Day Trips

Medora began as a military cantonment called Little Missouri. It was officially named Medora in 1883 by the Marquis de Mores, an entrepreneurial French nobleman with a big dream for a meat-packing empire. He named the town after his wife, Medora von Hoffman.

That same year, a young Theodore Roosevelt made his first visit to Medora — where he would later find solace and strength after the death of his wife. Many years after that, he would tell an audience in Fargo: “I never would have been President had it not been for my time in North Dakota.”

In 1888, a brutal blizzard wiped out the majority of Medora’s cattle industry — and the town spent decades approaching “ghost town” status. But the story doesn’t end here…

In the 1950s, Harold Schafer—North Dakota-born businessman and owner of the Gold Seal Company—took an interest in a worn-out cowtown called Medora.

He purchased and revitalized the historic but run-down Rough Riders Hotel. He acquired an amphitheatre built into the side of a butte and helped create the Medora Musical. Then, in 1986, he retired from business and donated the entirety of his Medora properties to establish the non-profit Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.

Medora is now North Dakota’s #1 tourist destination—thanks to the passion and generosity of Harold Schafer, the cowboy businessman.

Harold Schafer’s investment in Medora kick-started a revival of this historic town. And that revival continues today!

Medora’s official population is just over 100. Each summer, that population more than quadruples as a workforce of over 300 seasonal employees arrive to serve the traveling public.

And thanks to the Schafer family’s decision to donate their entire Medora investment to create the non-profit Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, the town is growing every year! We can’t wait to welcome you and your family to Medora.