2/18/2011:
In popular culture, the term Old West is often associated with wild gun-slinging outlaws, shootouts, vigilantes, and stand-offs at high-noon. The Medora of the Old West certainly had its fair share of gunslingers, including the Marquis de Mores, who fought many a duel. Yet, while Medora was certainly a part of the “Wild” West, its citizens actually tried to put together a civilized gun club to practice their shooting skills as a gentlemanly sport.
On this date in 1885, the Medora Gun Club officially elected its five executive officers including A.T. Packard, the founder, editor, and main contributing author of Medora’s Bad Lands Cow Boy newspaper. The members of the fledgling club agreed that the “object of this association shall be to further the interests of rifle, gunshot, and revolver practice.”
Members of the Medora Gun Club signed a contract and paid a one dollar membership fee upon joining, and each new member had to be voted in. The shooting competitions, which were held each Saturday, included a series of five contests such as glass ball and target shooting for rifle, shotgun, and revolver.
The Medora Gun Club contestants paid 50 cents to participate, competing for either a new revolver or a Winchester Rifle – the brand of gun preferred by Theodore Roosevelt.
Packard featured weekly reports on the competitions in the Bad Lands Cow Boy, but his reports revealed that the club wasn’t very popular. Though the men of Medora surely had experience shooting for hunting purposes, the thrill of sharpshooting in competition never took hold.
On March 19, Packard reported that “the last shoot did not come up to the standard of the preceding shoots, owing to the weather or some other of the unaccountable reasons which make any marksman have an off day.”
But the bad shooting of the 19th was not an isolated incident, and the reports of dismal shooting scores continued to appear in the paper.
Fewer and fewer contestants appeared at the competitions each week until a frustrated Packard wrote in late May, “What has become of the Medora Rifle Club? Have they crawled into their holes and died?” The club had simply fizzled out.
Other towns in North Dakota including Bismarck and Grand Forks also had gun clubs, but they were far more successful and well-attended than Medora’s.
Dakota Datebook written by Carol Wilson
Sources
Bismarck Tribune, July 21, 1885.
Grand Forks Daily Herald, May 19, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, May 28, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, April 23, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, April 2, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, February 19, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, February 26, 1885.
Bad Lands Cow Boy, March 19, 1885.