2/10/2012:
In June of 1881 Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford, which in many respects marked the end of the Frontier Era in what is now North Dakota. With all but a handful of Indians now on reservations, the vast open prairie in western Dakota Territory became desirable for settlement. But unlike the Red River Valley, the rugged hills and Badlands were semiarid and less fertile. Crop farming was difficult and the cattleman became king.
In 1883 a twenty-five year old Frenchman came upon the scene. He was wealthy and ambitious, a visionary with a plan to create a huge enterprise based upon the slaughter of open-range cattle – shipping dressed beef to eastern markets. The Marquis de Mores located his operation where the Northern Pacific Railroad crossed the Little Missouri. The site was on the eastern extent of the cattle range, it had plenty of water, ice-making capabilities, and an abundance of lignite for fuel. Since shipping was key to the plan, de Mores created the Northern Pacific Refrigerator Car Company in May of 1883.
The town of Medora was born, and a packing plant and slaughter house were built. Three productive years followed the initial opening of the plant, but a poor distribution plan, opposition from Eastern beef syndicates, and a disastrous blizzard in the winter of 1886-87 ended the dreams of the Marquis. The plant closed in the fall of 1886 and never reopened. The de Mores family returned to France in 1887. Nine years later, the Marquis de Mores lost his life in North Africa.
On this date in 1899, a plan was announced to reawaken the town of Medora and reopen the slaughter house and packing plant, but with a slightly different product – horse meat. It appears there were a large number of foreigners in the Eastern cities accustomed to eating horse. The idea was that canned or fresh-processed horse meat would find a ready and profitable market. The packing plant at Medora had sat idle for twelve years and there was an ample supply of cheap horses on the western ranges, so perhaps a modified version of the concepts of the Marquis could become profitable after all. But by 1900 the capital for the venture failed to materialize, and on March 17, 1907 the plant burned – forever ending de Mores’ dream.
Dakota Datebook written by Jim Davis
Sources:
Oakes Republican February 17, 1899
Historical Narrative and Plans for Restoration, Development, and Preservation of the De Mores Historic Sites at Medora, North Dakota by Arnold G. Goplen 1939