December 27, 2024 • 38 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, it was the West that molded Theodore Roosevelt into a man. Also, it was here where he learned to "carry a big stick." Roger McGrath and Michael Blake are here to tell the story.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show
and our favorite subject American history. Though Lyndon Johnson, the
thirty sixth president, was a Texan and an absentee rancher
with acreage west of Austin, and the Ronald Reagan, the
fortieth president, acted in westerns and owned a six hundred
(00:31):
and eighty eight acre ranch in Santa Barbara County.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Both were more hat than cow.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Theodore Roosevelt, on the other hand, owned two ranches and
ran cattle in North Dakota and Montana. He was just
forty two years old when he took office in nineteen
oh one, the youngest president ever. It was the West
that molded Roosevelt into a man. Also, it was where
he learned to carry a big stick. Here to tell
the stories. Roger McGrath and Michael Blake. McGrath is a
(01:01):
regular on our show a regular contributor for the History Channel.
Michael Blake is a two time Emmy Award winning makeup
artist and a respected film historian.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Theodore Roosevelt was one of New York's most accomplished adventurous,
self sacrificing and patriotic sons, Harvard graduate, author, cattle rancher,
war hero, US president, and the recipient of the Nobel
Peace Prize in the Medal of Honor. He was a
towering American figure whom sculptor Goodson Borglum carved into Mount
(01:40):
Rushmore alongside Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, contributing mightily to making
Roosevelt into the heroic man he became, whereas days in
the Old West. Unfortunately, most Americans today know little about
Theodore Roosevelt and next to nothing about his life on
(02:02):
the frontier. Theodore Roosevelt is born in the heart of
New York City in eighteen fifty eight, the second of
four children to a prominent and wealthy family. Is not
the sickly child often portrayed, but energetic and adventurous, although
(02:23):
he does suffer from severe asthma attacks, which gives him
a reputation for ill health. At eleven years old, he
hides the Alps with his father stride for stride, and
later it takes up boxing after being bumbled by two
older boys. By the time he's in his late teens,
(02:44):
he is a robust, physical specimen, and his asthma attacks
are less frequent. Roosevelt is home schooled and proves a
bright student and a voracious reader. He doesn't attend one
of the proper prep schools, as most young men of
his social class do, but is nonetheless admitted to Harvard
(03:09):
University at age eighteen. His father, whom he loved and
admired greatly, tells him to take care of his morals first,
his health second, and his studies third. He takes his
father's advice to heart and is a paragon a moral rectitude.
(03:32):
Is also a top performer on the Fsity rowing in
boxing teams. He excels in the classroom, graduating magna cum
Laudie and Phi Beta Kappa, and finishes in the top
twelve percent of his class. His achievement is all the
more impressive because his father died two years earlier. From
(03:54):
the inheritance Roosevelt received, he could have settled into a
life of indulgence and indolence. Instead, he enters Columbia Law
School in the fall of eighteen eighty and nearly the
same time he marries the love of his young wife,
Alice Lee. After year at Columbia, the political bug bites him,
and he's elected to the New York Assembly. He's in
(04:18):
his second term when tragedy strikes. His wife gives birth
to a daughter on February twelve, eighteen eighty four, but
two days later, his mother dies of typhoid fever and
his wife of kidney failure. The Bible blow leaves Roosevelt
devastated for a time. He throws himself into political work
(04:40):
with a vengeance, but soon decides to seek solace in
the frontier West Theora.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Roosevelt once said that if he hadn't gone west, and
hadn't spent time in the Dakota Territory, he never would
have been president. While some may say, oh, that's typical
hyper bowl of theater, it's actually very true. At the time.
In eighteen eighty four, he had lost both his mother
(05:09):
and his first wife on the same day, February fourteenth,
Valentine's Day, within hours of each other. His first wife, Alice,
had just given birth the day prior to their first child,
who was also named Alice. So grief stricken was he
that he left the baby daughter in care of his
(05:32):
older sister baby and he went out west to a
cabin he had recently bought and cattle ranch in what
is now the area of Medora, North Dakota. Theodore went
west to mend his broken heart to escape. It's kind
of an interesting trait of Roosevelt. Whenever he lost, something
(05:57):
very important in his life went away, in this case
going west.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Roosevelt first experienced the West on a hunting trip to
Dakota Territory in eighteen eighty three. He roughed it on
several hunts and joined himself immensely. He also bought a ranch,
the Maltese Cross, and stocked it with cattle. Now he
is returning to the ranch, not for a visit, but
to settle. These years in the West contribute mightily to
(06:29):
shaping him into the man America will come to admire
a man who is part cattle puncher, which helps make
the cowboy a symbol of our country. Without his time
and experiences in what was still the Old West, Theodore
Roosevelt would not have organized the rough Riders, not have
(06:51):
led the charge up San Juan Hill, and not have
become president.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
the story of Teddy Roosevelt and what a story. Indeed,
when we come back more of this remarkable story here
on our American Stories. Folks, if you love the stories
(07:30):
we tell about this great country, and especially the stories
of America's rich past, know that all of our stories
about American history, from war to innovation, culture and faith,
are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College,
a place where students study all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that are good
in life. And if you can't cut to Hillsdale, Hillsdale
(07:50):
will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.
Go to Hillsdale dot edu to learn more. And we
continue with our American Stories and the story of Theodore
(08:12):
Roosevelt and his time spent out West healing and mending
a broken heart. Let's return to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
In June eighteen eighty four, Roosevelt gets off the Northern
Pacific Railroad at the town of Madora, founded only the
year before by a French nobleman turned rancher, the Marquis
de Moret, and named for his wife, at the western
edge of Dakota Territory, near the border with Montana. Territory,
(08:45):
Madora is in the heart of the bad Lands. Despite
the name and its rugged terrain, the bad lands have
thousands of acres of grasslands, especially in the valley of
the Little Missouri River, where Madora and several cattle ranches develop.
The area is still frontier. Only eight years earlier and
(09:10):
two hundred miles to the southwest, Kester and two hundred
men of the Seventh Cavalry were massacred at the Battle
of the Little Pighorn.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
When Theodore got to Medora area in eighteen eighty four
after the passing of his mother and wife, one of
the first things he did within a day was he
saddled up his favorite horse, Manitoub, and went out for
a ride for three days by himself into the wilderness.
