So, as I mentioned before George Custer left Ft. Lincoln in early May, 1876.  It took him three weeks to go about 100 miles to the North Dakota Badlands.  It then took him three weeks to traverse the 50 or so miles through the Badlands.  Why?  See the picture below.

This is the east side of the Badlands and it gets more  rugged as he headed west.  Anyway, the rest of the story is pretty well known.  The first reports of the massacre reached Ft. Lincoln on July 5.  One day after the 100th anniversary of  the founding of our country.

The next visitor to North Dakota who made an impression was the Marquis de Mores who made the journey west with his wife, Medora, into the heart of the Badlands.  His idea was to establish a waypoint for drovers to leave their cattle.  He built a plant in this small town which he named after his wife to process the slaughtered cattle and then ship it east via rail.  But because of the lack of refrigeration the plan failed and the Marquis and Medora returned to France but not before meeting Teddy Roosevelt.

Poor old Teddy lost his mother and wife on Valentines Day and because of his own weak constitution and his grief he wanted to get away and what better place than the backside of nowhere.  This is the cabin he built on the ranch he bought, the Elkhorn Ranch.  He raised cattle and went hunting for bison.  The ranch was made into a national park so now we can all enjoy the bison, wild horses, and prairie dogs.

Teddy and the Marquis hung out together and Teddy got his strength back.  It was in North Dakota that he developed his love for the rough western ways and independence of spirit.  This remains a true North Dakota trait!