The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1922-10-26
MARQUIS DE N00RES, ERRAT1C FRENCH M0BlEMAM, ONE OF MOST
SPECTACULAR FIGURES I'M HISTORY OF MONTANA AND DAK0TAS

One of the most extraordinary men
among the unusual characters whose
names are to be found in the pages
of Montana's history was Antoine de
Vallombrosa, Marquis de Mores, son
Of a French duke and a member of
the noted Orleans family, who was
remotely in line for the French
throne. The amazing exploits of the
Marquis de Mores in a business way
and otherwise in eastern Montana
and western Dakota are still remem
bered by old timers in Miles City and
eastern Montana, but to the present
generation his name is unknown.
In the Bad Lands of western Da-
kota, just across the Montana line,
on the Northern Pacific railroad, in
the late 70's and early sos there
was a little settlement known as
Little Missouri, or more popularity
as Little Misery" which boosted
that it was as tough a community as
existed in the entire west. It's record
In this respect was for several years
fully sustained, for it knew of no
law excepting that of the sixshooter
and its little cemetery on Graveyard
Butte had as a majority of it's popu-
latiOn men who had died with their
boots on. It was an ideal hangout
for outlaws of all kinds, and It's in
habitants looked with disfavor on
any invasion of the territory sur
rounding it by stockmen o. others
engaged in legitimate lines of indus
try.
The establishment of the residents
of Little Missouri may be imagined
when, one day in March, 1888, a fine
looking young man, ~fashionably clad
in garments strange to the
ity, alighted from the west-bound
passenger train and, followed by a
neatly-dressed serving man who car
ried his baggage, strolled to the
group of log and frame shacks that
constituted the town and inquired
with a pleasant for Howard
Eaton.
Eaton, then a recently arrived cat
tie man from Pittsburg, died last win
ter at Sheridan, Wyoming, near
where for the past rs years he had,
with his brothers, operated the world
famous Eaton "dude ranch at Wolf,
Wyoming. It happened that Eaton
had that day ridden into Little Mis-
souri, after the mail, SO the letter was
presented at once 1t was from a
eastern business man, and
stated that the bearer, the Marquis
de MOres, was the s~on-in-law of
Baron Vol Hoffman, a wealthy New
York banker of German blood. The
letter ended: II don't know what
experience he has had in business or
anything of that kind, but he has
some large views"
De Mores' Ambitious Plans
1t appears that the Marquis had
Little Missouri as the result
of a visit to the Bad Lands of Da-
kota the previous year of his cousin,
Count Fitz James,, a descendant of
early Scotch exiles to France. Count
Fitz James had been on a hunting
trip to the Bad Lands, returning to
with stories of the new cat
lie country that stirred the Marquis's
imagination. Being an adventurer,
he tales of frontier life in western
America had excited his interest, but
1fs ambitions were not along the line
If sport, but were directed toward
making a huge fortune in some COM
nercial venture.
AILer LoII1ng Howard Eaton brief
y the facts concerning his circum-
as follows: ri am going to
,uild a great abbatoir and packing s
,lant. / am going to buy all the
'heep, cattle and hogs that come over l
he Northern Pacific. l am going to l
daughter them here and then ship !
hem to Chicago and the east" {
Eaton observed that it would take {
lot of money to buy all the stock
hat was shipped over the Northern S
Pacific. /
THAT is of no consequence" re- {
lied the Marquis. "My father-in- |
aw has ten million dollars and can |
ten million more. I've got
and the rest of the packers i
Matched dollar for dollar" {
Organizes Refrigerator Company +"
The first move the Marquis made S