He wanted to test himself. He wanted to see if
(09:43):
indeed he could be like those who he had read
about in earlier days of the Party pioneers, and he
did quite well.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
From Madora tire Heads, seven miles south to the Maltese
crossed to begin his life as a rancher. He is
soon dressed in the buckskin suit made for him by
one of the first white women to settle in the
region widow Mattox. He is armed with an ivory grip
Colt revolver and a bowie knife. A wide brimmed hat
(10:14):
sits on his head when in the saddle. He wears
spurs on the heels of his high topped boots and
steve pipe chaps. He writes his sister, well, I have
been having a glorious time here and will hardened now.
I have just come in for spending thirteen hours in
the saddle. First and foremost, the cattle have done well,
(10:38):
and I regard the outlook for making the business a
success has been very hopeful. This winter. I lost about
twenty five add from wolves, called, etc. The others are
in admirable shape, and I have about one hundred and
fifty five calves. I shall put on a thousand more
(10:59):
cattle and shall make it my regular business. I have
never been in better health than on this trip. I'm
in the saddle all day long, either taking part in
the round of a cattle or hunting an antelope. This country
is growing on me. It has a curious, fantastic beauty
(11:20):
of its own. Before the summer is out, Roosevelt lays
claim to a large tract of land thirty five miles
to the north of the Maltese Cross, erects a cabin
on it, drives in herd of cattle, and christens his
new ranch, Elkhorn. When the Marquis hears about it, he
(11:43):
says he has an earlier claim to the same property.
Roosevelt notes the marquis has not built the cabin on
the property or stocked with cattle, and ignores the Frenchman's protestations.
Roosevelt understands that not standing fast will expose him to
(12:06):
ridicule as a weakling. He desperately wants to be respected
as a man who lives by the Code of the West.
Unwritten and informal, the Code of the West develops during
the nineteenth century in the American West. First and foremost,
(12:26):
a man is expected to stand his ground, to have
sand in the face of death. Many a man expresses
it simply, I'll die before all run. A man is
also expected to be loyal to his friends. The cowboys
(12:46):
call it writing for the brand. A man is expected
to work hard and pull his own weight. A man
is never to steal another man's horse. That isn't mere
thing left, but can mean a death sentence. For the
man who is left without a horse. Certain forms of
(13:07):
outlawry are tolerated. A highwayman can hold up a stagecoach
or a train and take the express company's treasure box,
but he is not to rob the passengers. A man's
word is his bond. His word and his handshake are
better than a legal contract. Women are to be treated
(13:31):
with difference and respect. Roosevelt embraces the goat of the
West and is determined to live by it. When he
first arrives, many suspect he's not up to it. Will
this scion from a prominent family in New York be
up to the rigors of life on the frontier. The
(13:53):
glasses he wears don't help. However, rows himself into working
his ranches with such determination, energy, and stamina that even
the most seasoned cowboys are impressed. But when faced with
life or death, will he have sand?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
As a cattle operation, Theodore was the boss, and during roundups,
Theodore would take a job just like any other cowboy,
and he would do various jobs rounding up the cattle.
The only thing he didn't do was rope any of
the cattle because of his poor eyesight, But he'd help
in the branding and castrating the male cows and things
(14:38):
like that. During one of the cattle roundups, Theodore was
noticing that some of his men were lagging behind and
the cattle were starting to spread out. So he yelled
to them and said, yo that, hasten forward quickly now. Well,
the cowboys simply looked at him for a moment and thought,
what the heck was that?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Now?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Most cowboys when they round up cattle, they'll do the
various yahs or yehas, or whistles or all sorts of
sound effects to get them to move. Well, when the
cowboys and Roosevelt's outfit got a little board, they would
yell at the cattle hasten forward quickly after that moment.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
During his first summer on his ranches, Roosevelt is many
miles west of the Elkhorn looking for stray horses. With
the sun setting, he decides to ride to Mingusville, a
town on the Montana side of the border with a
small cluster of buildings including a railroad station, a livery,
and a hotel. It's dark by the time he stables
(15:41):
his horse and walks towards Noolen's hotel. Two shots suddenly
ring out from the bar and dining room of the hotel. Undeterred,
Roosevelt walks inside and finds the bartender and several men,
as Roosevelt put it, wearing the kind of smile worn
(16:02):
by men making believe to like what they don't like.
Roosevelt also sees a drunken patron with a revolver in
each hand, swearing and strutting back and forth. A clock
on the wall has two bullet holes in its face,
evidence of the drunk's prowess with his revolvers. When the
(16:24):
drunk sees Roosevelt, he proclaims four eyes will treat the
house to drinks. Roosevelt laughs along with everyone else, and
takes a seat at a table, hoping that will be
the end of it. However, the drunk strides over to
the table and repeats the demand.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You're going to buy us a drink?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
And Theodore try to ignore it. And again he's repeated
his demand, with a few cusswords in it. And Theodore
always said, if it's at all possible to avoid a
fight of it, he says, But if you can't hit them,
and hit them hard so they don't get up, well, Theodore,
(17:06):
the man's standing in front of his table. Theatre is
sitting down and he's weaving, and Theodore said, well, if
I've got to, I've got to. And as he stood up,
he pushed the table aside and hit the man with
a sharp right to the gin, a sharp left and
another right, driving him back.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
tell the story of Teddy Roosevelt and his adventures out West.
More of Theodore Roosevelt's life story, his life out West
and how it shaped him here on our American stories,
(18:08):
and we continue with our American stories. And let's pick
up where we last left off with Theodore Roosevelt punching
out a bully in a bar.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
While clots into the floor, the drunk reflexively fires his guns,
hitting no one. Roosevelt is ready to drop on the
man with the knee of the ribs, but sees he's unconscious.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Well, after this fight with the uh drunken cowboy, all
the cowboys in the area of Medora respected Theodore. They
accepted him then as one he had proved his metal.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Another incident that cements Roosevelt's reputation as a man with
sand and not just another Eastern or playing cowboy. Occurs
just after the ice breaks up on the Little Missouri River.
In fear for their lives from vigilantes in Montana, three
men steal Roosevelt's boot that he tied to a tree
(19:10):
just above the river's shoreline on his Elkhorn ranch. When
Roosevelt discovers the theft, he's outraged. He and two ranch
hands set out in a second boat to capture the miscreans.
