Hello October
Good-bye September, Hello October. I can't believe it's already October.
In Montana we have been having morning temperatures in the 40s and the highs in the 70s. We're still in Montana and we'll be here for awhile. The morning temperature was 45 degrees and had a little breeze in Helena. The high temperature was a cool 69 degrees in Drummond, which is 65 miles from Helena.
I woke up at 7:30 and got dressed. We put things away and secured. Then we had a quick breakfast, which was a Little Debbie's apple pie and we shared a shake. We were on the road by 7:50. We didn't have too far to go.
Larry drove a total of 85 miles. We didn't go directly to Drummond we made a stop in Deer Lodge. We wanted to visit Grant-Kohrs Ranch. We had been there years ago and wanted to see it again. It was 55 miles from the fairgrounds.
As we were getting ready to go we saw a deer walk in front of the Minnie. When we were leaving we saw a few deer in the neighbor's field.
The drive there was very beautiful we drove through a couple of mountain passes. We drove two lane highways and an interstate. We drove by a lot of ranches with cattle and horses. One ranch had llamas, another had sheep.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch is a National Historic Site. It was given to the National Parks Service in 1972. It has signs around the area explaining the ranch and the cattle industry from the 1850s. It was established by Johnny Grant, who was a Canadian fur trader in 1862. Later on it was expanded by a German cattle baron, Conrad Kohrs (1886-1920). In 1960 the 1,618 acres ranch was designated as a National Historic Landmark. Now it's maintained as a working ranch by the National Park Service.
The ranch is a self-guided tour. As you walk around the site you learn about the history of the ranch and the surrounding ranches in 1820s. You learn about Johnny Grant, Conrad Kohrs and the ranch hands and how they lived on the ranch. We took the guided tour of the Ranch House (1862, 1890), where we learned about Johnny Grant and his family and the ranch. They kept all the furniture from when Johnny Grant and his family lived there. They only replaced the main carpet but they matched it close to the original. The ranger had only been working at the ranch for five months and she loves it. She's from New York and they warned her about the below 0 temperatures in the winter. She did an outstanding job with the tour. One fun fact was when the Grant family lived in the house. They hired a cook, who was short so they made her a chair, that flips into a step stool so she could reach things. I couldn't take any pictures of the inside of the house. The self-guided tour has 16 different buildings to look at and read about. They were 1) Ranch House 1862, 1890, 2) Bunkhouse Row 1884, 1907, 1930s, where the ranch hands slept and lived, 3) Ice House/ Tack Room 18802, 1930s, where the ice was cut from the ponds and stored there, 4) Garage/ Repair Shop 1935, 5) Thoroughbred Barn 1883, where Kohrs had his thoroughbreds and show cattle. Today it stores horse-drawn vehicles and equipment, 6) Leeds Lion Barn 1885 for their stallions and draft horse, 7) Feed Lot and Shed 1930s, 8) Chicken Coop 1930s, 9) Buggy Shed 1883, where the buggies are stored, 10) Granary 1935, where the gains (oats and corn) are ground and store for the cattle, 11) Draft Horse Barn 1870, where the Draft Horses are kept, 12) Dairy 1932, 13) Oxen Barn 1870, when the draft horses replaced the oxen other livestock was kept there but they kept the name, 14) Bielenberg Barn 1880, where the young cows having their first calves were kept, 15) Warren House 1950s, where the Warrens lived and was given to them as a wedding gift from Augusta Kohrs an, 16) Warren Barn 1950s, where the hay was stored and where Warren's prize Herefords were kept. There were other buildings such as the blacksmith shop and other demonstration buildings. There were other things to see on the ranch: nature trail, beaver slide hay stacker, chuckwagon, livestock (cattle and four draft horses) and more. The draft horses were very friendly they let you pet them. The ranch had a couple of gardens. One was in the back of the Grants house and the other was by the blacksmith shop, where we saw a lady working in it. During the on season they do demonstrations such as blacksmithing, stories at the chuck wagon with cowboy coffee, cowboys talk, roping lessons, branding demonstrations, evening campfire programs and mid-summer they do haying demonstration using draft horses beaverslide haystacking. We had a great time walking around Grant-Kohrs Ranch. It's free but they do except donations.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch visitor center
Fifth Wheel Wagon
Ranch House 1862, 1890 Johnny Grant's house
Dining Room for the ranch hands
Sleeping Room for ranch hands
Coal Shed
Equipment for the horses
Hi, What's you doing?
Petting one of the draft horses on the ranch
Garage for buggies
Chuck Wagon
Foaling Area
McCormick-Deering Grain Binder
After the tour we went back to the Minnie. We were walking and touring the ranch for an hour and a half. Larry plugged in our next destination, which was Drummond Montana. We had to back track a few miles to get to Drummond. Drummond is 30 miles from Deer Lodge, where Grant-Kohrs Ranch is located. The drive was the interstate. We arrived at Drummond at 11:30.
Drummond is a small town but it has a town park where you can stay. It's not fancy but it's a good place to stay a night. It has three powered sites for $25 a night, maximum of 3 nights. You can stay for $10 with no power. If you need water they have spickets for you to use. The water is on. The restrooms are pot-a-johns. Next to the park they have a small fairground. You can't walk around it because the gates are locked. They have a small playground and a baseball diamond, that's used for football. They have horseshoe pits.
We decided to get a power site. We had no problem, there was no one here. We plugged in and paid for the site one night. They only take cash. After setting the Minnie up for the night I had lunch, which was a sandwich and chips.
After lunch Larry read and I played games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The daily event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 1 hour, 39 minutes and 1 second to complete, which put me in 13th place in my group.
While we were relaxing about 3:45 the football team showed up for practice. They practiced until 5:30. They parents showed up to take them home. While their brothers and sisters were waiting they played in the playground. It was great to see the children playing in the playground.
The fairgrounds
The horseshoe pits
After the football team practice was over and everyone was gone we walked around the park. We walked for a half mile to the river and old railroad bridge. It was a short walk but it got us moving.
When we got back we read until we went to bed. Larry finished a book today. I started a new book called The Unseen World by Liz Moore. By the end of the day I had done 5,000 steps.
We had a great day.
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth