In the middle eighties Medora, together with Mingusville (present Wibaux, Mont.), had become the center of a new, rich, cattle-grazing section. The round-up area extended to a radius of 75 m., and in some round-ups as many as 100 men were employed. Large outfits ran probably 100,000 head, and ranchers like Roosevelt, who grazed 2,000 to 3,000 head, were considered small cattlemen.
Many factors operated against the success of de Mores' packing plant, which opened in the fall of 1883. He himself was young, rash, inexperienced, and often ill-advised. His friends found him honest and confiding, and less open minds than his took advantage of him. There were costly mistakes, and many hundreds of thousands were spent before any meat was sold. Moreover, eastern packers undersold de Mores and forced ruinously low prices. Since he had to depend on grass for feed, he could supply his trade from his own stock only at certain seasons, and at the other times had to buy from outside parties, who took advantage of the situation to charge him high prices. A plan to feed cattle at Medora never materialized. De Mores ran sheep, but hundreds died. To cap it all, the public apparently did not like grass-fed meat.
Another ill-starred enterprise was the Medora-Deadwood stage line, begun in the fall of 1884 with the idea of securing a mail contract and some of the passenger and freight traffic going to the Black Hills gold fields by way of Dickinson. The route from Medora to Deadwood was shorter than that from Dickinson, but it was also rougher. De Mores' horses were wild, and often broke up equipment. In addition, the mail contract failed to materialize; the shift from placer to deep mining lessened the flow of transients into the Hills; and after one trip over the rough road, freight shippers usually chose the Dickinson route. The line was ordered discontinued in the spring of 1886, ending another of the marquis' dreams.
Many people of the Little Missouri Valley did not like de Mores. They doubted his claim to the peerage, or, if they believed it, regarded it as an affront to their almost belligerent democracy. Such things as his special car on the N. P. Ry. and his occasional trips East or abroad irked them. Worst of all, he began to fence his land—a glaring infraction of wide-open range etiquette. His fences were cut; he had them mended. They were cut open again. Things went from bad to worse. Stories were carried to de Mores of threats against his life. He appealed to the sheriff at Mandan for the arrest of the trouble makers. When the deputy sheriff arrived, they bluffed him out, and de Mores, thinking the deputy overpowered or perhaps killed, endeavored to make the arrest. There was shooting, and when the smoke cleared, one man was dead.
This was in June 1883. Twice dismissed by lower courts, the charge against de Mores was finally brought in district court in Bismarck in September 1885. He was acquitted. About a year after the trial, realizing that his packing plant was not to be a success, he closed its doors, and took his family to Europe. At the age of 38, while on an expedition to Africa, he was ambushed and killed by native guides.
Except for his neighbor Roosevelt, the Badlands have never known a more notable figure than this Frenchman with his dreams of their industrial development.
Theodore Roosevelt was a frequent visitor at the de Mores' chateau (see below) during the months he spent in Dakota Territory. On his first hunting trip here in 1883 he was so attracted by the wild country that he made arrangements to become a partner in a ranching enterprise, and for the next six years he spent part of each year here, first at the Maltese Cross, or Chimney Butte Ranch (see Bismarck), 7 m. up the Little Missouri, and later at the Elkhorn, 35 m. downstream (see Tour 10). Both ranch sites are difficult to reach, and little is to be seen at them other than the sites where the buildings stood.
Roosevelt's ranching ventures were not financially successful; he ran small herds, and was interested more in the condition of his health than that of his fortune. His keen delight in hunting and the rough cowboy life, however, won him many friends. In the spring of 1884 he acted as chairman of the local Stockmen's Association, and the same year he was the principal speaker at Dickinson's first Fourth of July celebration. One day a cowboy overheard someone say, "That fool Joe Ferris In company with the other stockmen of the valley, Roosevelt lost heavily in the severe winter of 1886-87. It is said that scarcely a rancher did not lose at least half his stock—the Hash-Knife, a large outfit, lost 65,000 head. Roosevelt's trips to the West thereafter were of shorter duration. One of the strongest links that bound him to this country was his famous Rough Riders, made up mainly of western men, who served under him in the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt visited Medora in 1900, on a campaign tour, and again in 1903, and was warmly received each time by his old neighbors and friends.