They had come west together from Virginia seeking new opportunities following the Civil War. In 1889, the brothers started developing a 200,000-acre cattle ranch which extended from Dupuyer to Conrad and up to the Marias River. An act of Congress, however, declared the enclosure of public lands illegal and anything fenced in the area they had claimed had to be removed. The Conrad brothers continued to work towards the development of their property as more homesteaders seeking land to farm and ranch came to the area. They strategically bought out sheep operations along Dupuyer Creek to guarantee a sufficient water supply for their ranch. By 1902 they had started developing Lake Frances, which continues to irrigate farms and ranches throughout Pondera County today. While the Conrad brothers were working to develop their ranch, the Great Northern Railroad was working to connect Great Falls to Lethbridge with a rail track in order to move coal from Canada south to the smelter in Montana. When the track from Lethbridge to Great Falls was completed in 1902, William’s “Conrad Investment Company” deeded 600 acres they owned near the track to the railroad for a townsite, and thus the town of Conrad was born.
