Medora

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I was travelling on Hwy 85 through North and South Dakota and had reserved my campsite in Medora because there simply wasn’t another campground on Hwy 85 for miles. I had originally planned to stay one night, but about 50 miles away the scenery started to change and when I turned onto Interstate 94 heading for Medora the view from the scenic overlook changed my stay from one to two nights in a hurry.
Medora is most unusual. General George Custer stayed here in 1876 on his way to Little Bighorn, All of the sidewalks in the downtown are wooden and the buildings are built in the 1880-90 style. It is a great place to visit. The town was founded in 1883 by a French nobleman and was named for his bride. He came to Medora and founded a meat packing plant with the thinking that he would make his fortune slaughtering beef on the range, and transport the dressed beef back east for sale in refrigerated rail cars, unfortunately the whole scheme collapsed and the family returned to France in 1886. He also founded a brick plant. (Don’t know why they abandoned the brick works - all that’s left is the foundation of the chimney.)
Theodore Roosevelt first came here in 1883 and became interested in the cattle business, and he established his principal residence in the area. By spending time in the Dakota Territory he became alarmed by the damage that was being done to the land and its wildlife. He witnessed the destruction of some big game species and conservation became one of Roosevelt’s major concerns. When he became President in 1901, Roosevelt pursued this interest by establishing the U.S. Forest Service and the 1906 Antiquities Act under which he proclaimed 18 national monuments. He also got Congressional approval for the establishments of five national parks and 51 wildlife refuges. The entrance to the park that is named for him is in Medora.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is very big, 70,500 acres. I have no idea what that is in miles but from what I learned in elementary school 640 acres is one square mile! There are a couple of herds of buffalo in the park but as this is rutting season, they become very cautious; although there was evidence of them I didn’t see any. I did however, see wild horses, and was excited about that. The scenery is really lovely as you can see from my photos (I hope!)

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Photos

General Store
In downtown Medora

Church and Bank
Neighbours?

Store Sign
Had to smile!

Badlands
Unusual Scenery

Badlands 2
Variations throughout the area

Comments

[Al]

Fixed
All pictures are showing now. Goos stuff!