The thieves have a couple of days head start, but
there are still ice foes on the river and the
weather turns bitterly cold, forcing them to stop frequently, build
(19:35):
the fires and hunt for game. After a week of pursuit,
Roosevelt in his hands see the stolen boat moored on
the river bank and smoke coming from a campfire. They
stealthily approach the campfire and see one man warming himself.
Roosevelt springs out of the brush and levels at winchester.
(19:58):
At the man, he offers there's no resistance and taken prisoner.
Still out hunting, his two partners returned singly and suffered
the same fate at the hands of Roosevelt. Now in
two boats. Roosevelt, his ranch hands, and the prisoners continued
downstream until they come upon a ranch and secure a
(20:21):
wagon from the rancher.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Well, Theodore didn't want to sit with his back to
these three men riding alongside the driver and the wagon,
so he followed the wagon in ankle deep mud in
the middle of February, and he walked the forty five
miles to Dickinson to turn them over to the local
(20:46):
law authority. And by the time he got there his
feet were almost frostbitten. He hadn't slept for thirty six
hours because he kept he stayed awake the whole time
to watch these guys so they didn't try to escape
when he turned him in the next morning, when they
were arraigned in front of a judge who happened to
(21:06):
be somebody Theodore knew from his days at Columbia College
when he was studying to be a lawyer, and the
judge's name was Western Star. He asked the judge not
to charge the German Man because he says, I don't
think he knows what he's doing, and the German Man
would profusely thanked Theodore for his efforts, and Theodore chuckled
(21:30):
and said, well, that's the first time I've ever been
thanked for calling someone an idiot. The other two men
did get five year terms, and he had the respect
of the local cattle owners, but they didn't understand why
did you go to all that trouble when you could
have just shot him or hung them, and that was it.
(21:54):
And they didn't understand Theodore. And this was something very
key to Theodore's makeup and something that would echo throughout
the rest of his life, whether he was New York
Police commissioner or in charge of the Civil Service Board,
or assistant secretary to the Navy, or the governor of
New York and then ultimately the President of the United States.
(22:16):
Theodore didn't want vengeance. He wanted justice, and he saw
justice serve. That was very important to him. Yes, it
would have been easier to hang the three men or
shoot them, but that was not what Theodore wanted. Obviously,
if the men tried to shoot it out with them,
they would have returned fire. But Theodore was determined to
(22:40):
see these men brought to justice, and justice they.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Were even out west. The politician and civic duty is
in Roosevelt's blood is instrumental in organizing the Little Missouri
Stockmen's Association, and at the organization's first meeting eighteen eighty four,
he's elected chairman or some call it president, and re
(23:05):
elected in eighteen eighty five. In eighteen eighty six, Madora's newspaper,
The bad Lands Cowboy says the association can congratulate itself
on again electing Theodore Roosevelt as president. Under his administration,
everything moves quickly forward, and there is none of that
(23:28):
time consuming, fruitless talk that so invariably characterizes a deliberative
assembly without a good presiding officer. Roosevelt becomes a member
of the Montana Stock Rose Association in April eighteen eighty
five and serves on one of that association's committees. As
(23:51):
a member of both cattlemen's associations, Roosevelt is clearly not
only accepted as a Westerner but suspected. Victor Stickney, the
doctor who treated Roosevelt for blistered and frost bitten feet,
invites Roosevelt to give the keynote address at Dickinson's Fourth
(24:15):
of July celebration. Roosevelt accepts. In the past noon on
the fourth Roosevelt begins his address to a crowd of hundreds.
It is his first major public speech. It declares that
though America shares a present with other nations, the future
belongs to America. It's the same with Dakota Territory. He says,
(24:41):
we rangers and cowboys alike, have opened a new land.
We are the pioneers, and as we shape the course
of a stream near its head, our efforts have infinitely
more effect in bending it in any given direction. Later
in a speech, he expounds on the theme that will
(25:02):
come to characterize him as a national political figure. Says Roosevelt,
like all Americans, I like big things, big prairies, big
forests and mountains, big wheat fields, railroads and herds of
cattle too, big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we
must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever
(25:26):
yet benefited by riches if their property corrupted their virtue.
It is of more importance that we should show ourselves honest, brave, truthful,
and intelligent than that we should own all the railways
and grain elevators in the world. Roosevelt concludes his address
(25:49):
by saying he is now as much a Westerner as
an Easterner and is proud to be considered such. The
crowd applods loudly in many roar there are On the
train ride home from Dickinson to Medora, at Packard, the
publisher of the bad Lands Cowboy, tells Roosevelt that his
(26:12):
future is not as a rancher, but as a politician.
Packard thinks Roosevelt will be president one day, says Roosevelt.
If your prophecy comes true, I will do my part
to make a good one. Theodore Roosevelt is all of
(26:32):
twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Old, and you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael
Blake tell the remarkable life story of Teddy Roosevelt and
my goodness to earn the respect of a bunch of
nineteenth century cattleman no duckwalk, and he walked the walk.
That bar fight probably feeled his fate, But that he
(26:54):
ultimately joined these associations and led them and spent the
time doing that showed leadership and not just fortitude and strength.
When we come back more of this remarkable American character
and how the West.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Shaped that character.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Teddy Roosevelt's story continues here on our American story, and
(27:37):
we continue here on our American stories with the life
of Teddy Roosevelt and how his time in the West
shaped it. Let's continue with our fabulous storytellers and the
now twenty seven year old Theodore Roosevelt.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
That's what uses his slow dimes on the ranch for writing.
Before he came west, he authored his first book, The
Naval War of eighteen twelve. Now he completes his second book,
Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, and as well on his
way to finishing a third book, a biography of Missouri's
famous Senator Thomas Hart Benton. His foremen and cowboys see
(28:19):
him at his desk for hours, getting up now and
then to pace about and then go back to writing.
When Roosevelt is not writing during slow times, he's hunting.
