Medora is a tiny town of a few hundred people in the western Badlands, about 140 km west of Bismarck, and the main gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's small enough to walk across in ten minutes, but it packs in more history than most towns ten times its size.
The town was founded in 1883 by the Marquis de Mores, a French nobleman who came west to build a beef-packing empire. The Chateau de Mores, his restored hilltop home, is open for tours and gives a vivid picture of the grand ambitions and spectacular failure of his venture. The De Mores Packing Plant Ruins sit below, a single brick chimney standing where the operation collapsed. The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame on Main Street covers the broader history of the northern plains through Native American and frontier exhibits.
The main draw, though, is the national park immediately to the south. The South Unit entrance is right at the edge of town. Bison herds wander freely across the roads, prairie dogs colonise the flats, and the eroded buttes turn extraordinary colours at sunset. Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin, moved to the park visitor centre, is small and authentic — the log ranch house where a young, grieving New Yorker first fell in love with the West. In summer, the Medora Musical at the Burning Hills Amphitheatre is the town's social centrepiece.