery stable. At its peak, more than 700 people lived in the town.

Unfortunately, the "promised land" was not quite as promising as once thought. Harsh winters and lack of vegetation made farming difficult. Racism reared its ugly head, and many white Kansans were afraid that the area would be "overrun" by African-Americans. The Governor of Kansas and other political leaders cut back on efforts to attract recently freed slaves and actually discouraged settlement.

But the nail in the coffin for Nicodemus was the failure to bring the railroad through town. After several attempts to lobby the Union Pacific Railroad to build a line through Nicodemus failed, the railroad opted to go through the town of Bogue, further to the south. Many moved either to Bogue or back to the forested hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. The population began to dwindle. Many more moved out during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s. By 1950, only 16 people lived in Nicodemus. The Post Office closed in 1953. Although Nicodemus had basically become a "ghost town" it was the only African-American Reconstruction settlement at the time that still had buildings standing. So, in 1976, the community was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and became a unit of the National Park Service in 1996.

Although the town is essentially abandoned, there are still some descendants of the original settlers living in the surrounding area. Perhaps Nicodemus's most famous resident is Veryl Switzer. Switzer was an All-American football player for Kansas State 1951-1953, he then played for the Green Bay Packers for a couple seasons before joining the United States Air Force. Switzer, now 86 years old, is enshrined in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.

The Nicodemus Historic Site preserves five original buildings from the town's heyday: (1) the Town Hall; (2) African Methodist Episcopal Church; (3) First Baptist Church; (4) St. Francis Hotel; and (5) Nicodemus School District #1 Schoolhouse.

Apart from the Town Hall (which serves as the Visitor Center), the buildings are in desperate need of repair and the inside of the buildings are not open to the public. The Visitor Center has sporadic hours, but on the last weekend of July, Emancipation Day is celebrated and descendants of the original settlers from all over the country come to Nicodemus for food, music, and a parade.

the Town Hall

If no one is available at the Visitor Center, there are pamphlets and printed guides available for a walking tour of the settlement. This is an interesting history that makes for a unique road trip stop.

St. Francis Hotel

Baptist Church

Nicodemus schoolhouse

A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church

work being done to restore the interior of the A.M.E. church

This is an interesting and unique history that is worth a quick stop. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/nico/index.htm

Pipe Spring National Monument

Visited: Nov 2015
Nearby town: Fredonia, AZ

"So about the year 1886, I moved to Pipe Spring.

In other words, I went to prison to keep my husband out."

-from the journal of Flora Woolley, polygamous wife of Bishop Edwin D. Woolley

In the wild and lonely high desert of Northern Arizona, just across the border from Utah, lies a small fort placed atop a natural springs. The springs are an oasis, providing precious water to a harsh and unforgiving landscape.

Evidence indicates that the Ancestral Pueblans and Paiute Indians used the springs to grow crops and hunt over a thousand years ago. The surrounding area is now the reservation of the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians.

In the 1850s and 1860s, Mormon Pioneers from Salt Lake City passed through the area on their way to missionary expeditions to the Hopi Indians further to the south. One of the pioneers, James Whitmore, was intrigued by the springs and came back here to settle and operate a cattle ranch. Whitmore eventually ran into conflicts with local Indians, and Whitmore was killed after living here for a number of years.

Mormon leader Brigham Young later sent Anson Perry Winsor and his family to claim the spring, restart the ranch, and build a fort. The small fort became known as Winsor Castle. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) owned and operated the land as a tithing ranch. The cattle and livestock sent here (paid as tithing by Church members) was used to provide food and dairy products for the workers of the Mormon Temple in St. George. Some impressive longhorns are still kept on the property to this day.

With the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, federal agents started to prosecute polygamy with more force (the Morrill Act of 1862 had banned bigamy/polygamy in the federal territories, including Utah, but had essentially been unenforced). Under the new law, polygamy was criminalized and those practicing it could be fined between $500 - $800 and imprisoned up to five years. The federal government tripled the number of U.S. Marshals in Utah Territory to enforce the new measures. Many Church leaders went into hiding, and some (in an effort to hide the "evidence" that they had multiple wives) sent their polygamous wives to live in Pipe Spring at Winsor Castle, which being in Arizona Territory, lied just outside the purview and jurisdiction of the U.S. Marshals in Utah. Pipe Springs was a safe refuge, because the nearest U.S. Marshals that had jurisdiction in Arizona were stationed hundreds of miles away in Tombstone. Even if a U.S. Marshal in Arizona wanted to apprehend them, he'd have to travel hundreds of miles across undeveloped land with no established roads or pathways, not to mention cross the Grand Canyon itself, in order to do it. Such a daunting task assured they would not be prosecuted or arrested.

The Church ended up losing the property as one of the penalties of the Edmunds-Tucker Act, and the Castle fell into private hands. Later, in 1923, the first director of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, was traveling between Zion and Grand Canyon when his car broke down near the Castle. As he learned about the history of the site from the locals, he successfully lobbied the government to purchase it and designate it as a National Monument.

The place serves as an interesting roadside stop. There is a nice visitor center and museum detailing all the history of the site. If you want to go inside Winsor Castle, you must accompany a ranger on a guided tour. The guided tours are free and occur throughout the day, there is no set time. There's not too many visitors at this out of the way place, so once you show up just wait a couple of minutes and a ranger will take you through.

the doors to Winsor Castle were big enough so that a wagon could enter the inside courtyard

In 1871, Brigham Young commissioned the Deseret Telegraph system to install a telegraph at the outpost. This would be the very first telegraph in what would become the state of Arizona. This telegraph provided Winsor Castle a crucial and vital link to the outside world. The first operator was Eliza Stewart Udall (female telegraph operators were relatively rare at the time), who would later become the matriarch of the influential and powerful political family. Her son served as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court; two grandsons: Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior for Kennedy and Johnson; and Mo Udall, long time congressman and Democratic candidate for the President in 1976; and two great-grandsons: Mark Udall, Senator of Colorado 2009-2015; and Tom Udall, the current Senator of New Mexico. That's quite a legacy.

the telegraph wire. First telegraph in Arizona

Life on the frontier at Pipe Springs was not easy. The men worked sun up to sun down, milking 80 to 100 cows a day. Women made butter (40+ pounds) and cheese (60+ pounds) each day, and had to cook and clean not only for their family but all the ranch hands as well. Laundry alone took an entire day to complete, once a week. Children, as young as 7 or 8, helped to run the ranch as well. One pioneer woman, Emma Seegmiller, described life at Pipe Springs in her journal as follows:

"Pipe Springs, a pioneer fort, is the most desolate place I have ever lived, situated on a point fronting an open desert, where it could get full force of the heavy winds and sandstorms common to the locality. I have known those sandstorms to rage three days at a time, sand so thick that the opposite side of the fort was almost obscured. After every storm, house cleaning was necessary and from a single room I have swept or shoveled out five gallons of sand, the broom would not carry the weighty bulk to the door. ... I don't know how we ever came out of some of the hard places that conditions forced on us, unless as mother used to say 'we do the best we can and the Lord does the rest.' ...

at intervals in my life I have dreamed that I must go back there to live, the depression I felt at the thought and utter loneliness of again taking up my life there made waking seem like a boon 

from heaven."

the inner courtyard of Winsor Castle

this stove is original

drying rack

channel for water from the natural spring

large vat for cheese

If you find yourself in the area (likely on your way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon) take an hour or two for the pleasant and interesting stop. It's well worth the visit. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/pisp/index.htm