Nokota - Legend of the Badlands

The Ranch Horse – Backbone of the Ranching Community
The fate of the Sioux tribes in the Dakota Territory was a haunting refrain of the same story. But a few of Sitting Bull’s war ponies survived. In a well-documented purchase, the confiscated horses of Sitting Bull were sold to local ranchers at Fort Buford in North Dakota. The Marquis de Mores - a French nobleman and entrepreneur - was the first to step forward.

The founder of the town of Medora, North Dakota - located in the heart of the Little Missouri Badlands - the Marquis was an all-around fantastical character. While the lowly Indian pony was despised on principle, their qualities of extreme stamina and courage were undeniable. The Marquis seized upon the idea of breeding these Indian ponies – so uniquely suited to thriving in the harsh Dakota climate.

Through a combination of bad luck and ill-timed business deals, the Marquis went bankrupt a few short years after his purchase and fled the country. But not before he had sold about sixty of his Sioux mares – some still battle-scarred possibly from the Battle of Little Bighorn – to the immensely wealthy A.C. Huidekoper - a transplanted Pennsylvanian carving his own empire in to new Dakota territory.

Both the Marquis and Huidekoper – famous as “gentlemen ranchers” in the hard-scrabble Dakotas – considered among their peers another well-bred gentleman who hailed from the East – Theodore Roosevelt, future President of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt’s impact on this remote region resonates even today. Roosevelt, in turn, wrote at length about the powerful effect his North Dakota experience had upon his character and its influence on his role as a leader of a nation. A portrait of his niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, is on display at a Roosevelt Museum in Maine. She is pictured mounted on a blue roan Indian-type pony. With no pedigree or bloodlines etched in parchment it’s impossible to say exactly – but considering the predominance of blue roan coloring among the Nokotas – it is not a far stretch to conclude she was mounted on a direct ancestor of today’s Nokota.

Huidekoper – on his vast HT Ranch - made a practice of crossing his hardy Sioux mares upon his domestic stock. Some were crossed on draft types, while others on lighter, Thoroughbred-type horses. Regardless of the cross – the idea remained the same. He sought to infuse the stamina and hardiness of the Native horses onto the ranch horses. The extreme climate of this land demanded extraordinary durability from both man and beast.

As more settlers entered the territory, these Indian and Indian-cross horses became invaluable. Long before the Quarter Horse reigned supreme as the mount of choice of western horsemen, these lowly Native horses were the backbone of this ranching community. They were a courageous horse that could carry a rider day and night, through the harshest of weather, in the endless and exhausting tasks that consumed a rancher’s daily life.

They served well, they served hard, and often without thanks. The deep bond that existed with their Indian masters for the most part did not exist – but they served nevertheless. They had not forgotten their friendship with man.