Medora 2

We left in the morning for the Jones Creek Trailhead.  Jason and I decided to hike the trail from one trailhead near Bolcourt Overlook to another crossing, about six miles by car, near  Jones Creek Well.  We spotted a herd of bison near the prairie dog town and stopped to watch.  The big bull on the left was watching us the whole time, I don’t think he wanted us near his “ladies” to the right.

Here is Jason, raring to go on the trail.

Just a way down we stopped for one last photo before Cathy took the truck to pick us up at the other crossing down the road.

Up around the bend we came across the trail register.  Jason knew exactly what to do!

The trail descends along the (dry) creek into some beautiful country.

It seemed like every time we had to cross the creek, there was just enough water to make mud!

Here you can see some of the scenery trailside.  We hiked about four miles without seeing another person on the route.  We did keep an eye out for errant bison, though.

Some of the critters that we spotted during the hike can be seen below.

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After topping a short grade  (2910 feet, Jason was wearing my altimeter) we had this view looking back from where we came.

We crossed Jones Creek one last time.  There was a pretty deep cut through the bank, apparently made by bison herds.  There were bison tracks everywhere, including up and down the creek bed.

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After finishing our hike, we cleaned up and went into town.  We stopped at the ruins of the De Mores meat packing plant, built by the Marquis De Mores, a French nobleman who came to the Badlands and founded the town of Medora in 1883.  This Medora abbattoir (French for slaughterhouse) operated until the fall of 1886 whereas a lack of a constant supply of quality range cattle forced the plant to operate part-time, and it quickly failed.  The plant was destroyed by a fire (of unknown source) in March of 1907 and the son of the Marquis donated the property to the State of North Dakota in 1936.

This is the foundation of the original slaughterhouse (pre Temple Grandin design).

The original chimney is still standing and there are several holes in the sides where you can feel the cold air rising.

Jason is really “cool” sitting on the corner of the original icehouse.

After visiting the ruins we then moved on to the Maltese Cross Cabin.  Theodore Roosevelt invested in a local cattle operation known as the Maltese Cross Ranch in 1883. The next summer he started a second ranch, the Elkhorn, which Roosevelt considered his “home ranch”.  The Elkhorn Ranch is a unit of the National Park and is located midway between the South Unit and the North Unit, spanning a distance of more than 70 miles.

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This massive cottonwood tree is located directly behind the Maltese Cross cabin.  The cottonwood is North Dakota’s state tree.

There is a park downtown dedicated to the Civilian Conservation Corps Companies 2767 and 2772, which contained men who chose to come the North Dakota to work rather than accept welfare monies in the Great Depression.  Jason found this gazing ball fascinating.

The statue of the Marquis is also prominently displayed in the park.  The local school carries his name and there is a local museum dedicated to his contributions.

It was getting a little warm so of course we had to stop by an ice cream shop and watch the road repaving across the street.

Jason made the obligatory pose with Teddy himself.