8.22.26 Medora North Dakota--Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Presidential Library

This blog post concludes the 2026 summer trip! It was 107 days of exploring, discovering, laughing, driving, setting up and tearing down...We loved every minute...well maybe not the smoke out west. We may try going back to Glacier National Park again on a clear day!

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8.22.26 What a stop this was! We visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, The Chateau de Mores, and walked around downtown Medora.

The Medora Campground was one of the worst we stayed at on this trip but it was worth it to see the Library!

Pretty close quarters!

The Maltese Cross Cabin

“I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota.” Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

The Maltese Cross Cabin was a temporary home for Theodore Roosevelt during his mid-twenties. The steeply pitched roof was an oddity in the northern plains at the time. It created a sleeping loft for Roosevelt’s ranch hands accessed by ladder from the kitchen.

The cabin was built from pine logs intended for railroad construction making them a very sturdy choice! The cabin had wooden floors, a root cellar, three rooms, a sleeping loft, and two coal burning stoves that set it apart from most frontier homes of the time.

Empty rifle casings were used to make the shape of the Maltese Cross on the end of a log in the cabin’s right front corner. Only one partial casing remains as the rest were taken as souvenirs long ago.

Snack time! I had strawberry and Al had Huckleberry Pie ice cream.

Al and Teddy. Don't they both look so dapper?

Buttes

Landforms in the badlands are buttes. Mountains form when land is thrust upwards. This process has not taken place in the badlands. Buttes form as erosion removes surrounding material. Rainwater, creeks, and the river are constantly eroding the badlands, leaving buttes.

These three photos look the same but that is what the Roosevelt National Park looks like!

Peaceful Valley Trail

Bison in the valley

Al went for a walk down this trail...

More Bison

Al hiked The Coal Vein Nature Trail

The Layers- Brick Red is called Clinker-it forms when cola veins catch fire and bake the rock above, changing git into a harder, red rock. Brown & Tan- is sandstone and silt stone washed down from the Rocky Mountains. Black- Coal is the remains of ancient plants and animals that lived in the Everglade-like swamps. Blue/Grey-Bentonite Clay is made from the ash from distant volcanos.

In this area there was a 12-foot thick coal vein deep underground. In 1951 it caught fire and burned for 26 years. As it burned away, the rocks above were left unsupported and the surface collapsed.

. Seasonal Pools are low spots that formed when the ground collapsed during the fire. 

Burn Out- During the burn, visitors could see smoke, glowing coals, and sometimes flames.

The spot where the coal vein ignited during a lightning storm in 1951.

The red rock is clinker or scoria and is created when a burning coals seam bakes the rock later above it. Baking rock is like putting clay into a kiln to make pottery. The rock hardens as it bakes. 

Fire needs oxygen to burn. As the coal fire burned, cracks in the rock layers allowed air to be sucked down into the fire. The fire burned up into the cracks and baked the rocks nearby, creating chimneys. This chimney was exposed when softer sediments around it eroded away.

Wild horses

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Grand Opening July 4, 2026

The library was beautifully designed to blend into the landscape. The design was just genius in portraying the great conservationist that Theodore Roosevelt was. If you watch the video at the bottom of this post called Constructing the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, you will see that every consideration was taken in conserving the land, and all resources. 

We walked the trail over the roof for gorgeous views.

The entrance is open to the views of the area. There are rocking chairs on a veranda to sit and relax.

We went through security just like at an airport. My purse went on a scanner and we walked through a metal detector.

The walls were designed to look like the layers in the badlands.

We had to sign in with a token we were given. We gave our name and email address and had our picture taken. The token was used at all the activities throughout the library. It tracked our progress through the library and then emailed all the photos and posters, etc. to our email after we left.

This long timeline gallery of Theodore Roosevelt's life was very interesting. At the ends of the rows where fun  interactive activities like the photos, trivia games, etc.

Theodore Roosevelt

October 27, 1858: Born in New York City.

1876–1880: Attended and graduated from Harvard College.

1880: Theodore married Alice Hathaway. 

1882: Elected to the New York State Assembly.

1884: Suffered a double tragedy when both his mother and his wife Alice died on Valentine's Day.

Theodore Roosevelt's mother, Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt, died of typhoid fever (or typhus), while his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, died of Bright's disease (kidney failure) exacerbated by childbirth.

On February 14, 1884, both women passed away within hours of each other inside the Roosevelt family home at 6 West 57th Street in New York City:

Roosevelt was at his job in the New York State Legislature when he received urgent messages calling him home, where he arrived to face the catastrophic double loss.

