The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-07-19
ROMANCE OF
! DE M0RES Is
T0LDIN STORY
Miss Bertha Palmer Gathers
Pictures and Writings Of
MedOra Badlands
HISTORIC BACKGROUND

HISIOkIC BACkGKUUND
Much Of the romance surrounding
Medora. the Bad Lands, and the Mar
auis de Mores is contained in the
5group Of pictures and stories about
Nthe various places and persons
(which has been collected by Miss
1Bertha Il. Palmer, chairman of the
Hart division Of the North Dakota
Moderated Women's clubs and ar
e ranged in portfolio form to be used
fIby the club women OF the entire
Estate in their study Of the Beauty
kSpots" and monuments and Memoir
/! ais" of North Dakota during the
sclub-season.
u Probably as interesting group
hof pictures and articles as contain
Fed in the collection are those con-
Injected with the rise and fall of
u the de Mores power mt Medora.'
EPictures are shown of the old Chat
seau dc Mores, lived in by the Mar
s 1uis de Mores and his wife, Medora
ttvon Hoffman, daughter Of Baron Won
Hoffman, one Of New York's wealth
est bankers. There is the picture
e If the little brick church built by
:, he Marquis, the little brick house
lbuilt for Baron Won Hoffman, the old
I,hunting coach Of the Marquis, and
z panoramic views of the Bad Lands.
FEDORA, photographs of Marquis and
{ Madame de Mores made at Otto
studio in Paris in 1882, of James
Foley, the poet, ihis father and his
!. stepmother Mrs. Gertrude Foley,
and others.
Accompanying the pictures, num-
Der Of which were sent by Kate IL.
/ Brewer of Parshall, are articles Of
all descriptions. One of the most
interesting articles of the group is
feature story written by Mrs.
Brewer and published in the "St.
Paul Sunday Pioneer Press" of Dec.
II, 1929 about real chateau in Da-
kota Badlands marks faded dream
country with it's picturesque history
and scenic beauty Mrs. Brewer says:
"Medora's historical background
is as picturesque as it's physical
setting And it's present state of
innocuous desuetude is no more
pathetic than is the story of the
man who built the town, gave to it
the name of his wife and spent more
than $1,OO0,000 in vain effort to
establish a colossal industry in the
heart of the old cattle country.
Historians have dwelt at length
on Theodore Roosevelt's career as
cowboy. near Medora. Of the 9th
err man, Antoine de Vallombrosa
Marquis de Mores, they have spok
en- only incidentally. For man is
and ever shall be-measurcd by hi
accomplishments. But though tn
brilliant schemes of the Marquis
failed utterly the landmarks he lef
behind cannot help but fascinat'
those of us who achieve thrill, vi
cariously, by delving into the day!
that are dead. with un
limited capital at his disposal tn,
Marquis de Mores 'builded this city,
without thought of expense. HI
erected a trading store, brick no
tel, church, and brick~residenc,
for his fatherin-law when the gen
tleman should desire to sojourn il
the Bad Lands.
"The chateau, patterned afte
Washington's home on the Potomac
was to be n summer home for tn
Marquis and the Madame. A 'coun
try seat it was in effect from who's
vantage point the Madame nigh
watch the rise of her husbands vas
undertakings; where she might res
from the social life of New Yor
and Paris, and which should serv
~ a. base of supplies for hunting
trips on those rare occasions whe
the marquis could desist from tn
great task remaining before him.
ITO the thirty-room castle, the
/ shortly after its completion cam
I the beautiful Madame de More.
| With. her arrived some TWENTY-FIVE
! servants and fair proportion o
I the good things of life, which, t
one of cultured tastes, would be in
1 dispehsive even on the frontier. Tn
I chateau was furnished throughout
i rich rugs, hCina, plate, pictures
/ heavily canopied beds, painting.
and hooks, books, books"
The present interest in state his
L tory-which exists in the state ha
{ naturally resulted in the club VIC
men sOf the state has natural re
II suited in the women of the stat
u becoming interested in collectin
ii the history and pictures of beaut
spots in North Dakota. Each spo
will be cmplete with description an
picures.