He bags all the big game of the West, eluding
him until the end. Is the mountain goat. The surprisingly tough, wary,
(28:41):
and sure footed critter is found only at higher elevations,
most often on steep and rocky mountain sides above the
tree line. Roosevelt isn't able to shoot one until a
professional hunter, Jack Willis, agrees to take him along on
a hunt. Montana. After a couple of days of grueling
(29:03):
hiking and climbing, Roosevelt misses an easy shot, but the
next day he makes, in the words of Willis in
impossible shot and drops a mountain goat at a distance
of a quarter of a mile with a shot through
the heart. A day later, Roosevelt and Willis are working
(29:24):
the way along a narrow ledge when Roosevelt slips and
falls at first off the ledge. When I saw him fall,
said Willis, I wouldn't have given two bits for his life.
Roosevelt skids and bounces sixty feet down a rocky slope
(29:44):
before his fall is stopped by the branch of a
pine tree. He comes to rest at the base of
the pine, still clutching his rifle, but without his glasses.
By the time Willis reaches him, Roosevelt is on his feet,
saying he's okay. Searching for a time, he finds his classes,
(30:04):
which miraculously are not broken. Back up the slope, the
two of them climb and continue the day's hunt. Willis
loses his last skepticism of the Easterner turned Westerner.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
There was another fellow in the Medora area named Jerry Packard,
who was something of a troublemaker, and he came out
to Theodore's Elkhorn ranch one day while Theodore was out hunting.
I mean, he was talking with Bill Swell and said, yes,
this is a very nice place. And word got back
to sow All that Packard in town, and Medora was saying,
(30:42):
you know, he wanted to take the Elkhorn ranch, and
he said, if Roosevelt wants to pay for it, he
can pay for it, even in blood. Well we'd got
back to Sowell, and as soon as Theodore returned from
his hunting trip, Siwell said, hey, you know you've got
to be aware that Packard was making these threats. Theodore said, oh, okay.
(31:03):
So he saddles up on the horse, rides over to
Packard's cabin, knocks on the door. Packard opens it, and
he says, I understand you have threatened to kill me.
I'm here to ask when do you want the killing
to begin, and if you have anything to say against me,
say it now. And about all Packard could do was
stammer and stumble and say something to the effect of, well,
(31:24):
it was all a mistake. They remained friendly even years later,
when Theodore was coming through on his nineteen oh three
Great Loop Tour as president and stopped in Dickinson. Packard
was there, who at that time was serving as law officer,
and they greeted each other heartily in that but no
(31:44):
mention of that incident. Another time, when Theodore was riding
along and he was riding with a Lincoln lang to
going to a cabin where this lady made the beautiful
buckskin shirts. They're riding along and they hear this chirping
noise and squealing noise. They stop and they notice that
(32:08):
a bull snake has wrapped its coils around a jack
rabbit and is strangling to death. Well, Theodore jumps off
his horse and with his quirt, which was a leather whip,
small whip that cowboys would use and wear it around
their wrists to whip their horse, he proceeds to whip
the daylights out of the snake and kill it. And
(32:29):
he uncoiled the jack rabbit out of the snake's tightness,
and he's holding it in his arms, cradling it in
his arms and petting it while you know, the rabbit
is kind of gaining it senses back, and he's sitting
there there in the middle of nowhere, and just gently
(32:52):
stroking the rabbit on the head and on the back,
and then puts them down, and the rabbit scurries off,
and he said, there goes a sore but wiser rabbit.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Roosevelt's many hunting trips make him aware of the need
to preserve the natural habitat of the big game of
the West. As a consequence, he founds the Boone and
Crocket Club, named for two of his zeros. The club
is dedicated to conserving the wilderness and to what he
(33:24):
terms fair chase hunting. Roosevelt loves his new life in
the West, but mother Nature is about to turn against
him at all. Other ranchers on the high Plains, the
summer of eighteen eighty six is unusually hot and dry,
and the normally abundant grass disappears. Ranchers purchase hay from farmers,
(33:48):
but the demand soon exceeds the supply. Cattle begin losing
weight and some die. Cooler weather comes in October, but
then a blizzard hits in mid November. Day after day,
snow piles up and temperatures drop until they dip well
below zero. Then in early December, a chinook wind drives
(34:12):
temperatures up as much as fifty degrees in one day.
The snow begins to melt, then suddenly the temperature drops
again to ten twenty thirty degrees below zero. One morning,
a temperature of forty one degrees below zero is recorded.
(34:33):
The melting snow is turned to an ice sheet. A
cattle can't paw through it to get to the feed.
More snow storms arrive, driven by powerful winds from Canada.
Cattle starve, cattle freeze to death, and cattle suffocate when
buried alive and snow drifts. The era of the open
(34:57):
range cattle industry dies in the winter of eighteen eighty
six to eighteen eighty seven. Roosevelt loses more than sixty
percent of his cattle, and he was one of the
lucky ranchers. A way of life for the cattlemen of
the high planes that has prevailed for the preceding twenty
(35:18):
years is over, never to return.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
The cowboys have an old saying that somebody's all hat
and no cattle, which means they're all talk and no action.
Theodore definitely was all action, and the people understood that,
maybe not the people in Washington, but the American public
understood it and embraced it. And while he was president,
(35:43):
he set aside two hundred and thirty million acres for
the American public to see, established fifty one bird sanctuaries,
eight national parks, eighteen national monuments. He and William Halliday
started a breeding program at the Pronx Zoo for the
(36:05):
American buffalo. It's rather ironic that the man goes to
hunt buffalo and he becomes known as the Great Conservation President.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Late in eighteen eighty seven, Roosevelt leaves for New York.
He will come back to his ranch, but only for visits. However,
it is his years as a rancher in Dakotah Territory
that helped make Theodore Roosevelt the man. He becomes, the
man who organizes the rough riders and leads the charge
(36:38):
up San Juan Hill, and the man political boss. Markana
calls that damn cowboy.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
tell one heck of a story. And by the way,
McGrath is the author of Gunfighters, Howiman and Vigilantes Violence
on the Frontier. He's a former US Marine, a former
history professor at UCLA, and he's appeared on numerous History
Channel documentaries, and we are lucky to have him as
(37:08):
a regular contributor here at Our American Stories. And Michael
blake Well, he's a two time Emmy winning makeup artist
and respected film historian. He's the author of the informative
and easy to read biography The Cowboy President, The American West,
and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt. That time in the
Dakota Territories. What a mark it left on Roosevelt's life,
(37:33):
and what a market left in American life. Two hundred
million acres preserved eight national parks. Perhaps the first American
conservationist and certainly the first American president who thought about
our land in this way. Again, the story of Theodore Roosevelt,
that damn Cowboy here on Our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show
and our favorite subject American history. Though Lyndon Johnson, the
thirty sixth president, was a Texan and an absentee rancher
with acreage west of Austin, and the Ronald Reagan, the
fortieth president, acted in westerns and owned a six hundred
(00:31):
and eighty eight acre ranch in Santa Barbara County.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Both were more hat than cow.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Theodore Roosevelt, on the other hand, owned two ranches and
ran cattle in North Dakota and Montana. He was just
forty two years old when he took office in nineteen
oh one, the youngest president ever. It was the West
that molded Roosevelt into a man. Also, it was where
he learned to carry a big stick. Here to tell
the stories. Roger McGrath and Michael Blake. McGrath is a
(01:01):
regular on our show a regular contributor for the History Channel.
