OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 143 



less difficulty in shrinkage and waste during the long ship to 

 Chicago. When he first started marketing, he was forced to 

 drive from Montana down to Laramie City or Cheyenne on the 

 Union Pacific, a distance too great to permit their delivery in 

 good condition and at a satisfactory price in Chicago. The 

 construction of the Northern Pacific across Montana induced 

 Mr. Kohrs to move his cattle to Tongue River, some 150 miles 

 south of Miles City. He made his first Chicago shipment in 

 1882, consisting of 400 four-year-old Shorthorn steers. The 

 cattle were a long time on the road and suffered from a heavy 

 shrink but they weighed 1,585 pounds at Chicago and brought 

 the top price for range cattle, $5.85. Later in the year he 

 shipped 700 three-year-olds, of mixed breeding, that averaged 

 1,365 pounds, but received $5.85 for these as well. 



The severe season of 1886-1887 practically ruined Mr. Kohrs. 

 His herd was reduced over 90 percent by death from the cold 

 and starvation. Financial help at this time from Joseph Rosen- 

 BAUM (51) of Chicago enabled him to pull through, however, 

 and in the 90's Mr. Kohrs was able to purchase the entire pure- 

 bred herd of the Childs' estate, a good lot of cattle descended 

 from the stock of Adams Earl. About this time, Mr. Kohrs' 

 son-in-law, Hon. John M. Boardman, became associated in the 

 management of the Pioneer Cattle Co. and took charge of the 

 breeding of these Herefords. Due to a dispute between the 

 herdsman and the administrator of the Childs' estate, the pedi- 

 grees for the cattle were not secured, and the animals were 

 therefore bred as a non-pedigree herd, with registered bulls con- 

 stantly in service. This herd usually numbered about 300 head, 

 while a purebred Shorthorn herd numbering 700 head was also 



