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All the United States North Dakota Medora Chateau de Mores

Chateau de Mores

Home of a French nobleman's short-lived attempt at raising cattle in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Medora, North Dakota

Added By
Thomas Harper
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Wild West Chateau   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
Wild West Chateau   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
Chateau de Mores Historical Marker   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
  minnemom
  minnemom
The Chimney of Chimney Park   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
The visit to the Chateau starts here at the Interpretive Center. A museum, and a visit with staff will open up the wonder of this “summer cabin” of the de Mores.   Beautiful Badlands / Atlas Obscura User
The visit to the Chateau starts here at the Interpretive Center. A museum, and a visit with staff will open up the wonder of this “summer cabin” of the de Mores.   Beautiful Badlands / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In the 1880s, the cattle industry was booming in the western United States. Hoping to strike it rich with his idea of using refrigerated cars to ship beef, Antoine de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Morès, established a summer home in western North Dakota. A brutal winter would put a quick end to his enterprise, but his house, the Chateau de Mores, still stands in the town of Medora, which was named for his wife.

A nobleman of French and Sardinian ancestry, the Marquis de Morès built this two-story, 26-room house in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory in 1883. He purchased over 44,000 acres of land to raise a vast herd of cattle and set up a packing plant to ship beef in refrigerated railway cars and avoid paying for the services of the Chicago Stockyards. He would entertain dignitaries of his day including his neighbor, the future President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.. His wife, Medora Von Hoffman of the famous New York banking family, painted watercolors that still hang in the visitors' center. 

The Marquis was one of many Europeans who bought large tracts during the boom, not knowing how soon it would crash. The price of beef plummeted in 1885, and most grasslands throughout the West became overgrazed. The summer of 1886 was exceptionally dry and hot, which kept the grass from growing back. Finally, the winter of 1886–87 was brutal. Punishing snowstorms and below-zero temperatures kept what little grass remained from growing, and an estimated 500,000 cattle perished in what would be called "The Great Die-Up." The Marquis de Morès left the area that November, along with Roosevelt and many other aspiring cattle barons.

Today, the Marquis' home still stands with most of its original furnishings intact, and is available for tours during the summer season. The packing plant burned down in 1907, with only a tall chimney standing in what is now Chimney Park. The Chateau, which is located close to the entrance of Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s South Unit, and which has been listed with the National Register of Historic Places since 1975, gives insight to a would-be cattle baron's life in the late days of the Wild West.

Related Tags

Old West Houses Homes

Know Before You Go

The Chateau is open daily from May to October, between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., weather permitting. The Interpretive Center, Chimney Park, and DeMores Memorial Park are open year round. Please call 701-623-4355 to verify. Last tickets are sold at 4 p.m.

Community Contributors

Added By

thomasharper

Edited By

Kevin OKeeffe, Beautiful Badlands, Michelle Cassidy

  • Kevin OKeeffe
  • Beautiful Badlands
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

November 19, 2019

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Sources
  • https://www.ndtourism.com/medora/attractions/chateau-de-mores
  • https://www.historyonthenet.com/american-west-the-cattle-industry
  • https://truewestmagazine.com/the-great-cattle-die-up/
  • https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan9/great-die-up/
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1887-blizzard-changed-american-frontier-forever-1-180953852/
Chateau de Mores
3426 Chateau Rd
Medora, North Dakota, 58645
United States
46.912462, -103.534789
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame

Medora, North Dakota

miles away

Elkhorn Ranch

Medora, North Dakota

miles away

St. Peter's Catholic Church

Wibaux, Montana

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Medora

Medora

North Dakota

Places 3

Nearby Places

North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame

Medora, North Dakota

miles away

Elkhorn Ranch

Medora, North Dakota

miles away

St. Peter's Catholic Church

Wibaux, Montana

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Medora

Medora

North Dakota

Places 3

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