Michael Blake is a two time Emmy Award winning makeup
artist and a respected film historian.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Theodore Roosevelt was one of New York's most accomplished adventurous,
self sacrificing and patriotic sons, Harvard graduate, author, cattle rancher,
war hero, US president, and the recipient of the Nobel
Peace Prize in the Medal of Honor. He was a
towering American figure whom sculptor Goodson Borglum carved into Mount
(01:40):
Rushmore alongside Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, contributing mightily to making
Roosevelt into the heroic man he became, whereas days in
the Old West. Unfortunately, most Americans today know little about
Theodore Roosevelt and next to nothing about his life on
(02:02):
the frontier. Theodore Roosevelt is born in the heart of
New York City in eighteen fifty eight, the second of
four children to a prominent and wealthy family. Is not
the sickly child often portrayed, but energetic and adventurous, although
(02:23):
he does suffer from severe asthma attacks, which gives him
a reputation for ill health. At eleven years old, he
hides the Alps with his father stride for stride, and
later it takes up boxing after being bumbled by two
older boys. By the time he's in his late teens,
(02:44):
he is a robust, physical specimen, and his asthma attacks
are less frequent. Roosevelt is home schooled and proves a
bright student and a voracious reader. He doesn't attend one
of the proper prep schools, as most young men of
his social class do, but is nonetheless admitted to Harvard
(03:09):
University at age eighteen. His father, whom he loved and
admired greatly, tells him to take care of his morals first,
his health second, and his studies third. He takes his
father's advice to heart and is a paragon a moral rectitude.
(03:32):
Is also a top performer on the Fsity rowing in
boxing teams. He excels in the classroom, graduating magna cum
Laudie and Phi Beta Kappa, and finishes in the top
twelve percent of his class. His achievement is all the
more impressive because his father died two years earlier. From
(03:54):
the inheritance Roosevelt received, he could have settled into a
life of indulgence and indolence. Instead, he enters Columbia Law
School in the fall of eighteen eighty and nearly the
same time he marries the love of his young wife,
Alice Lee. After year at Columbia, the political bug bites him,
and he's elected to the New York Assembly. He's in
(04:18):
his second term when tragedy strikes. His wife gives birth
to a daughter on February twelve, eighteen eighty four, but
two days later, his mother dies of typhoid fever and
his wife of kidney failure. The Bible blow leaves Roosevelt
devastated for a time. He throws himself into political work
(04:40):
with a vengeance, but soon decides to seek solace in
the frontier West Theora.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Roosevelt once said that if he hadn't gone west, and
hadn't spent time in the Dakota Territory, he never would
have been president. While some may say, oh, that's typical
hyper bowl of theater, it's actually very true. At the time.
In eighteen eighty four, he had lost both his mother
(05:09):
and his first wife on the same day, February fourteenth,
Valentine's Day, within hours of each other. His first wife, Alice,
had just given birth the day prior to their first child,
who was also named Alice. So grief stricken was he
that he left the baby daughter in care of his
(05:32):
older sister baby and he went out west to a
cabin he had recently bought and cattle ranch in what
is now the area of Medora, North Dakota. Theodore went
west to mend his broken heart to escape. It's kind
of an interesting trait of Roosevelt. Whenever he lost, something
(05:57):
very important in his life went away, in this case
going west.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Roosevelt first experienced the West on a hunting trip to
Dakota Territory in eighteen eighty three. He roughed it on
several hunts and joined himself immensely. He also bought a ranch,
the Maltese Cross, and stocked it with cattle. Now he
is returning to the ranch, not for a visit, but
to settle. These years in the West contribute mightily to
(06:29):
shaping him into the man America will come to admire
a man who is part cattle puncher, which helps make
the cowboy a symbol of our country. Without his time
and experiences in what was still the Old West, Theodore
Roosevelt would not have organized the rough Riders, not have
(06:51):
led the charge up San Juan Hill, and not have
become president.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
the story of Teddy Roosevelt and what a story. Indeed,
when we come back more of this remarkable story here
on our American Stories. Folks, if you love the stories
(07:30):
we tell about this great country, and especially the stories
of America's rich past, know that all of our stories
about American history, from war to innovation, culture and faith,
are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College,
a place where students study all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that are good
in life. And if you can't cut to Hillsdale, Hillsdale
(07:50):
will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.
Go to Hillsdale dot edu to learn more. And we
continue with our American Stories and the story of Theodore
(08:12):
Roosevelt and his time spent out West healing and mending
a broken heart. Let's return to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
In June eighteen eighty four, Roosevelt gets off the Northern
Pacific Railroad at the town of Madora, founded only the
year before by a French nobleman turned rancher, the Marquis
de Moret, and named for his wife, at the western
edge of Dakota Territory, near the border with Montana. Territory,
(08:45):
Madora is in the heart of the bad Lands. Despite
the name and its rugged terrain, the bad lands have
thousands of acres of grasslands, especially in the valley of
the Little Missouri River, where Madora and several cattle ranches develop.
The area is still frontier. Only eight years earlier and
(09:10):
two hundred miles to the southwest, Kester and two hundred
men of the Seventh Cavalry were massacred at the Battle
of the Little Pighorn.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
When Theodore got to Medora area in eighteen eighty four
after the passing of his mother and wife, one of
the first things he did within a day was he
saddled up his favorite horse, Manitoub, and went out for
a ride for three days by himself into the wilderness.
