ND Cowboy Hall of Fame - Archived Articles

*****2002 HALL OF FAME NOMINESS TO BE ANNOUNCED*****

The 2002 nominees for the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame will be announced at the group’s annual meeting in Mandan. The gathering will be held on February 22 and 23 at the Seven Seas Inn and Conference Center.

The annual weekend meeting begins with a free social on Friday evening and continues on Saturday with the Hall of Fame annual meeting at 1:00 p.m. A status report on the Hall of Fame and a report from the firm designing exhibits will be provided to the membership.

Immediately following the annual meeting, the Hall of Fame Trustees will meet to discuss the nominees for 2002. The Hall of Fame will induct seven individuals, one ranch and one rodeo animal into its Hall of Honorees this year. There have been four rounds of induction since 1998, and 45 individuals, four ranches, two bucking horses and three events have been picked for the Hall of Honorees that will be the centerpiece of the Hall of Fame.

NDCHF Executive Director Darrell Dorgan says, “Nearly 200 Trustees from across the state are in charge of nominating and voting on Hall of Honoree inductees. This year there are 64 nominees, and those who are chosen to have their names put on the ballot in Mandan will be voted on in May and June by the Trustees. The nine inductees for 2002 will be announced over the 4^th of July and formally inducted in Medora on Saturday, August 3.

Guest speaker at the Saturday evening banquet and auction will be Gerard Baker of Omaha, Nebraska. Baker, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, heads the National Park Service’s Lewis and Clark Trail Project and is a nationally recognized expert on the Corps of Discovery and the traditions of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes of North Dakota. Baker is also the son of Paige Baker Sr., who was inducted into the Hall of Fame Hall of Honorees Ranching Division in 1999. Gerard Baker is also a descendant of the noted Mandan Chief Four Bears.

If fund raising remains on target, plans call for groundbreaking for the 14,000-square-foot Medora facility in September and a grand opening the summer of 2003. The Hall of Fame recently received preliminary approval of a $750,000 matching grant.

In addition to the matching grant, Billings County Commissioners recently pledged $250,000 for the project, and Medora City Commissioners have voted to provide $100,000. Dorgan says several additional grants are being worked on and the group is also soliciting funding from interested individuals nationwide.

The Hall of Fame will be located at the site of the current Museum of the Badlands. The Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation gave a 100-year lease to the Hall of Fame for $1.00 a year. Dorgan says, “Once work gets underway, most of the building will be replaced. The Hall of Fame will feature high-tech interactive displays showing the development of the horse culture on the plains and the evolution of the ranching industry and the sport of rodeo. There will also be a theater, art galleries and a large outdoor patio for entertainment.”

Work on the NDCHF began with a Dickinson organizational meeting six years ago. Since then, more than 1,000 people from across the country have become charter and annual members.

Contributions for the project may be sent to: The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, 1110 College Drive #212, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501.

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