At 320 m. is the junction with a graveled spur.
Left on this spur is SOUTH HEART, 1 m. (2,474 alt., 150 pop.) so named because of its position on the southern bank of the Heart River. One mile W. of the town the trail made in 1864 by Gen. Alfred Sully and his troops on their return from the Battle of Killdeer Mountain is plainly visible. South of the town on a country trail is CUSTER HILL, 7 m., where Custer made camp on his way to the Big Horn country in Montana in 1876. Breastworks thrown up as a protection are still visible.
BELFIELD, 322 m. (2,578 alt., 653 pop.), is in a small valley along a tributary of the Heart River. The Dakota Colloidal Corp., which operates the only Bentonite Plant (open weekdays 9-4) in the State, procures the mineral from a clay found N. of town, and uses it in the manufacture of soaps and washing powders. Here is a junction with US 85 (see Tour 4).
At 330 m. the route comes dramatically upon the BADLANDS, cut into the heart of the plateau. In every direction stretches a confusion of bare, grotesque, garish buttes, their tops level with the surrounding prairies. Down their sides broad earth strata—brown, ash gray, sulphur yellow, and salmon—deposited through geological ages, have been exposed by years of erosion. French explorers named this region mauvaises terres a traverser, or bad lands to travel through.
Right at 332 m. is PAINTED CANYON with its jumble of gorges and superb buttes. Spread as far as one can see toward the northern horizon is a magnificent display of buttes, showing in varying light and shadow the great charm of this never-monotonous country. A drive lined with a wall of brick-red scoria (see Natural Setting), mottled with green, like weathered bronze, parallels the highway, providing a good point from which to take photographs.
As the highway descends into the Badlands, it twists through ravines and valleys. At 335 m. is the eastern entrance to the SOUTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK (see Roosevelt Regional State Parks).
MEDORA, 341.5 m. (2,265 alt., 200 pop.), seat of Billings County, lies along the eastern bank of the Little Missouri River, at the foot of a steep wall of yellow clay cliffs. Now a center for tourists attracted by its history and the scenic beauty of the surrounding area, it was formerly such a bustling cattle town that on one occasion a thousand Texas steers stampeded across the tracks and stopped a train. In the same era, it is said, the more or less adequately named son of the plains, Hell-Roaring Bill Jones, saw an old gentleman in a derby get off the train here. Derbies and plug hats were especially scorned by the cowboys, so with a grunt of disapproval Bill shot off the offending bit of haberdashery. The gentleman hastened to reenter the train, leaving his dismantled headgear to the West. But not so Bill Jones: "Come back!" he roared in tones that compelled obedience. "We don't want the blinkety-blank thing in Medora."
In 1879 a military camp named Little Missouri (see below) was established here on the opposite river bank to protect workers of the N. P. Ry. from Indian attacks. This typically rough frontier post saw the arrival in 1883 of two notable young men of almost the same age. Theodore Roosevelt, a young New York assemblyman of 25, traveling for his health and also to forget the recent loss of both his mother and wife, already displayed the rugged, direct personality which later characterized the wielder of the "big stick." Because of his eastern dress and his heavy glasses he became known as "the four-eyed dude from New York", or, more briefly, "Four-eyes"—until one evening with his naked fists he knocked out and disarmed a bully. Thereafter his nickname was subtly changed to "Old Four-eyes."
The other young man was the Marquis de Mores, a handsome, spirited Frenchman. Arriving in America about six months earlier with his bride, the rich and charming Medora Von Hoffman of New York, he had made a hunting trip to the West and, with characteristic dash, decided to build a packing plant in the cattle country to capitalize on the advantage of avoiding the cost of shipping live animals to eastern abattoirs. Wealthy in his own right and backed by his millionaire father-in-law, de Mores came to the wild Badlands to build the plant that was to be the center of operations for the Northern Pacific Refrigerator Car Co., incorporated to operate in five Territories and nine States, and to do a general transportation business.
Because of some disagreement over contemplated real estate purchases in Little Missouri, de Mores bought a huge tract of land on the east side of the river, where he built his packing plant and with it a town, named Medora for his wife.