More Medora North Dakota

So, it turns out that Medora North Dakota is another vortex of history. Even before Theodore Roosevelt arrived, the Marquis de Mores, a wealthy nobleman from Europe, arrived and built his hunting lodge in 1883. While more rustic than what he was used to in Europe, it was still a plush 26 room home complete with a live-in servant staff of 6.

The home remains today in much the same condition as when the Marquis and his wife, Medora, lived here in the late 1800’s. She was quite the frontiers woman, able to outshoot him and most others that they hunted with. She loved hunting so much that she even hunted by herself when he was out of town. The Marquis established the town of Medora in 1883 when he built his hunting lodge, and of course, named the town after his wife.

The Marquis attempted to corner the cattle business, at least the part of getting it to market. The norm at the time was to drive the cattle back east to be slaughtered, or ship live cattle by rail. Either way, during the drive or the train ride, they could easily burn up half their body weight, or lose that much to damage from the jostling. De Mores built a huge slaughterhouse in Medora, and ran a railroad extension to the plant. But slaughtering the cattle in Medora and shipping in ice box cars to the East, he could easily yield more than 70% of the original weight and pocket the profits.

Unfortunately, easterners had begun consuming corn-fed beef raised in the East. Demand for range beef diminished just as de Mores’ huge plant was coming on line. By the early 1890’s he was losing significant money on the operation and shut it down. With no other reason to keep him in Medora, he and his family left. At the turn of the century all the buildings in the campus burned, leaving only the 84-foot-tall chimney.

We also visited the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. While this would be far more interesting a site if you were tied in with the local rodeo circuit and its famous rodeo riders, it was still a very nice collection of both local artifacts as well as things generic to the development of the West to make it a pleasant visit.

We did one last hike in the National Park, to see the petrified forest. Apparently, Theodore Roosevelt NP has one of the best collections of natural petrified wood in the nation. Unfortunately, it had been raining off and on every day, so both the road as well as the hiking trail were muddy and greasy. We managed to make it out on the trail far enough to be among the significant petrified forest formations and get our curiosity handled.

I am not sure that the car or the bikes on the back of the car feel the same. I am not sure when either of them will get a good bath, but after this experience, they both need them.

Talk to you soon!