Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago

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I recently visited the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. On its surface, this park preserves the open range era of cattle ranching. The era of cattle drives, cowboys, and unfenced public lands. But, I couldn't help but notice when I was there, that the Grant-Kohrs Ranch also symbolizes something else: the West itself. This ranch is symbolic of Western development as a whole, since the decisions made here, and the power accrued here, had vast implications for how the West came to be... the West. The modern day power structures and influences were born in this era, and you can see it all at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch.

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Sources and Resources:
https://www.umt.edu/this-is-montana/columns/stories/grantkohrs.php
youtube.com/watch?v=wfCZstLdeY4
npshistory.com/publications/grko/index.htm
youtube.com/watch?v=bzZGmid7bdw
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/openrange.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/cattlebarons.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/traildrives.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/winter.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/conradkohrs.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/johnnygrant.htm
nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/conradwarren.htm
npshistory.com/publications/grko/index.htm
npshistory.com/publications/grko/phn-v13n3-1993.pdf
npshistory.com/publications/grko/adhi/contents.htm

Images and Music:
Storyblocks
NPS