August 4, 2015

History Alive! features the Marquis de Mores at the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site

MEDORA-- French nobleman and cattle baron, the Marquis de Morès, will appear at the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site on August 15-16. Portrayed by Dickinson resident, Lance Rustand, as part of the popular History Alive! program, the Marquis will share his dreams of a beef empire in the territory surrounding Medora, the town named for his wife. The free programs run on the veranda of the Chateau at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. (MT).
 
Born on June 14, 1858, the Marquis de Morès descended from a family of Spanish, Italian, and French nobility. He came to Dakota Territory in 1883 to build a fortune in the cattle industry. The Marquis planned to slaughter range cattle at Medora and ship dressed meat east via refrigerated rail cars to provide urban consumers with a reasonably priced product.
 
Investing millions in his dream, he built a packing plant, bought cattle and land, and employed cowboys and workers. He built a home south of Medora as a hunting cabin to accommodate the Marquise and visiting family and friends. Local residents nicknamed the structure a “Chateau,” and the name stuck. The Marquis's meatpacking project and commercial empire collapsed in 1886. The meatpacking plant at Medora burned in 1907. Its smokestack still stands east of the Little Missouri River, in Chimney Park, part of the Marquis de Morès State Historic Site.
 
History Alive! programs explore the lives and times of decades gone by, combining theater arts with history. The 20-minute monologues are based on original letters, diaries and other documents, many from the archives of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
 
For more information, contact the Chateau de Morès State Historic Site at 701.623.4355 or the State Historical Society of North Dakota at 701.328.2666, or visit history.nd.gov. 

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CONTACT:  Samuel Kerr, 701.623.4355

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