Old West Lives : Medora, N.D., Now a Mecca for Tourists

Born of a French nobleman’s dream, this sleepy town has reawakened as a hideaway for tourists eager for a taste of the Old West.

Just about 50 miles from the Montana-North Dakota border, the gently rolling grasslands of west-central North Dakota open into the gorges of the Badlands, carved by the Little Missouri River ages ago.

The Badlands, which got their name from Sioux Indians, are now the Theodore Roosevelt National Park-South Unit. The land is stark and rugged and often described by visitors as “kind of like a miniature Grand Canyon.”

Medora, founded in 1883, is nestled in the eastern portion of the Badlands. It has survived by changing with the times. With an off-season population of about 250, Medora has become a popular attraction for tourists from the Midwest.

Wild West Flavor

Its wooden sidewalks, clapboard buildings and the old-fashioned Bad Lands Saloon give the town a strong “Wild West” flavor, which is heightened by the rugged setting.

The area was once home to Theodore Roosevelt, who first arrived in 1883 and returned to live in 1884 after the deaths of his wife and mother.

“I heartily enjoy this life, with its perfect freedom, and there are few sensations I prefer to that of galloping over these rolling limitless prairies, rifle in hand, or winding my way among the barren, fantastic and grimly picturesque deserts of the so-called Bad Lands,” Roosevelt once wrote.

Roosevelt also credited his life in the Badlands for his presidency.

French Nobleman’s Dream

“I have always said I would not have been president had it not been for my experience in North Dakota,” Roosevelt said.

Roosevelt reportedly even got caught up in a typically Old West-style barroom brawl in Medora. The story told by locals is that Roosevelt beat up a bully in the Bad Lands Saloon.

The Marquis de Mores, a French nobleman, founded Medora in 1883 and named it after his wife, the daughter of a New York banker. The Marquis de Mores planned to grow rich in Medora, exporting beef to eastern markets.

He built a large meatpacking plant, and is credited with conceiving refrigerated railroad cars, in which he shipped the beef east.

Plant Went Bankrupt

The dream died, however, because Easterners preferred corn-fed beef to the Marquis’ range-fed beef, and the endeavor was strongly opposed by Chicago meat plants, historians say.

By 1886, De Mores’ meat plant went bankrupt and the marquis and his wife returned to Paris in 1887.

All that survives of the marquis’ dream is the De Mores’ 26-room chateau, the meatpacking plants’ large smokestack, a monument to his wife and the story.

The harsh winter of 1888 killed most of the cattle, and Medora soon was a ghost town.

Medora was not revitalized until 1958 when the Burning Hills Amphitheatre was built and the drama “Old Four Eyes” was presented to mark the 100th anniversary of Roosevelt’s birthday.

In 1962, Harold Schafer, a North Dakota businessman, began to rebuild Medora. Schafer is often credited with the town’s current success as a tourist attraction.

Numerous Attractions

Schafer and his family donated their holdings in Medora to the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, a public, nonprofit organization, which now runs the historic cow town.

Medora’s numerous attractions include the De Mores’ chateau, shops, museums and the adjacent national park, said Mayor Rod Tjaden.

Medora hosts many events during the summer, including the Medora Musical, held nightly in the outdoor Burning Hills Amphitheatre, rodeos, conventions and Old West shows.