140 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



FINANCIAL BACKER OF THE OLD CATTLE KINGS 



51. One of the most active commission men during the boom 

 days of the cattle range, and one of the broadest financiers of 

 the Wyoming and Montana operators was Joseph Rosenbaum 

 of the firm of Rosenbaum Bros. & Co. Mr. Rosenbaum was 

 bom at Schwabach, Bavaria, April 1, 1838, and came to America 

 with his brother, Morris, in 1850. His father had preceded 

 them and had established a business at Dubuque, Iowa. When 

 twenty years of age, in partnership with his brother, he estab- 

 lished a general store at Cedar Falls, Iowa, but in June, 1862, 

 enlisted in Company B of the 31st Iowa infantry. He served 

 until the close of the war, and on his discharge engaged in the 

 handling of livestock and grain at Waverly, Iowa, shipping to 

 the Chicago market. In connection with this work the brothers 

 established in 1867 the State Bank of Waverly and the State 

 Bank of Nashua, some thirty miles to the north of Waverly. 

 Morris Rosenbaum was cashier of the Nashua branch and 

 Joseph Rosenbaum was cashier of the Waverly institution. In 

 1874 their interests were disposed of to other parties, and the 

 two brothers established in Chicago the livestock commission 

 firm of Rosenbaum Bros., later incorporated as Rosenbaum 

 Bros. & Co. Joseph Rosenbaum was president of both organi- 

 zations and was later president of two branch subsidiary com- 

 panies which he organized, the Livestock Commission Company 

 and the J. Rosenbaum Grain Co. In his later years Mr. Rosen- 

 baum became an extensive operator on the Board of Trade. 



In the brightest years of the range cattle industry, Mr. Rosen- 

 baum loaned enormous sums to a number of the Montana cattle 

 men. In the spring and summer of 1886 he had in the vicinity 

 of one million dollars tied up in the herds of a number of 

 Montana operators, the best known being Conrad Kohrs (53). 

 The severe winter wreaked havoc with these men, Mr. Kohrs 

 losing approximately 32,000 out of 35,000 animals. As spring 



