View source for CK Ranch

Headquarters for the ranch were on [[Prairie Elk Creek]]. Owners were [[Conrad Kohrs]] and [[John Bielenberg]]. A few others held small ownership parts in the ranch. It was once called the [[Pioneer Cattle Co.]] The range was northern Montana and the area south of the Missouri River. It ran over 30,000 cattle. Some of the wagon bosses were [[Dave Clare]], [[Glen Hollinsworth]] and [[Bob Shannon]], Cowboys were [[Bill Gady]], [[Orin Miller]], [[Ed Payne]], 'Buttons' [[Earnest Blevins]], [[Billy Crowder]], [[Claude Clark]], [['Swede' Hardin]], [[Dan Garrison]], 'Kansas' and 'Night Hawk.' [[J. M. Bordman]] was range manager. Cooks were [[Jay Case]], Gotch, 'Froggy' Furgerson. He was also called the 'Frog Faced Kid.' Others were Ben Vandeberg, Scotty Embleton, Charley Oliver and Oscar Hunter.

After the XIT closed out, the CK ran a wagon for two years. During that time they shipped the remnant of the "X" cattle over 5,000 head.

The Pioneer Cattle Co. first ran the D Bar S brand and operated north of the Missouri River. They worked with the Circle Diamond and N Bar N wagons from mouth of Milk River up the Missouri to Ft. Benton. From there they went north to Havre, then down the Milk east to the Dakota line. Sometimes they worked north into Canada. I worked with the CK wagon between the Yellowstone and Missouri two years. [[Glen Hollinsworth]] was the boss one year, and 'N----- Bob' Shannon the other year.

During the winter of 1886-1887 Conrad Kohrs claimed that he lost over 20,000 cattle.

The ranch shipped mostly from Oswego on the Great Northern railroad, but after 1908 they shipped from [[Saugus]] on the [[Milwaukee Road]]. Also shipped from [[Galbraith]] and [[Bascom]] stations on that railroad.