I think of Wilmot all the time. I can see him riding a bucker or paddling a canoe, or shooting an antelope; or doing the washing for his wife, or playing with the children. If there ever was a fine, noble fellow, he was one.24
Bat Masterson continued as a sportswriter for the New York Morning Telegraph. He had just finished his column when he died at his desk of an apparent heart attack on October 25, 1921. He was sixty-seven. Ben Daniels, despite all the controversy over his appointment as US marshal for the Arizona Territory, was a dedicated lawman and served nobly until he was asked to resign by President Taft in August 1909. After two failed election attempts, Daniels won the position of Pima County sheriff in Arizona in 1920. He was sixty-eight years old. Two years later, at the age of seventy, Daniels led a manhunt for some killers, resulting in their capture. Defeated in 1922 when he ran for reelection, Daniels suffered a stroke and died on April 20, 1923. Seth Bullock continued to live in Deadwood, South Dakota, and after Theodore’s death, he came up with the idea of a memorial in Theodore’s honor. With the help of the Black Hills Pioneers, a thirty-two-foot castle-styled tower was built on a mountaintop that was renamed Mount Roosevelt. Bullock helped dedicate the structure (which is still open to the public) on July 4, 1919. Bullock died of cancer at the age of seventy on September 23, 1919. He is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, along with the remains of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.
Gregor Lang and his wife remained at their ranch, even after Pender withdrew his financial support following the disastrous winter of 1886–87. After a while the ranch succeeded, and Lang went on to become a county commissioner. He died in 1900 while visiting his native Scotland. Lincoln, his son, went on to work as an engineer, developing an apparatus for braking and reversing locomotives. In 1926, his memories of Theodore and the Badlands were published, entitled Ranching with Roosevelt.
The Marquis de Morès never returned to Medora after 1887. His dreams of wealth and successful businesses in the Badlands disappeared. He returned to France, where he was involved in politics for a while, including a plot to overthrow the French government. He attempted to start a railroad in Indochina but failed. A rabid anti-Semite, he came up with a ridiculous idea to unite all of Islam against the English and the Jews. He traveled to Libya to help mount a resistance to British colonialism, and on June 9, 1896, was killed in the Sahara Desert by a Tuareg tribe. He was thirty-seven.
Dutch Wannegan, who had survived the Marquis’s ambush and later worked for Theodore, moved to Montana, living out his days as a hermit. Frank O’Donald, who had fueled the fire between himself and the Marquis, left Medora and is lost to history. The body of Riley Luffsey, who was killed in the ambush, is buried in the Medora cemetery. Eldridge “Gerry” Paddock, the man who instigated the ambush and later threatened Theodore’s life, remained in Dickinson, operating his Pyramid Park Hotel. In 1890, he was appointed sheriff of Billings County before moving, in 1900, to California, where he died twelve years later.
A. T. Packard, editor of the Bad Lands Cow Boy, left Medora after the newspaper office burned to the ground in 1887. He went to Montana before eventually settling in Chicago, where he continued to work in the newspaper business. He died in 1931.
Henry Gorringe, who had envisioned the Badlands area as a retreat for hunters, died on July 7, 1885, from injuries suffered when he jumped from a train the previous year.25
The town of Medora limped along over the years, with a few businesses offering services. In the early 1960s, the streets were still dirt and the town had no sewer lines, no hotels, and only one restaurant. The Metropolitan Hotel, built in 1884, closed its doors in 1886. Reopened in 1901, it was renamed the Rough Riders Hotel in 1905, in honor of Medora’s most famous resident. The hotel survived countless owners until it closed in 1943. It reopened a year later, but closed for good in 1960. By 1962, the building was about ready to fall down when Harold Schafer, founder and CEO of the Gold Seal Company, stepped in. A lover of the Badlands area, Schafer rebuilt the hotel and the Joe Ferris general store, as well as paving the streets and installing a municipal water and sewer system. The Rough Riders Hotel reopened in 1965 and was extensively remodeled in 2009. The extension of Interstate 94 across the western portion of the state gave Medora new life.26
Today, Medora attracts numerous tourists during the summer. Visitors flock to see the national park named after Theodore, and to ride horses, fish, and camp. In 1965, Old Four-Eyes, a stage show about Theodore’s days in the Dakotas, came to an end after a six-year run at the nearby Burning Hills Amphitheater. Since then, The Medora Musical has performed nightly during the summer season to appreciative audiences.
