NICHOLAS JOHN BIELENBERG
Born: 8 June 1847, Holstein, Germany- Died: 06 July 1927 Deer Lodge, Montana
Nicholas John Bielenberg was born in Wevelsfleth – a fishing village in the province of Holstein – at that time a possession of Denmark, - now Germany, on June 8, 1847. In July 1854, the Bielenberg family immigrated to the United States and settled in Davenport, Iowa. Nicholas Bielenberg was given the usual public school privileges, but his lively interest in all practical affairs led him to shorten his period of study and join in the vocational activities in which his father and brother were engaged, that of a butcher (1). In 1863, at the age of sixteen, Nicholas traveled to Chicago Illinois to serve an apprenticeship in the butchering business, remaining there through the winter of 1864 (2).
In the spring of 1865, at the age of seventeen, he traveled by way of steamboat up the Missouri River, departing from St. Louis Missouri and arriving at Fort Benton June 18, 1865. Upon reaching the territory, Nick’s half-brother, Conrad Kohrs and brother Johnny Bielenberg “staked” him in the purchase of a butcher shop in the mining town of Blackfoot City. In Blackfoot he settled until 1870, when Nick left this gold mining camp to pursue the butcher business at Helena, remaining there for two years until 1872. 1n March of 1873, Nick sold his "Blackfoot City" butcher shop to Simpson and Company and purchased the Prowse Ranch on Dempsey Creek, becoming the “Figure Five" Ranch (3). In 1877, Nick pursued the meat packing business in Butte, handling beef in wholesale quantities with the construction of a cold-storage warehouse. This large butchering business eventually was named the Butte Butchering Company, which became one of the leading industries of its kind in the northwest. In February 19, 1879, Nick Bielenberg became one of the first members of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (3).
In 1883 Nick Bielenberg, with his half brother Conrad Kohrs and brothers, John N. W. and Charles P. H. Bielenberg, became involved in an extensive cattle operation - including the famous "DHS Ranch (3). Also in 1883, Nick became associated with J. K. Mallory and D. D. Walker in a livestock and butchering operation forming “Bielenberg and Company" in Anaconda (3). Nick Bielenberg is credited as the first stockman to feed or winter beef in the Big Hole Valley. In 1884 he went into the sheep business, at first alone, then in partnership with Joseph Toomey. This business grew to enormous proportions, handling in one year over 130,000 head of sheep. Their flocks were to be found in all parts of the State, and in addition to their own they bought and shipped a great many herds throughout the Northwest, operating from Washington Territory to North Dakota (2). It can be safely said that Nick Bielenberg and associates were the fathers of the sheep industry in Northern Montana with the first of any importance within the State (2).
An active Republican, Nick Bielenberg was a delegate in 1892 to the national convention at Minneapolis. Nick, a friend and confidant of Theodore Roosevelt, was a delegate to the National Progressive Convention, held in Chicago in August of 1912 that nominated Roosevelt for president on the "Bull Moose Party" (3). Nick was an active participant in the development of the City of Deer Lodge. He contributed funds for the completion of the Deer Lodge Chapter House of the Deer Lodge Womens' Club as a memorial to his daughter, Augusta Kohrs Bielenberg, who passed away in 1901 (3).
Nick Bielenberg was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in all of its bodies; also of the Elks. In the Masonic Order he was a member of Deer Lodge, lodge No. 14, Valley Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M., Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar and Algeria Temple of Mystic Shrine. He was the first treasurer of the Ivanhoe Commandery, when chartered in 1916. He was also a member of the Society of Montana Pioneers. Nicholas J. Bielenberg and Annie Bogk Bielenberg of Deer Lodge, Montana had five children Alma, Howard, Augusta, Anna and Claude (4).
Nick Bielenberg was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in all of its bodies; also of the Elks. In the Masonic Order he was a member of Deer Lodge, lodge No. 14, Valley Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M., Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar and Algeria Temple of Mystic Shrine. He was the first treasurer of the Ivanhoe Commandery, when chartered in 1916. He was also a member of the Society of Montana Pioneers. Nicholas J. Bielenberg and Annie Bogk Bielenberg of Deer Lodge, Montana had five children Alma, Howard, Augusta, Anna and Claude (4).
References
1. An Illustrated History of the State of Montana. Miller, Joaquin. Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. Co., 1894.
2. Dreams Across the Divide: Stories of the Montana Pioneers
3. Silver State Post, Deer Lodge, MT. December 6th, 1979.
4. A History of Montana. Volume 2. Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913
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