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(Photograph by Steve C. Martens)
Established as a gift to the community in 1924 and dedicated by the Vallombrosa brothers (sons of the marquis and marquise) with placement of a memorial bronze statue of their father in 1926, the park is now a component of the De Mores State Historic Site. The quarter-block-sized park is a character-defining feature of Medora in terms of its scale, emphasis, and the extent to which it recalls the history of the frontier town during the Great Depression. The park is associated with landscape architect and National Park Service designer Weldon Gratton, who worked closely with State Historical Society superintendent Russell Reid in designing projects throughout the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (BI9, MZ3) that were constructed by CCC crews. In the late 1930s, CCC workers improved the property by adding flagstone sidewalks, a sandstone wall with hand-hammered iron pickets, and an ornamental entrance gate. The memorial park has beds of prairie roses watered from an elevated water tank.