In front of the post office on Third Avenue stands a tall cottonwood tree, jutting out into the street. It was there before the town of Medora was ever built. Since it has seen so much history over the years, it is known as a “witness tree.”
The tree, like Medora and the Badlands, has endured and survived.
A Lasting Memorial
It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.
AS EARLY AS 1920, THE ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL NATIONAL PARK ASSOciation (RMNPA) launched a campaign to honor Theodore’s memory with a park in North Dakota. With the growing popularity of the automobile as an easy way to see much of the country, several entrepreneurs believed a way to attract tourism within the state should include a national park. Who better to honor than the late former president? Pitching the idea to the National Park Service (NPS) proved to be an uphill battle, however, because existing national parks were very much in need of improvements, and budgets were tight. Adding an additional park would only strain resources, not to mention the fact that some officials in the Park Service disagreed in regard to the scenic beauty of the Badlands.
When the proposed national park was first suggested around Medora, the local ranchers were quick to support the idea. However, their endorsement was not completely altruistic, as they believed tourists visiting the park would need to stay at their ranches and rent their horses. However, ranchers hastily changed their tune after learning the park would encompass 1.3 million acres. (Had it been approved, it would have been the third-largest national park then existing.) They opposed closing that much grazing land, and even when a smaller park was suggested in 1927, a coalition of ranchers defeated that proposal.1
In 1934, a cooperative agreement to kick off a Roosevelt Regional Park Project was signed by the Resettlement Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the National Park Service, and the State of North Dakota. The CCC immediately began constructing roads, trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, and buildings. (Today, at the North Unit, a CCC stone overlook still stands.) When the State of North Dakota announced that it did not want the responsibility of managing a state park in 1941, North Dakota congressman William Lemke stepped in. (The state felt the park should be administered by the National Park Service, which had a larger budget for maintenance.) Lemke lobbied to establish a national park, but his efforts were met with heavy resistance by the National Park Service. With the outbreak of World War II, many politicians felt a new national park was a waste of needed resources. Newton Drury, head of the National Park Service since 1940, held the opinion that the Badlands area could not sustain a national park. It didn’t help matters that Drury’s budget had been slashed by 85 percent since he’d taken charge.2
In September 1944, the National Park Service revived a plan to turn the land into a wildlife refuge under the supervision of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Congressman Lemke, however, would not give up on his goal to establish a national park, introducing a bill in November 1945 to create a national park from 36,000 acres. The bill was defeated, but Lemke returned in January 1947 with another bill, which would include the area of Theodore’s Elkhorn Ranch. The National Park Service flatly informed Lemke they really did not want the South Unit of the park, and had zero interest in the North Unit of the park.3 Finally, on April 25, 1947, President Harry Truma
n signed bill PL-38, creating the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. (The North Unit was added on June 12, 1948, with additional revisions made in later years.) At the time, it was the only memorial park within the National Park Service.
Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park was dedicated on June 4, 1949, with a crowd of about forty thousand in attendance, parking their cars as far as three miles along both sides of US Route 10. (It was renamed Theodore Roosevelt National Park on November 10, 1978.)
