Footsteps into Medora's Past Mystery Cache

You are invited to discover some of the fascinating history of historic Medora, a town considered to be one of North Dakota's most popular tourist attractions. Your journey will include stops at several sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will take you past other sites of historic interest which you can explore as you meander through town. There are many fantastic attractions in Medora so take your time and enjoy!

Bonus: map of historic Medora (scroll to the bottom of the page and click 'Map' under "Plan Your Trip")

Medora bears the name of the wife of the colorful Marquis de Morès, who founded the town in 1883. The Marquis planned to establish the headquarters of a vast meat processing and shipping venture, using newly-developed refrigerator cars on the Northern Pacific Railroad to ship the meat to consumers in the East. By 1884, the town had more than 250 citizens, and many thriving businesses, two general stores, a livery stable, and coalmines. St. Mary's Church graced the little town, compliments of Medora, the Marquise de Morès. Theodore Roosevelt, who came west to hunt bison, fell in love with the rugged life and beauty of the Badlands. He quickly became the owner of both the Maltese Cross Ranch and the Elkhorn Ranch near Medora. After the collapse of the Marquis' meatpacking operation, the town fell into a decline. Success in coal mining, ranching and shipping cattle provided economic relief. In the 1930s, the conservation and restoration work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the State Historical Society and the National Park Service brought impressive physical improvements to Medora. Local businesses enjoyed greater prosperity with a boom in the tourism industry, aided by the activities of Harold Schafer and his Gold Seal Company of Bismarck. Although the permanent population of Medora is just over 100, the town booms in the summers. Visitors enjoy shops, museums, restaurants, theater, and a wealth of services and activities for all ages.

All the information that must be located to solve this puzzle can be found outside and is accessible 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365-days a year. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the listed buildings are open to the public for visiting.

You will need to go to each of the following five coordinates and search for the information asked for by the subsequent questions, then you will use your answers to calculate the coordinates of the cache. These coordinates are located throughout Medora with the distance from the first coordinates to the cache coordinates being approximately 0.7-miles. You can make this a quick 1/2-hour or less find, or you could spent all day on your search enjoying the sites and offerings of Medora.

Saint Mary's Catholic Church / N 46° 54.876 W 103° 31.374
This church was built by the De Morès family and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 02, 1977.

  A = _____ Year building was built
  B = _____ Number of letters in the marbled name
  C = _____ Year building was dedicated to the diocese

Von Hoffman House / N 46° 54.831 W 103° 31.308
This house was built during the mid-1880s and served as the residence of the Baron Von Hoffman, father-in-law of the Marquis de Morès and a prominent New York banker and financier. Most recently the building housed a doll and toy museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1977.

  D = _____ Number of hearts above the doorway on the side of the building
  E = _____ Number of windows on the building (don't count the glass doors)

Billings County Courthouse Museum / N 46° 54.785 W 103° 31.373
Museum contains frontier farm/ranch memorabilia, including an extensive barbed wire collection, history of Billings County and restored pioneer days courtroom/jail. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 16, 1977.

  F = _____ Year building was built
  G = _____ Number of upstairs windows on the front of this building
  H = _____ Number of letters in the large word across the front of this
            building

Billings County Veterans Memorial / next to the previous
Erected to honor Billings County residents that have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Designed by Ted Cornell, a North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee for Western Arts and Entertainment.

  J = _____ Day of the month memorial was dedicated
  K = _____ Year memorial was dedicated
  L = _____ Number of Billings County residents that served in Grenada
  M = _____ Number of Smiths that served in Vietnam
  N = _____ Total number of residents that served in the Civil War and
            the Spanish American War
  P = _____ Total number of Johnsons that served in World War II and Vietnam
  Q = _____ Total number of Evoniuks and Ewoniuks that served in World War II

Tribute to the Civilian Conservation Corps / N 46° 54.866 W 103° 31.552
The Civilian Conservation Corps emerged out of the economic chaos of the Great Depression. It is recognized as the single greatest conservation program in America and it served as a catalyst to develop the very tenets of modern conservation. The work of America's young men dramatically changed the future and today we still enjoy a legacy of natural resource treasures that dot the American landscape.

  R = _____ First CCC company number listed
  S = _____ Second CCC company number listed
  T = _____ First year the CCC was under the direction of the National Park
            Service
  U = _____ Last year the CCC was under the direction of the National Park
            Service

Great Western Trail / N 46° 54.888 W 103° 31.602
The greatest cattle trail in distance, length of time, and volume of cattle. It existed from the mid-1870s to the mid-1880s and extended from Texas to Canada. Routes fanned out in various directions, taking herds to grasslands to mature, then many herds were brought back south to railheads to be shipped back east to beef markets. Its impact on ranching in the northern plains was tremendous.

  V = _____ First year cattle were moved along the trail
  W = _____ Last year cattle were moved along the trail
  X = _____ Year the first trail herd reached North Dakota

Now that you have spent a little time discovering some of Medora's fascinating history, it is time to go after the cache and discover a little more local history in the process. Use the information you collected to solve for the coordinates of the cache. We have included two different calculations for you to find each answer, so you can double check yourself.

The cache is located at N 46° 54. N1 N2 N3 W 103° 31. W1 W2 W3

  N1 = _____ (W-A)+L            N1 = _____ (S-R)+N
  N2 = _____ (K-C)-(H*[B+G])    N2 = _____ (A-X)+(Q-M)
  N3 = _____ (X-V)-Q            N3 = _____ ([K-U]-[J+E])-B
  W1 = _____ (W-V)-(D*H)        W1 = _____ ([F-W]-E)+M
  W2 = _____ ([J+E]-N)/(G+P)    W2 = _____ (F-C)+(B+G)
  W3 = _____ (A-V)-N            W3 = _____ (U-T)-D