Chateau de Mores, The Town of Medora, and a Bit More of Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit

 8.28.2023

Medora, ND

Mileage:  Still in the same place

While Kenny Worked  . . . .

Chateau de Mores

Medora was created by a French Aristocrat who came to the area to try to revolutionize the meat industry.  While his attempt to transport fresh beef was ultimately unsuccessful the town survived, as did the hunting lodge that he built for his wife, Medora.  The family used the lodge seasonally for only three years.  It then sat vacant until it was donated to the North Dakota Historical Society.

It is a very large, fancy house for the area.  Several famous people including Theodore Roosevelt visited here.  The ND Historical Society is also making plans for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to be housed here in Medora.

I then wandered around the town a bit.  The town is largely owned by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.  Many of the shops and restaurants are staffed by volunteers who submit applications each year to work here.  It kind of felt like a western Williamsburg.  Teddy Roosevelt even walks around town.  I saw him filming a commercial.

In almost every town we visited there is a Veterans Memorial.  Below is Medora's.

While Kenny was with me we went back to the South Unit of the National Park.  We saw Teddy Roosevelt's cabin.

We toured the small museum in the visitor's center.

We visited an overlook we skipped yesterday.  Visibility was much better yesterday.

We saw more wild horses.

We then took a short, steep, scary hike on Wind Canyon Nature Trail.  It was cool to see different rock formations.

We also saw the best views of the Little Missouri River we have seen so far.

Buffalo by the River.

There is a bison herd on top of the mesa.

It was a bit windy on top of the high peak, but we were happy to make it to the top!

Comet wants to say thanks for following the blog!!  We leave tomorrow and begin our journey to our next big stop, Rapid City, SD.