7/7/2009:
"Cowboys, marquises, horse thieves, cattle barons, would-be presidents, bad men and desperadoes." These words may bring to mind images of old western films full of gunslingers, boot spurs, and the weathered face of John Wayne. But in fact, these are the words that author and librarian, Zdena Irma Trinka used to characterize the rich history behind the town of Medora, North Dakota. Trinka was a native of Bohemia born in 1893, but she fell in love with the picturesque terrain of North Dakota when her family moved to Lidgerwood. She was enchanted by the romantic drama of North Dakota's past, especially the story of the Marquis de Mores and his wife, Medora. In 1940, Trinka pursued her interest in the de Mores family and wrote a book appropriately named Medora, which chronicled the Marquis's struggle to establish a successful cattle ranch and meat-packing plant in the badlands of North Dakota.
On this day in 1943, the Mandan Daily Pioneer announced the exciting news that Trinka had received two offers from producers in New York to buy the rights for Medora in the hopes of transforming the story into a stage play. Although the story never did reach the stages of New York City, New Yorkers did have a chance hear the book on the radio when it was chosen for broadcast by the Radio Book Service of New York. Medora continued to gain in popularity when, in 1955, it was named North Dakota's "Book of the Year."
Trinka also wrote a couple of successful pieces on the history and heritage of her native country including a children's story called Jenik and Marenka of Czechoslovakia and another story entitled A Little Village Called Lidice about the Nazi's massacre of civilians in Lidice, Czechoslovakia. However, her primary interest remained in the captivating history of North Dakota.
Trinka once wrote that she hoped to "create a greater love and appreciation for North Dakota on the part of its people" through her writings. She certainly accomplished her goal. Trinka wrote several other books on North Dakota history including Out Where the West Begins, North Dakota Today, and Teddy: Saga of the Badlands. Her vivid imagination brought the history of North Dakota to life in books full of shining chateaus, sweeping landscapes, rough-rider presidents, and high adventure in the old west. Trinka's books stand today as an exciting record of North Dakota history, and the pages are still, in her own words, "pulsating with the life and charm of the brawny west."
Dakota Datebook written by Carol Wilson/Dakota Datebook Intern 2009
The Mandan Daily Pioneer, July 7, 1943.
Minot Daily News, Jan 7, 1956.