Almost half a million people pass through each year, but the mayor says they just stay a day or so. Theodore Roosevelt came to the badlands in September 1883 to hunt buffalo and other big game and wound up buying part interest in a couple of cattle ranches. His cabin is a major tourist attraction. The town is named after the wife of the Marquis de Mores, a wealthy French nobleman who established a beef packing business and summer home here. It does take you back in time.
Kids ride their bikes past horse-drawn carriages full of visitors.
Grown-ups mow their lawns or tend gardens while tourists stroll by. The houses are small and informal. People like to wear jeans and baseball caps here. Naw, we don't mind the tourists. We like to see them.