De Mores Packing Plant

De Mores Packing Plant. . was built on this site by the Marquis De Mores in 1883 to furnish dressed beef directly from the western ranges. It was successfully operated for several years, destroyed by fire 1907.Exhibits on other side, < Reverse Side : > Site of the De Mores Packing Plant. The ruins on this site are all that remain of the meat packing establishment built by the Marquis de Mores, a French nobleman who came to the Badlands and founded the town of Medora in the spring of 1883. The packing plant was the nucleus of an extensive scheme to slaughter beef on the range and to provide facilities for refrigeration, transportation and marketing of dressed beef. The Medora Abattoir (French term for slaughterhouse) continued to operate until late in the fall of 1886. The lack of a constant supply of range cattle in prime condition for slaughtering prevented the operation of the plant year-round, and was a principal reason for the failure of this venture. A fire of unknown origin destroyed the plant on March 17, 1907. In 1936 Louis Vallombrosa, the Marquis’ eldest son, donated the site to the State of North Dakota with the State Historical Society as trustee.