These are AI pictures of Al and I. They use the photos we had taken at the entrance and are used at the activity kiosks throughout. The background of these are to represent Theodore's time in New York.

He retreated to the Dakota Territory to work as a rancher.

After finishing his New York legislative duties and leaving his newborn daughter Alice in his sister's care, Roosevelt took the train west via the Northern Pacific Railroad, which ran directly through the newly established frontier town of Medora.

He arrived in the evening to seek refuge and heal from the profound grief of losing both his wife, Alice, and his mother on the same day just four months prior.

From Medora, he ventured further into the remote Badlands along the Little Missouri River to establish his more isolated Elkhorn Ranch.

A Train simulator. It shook and rattled along while we watched and listened to an audio story about Theodore's grief after his loss and his trip west to find solace in the wilderness.

He built Elkhorn Ranch

Al as a rancher. I think he's a handsome cowboy!

I had to try my hand at being a frontier woman too!

An interactive activity...we answered some questions and AI came up with our own personal brands.

Al tried the shooting gallery.

1886: Returned to New York and married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow on December 2, 1886. Theodore and Edith grew up together in New York City and knew each other well from a young age. Together, they raised Theodore's first daughter, Alice, along with five children of their own: Theodore Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin.

1889-1895 Served as U.S. Civil Service Commissioner.

1895–1897: Served as President of the New York City Police Board.

Al as a police office in New York.

1897–1898: Theodore served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Al as a Naval Officer

1898: Roosevelt resigned to lead the "Rough Riders" volunteer cavalry regiment during the Spanish-American War, achieving fame at San Juan Hill.

Al as a Rough Rider (I think he looks pretty handsome!)

1899–1900: Theodore Roosevelt served as Governor of New York.

September 2, 1901: Vice President Roosevelt used the following quote publicly in an address titled "National Duties" at the Minnesota State Fair. 

“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you’ll go far.”

September 14, 1901: Sworn in as the 26th President of the United States at age 42 (the youngest in U.S. history) following the assassination of William McKinley.

1904: Won re-election to a full presidential term.

Al and I ran for President. He was more popular than me.

Al and I as President

Roosevelt's second wife, Edith, supervised the renovation of the White House.

1906: Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

1909-1910: Left office and went on a massive hunting safari in Africa.

1912: Ran for president again under the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party after splitting from the Republicans, losing to Woodrow Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt’s life almost ended on the campaign trail. In 1912, while running for a third presidential term, Roosevelt was the victim of an assassination attempt at the hands of a violent and deluded saloonkeeper, John Flammang Schrank. After being shot, Theodore insisted that he finish his speech.

"Ladies and gentleman, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."

Al and I on Safari

1913–1914: Embarked on a dangerous scientific expedition down the River of Doubt in South America.

There was a very cool 360 degree movie presentation about his expedition. We sat on canoe stools and the movie was all around, just like we were right in it! Loved it!

January 6, 1919: Died in his sleep at his home from a pulmonary embolism, on Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York, at age 60.

A place at the library to sit and reflect and to admire the landscape.

We immensely enjoyed our visit to the 

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library! 

...except the cafeteria lunch. It filled the hole but could have been much better!

***Watch the Story of Roosevelt called “Elkhorn” on Amazon Prime… Or free on Roku or Tubi. It is a series. 

After leaving the Library, we went down the hill to tour the Chateau de Mores. 

Chateau de Morès

The Chateau de Mores is a historic 26-room summer home built in 1883 in Medora, North Dakota, by the French aristocrat Antoine de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Morès.

The Marquis arrived in the Dakota Badlands in 1883 with immense family wealth and a grand vision to revolutionize the American meat industry. He named the newly founded town of Medora after his wife, Medora von Hoffman.

Instead of shipping live cattle east by train—which caused weight loss and bruising—the Marquis planned to slaughter cattle locally at his own large abattoir (beef-packing plant) and ship the dressed meat in refrigerated railway cars.

Though locals dubbed the sprawling, two-story frame structure a "chateau," the family affectionately viewed it as their rustic hunting lodge. Filled with fine European furnishings, oriental carpets, and personal effects, it hosted wealthy guests—including future president Theodore Roosevelt, who was a local rancher and neighbor.

Despite bold ambitions, the ambitious cold-storage beef enterprise struggled against high shipping costs, industry opposition, and financial losses. By 1886, the family abandoned seasonal operations in Medora, and the packing plant eventually burned down in 1907, leaving only its tall brick chimney.