Today, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park covers 70,448 acres, separated into three sections: North Unit, Elkhorn Ranch site, and South Unit. It is home to a variety of plants, geological formations, and wild animals. The Little Missouri River flows along the banks, providing a major water source for animals that call the park their home, as well as serving as a migratory stop for various birds. The river also offers recreation activities for park visitors; and until 2014, visitors could mount a horse and ride along some of the same trails that Theodore had once traversed.4
The park is a haven for numerous animals, including many prairie dog “towns” in both the North and South Units. These furry rodents, which Theodore described as “noisy and inquisitive,” provide visitors with continuous amusement. The air is filled with their high-pitched squeaks, warning fellow prairie dogs of visitors, or predators, who may get too close. Despite these towns’ being far from a source of water, the prairie dogs thrive due to the various grasses surrounding their burrowed holes. The land is also home to the white-tailed jackrabbit, eastern cottontail rabbit, fox squirrel, least chipmunk, deer mouse, and a half-dozen other mammals. The river offers shelter for five species of frogs, and the snapping and western painted turtles. Five different snakes can be found in the park, including the bull snake and the prairie rattlesnake, as well as the sagebrush and short-horned lizards. When it comes to birds, 185 species visit the area on a migratory route. Only a few birds call the area home on a full-time basis due to the harsh winter weather.5 At any given time of the year, a visitor will see a variety of birds, including the Canadian goose, golden eagle, turkey vulture, great horned owl, black-billed magpie, spotted sandpiper, barn swallow, yellow warbler, eastern bluebird, ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, and white pelican. For a devoted ornitholo-gist like Theodore, having such an array of birds in his park would give him great delight.
The park also hosts a herd of elk, although they are one of the hardest animals to spot during a visit. Forty-seven elk were introduced into the park in 1985 and continue to thrive. Equally hard to spot are bobcats and mountain lions. Coyotes, on the other hand, are always around, their melancholy howls filling the night air. They can often be seen near prairie dog towns, as well as badgers. Beavers still live along the banks of the Little Missouri River in the South and North Units, as well as on Squaw Creek in the North Unit. Pronghorns are rarely, if ever, sighted in the park’s North Unit; however, they are quite common in the open fields alongside Highway 85 and around the northern section of the South Unit.6 Small herds of mule deer and white-tailed deer can be found in the park, while the North Unit boasts about a dozen longhorn cattle, which were first established in 1967.
The South Unit has about 136 wild horses that roam freely. The National Park Service tried to remove all wild horses from the park in the early years, but dropped that policy in 1970 when preservationists convinced them the wild horses were very much part of the park’s historical backdrop. They maintain a strict number of horses to avoid overgrazing, holding a roundup every few years, with the extra horses sold to the public. Next to the buffalo, the wild horses are the most popular animal with visitors.
The buffalo herd at Theodore’s park has increased over the years, making a strong but conservative comeback. Knowing how these magnificent creatures were nearly pushed to extinction on the very land they now roam reminds us that their survival is nothing short of a miracle. Today, an estimated 500,000 buffalo survive on public and private lands. In 1956, Theodore’s park introduced 29 buffalo to the South Unit, and by 1962, the herd had increased to 145. The park relocated 10 bulls and 10 cows culled from the South Unit herd and established a second herd in the North Unit that same year. Although the park could easily handle a much larger herd, park managers choose to limit the herd’s total number to 600, since they have no natural predators at either unit. (Approximately 200 buffalo are located in the North Unit, with the larger herd residing in the South Unit.) To maintain a reasonable total, the park holds a buffalo roundup every three to five years. Each buffalo is weighed and given a blood test to check for diseases by a veterinarian and park biologist. Based on the age and sex of the buffalo, the biologist determines whether to release it back into the park, or cull it from the herd. The culled buffalo are given to zoos, other national parks, and various Native American tribes.
While other national and state parks have their own buffalo herds, it is altogether fitting that Theodore Roosevelt National Park has its own buffalo herd. When Theodore arrived in 1883, buffalo were nearly extinct from the Badlands area. Despite his penchant for hunting, Theodore quickly became aware that if action was not immediately taken, the American buffalo would cease to exist. Thanks to the efforts of a few determined people, including Theodore, steps were taken to rescue them from extinction. Watching these massive, shaggy beasts roam among the hills and coulees of the park, roll in a buffalo wallow, or hold up vehicle traffic as they walk along the roadway (much to the delight of visitors), one cannot help but feel emotional at the herd’s recovery. This is exactly what Theodore had envisioned, allowing future generations to view them in the wild.
In the early days, the national park lacked anything tangible that had been connected to Theodore himself. The land that he’d ridden across was there, but there was no building that park personnel could point to and say that he’d actually lived in it during his years in the Dakota Territory.