He wanted to test himself. He wanted to see if
(09:43):
indeed he could be like those who he had read
about in earlier days of the Party pioneers, and he
did quite well.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
From Madora tire Heads, seven miles south to the Maltese
crossed to begin his life as a rancher. He is
soon dressed in the buckskin suit made for him by
one of the first white women to settle in the
region widow Mattox. He is armed with an ivory grip
Colt revolver and a bowie knife. A wide brimmed hat
(10:14):
sits on his head when in the saddle. He wears
spurs on the heels of his high topped boots and
steve pipe chaps. He writes his sister, well, I have
been having a glorious time here and will hardened now.
I have just come in for spending thirteen hours in
the saddle. First and foremost, the cattle have done well,
(10:38):
and I regard the outlook for making the business a
success has been very hopeful. This winter. I lost about
twenty five add from wolves, called, etc. The others are
in admirable shape, and I have about one hundred and
fifty five calves. I shall put on a thousand more
(10:59):
cattle and shall make it my regular business. I have
never been in better health than on this trip. I'm
in the saddle all day long, either taking part in
the round of a cattle or hunting an antelope. This country
is growing on me. It has a curious, fantastic beauty
(11:20):
of its own. Before the summer is out, Roosevelt lays
claim to a large tract of land thirty five miles
to the north of the Maltese Cross, erects a cabin
on it, drives in herd of cattle, and christens his
new ranch, Elkhorn. When the Marquis hears about it, he
(11:43):
says he has an earlier claim to the same property.
Roosevelt notes the marquis has not built the cabin on
the property or stocked with cattle, and ignores the Frenchman's protestations.
Roosevelt understands that not standing fast will expose him to
(12:06):
ridicule as a weakling. He desperately wants to be respected
as a man who lives by the Code of the West.
Unwritten and informal, the Code of the West develops during
the nineteenth century in the American West. First and foremost,
(12:26):
a man is expected to stand his ground, to have
sand in the face of death. Many a man expresses
it simply, I'll die before all run. A man is
also expected to be loyal to his friends. The cowboys
(12:46):
call it writing for the brand. A man is expected
to work hard and pull his own weight. A man
is never to steal another man's horse. That isn't mere
thing left, but can mean a death sentence. For the
man who is left without a horse. Certain forms of
(13:07):
outlawry are tolerated. A highwayman can hold up a stagecoach
or a train and take the express company's treasure box,
but he is not to rob the passengers. A man's
word is his bond. His word and his handshake are
better than a legal contract. Women are to be treated
(13:31):
with difference and respect. Roosevelt embraces the goat of the
West and is determined to live by it. When he
first arrives, many suspect he's not up to it. Will
this scion from a prominent family in New York be
up to the rigors of life on the frontier. The
(13:53):
glasses he wears don't help. However, rows himself into working
his ranches with such determination, energy, and stamina that even
the most seasoned cowboys are impressed. But when faced with
life or death, will he have sand?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
As a cattle operation, Theodore was the boss, and during roundups,
Theodore would take a job just like any other cowboy,
and he would do various jobs rounding up the cattle.
The only thing he didn't do was rope any of
the cattle because of his poor eyesight, But he'd help
in the branding and castrating the male cows and things
(14:38):
like that. During one of the cattle roundups, Theodore was
noticing that some of his men were lagging behind and
the cattle were starting to spread out. So he yelled
to them and said, yo that, hasten forward quickly now. Well,
the cowboys simply looked at him for a moment and thought,
what the heck was that?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Now?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Most cowboys when they round up cattle, they'll do the
various yahs or yehas, or whistles or all sorts of
sound effects to get them to move. Well, when the
cowboys and Roosevelt's outfit got a little board, they would
yell at the cattle hasten forward quickly after that moment.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
During his first summer on his ranches, Roosevelt is many
miles west of the Elkhorn looking for stray horses. With
the sun setting, he decides to ride to Mingusville, a
town on the Montana side of the border with a
small cluster of buildings including a railroad station, a livery,
and a hotel. It's dark by the time he stables
(15:41):
his horse and walks towards Noolen's hotel. Two shots suddenly
ring out from the bar and dining room of the hotel. Undeterred,
Roosevelt walks inside and finds the bartender and several men,
as Roosevelt put it, wearing the kind of smile worn
(16:02):
by men making believe to like what they don't like.
Roosevelt also sees a drunken patron with a revolver in
each hand, swearing and strutting back and forth. A clock
on the wall has two bullet holes in its face,
evidence of the drunk's prowess with his revolvers. When the
(16:24):
drunk sees Roosevelt, he proclaims four eyes will treat the
house to drinks. Roosevelt laughs along with everyone else, and
takes a seat at a table, hoping that will be
the end of it. However, the drunk strides over to
the table and repeats the demand.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
You're going to buy us a drink?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
And Theodore try to ignore it. And again he's repeated
his demand, with a few cusswords in it. And Theodore
always said, if it's at all possible to avoid a
fight of it, he says, But if you can't hit them,
and hit them hard so they don't get up, well, Theodore,
(17:06):
the man's standing in front of his table. Theatre is
sitting down and he's weaving, and Theodore said, well, if
I've got to, I've got to. And as he stood up,
he pushed the table aside and hit the man with
a sharp right to the gin, a sharp left and
another right, driving him back.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
tell the story of Teddy Roosevelt and his adventures out West.
More of Theodore Roosevelt's life story, his life out West
and how it shaped him here on our American stories,
(18:08):
and we continue with our American stories. And let's pick
up where we last left off with Theodore Roosevelt punching
out a bully in a bar.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
While clots into the floor, the drunk reflexively fires his guns,
hitting no one. Roosevelt is ready to drop on the
man with the knee of the ribs, but sees he's unconscious.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Well, after this fight with the uh drunken cowboy, all
the cowboys in the area of Medora respected Theodore. They
accepted him then as one he had proved his metal.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Another incident that cements Roosevelt's reputation as a man with
sand and not just another Eastern or playing cowboy. Occurs
just after the ice breaks up on the Little Missouri River.
In fear for their lives from vigilantes in Montana, three
men steal Roosevelt's boot that he tied to a tree
(19:10):
just above the river's shoreline on his Elkhorn ranch. When
Roosevelt discovers the theft, he's outraged. He and two ranch
hands set out in a second boat to capture the miscreans.