The Marquis's son, Louis, later worked to preserve the property and gifted it to the state. Today, it operates as the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site, managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The Marquis' private sleeping quartrs.

The Marquis' private bathroom. Even his wife, Medora, was not allowed in this room. 

The Marquis' private bathtub was purchased for his exclusive use by his wife, Medora. The tub was known as a hat brim tub because of it's shape. To take a bath, a servant filled the tub to the bottom of the brim with hot water. The Marquis would sit on the bench and put his feet in the water, bringing the water up to the rest of his body either by sponge or pitcher. The slant of the tubs brim allowed water to fall back into the basin.

The Marquis' commode (the white box toward the back), had a container under the seat to catch waster. The container most likely had dirt, ash, or lime to help minimize the odor. Although the servants would have removed and disposed of the contents regularly, the commode also had an odor vent. This vent led from the toilet vault to the outdoors, keeping odors from accumulating in the room.

The hip tub (above) is named for the way a person sits in it. You sit with your back against the high side, hips in the water, and legs bent at the knees with your lower legs outside the lower side. Because of the effort to heat water and fill the tub, it was not unusual for multiple people to use the same water. To help maintain water cleanliness, a sheet would be placed in the tub before the bather entered the water. Once done bathing, the sheet would be removed and replaced. 

Medora's private sleeping quarters.

The "Living Room" The beginning of the family space. The only space where the entire family along with guests gathered for games, music, or conversation.

When designing the Chateau, the Marquis relied on misinformation from railroad publications promising mild winters---far from the reality of below freezing temperatures of the Badlands.

The Marquis chose a central fireplace design that includes a five foot deep firebox in the main living room with a brick chimney in the other rooms. The heat from the main fireplace was meant to radiate through the brick into the other rooms. I imagine the winters were a bit chilly in this home! There were small wood burning stoves in the other rooms.

This room is a porch and space created to prepare for hunts or offload guests luggage. It was also a place for Hunt hands such as guides, porters or hired hands to relax and sleep before a group headed out for a hunt.

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Al Hikes Jones Creek

The wildlife were out grazing this morning, very cool to watch them!

Jones Creek Trail was recommended by one of the park rangers when we went to the Visitor's Center so I decided to check it out.  This is an out and back hike and goes to the trailhead off the East half of the loop road.

These mounds are all over in the Badlands.  It's interesting to see the various layers and shapes of these mounds from the wind and water erosion over the centuries.

I wasn't sure what to make of this rock, it looks like a bunch of red bricks mashed and glued together.

The North Dakota Heritage Center

This museum was bigger than expected and included lots of dinosaurs found in the area as well as full sized dioramas and artifacts.

The North Dakota Capitol Building

The original Capitol building burned Sunday December 28, 1930

The new Art Deco Capitol building was completed in 1934

Funny story...this was how you choose a floor and ride the elevator. It took us a while to figure this out. What happened to up and down buttons? There were no buttons inside the elevator at all except the ones to close the door.

The view from the 18th (top) floor.

Senate Chambers

Hall seating

The House Chambers-The ceiling is supposed to represent the Moon & the Stars

Art deco ceiling lights

Original brass elevator doors.

The original mail chute is still used for the mail!

Brass Bubbler

Our Guide

The Monkey Room

Located in a small hallway serving as a private entrance near the Secretary of State's office.

Walls are constructed of California walnut and the "Monkeys" are the distinct knots, swirls, and wavy markings in the wood grain that resemble the shapes of eyes, faces, and animals, giving the room its famous nickname.

The most famous prominent statue outside the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck is the bronze Sakakawea Statue honoring the Shoshone woman who guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The statue was sculpted in 1910 and depicts Sakakawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on her back. A replica of this statue also stands in the U.S. Capitol.

Click my video below to see our tour of Roosevelt National Park and a couple walk-a-bouts with Al.

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Research and Resources

Video recording was not allowed in the library without prior authorization and a fee so I didn't have my GoPro along. Here are a few videos I found on YouTube if you're interested.

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Constructing The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

The Calculated Risk of Building the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Building the Theodore Roosevelt National Library

Inside the Library that Doesn't Want to be a Library

Chateau de Mores

North Dakota History: The Chateau de Mores

Chateau d Mores State Historic Site

The Chateau that Refused to Fade

A Walk Through the Chateau de Mores

The North Dakota State Capitol

A Tour of the North Dakota State Capitol

The North Dakota Capitol Fire