Sunday Washington globe., 1902-05-04

the northwestern states. he had a ranch
in North Dakota, was interested in cattle
raising in Montana and during his visits to
St. Paul became widely known there and
eventually started the first beef refrigerating
warehouse in that region He was a gay
dashing fellow. adventurous to the verge of
daring, and while he made many friends
throughout the northwest he incurred the
enmity of some and participated in several
affairs in which pistols figured conspicu-
'ously.
The young Freuchmau returned to his
native country about a dozen years ago,
taking with him an American wife, whom
he first met in New York. Their romantic
marriage and subsequent wild life together
in Montana, his splendid visionary schemes,
his sensational failure, his subsequent duel
ing escapades in France and his assassiua-
tiou in Africa are still fresh in the minds of
every reader of American newspapers.
And yet, even with all that has been
printed the full story of the De Mores ro-
nance has never been told. The handsome
young Freuchman's chrouiclers have been
prolific in tales of his recklessuess, his
love of newspaper publicity, the foolhardi-
ness of his sensational Montana enterprise,
his lack of business capacity and his per
soual ecceutricities, but none has as yet done
justice to his wifes answering love nor to
the fact that the cause of many of his fail
-ures was his devotion to her ideas
His Western experience was the central
incident in the life Of the debonar young
marquis It was during his stay in the West
that the young wife risked her life to save
his, an incident that is said to have in
huenced De Mores to his last day.
In 1888 De Mores married Marie Medora
~ 4 IL.
daughter of the millionaire banker, J.. A.
Won Hoffman, of New York. For some
time he had been working on scheme to
compete with the beef trust by packing
beef where the cattle were fed and shipping
it to the Eastern market dressed or packed,
expecting to save enough money on the
difference in freight to enable him to under
bid the trust
The scheme was roundly condemned at
the time by Eastern meat men, though
Western Cattlemeu seem TO have considered
it feasible enough. Uudismayed and
backed by the wealth of his father-in-law
who furnished readily large sums for the
enterprises, De MOres started West with
his bride soon after the marriage.
He had obtained $4,000 acres of railroad
grant land in the bad lands Of eastern Mon
tana, near the Dakota line. 1t was here he
meant to erect his packing houses and buy
and keep his stock. A spot in a treeless
coolee" in the center of the bad lands was
chosen as a town site and the place was
named Medora in honor of the marquise.
Montana was greatly agitated over the ac-
QUESTION of this eccentric character and his
money, but the cattlemen of his section
were soon his bitter enemies. They feeced
him at every turn and they despised his
good clothes, his English riding saddle his
dandihed ways and his fences. These last
were the osteusible bones Of contention,
but, cowboy like, their greatest scorn was
for his English fashion of rising in his
saddle when riding, a matter of continual
wonder to the plainsmeU, who sit in their
Mexican saddles as if they were part of the
animal under them.
De Mores fences were undoubtedly a
trial both to him aud to everyone else. He
had surrounded his entire z5,ooo acres of
land with his fence. Such an article was
unknown on the ranges, but the green mar
quis did not understand that. Besides, the
fence crossed several of the cattle trails, so
the COW punchers we're obliged to cut
through whenever they wanted to cross to
new grazing ground or round up herd. 1t
kept the marquis aud his men busy most of
the time making repairs.
By spending money lavishly the building
of the town was fairly rapid. Brick was
imported from the east and a thoroughly
up.to.date packing house was erected and
equipped pretty little white cottage,
French in style, was built for the home of
the marquis aud his wife, station house
was put up, residences for the men and a
little Roman Catholic church were CON
structed and a crop Of saloons and small
stores soon appeared
It was prosperous town and its popula-
aiou soon increased. De Mores bought
tens of thousands of cattle, spent money
like a prince and brought such prosperity
as had never been seen before in all the
cattle country of Montana.
But still tue caJtlemeu we're not happy
At each new outrage Of their western sense
Of the fitness Of things more bad feeling
was stirred up aud De Mores felt that
trouble was brewing. But he paid no heed,
riding over the ranges daily as it every
man in the state were his fast friend
But one day things came to a climax, and
it was while the titled cattle owner was
out on the range.
Late in the afternoon, while pretty Nine.
De Mores was in the little chapel, where
she spent part of each day, a band Of wild
'cow-puuchers," rather the worse for
liquor, galloped into the little town and be-
gan shooting it up" shouting the while
for De Mores. They made no effort to
hide their purpose. They were there to
shoot down the young marquis on sight.
The little Eastern wife, reared in luxury,
with every protection that a young girl
could have. heard their cold -bIooded threats
and resolved to save him. She knew that
he would soon come home riding behind the
little white cottage and the big brick pack.
ing houses and that he would be an easy
mark for every man in the 'cooee"
She could not get to her house without
being seen, so she braved IL out Stepping
from the church in a dainty frocki the like
Of which had never been seen in that wild
country before she walked firmly across the
main street within ifty feet of the desper
ADDE'S
They knew with certainty that she was