The thieves have a couple of days head start, but
there are still ice foes on the river and the
weather turns bitterly cold, forcing them to stop frequently, build
(19:35):
the fires and hunt for game. After a week of pursuit,
Roosevelt in his hands see the stolen boat moored on
the river bank and smoke coming from a campfire. They
stealthily approach the campfire and see one man warming himself.
Roosevelt springs out of the brush and levels at winchester.
(19:58):
At the man, he offers there's no resistance and taken prisoner.
Still out hunting, his two partners returned singly and suffered
the same fate at the hands of Roosevelt. Now in
two boats. Roosevelt, his ranch hands, and the prisoners continued
downstream until they come upon a ranch and secure a
(20:21):
wagon from the rancher.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Well, Theodore didn't want to sit with his back to
these three men riding alongside the driver and the wagon,
so he followed the wagon in ankle deep mud in
the middle of February, and he walked the forty five
miles to Dickinson to turn them over to the local
(20:46):
law authority. And by the time he got there his
feet were almost frostbitten. He hadn't slept for thirty six
hours because he kept he stayed awake the whole time
to watch these guys so they didn't try to escape
when he turned him in the next morning, when they
were arraigned in front of a judge who happened to
(21:06):
be somebody Theodore knew from his days at Columbia College
when he was studying to be a lawyer, and the
judge's name was Western Star. He asked the judge not
to charge the German Man because he says, I don't
think he knows what he's doing, and the German Man
would profusely thanked Theodore for his efforts, and Theodore chuckled
(21:30):
and said, well, that's the first time I've ever been
thanked for calling someone an idiot. The other two men
did get five year terms, and he had the respect
of the local cattle owners, but they didn't understand why
did you go to all that trouble when you could
have just shot him or hung them, and that was it.
(21:54):
And they didn't understand Theodore. And this was something very
key to Theodore's makeup and something that would echo throughout
the rest of his life, whether he was New York
Police commissioner or in charge of the Civil Service Board,
or assistant secretary to the Navy, or the governor of
New York and then ultimately the President of the United States.
(22:16):
Theodore didn't want vengeance. He wanted justice, and he saw
justice serve. That was very important to him. Yes, it
would have been easier to hang the three men or
shoot them, but that was not what Theodore wanted. Obviously,
if the men tried to shoot it out with them,
they would have returned fire. But Theodore was determined to
(22:40):
see these men brought to justice, and justice they.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Were even out west. The politician and civic duty is
in Roosevelt's blood is instrumental in organizing the Little Missouri
Stockmen's Association, and at the organization's first meeting eighteen eighty four,
he's elected chairman or some call it president, and re
(23:05):
elected in eighteen eighty five. In eighteen eighty six, Madora's newspaper,
The bad Lands Cowboy says the association can congratulate itself
on again electing Theodore Roosevelt as president. Under his administration,
everything moves quickly forward, and there is none of that
(23:28):
time consuming, fruitless talk that so invariably characterizes a deliberative
assembly without a good presiding officer. Roosevelt becomes a member
of the Montana Stock Rose Association in April eighteen eighty
five and serves on one of that association's committees. As
(23:51):
a member of both cattlemen's associations, Roosevelt is clearly not
only accepted as a Westerner but suspected. Victor Stickney, the
doctor who treated Roosevelt for blistered and frost bitten feet,
invites Roosevelt to give the keynote address at Dickinson's Fourth
(24:15):
of July celebration. Roosevelt accepts. In the past noon on
the fourth Roosevelt begins his address to a crowd of hundreds.
It is his first major public speech. It declares that
though America shares a present with other nations, the future
belongs to America. It's the same with Dakota Territory. He says,
(24:41):
we rangers and cowboys alike, have opened a new land.
We are the pioneers, and as we shape the course
of a stream near its head, our efforts have infinitely
more effect in bending it in any given direction. Later
in a speech, he expounds on the theme that will
(25:02):
come to characterize him as a national political figure. Says Roosevelt,
like all Americans, I like big things, big prairies, big
forests and mountains, big wheat fields, railroads and herds of
cattle too, big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we
must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever
(25:26):
yet benefited by riches if their property corrupted their virtue.
It is of more importance that we should show ourselves honest, brave, truthful,
and intelligent than that we should own all the railways
and grain elevators in the world. Roosevelt concludes his address
(25:49):
by saying he is now as much a Westerner as
an Easterner and is proud to be considered such. The
crowd applods loudly in many roar there are On the
train ride home from Dickinson to Medora, at Packard, the
publisher of the bad Lands Cowboy, tells Roosevelt that his
(26:12):
future is not as a rancher, but as a politician.
Packard thinks Roosevelt will be president one day, says Roosevelt.
If your prophecy comes true, I will do my part
to make a good one. Theodore Roosevelt is all of
(26:32):
twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Old, and you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael
Blake tell the remarkable life story of Teddy Roosevelt and
my goodness to earn the respect of a bunch of
nineteenth century cattleman no duckwalk, and he walked the walk.
That bar fight probably feeled his fate, But that he
(26:54):
ultimately joined these associations and led them and spent the
time doing that showed leadership and not just fortitude and strength.
When we come back more of this remarkable American character
and how the West.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Shaped that character.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Teddy Roosevelt's story continues here on our American story, and
(27:37):
we continue here on our American stories with the life
of Teddy Roosevelt and how his time in the West
shaped it. Let's continue with our fabulous storytellers and the
now twenty seven year old Theodore Roosevelt.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Here's McGrath and Blake.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
That's what uses his slow dimes on the ranch for writing.
Before he came west, he authored his first book, The
Naval War of eighteen twelve. Now he completes his second book,
Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, and as well on his
way to finishing a third book, a biography of Missouri's
famous Senator Thomas Hart Benton. His foremen and cowboys see
(28:19):
him at his desk for hours, getting up now and
then to pace about and then go back to writing.
When Roosevelt is not writing during slow times, he's hunting.
He bags all the big game of the West, eluding
him until the end. Is the mountain goat. The surprisingly tough, wary,
(28:41):
and sure footed critter is found only at higher elevations,
most often on steep and rocky mountain sides above the
tree line. Roosevelt isn't able to shoot one until a
professional hunter, Jack Willis, agrees to take him along on
a hunt. Montana. After a couple of days of grueling
(29:03):
hiking and climbing, Roosevelt misses an easy shot, but the
next day he makes, in the words of Willis in
impossible shot and drops a mountain goat at a distance
of a quarter of a mile with a shot through
the heart. A day later, Roosevelt and Willis are working
(29:24):
the way along a narrow ledge when Roosevelt slips and
falls at first off the ledge. When I saw him fall,
said Willis, I wouldn't have given two bits for his life.
