Medora, N.D.

I took the scenic route from Bismarck to Medora. I headed northwest through Double Ditch, Fort Mandan, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, Knife River Indian Villages, Garrison Dam, White Shield, the Three Affiliated Tribes Museum and Crow Flies High Butte in New Town (on the Fort Berthold reservation); then southwest to Watford City and through the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Whew!

In Medora, I wandered through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Visitor Center, to discover the brand of the family I'm studying prominently displayed next to Roosevelt's ranch brands. There was also a display of a map of the Little Missouri River area that appeared on an endpiece in Hagedorn's Roosevelt in the Badlands, which was drawn by Lincoln Lang (brother to the woman whose letters I'm studying).

My next stop was the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. The historic ranch "my" family established was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. They have quite a little library in their brand new space, and I found some helpful background information. A Joisey girl like me can't be expected to know everything about ranching!

The Billings County Museum housed a treasure trove of early county record books in it's vault, and the curator was very friendly. The Clerk and Recorder's office also held quite a number of official records (dusty though they were) from the mid-1880's, which was very helpful to my research. Gregor Lang (Sophia's father) was an early-day Billings County commissioner, even though he had to ride 40 miles (one way) to the meetings in Medora.

My tourist stops in and around Medora included: Sully Springs (a Maah Daah Hey trailhead), Theordore Roosevelt National Park, Chateau de Mores, a leaisurely drive down East River road to Amidon, and Buffalo Gap. I was going to visit the site of the original shack at the confluence of the Little Missouri River and the Cannonball Creek, but the snowstorm in South Dakota a few days before my arrival flooded the Little Missouri, and it was both impassible and impossible to visit, (especially on horseback).

Fear not, there was plenty of horse action at my next stopover!