Margaret Barr Roberts: Rancher Extraordinair
The Dickinson Museum Center staff is in the process of surveying our collections. This is a large effort that will ultimately make our collections available to researchers. There are a lot of steps involved in processing the collections, including: making an inventory of what is here; organizing files of information on each collection; making decisions about how to store, display, and preserve each object; and then creating finding aids so that the items can be better utilized for research and programs. Through this process, museum staff are uncovering some fantastic stories about the people who have lived in and around Southwest North Dakota. One of my personal favorites is Margaret Roberts, a truly amazing lady.
Margaret Barr (Sept. 15, 1853- Apr. 9, 1938) was born in Ireland, but immigrated to the United States with her family in 1864. She married Jon Lloyd Roberts in 1871, and in 1877 they came west where Lloyd Roberts acted as meat supplier for Fort Lincoln. The family moved to the North Dakota Badlands in 1881 when Lloyd became foreman of the Eaton brothers’ large Custer Trail Ranch along the Little Missouri River, south of Medora. By 1883, the family was living on the Sloping Bottom Ranch near Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Ranch.
In 1886, Lloyd Roberts disappeared while he was in Wyoming. He had gone to Kansas City to sell cattle for the Eaton brothers. After receiving a letter from him while he was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Roberts never heard from her husband again. She always believed that he met with foul play due to the large sum of money he was likely carrying with him at the time. For the next twenty years, Margaret Roberts remained in the Badlands where she raised five daughters by herself. During her years in and around Medora, she ranched, ran a room and board house, made loans to cowboys, served as undertaker, and developed a lasting friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. In 1899 she moved to a place closer to Medora, and in 1907 she moved to Dickinson. Roberts is a lasting tribute to the men and women who made a good life in the area despite tremendous hardship. She was known for her sense of humor, generosity, and the sunflowers she grew on the roof of her log cabin. She was inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2003.
Margaret Barr (Sept. 15, 1853- Apr. 9, 1938) was born in Ireland, but immigrated to the United States with her family in 1864. She married Jon Lloyd Roberts in 1871, and in 1877 they came west where Lloyd Roberts acted as meat supplier for Fort Lincoln. The family moved to the North Dakota Badlands in 1881 when Lloyd became foreman of the Eaton brothers’ large Custer Trail Ranch along the Little Missouri River, south of Medora. By 1883, the family was living on the Sloping Bottom Ranch near Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Ranch.
In 1886, Lloyd Roberts disappeared while he was in Wyoming. He had gone to Kansas City to sell cattle for the Eaton brothers. After receiving a letter from him while he was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Roberts never heard from her husband again. She always believed that he met with foul play due to the large sum of money he was likely carrying with him at the time. For the next twenty years, Margaret Roberts remained in the Badlands where she raised five daughters by herself. During her years in and around Medora, she ranched, ran a room and board house, made loans to cowboys, served as undertaker, and developed a lasting friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. In 1899 she moved to a place closer to Medora, and in 1907 she moved to Dickinson. Roberts is a lasting tribute to the men and women who made a good life in the area despite tremendous hardship. She was known for her sense of humor, generosity, and the sunflowers she grew on the roof of her log cabin. She was inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2003.
posted by Dickinson Museum Center at
12:30 PM
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