Roosevelt skids and bounces sixty feet down a rocky slope
(29:44):
before his fall is stopped by the branch of a
pine tree. He comes to rest at the base of
the pine, still clutching his rifle, but without his glasses.
By the time Willis reaches him, Roosevelt is on his feet,
saying he's okay. Searching for a time, he finds his classes,
(30:04):
which miraculously are not broken. Back up the slope, the
two of them climb and continue the day's hunt. Willis
loses his last skepticism of the Easterner turned Westerner.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
There was another fellow in the Medora area named Jerry Packard,
who was something of a troublemaker, and he came out
to Theodore's Elkhorn ranch one day while Theodore was out hunting.
I mean, he was talking with Bill Swell and said, yes,
this is a very nice place. And word got back
to sow All that Packard in town, and Medora was saying,
(30:42):
you know, he wanted to take the Elkhorn ranch, and
he said, if Roosevelt wants to pay for it, he
can pay for it, even in blood. Well we'd got
back to Sowell, and as soon as Theodore returned from
his hunting trip, Siwell said, hey, you know you've got
to be aware that Packard was making these threats. Theodore said, oh, okay.
(31:03):
So he saddles up on the horse, rides over to
Packard's cabin, knocks on the door. Packard opens it, and
he says, I understand you have threatened to kill me.
I'm here to ask when do you want the killing
to begin, and if you have anything to say against me,
say it now. And about all Packard could do was
stammer and stumble and say something to the effect of, well,
(31:24):
it was all a mistake. They remained friendly even years later,
when Theodore was coming through on his nineteen oh three
Great Loop Tour as president and stopped in Dickinson. Packard
was there, who at that time was serving as law officer,
and they greeted each other heartily in that but no
(31:44):
mention of that incident. Another time, when Theodore was riding
along and he was riding with a Lincoln lang to
going to a cabin where this lady made the beautiful
buckskin shirts. They're riding along and they hear this chirping
noise and squealing noise. They stop and they notice that
(32:08):
a bull snake has wrapped its coils around a jack
rabbit and is strangling to death. Well, Theodore jumps off
his horse and with his quirt, which was a leather whip,
small whip that cowboys would use and wear it around
their wrists to whip their horse, he proceeds to whip
the daylights out of the snake and kill it. And
(32:29):
he uncoiled the jack rabbit out of the snake's tightness,
and he's holding it in his arms, cradling it in
his arms and petting it while you know, the rabbit
is kind of gaining it senses back, and he's sitting
there there in the middle of nowhere, and just gently
(32:52):
stroking the rabbit on the head and on the back,
and then puts them down, and the rabbit scurries off,
and he said, there goes a sore but wiser rabbit.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Roosevelt's many hunting trips make him aware of the need
to preserve the natural habitat of the big game of
the West. As a consequence, he founds the Boone and
Crocket Club, named for two of his zeros. The club
is dedicated to conserving the wilderness and to what he
(33:24):
terms fair chase hunting. Roosevelt loves his new life in
the West, but mother Nature is about to turn against
him at all. Other ranchers on the high Plains, the
summer of eighteen eighty six is unusually hot and dry,
and the normally abundant grass disappears. Ranchers purchase hay from farmers,
(33:48):
but the demand soon exceeds the supply. Cattle begin losing
weight and some die. Cooler weather comes in October, but
then a blizzard hits in mid November. Day after day,
snow piles up and temperatures drop until they dip well
below zero. Then in early December, a chinook wind drives
(34:12):
temperatures up as much as fifty degrees in one day.
The snow begins to melt, then suddenly the temperature drops
again to ten twenty thirty degrees below zero. One morning,
a temperature of forty one degrees below zero is recorded.
(34:33):
The melting snow is turned to an ice sheet. A
cattle can't paw through it to get to the feed.
More snow storms arrive, driven by powerful winds from Canada.
Cattle starve, cattle freeze to death, and cattle suffocate when
buried alive and snow drifts. The era of the open
(34:57):
range cattle industry dies in the winter of eighteen eighty
six to eighteen eighty seven. Roosevelt loses more than sixty
percent of his cattle, and he was one of the
lucky ranchers. A way of life for the cattlemen of
the high planes that has prevailed for the preceding twenty
(35:18):
years is over, never to return.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
The cowboys have an old saying that somebody's all hat
and no cattle, which means they're all talk and no action.
Theodore definitely was all action, and the people understood that,
maybe not the people in Washington, but the American public
understood it and embraced it. And while he was president,
(35:43):
he set aside two hundred and thirty million acres for
the American public to see, established fifty one bird sanctuaries,
eight national parks, eighteen national monuments. He and William Halliday
started a breeding program at the Pronx Zoo for the
(36:05):
American buffalo. It's rather ironic that the man goes to
hunt buffalo and he becomes known as the Great Conservation President.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Late in eighteen eighty seven, Roosevelt leaves for New York.
He will come back to his ranch, but only for visits. However,
it is his years as a rancher in Dakotah Territory
that helped make Theodore Roosevelt the man. He becomes, the
man who organizes the rough riders and leads the charge
(36:38):
up San Juan Hill, and the man political boss. Markana
calls that damn cowboy.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And you've been listening to Roger McGrath and Michael Blake
tell one heck of a story. And by the way,
McGrath is the author of Gunfighters, Howiman and Vigilantes Violence
on the Frontier. He's a former US Marine, a former
history professor at UCLA, and he's appeared on numerous History
Channel documentaries, and we are lucky to have him as
(37:08):
a regular contributor here at Our American Stories. And Michael
blake Well, he's a two time Emmy winning makeup artist
and respected film historian. He's the author of the informative
and easy to read biography The Cowboy President, The American West,
and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt. That time in the
Dakota Territories. What a mark it left on Roosevelt's life,
(37:33):
and what a market left in American life. Two hundred
million acres preserved eight national parks. Perhaps the first American
conservationist and certainly the first American president who thought about
our land in this way. Again, the story of Theodore Roosevelt,
that damn Cowboy here on Our American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!