This turned out to be a great visit. We learned all kinds of
things about the 26th POTUS that we never knew. For example, the
power brokers in New York and the Republican Party feared Roosevelt as he was
unrelentingly honest. So, they made him Taft’s Vice President, figuring that
would keep him out of the Presidency. Little did they know that Taft would be
assassinated and as a result, Roosevelt would become President.
The reason for the National Park (and in fact his presidency)
is that on February 14, 1884, both his wife, who had given birth just 2 days
earlier, and his mother died. His grief so overwhelmed him that he put his
newborn daughter under the care of his sister and moved to a small cabin in the
Badlands area of western North Dakota. His actual Maltese Cross Ranch cabin,
built in 1883 during his first visit to the area, still sits just behind the
visitor center at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Interestingly, apparently this cabin traveled nearly as much
as the President himself. During his presidency, the cabin was moved to more
than one world’s fair and exposition to be put on display. Later it was moved
to the fairgrounds in Fargo, North Dakota, and then was moved to the state
capitol grounds in Bismarck. In 1959, it was turned over to the National Park
Service who moved it to the Park grounds about 7 miles North of its location in
1883. Many of Roosevelt’s original furnishings remain in the cabin, including
his writing desk where he authored 3 major writings during the summers as
he
grieved.
Maltese Cross Ranch was on the Little Missouri River. When
he arrived in the summer of 1884 he also established Elkhorn Ranch, about 36
miles North, also along the Little Missouri. We hiked out to the site of this
very large cabin, but sadly it is no longer there. If
you hike here you get a
very clear picture of why the President loved this area, and found it so therapeutic.
The only evidence the cabin was here are the foundation stones which still
reflect the footprint and dimensions of this huge ranch home.
you hike here you get a
very clear picture of why the President loved this area, and found it so therapeutic.
The only evidence the cabin was here are the foundation stones which still
reflect the footprint and dimensions of this huge ranch home.
While we haven’t been stunned by the wildlife here, we did
manage to stumble on some bison as we hiked in the South Unit of the Park.
The only other wi
ldlife we stumbled on were a whole mess of
wild turkeys. They might be yummy, but man are they ugly!
Talk to you soon!
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