CARSTEN CONRAD KOHRS

AUGUSTA & CONRAD KOHRS

CARSTEN CONRAD KOHRS

1835-1930

Born: 5 Aug 1835, Wewelsfleth, Holstein, Germany- Died: 20 July 1920, Helena, Montana

The following paragraphs are from the book title Progressive Men of Montana.

Progressive men of the state of Montana. A.W. Bowen & Co. Chicago : A.W. Bowen & Co., [1903?]

HON. CONRAD KOHRS.— No man in Montana is more appropriately entitled to prominent mention than Hon. Conrad Kohrs, because of his varied, enterprising, yet successful career. He is probably the largest cattle owner in Montana, and was born at Holstein, Germany, on August 5, 1835, the son of Carston Kohrs, a farmer and distiller, of Hanover, who died when Conrad was seven months old. His mother was Gesehe Krause, a native of Wevelsfleth, Holstein, Germany, who came to the United States in 1854 and located at Davenport, Iowa, where she died on March 17,1886. By her first marriage she had two sons, who are now living.

Conrad Kohrs, when fifteen, began life as a sailor, which career he followed many years, visiting the principal ports of the world. In 1850 he came to the United States and for two years sailed from New York to South American ports. He then came west to Iowa and for several years was engaged in rafting and steamboating on the Mississippi, after which he was in the meat business until 1856. He then went to California by the Panama route and engaged in mining in Siskiyou county. The Fraser River excitement drew him thither in 1858 and he mined successfully, averaging $14 per day. Returning to California in the fall Mr. Kohrs engaged in different mining enterprises and all of his money. He then returned east and in 1862 started for Montana and arrived at Deer Lodge in July. This journey was attended by the hardships and perils so vividly remembered by the ever -dwindling band of the surviving pioneers. He prospected and mined near Deer Lodge until the discovery of gold at Bannack. In this new camp of great activity he was employed in the meat business by "Hank" Crawford, at a salary of $25 per month. In June, 1863, occurred the stampede to Alder gulch, and Air. Kohrs joined in the procession and engaged in a successful meat business until 1865.

Those familiar with the early history of Montana know that civil law was preceded by the more rapid operations of the Vigilantes. "Road agents" were numerous, and desperadoes who recognized no law but force, and knew no pity. Like all good citizens Mr. Kohrs aided in ridding the country of these evil men. There was a strong personal incentive on his part to become an active factor in this work, for he once came very near falling a victim to their rapacity and greed. While on his way to Deer Lodge, in the fall of 1863, he stopped for the night at Camp Creek. In the early morning, while looking for a horse that had strayed away, he met a friendly halfbreed, a herder for Fred. Burr, of Big Hole bridge, who was stopping on the ranch now owned by Hon. Joseph Brown, who said: "Kohrs, I think you had better get out of here. Two of the boys were at the house last night. They were after some one, and I think you are the man." Mr. Kohrs replied that he would get out if he could find his horse. The half-breed said he would get the animal and brought it to Mr. Kohrs, who had $5,000 in gold dust with him. He hastily mounted and dashed away toward Deer Lodge. Two horsemen soon came galloping after him and he gave his horse the reins, hoping to outride them, and he threw away his overcoat and blanket to lighten the load. The two desperadoes continued in hot pursuit and it was a race for life. The distance to Deer Lodge, sixty-one miles, was made in six hours and Mr. Kohrs reached the town fifteen minutes ahead of his pursuers. He had the pleasure later to assist in the capture of these very men at Big Hole, Missoula county, and one of them, Bill Bunting, paid the penalty of his numerous crimes on the gallows.

Mr. Kohrs made his home in Deer Lodge in 1864, purchasing his present ranch, with its stock, of John H. Grant on August 23, 1866. It was started in 1863 by Mr. Grant and is a very handsome property, lying less than a mile north of Deer Lodge. He widened his operations and soon became one of the largest stock purchasers in the valley. In 1865 he began the breeding of cattle and he has so extended his operations that he now has a national reputation as the "Cattle King of Montana." He was pioneer in the introduction of shorthorn cattle, purchasing his first herd in Illinois in 1871 and in 1890 he introduced the Herefords into Montana. He is also a member of the Pioneer Cattle Company, organized in 1885. Although these vast operations would seem to occupy all of one man's time. Mr. Kohrs is also interested in mines and mining. In 1867, in company with W. H. Irwin, F. H. Irwin, Christopher Horn, E. S. Newman and John C. Thornton, he constructed the Rock Creek ditch, which is thirteen miles long and carries over 3,000 inches of water. In the same year J. W. Bielenberg became his partner in this and since 1885 they have owned the entire property. They own nearly all the mining ground at Pioneer and are largely engaged in hydraulic mining. Mr. Kohrs also owned a 10,000-acre ranch at Deer Lodge, considered one of the finest in the state, which now contains 30,000 acres. Mr. Kohrs is an influential factor in councils of the Republican party. He has served as a county commissioner, as a member of the Fourteenth Montana territorial legislature, and as a member of the constitutional convention of 1889. Socially he is a Freemason.

On February 23, 1868, Mr. Kohrs was married to Miss Augusta Kruse, a native of Holstein, Germany. Their four children are Anna, now Mrs. J. M. Boardman ; Catherine, now Mrs. Dr. O. Y. Warren, of Warren Springs, Mont., and William, who died March 20, 1901, while attending Columbia College, and John.


Children of Carsten Conrad Kohrs and Augusta (nee Kruse) Kohrs

ANNA CATHERINE KOHRS (1868-1958)
KATHERINE CHRISTENE KOHRS (1870-1958)
WILLIAM KRUSE KOHRS (1879-1901)

Reference

1. Progressive men of the state of Montana. A.W. Bowen & Co. Chicago : A.W. Bowen & Co., [1903?]