HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
1884 Frontier Hotel in Theodore Roosevelt's Town
301 3rd Ave, Medora, ND 58645
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Operator price band: $$–$$$. Standard hotel rates vary by season; the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation operates the property.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic Suite 501 and Historic King are stairs-only. Rough Riders Double Queen ADA Accessible has a roll-in shower and shower bench; accessibility needs can be accommodated upon request, and a portable Deaf/HOH Guest Room Kit is available.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1884 · Theodore Roosevelt Era Hotel · Spanish-American War Commemorative Naming · Dakota Badlands Frontier Architecture
George Fitzgerald constructed the hotel in 1884 and 1885 during Medora's brief boom as a planned cattle-shipping center on the Northern Pacific Railway. The original name, the Metropolitan, anticipated population growth that never arrived. Within a decade the cattle market collapsed and Medora's founder, the Marquis de Mores, departed for France.
Theodore Roosevelt's connection to the area began in 1883, when he traveled to the Dakota Badlands to hunt bison. After the deaths of his wife and mother on the same day in February 1884, Roosevelt returned to the Badlands and operated two ranches near Medora. His time on the Little Missouri River shaped his later conservation policies as President.
In 1903, the hotel was renamed in honor of the Rough Riders, the First United States Volunteer Cavalry that Roosevelt had organized for service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The operator describes Roosevelt’s possible balcony speech as a rumor.
The hotel was acquired by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, the nonprofit that operates much of historic Medora. A major remodel completed in 2010 expanded the hotel with a restaurant, tavern, additional guest rooms, and a conference facility, while preserving the 1884 core building. Medora itself sits adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, drawing roughly 250,000 visitors annually.
Sources
The most consistent paranormal account at the Rough Riders Hotel concerns a child spirit reported on the upper floor. Multiple guests across three decades describe waking to the sound of a child laughing in an empty hallway, or hearing toilets flush in unoccupied rooms. Hotel staff over the years have logged similar accounts.
No historical record names a specific child who died at the property, and the boy's identity is unknown. The accounts are notable for their consistency rather than their drama: there are no apparitions of figures, no objects thrown, no aggressive incidents. The reports cluster around small, domestic phenomena.
Following the 2010 renovation, which expanded and modernized the hotel while preserving the historic core, paranormal reports declined. Some longtime staff attribute this to the structural changes; others note that quieter hauntings often resume after a period of dormancy. The hotel does not market itself as haunted and does not offer ghost tours, but the reputation persists in regional paranormal literature.
Notable Entities
Stay at the 1884 hotel where the operator says it is rumored that Theodore Roosevelt may have delivered a balcony speech. Long-term guest reports center on a top-floor room where a child's laughter and self-flushing toilets have been documented over multiple decades.
On-site restaurant in the historic hotel, serving regional cuisine. Reservations recommended during the summer Medora Musical season.
See current room rates and availability at Rough Riders Hotel.
Check rates and bookEvery HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
8 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kewaunee, WI
The Hotel Karsten opened on Valentine's Day 1913 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, replacing an earlier wood inn called The Steamboat House that burned in the early 1910s. Built and operated by William Karsten Sr., the 52-room Arts and Crafts hotel sits on the Lake Michigan shoreline and remains one of the few surviving hotels of its period in the region.
Austin, TX
Colonel Jesse Lincoln Driskill, a Tennessee-born cattle baron who supplied beef to the Confederate Army and later the Texas Rangers, opened The Driskill Hotel on December 20, 1886. Its first event, two weeks after opening, was the inaugural ball for Texas Governor Sul Ross. Driskill sold the hotel in 1888 after severe drought devastated his cattle herds and died in 1890. The hotel has hosted every Texas governor's inaugural ball since 1887.
Gettysburg, PA
Built around 1810 by tanner John F. McFarlane and expanded with an 1833 brick addition, the Farnsworth House sits on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg. During the 1863 battle, Confederate sharpshooters occupied the structure, and the south-facing wall still carries more than 100 bullet holes from Union counter-fire.