This area’s climate includes dramatic fluctuations. As you imagine yourself ranching here, consider the effects of one winter during the heydays of the open ranch.The snowy winter of 1886-87 devastated the cattle ranches of Montana. Cattle already lean from a dry summer faced a November and December of continuous snow. A midwinter thaw caused by a warm wind, or “Chinook,” allowed the grass to surface for a few weeks. Then a deadly freeze locked the range in ice, leaving little for the cattle to eat. Thousands died.
Spring saw the range dotted with carcasses. Swollen bodies floated in the rivers. Half the Kohrs-Bielenberg cattle were lost, but Conrad Kohrs borrowed $100,000 from a banker in Butte and replenished his herds from sources in Idaho and Texas. He recovered his losses in three years.
The young cowboy-artist Charlie Russell sketched this famous and tragic scene.
(Notable Places) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.