b'which Masterson did gratefully accept, knowing that it was mostly a ceremonial post, with Roosevelt\'s esteem of him in mind, one that would never involve gunplay. Masterson stayed on in that position for four years, leaving only when Roosevelt left office in 1909.Pat Garrett though, was not quite as lucky. Roosevelt had met him at a dinner in San Antonio (he had joined the Texas Rangers sometime after shooting down Billy the Kid), the two men became fast friends, and once again Roosevelt\'s admiration of Old West lawmen took hold. Roosevelt offering Garrett the prestigious job of customs inspector in El Paso. While many politicians in both New Mexico and Texas asserted that Garrett was the right man for the job, Roosevelt had some real concerns about Garrett\'s drinking and gambling habits. When Garrett accepted the position with gratitude, the President wished him well and alluding to the former sheriff\'s gambling habits, then said," Mr. Garrett, I am betting on you." Garrett replied, "Mr. President, you will win that bet" (Owen J. Hurd, After the Fact, Perigee, New York, 2012, p. 113).Things went south almost from the start. The pompous Garrett would take no advice from his nominal superior, Roosevelt\'s secretary of the treasury, Leslie M. Shaw, and when Shaw overruled Garrett and sent out an independent appraiser, Garrett fired the appraiser, whereupon, the appraiser sought out Garrett on an El Paso street and punched him out!Still, Roosevelt had faith in his former frontier sheriff-turned-\'neer do well customs inspectorTHE ALL NEW up until Garrett, perhaps unaware of Roosevelt\'s Dutch puritanical streak (he had been hesitant to remarry so soon after his first wife died, partly from guilt and partly from wondering howTRUMP TRAIN DEPOThis society maven friends would accept him marrying so soon again), brought a friend whom he claimed was a prominent Texas cattleman to one of Roosevelt\'s Rough Riders reunion gatherings in San Antonio. The friend was no cattleman, but saloon keeper Tom Powers,All Kinds of Trump Merchandisewho had an unsavory reputation in Texas for his saloon and gambling establishment, The Coney Island. Unaware of Powers\' reputation, the smiling Roosevelt allowed himself to be photographed with both Garrett and Powers. When he learned of Powers notoriety, he stripped Garrett of his position (Ibid., p. 114). While remaining friends with Garrett, in fact mentioning him as a friend in his autobiography, it remained a friendship from a distance, one that would end suddenly a couple of years later when Garrett was killed, shot down while urinating at the side of the road either by a neighbor whom he had quarreled with or the notorious "Killing Jim" Miller, almost a year before Roosevelt left the presidency.The Old West was still very much in Roosevelt\'s mind when he made the arrangements for his 1905 inaugural parade, which almost turned out to be copied from a performance of his friend Buffalo Bill\'s Wild West Shows. The Rough Riders were present, down-and-center, along with the old 7th Cavalry, their band performing "Garry Owen" whichOPENRoosevelt described as a "bully tune" but perhaps the most exciting and arguably the most controversial appearancesTUESUN:riding on horseback in full regalia down Pennsylvania Avenue that cold and windy7am9pmMarch morning, were Roosevelt\'s Native American friends, the Apache chieftain Geronimo and the famed and feared Comanche chief-turned-Texas gentleman farmer, Quanah Parker, alongside several other chiefs. Like Masterson, Bullock, and Daniels, Parker too became a close friend and occasional White House visitor of the In the case of Bat Masterson RooseveltCowboy president being honored that day.was such in awe of the legend that inSo Theodore Roosevelt while never 1905 he offered his friend the office ofreturning permanently to the West, U.S. Marshal for Oklahoma Territory.remained so attached to the region that he would regale his children with tales of Old West adventures and heroes, would enact legislation protecting the environment of the region, especially Yellowstone National Park where he had appointed another Old West figure and friend who had helped save the buffalo from extinction, Game Warden Charles J. "Buffalo" Jones. He became a frequent visitor to the vast plains and mountains he had grown to love so deeply. One particular return to Medora was a very nostalgic and poignant one as commented upon by Pringle: "Theodore Roosevelt, nominee for the vice-presidency, saw the Badlands again on September 12, 1900. He had been on a long and exhausting tour in praise of (President William) McKinley and the Republican Party. Synthetic cowboys, hired for $2.50 a day to ride in parades in the Middle West, had greeted the commander of the Rough Riders. Now Roosevelt was leaving these imitation horsemen; his train was crawling across the prairies. When it stopped at Chamberlain, South Dakota, some real cowboys galloped up. A brass band from the Crow Creek reservation played "Annie Laurie" with peculiar rhythm. At the911 E. Wickenburg Hwyclapboard station were buckboards, ponies, men, and women on horseback.Hastily, while the train waited, a small reception was held. Roosevelt leaned from theWickenburg, AZ 85390platform and shook hands, managed a joke or two. But he seemed subdued. Then the train made its way towards Medora, through the country Roosevelt knew so well. For some continued on page 46ArizonaRealCountry.com August 2020 45'