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 RosensAum Bros. & Co. Mr. RosENBAUM was 
born 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. Ros—EnBauM 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 Conrap Kours (53). 
The severe winter wreaked havoc with these men, MR. Kours 
losing approximately 32,000 out of 35,000 animals. As spring 
