In 1883, Teddy traveled to Montana to hunt bighorn buffalo, and found his experiences there very thrilling. He pushed himself to his full potential and had a lot of fun while doing so in the outdoors. The experiences he had in the West notably changed his overall attitudes on life. Within two days of roughing it out, he decided that he wanted to become a cattle rancher. When his wife Alice Lee Roosevelt died and his third term in the New York State Assembly ended, he returned west to escape the tragic memories and began his new life as a cattle rancher. Roosevelt spent almost $40,000 on cattle and on his new isolated home, Elkhorn Ranch, which was located on the Little Missouri River in Dakota Territory, twelve miles away from the nearest house.
Buy your first jewelry, and get half off of your next one!
Limited time offer! |
Teddy spent most of his time between 1884 and 1887 at Elkhorn, with a few exceptions of visiting his siblings and his former New York Assemblymen. He lived very quietly and arduously. During the day he tended the cattle, and sometimes he spent up to sixteen hours a day in the saddle. At night he worked on his literary career.
|
During this time Roosevelt was working on his book, “A History of the Naval War of 1812,” and it was highly commended when it was published. However, Roosevelt didn’t feel confident in his book and thought it was very boring. Furthermore, Teddy worked on other writings during the time he was in the Dakotas, publishing a handful of articles for Eastern magazines about the rough and attractive life in the West. In 1885, he published a book about the West entitled, “Hunting Tips of a Ranchman,” which was basically an autobiographical work of his experiences in Montana and the Dakotas. In the next few years, he published a couple of biographies of two New York politicians, and began writing more serious pieces, like, “A History of the City of New York,” and his multi-volume work, “The Winning of the West.”
Of course, Theodore’s life wasn’t without adventure and thrill. He did many things besides guiding the cattle and participating in the roundups that he loved. Just like what he did as a little kid, he started hunting animals again including the buffalo, antelope, and grizzly bears. Even though Teddy was born in the city, and was a city boy at heart, he loved the life of a cowboy, and was a good at one too. His spectacles or eyeglasses contrasted sharply with his sombrero, fringed buckskin shirt and trousers, spurs, and six-shooter. In 1883, he almost got intervened in a duel over a territory dispute with the Marquis de Mores, a Frenchman who moved to Montana for the adventure. Roosevelt was also held the status of a fighter. Teddy punched a man three times very swiftly knocking the man conscious, because the gun-wielding cowboy called Teddy, “four eyes.” In addition, he also captured a band of three outlaws in 1886 when they stole his boat.
Theodore didn’t stay on the western frontier for too long. When he was visiting his sibling, Alice, on Christmas, he was reintroduced to his old friend, Edith Carrow. They both were sweethearts of sorts during their childhood. During Teddy’s first trip in Europe, he wrote to Edith all about his adventures. Young Edith always thought that they would someday eventually marry. However, the two stopped talking to each other for an unknown reason and soon after, Theodore left for Harvard but this was before he met Alice. Later on Edith claimed that Teddy proposed to her and she rejected him at that time because she wasn’t ready. When Theodore was writing a letter to his sister, he wrote that both Edith and him had a disagreement, but doesn’t want to mention why. Edith congratulated Teddy when she heard about his engagement with Alice, but she felt heartbroken. Whenever the two met again in 1885, Edith’s hope to marry Roosevelt rose. On the other hand, Theodore was very unwilling to marry again because he thought marriage was sacred and believed that marrying twice for any reason showed a flaw in character or, sometimes unfaithfulness. Also, Theodore felt very guilty about loving Edith because it has only been less than two years since Alice had died. Teddy proposed to Edith in 1886, after many months of deep thinking and encouragement from his friends and remaining family. They were married later that year in December.
When Teddy and Edith returned from their long honeymoon in Europe, they settled down to begin a family in Roosevelt’s twenty-three mansion on Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York. In 1887, Teddy’s first son was born. He named his son Theodore Roosevelt III, keeping the tradition alive. Baby Alice came to live with them after her third birthday; Theodore and Edith would go on to have six children: Alice, Theodore III, Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin. Roosevelt loved playing with his children, mainly the boys, because he understood them better than the girls. As Alice grew older she became aggrieved and rebellious, and never felt that she was a part of the family. Even when younger Alice asked, Theodore refused to speak of the older Alice, and Alice’s journal showed that she felt as if he loved his other children more than her. Until she was married, she always got into constant arguments with Edith.
Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the west. He was successful in leading efforts to organize ranchers to address the problem of overgrazing and other shared concerns, and his work resulted in the creation of the Little Missouri Stockmen’s Association. He was pressured to coordinate conservation efforts and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, and their primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. After the severe US winter of 1886-1887, his cattle was totally wiped out, and he lost over half of his $80,000 investment, with that Roosevelt went back East.
Ford is now offering the brand new Ford Model T. Come down and grab one, you won't regret it!