The Maltese Cross Ranch cabin remained on the land where it was built. Both the ranch and cabin were sold in 1901 to Jack Snyder, who removed the pitched roof. In 1903, the State of North Dakota purchased the cabin from Snyder and displayed it as part of the state’s exhibition at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Under Snyder’s ownership, the cabin had fallen into a state of disrepair over the years. Windows and doors had disappeared, and one man, Harry Roberts, recalled “seeing cattle standing inside watching you go by.”7 The cabin was dismantled and taken to Medora, where it was shipped by train to St. Louis. At the World’s Fair, the cabin was rebuilt, windows and doors restored. During the year it was on display, it was estimated that over a million people viewed the cabin, making it one of the biggest attractions at the fair. Theodore even paid a visit, pointing out the Maltese cross that had been etched into the end of one log. The exposition’s program claimed that, at the conclusion of the fair, the cabin would be moved to Sagamore Hill, but there is no evidence Theodore even considered it.
With the conclusion of the exposition, the cabin was once again dismantled and shipped to Portland, Oregon, where it became part of the North Dakota exhibit at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Expo. At the conclusion of that event, the cabin found a new home in Bismarck, North Dakota, on the grounds of the state capitol in 1908, where it remained for eleven years. By 1919, the cabin was once again in sorry shape, displaying severe signs of decay. The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned the state to allow them to restore and maintain the cabin. When it comes to government—be it federal, state, or local— elected officials will wax on and on about the importance of a historical building, yet when it comes to supplying the money to fix such a structure, they quickly sing a different tune. In many cases it falls to an individual, or to a private organization, to raise the needed funds for restoration. This is exactly what the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution did, holding teas, lunches, and other forms of fund-raising events. Their tenacity paid off, and the cabin was reopened to the public (charging a ten-cent admission) in 1923.8
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The North Dakota Assembly, in March 1949, approved moving the Maltese Cross Ranch cabin from the state capitol to the newly established Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. While the National Park Service agreed to take over care and control of the cabin, no action was taken. The cabin remained on display in Bismarck until 1958, the centennial year of Theodore’s birth, when it was finally moved to the National Memorial Park, where the logs were again repaired and the high-pitched roof restored.
Today the Maltese Cabin resides behind the park’s visitor center.9 The interior of the cabin has been restored to give visitors an accurate idea of what it looked like when Theodore lived there. The traveling trunk he brought with him on his trips to Medora, complete with his initials (T. R.), sits in what was his bedroom. In the main room, the white hutch that was originally in the cabin, along with the writing desk where Theodore labored over his letters and books, are on display. (The writing desk was originally used at Elkhorn Ranch.) It is believed the rocking chair either belonged to Theodore, or came from the upstairs room he frequently stayed in at the general store owned by Joe Ferris.
The year 1892 marked the last time Theodore visited Elkhorn Ranch. (Sylvane Ferris bought the cabin in 1898.) After assuming the presidency, there was talk of moving and displaying the Elkhorn Ranch cabin; however, by then it had been stripped, leaving only a few rotting logs and the foundation stones laid by Sewall and Dow.
Today, the area where Theodore’s Elkhorn Ranch once stood is surrounded by a wire-and-wood-post fence, with only the foundation stones remaining. One can walk into the fenced area, but it’s easy to miss the stones hidden in the grass. To experience Elkhorn Ranch, one must drive forty-five minutes over a graded dirt road to a parking area, and from there walk a mile, escorted by grasshoppers and dragonflies. Once one arrives at Elkhorn Ranch, it is immediately clear why Theodore chose the area. The remoteness leaves a visitor alone with nature. It is easy to imagine Theodore sitting in his rocking chair on the piazza, listening to the wind as it rustles the leaves of the cottonwoods, the melodious chirping of a meadowlark mixed with the plaintive calls of a mourning dove, and the muffled movement of the Little Missouri River. It was here that Theodore found peace, here that he let his heart heal from a tragic loss. Here is where the asthmatic dude from New York was transformed into a robust cowboy.
THE COWBOY PRESIDENT Page 29
