b'What WouldTheodoreRoosevelt Do?PART 2 By Alan Rockman6 may have inspired some of the passages, including the ROOSEVELT THRIVED INhanging of Steve Hill, in Wister\'s classic Western, The THE WEST, BECOMING MOREVirginian. It should come as no surprise that when Wister SELF-RELIANT, ASSERTIVE,finally completed The Virginian in 1902 that he would be AND CONFIDENT, BUT HE ALSOdedicated to one Theodore Roosevelt, by then President of LEARNED TO KNOW OTHERS,the United States.WORK AND COOPERATE WITH THEM. TRAITS THAT WOULD SERVE HIM WELL IN THEIt was during this halcyon period(1884-1885) that FUTURE AS HE GRADUALLY BECAME MORE INTERESTED INRoosevelt who had overcome so much and had RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE. accomplished so much more during his tenure in the He favored law and order (it was around this time that heWest had to surmount a problem that had been building had been elected deputy sheriff of Medora) but he favoredup for some time. A problem that had now come to it with common sense and humanity, going so far as toa head. Roosevelt originally had a friendly though a accompany the Marquis De Mores (who will be mentionedwary relationship with the Marquis De Mores, the pro-again in this narrative) to a Montana meeting with theMonarchistic, virulently anti-Semitic, mean-tempered famed rancher, Granville Stuart. Stuart was confronting theFrench aristocratic rival of his who was the same age with ever-increasing menace of rustling by organizing vigilantes,many of the same regional ambitions. The Marquis had later known as "Stuart\'s Stranglers." Roosevelt and Dearrived in Medora sometime before Roosevelt as one ofWhenever Roosevelt went West he almost always Mores were eager to join up, but Stuart flatly turned themthose European investors who hoped to "get rich quick" bymade it a point to visit Seth Bullock, whom he down, stating they were too well-known to be involved ininvesting in the "Beef Bonanza." He lived in a chateau on a what likely would be the non-judicial lynching of horse andbluff high above the Little Missouri and had practically builtwould make a U.S. Marshal for the Dakotas.cattle thieves. Roosevelt was disappointed at first, but overmuch of Medora from the ground up. His meat-packing time seemed relieved that he did not join up with "Stuart\'senterprise was a major employer of many of the Medora Stranglers." He would later write in his autobiography - townsfolk, but he was, to say the least, a very controversialRoosevelt was obviously startled, angered and taken aback - and hated - figure in town. About the time Rooseveltby Mores\' letter for if anything, it came across as a threat, "The vigilantes, or stranglers as they were locally known,originally arrived in Medora, the Marquis got tangled up in aa challenge to a duel which Roosevelt knew, whether by did their work thoroughly; but, as always happens withmini-range war with some local Cowboys who felt his meat- pistol or sword he would surely lose, as the Marquis was bodies of this kind, toward the end they grew recklesspacking plant was a threat to their open range existence. Aquite expert at both. Still, it needed to be addressed, and in their actions, and paid off private grudges, and hungshootout ensured, one of the Cowboys, a likable 19-year-oldso Roosevelt responded in a thoughtful, deliberate yet men on slight provocation" (Theodore Roosevelt, Ankid named Riley Luffsey was shot and killed, apparently by adiplomatic manner:Autobiography, p. 124). shot fired from the Marquis\' gun. The Marquis was originally absolved of guilt, but public outcry brought about a secondMedora, DakotaAlthough never noted and barely acknowledged, Roosevelt\'strial that formally indicted the Marquis about a year later. September 6, 1885observations of vigilante justice, with his correspondenceMy Dear Mores,to fellow Harvard classmate and close friend Owen Wister,Roosevelt had taken pains not to become involvedMost emphatically I am not your enemy; If I were you would although, as was his nature, he had friends on both sidesknow it, for I would be an open one, and would not have but the Marquis, who was prone to fits of paranoia, becameasked you to my house nor gone to yours. As your final words, convinced that Roosevelt through his friend and partnerhowever, seem to imply a threat it is due to myself to say Joe Ferris had taken the side of the Cowboys. Rooseveltthat the statement is not made through any fear of possible may at times have been considered impulsive, but he wasconsequences to me; I too, as you know, am always at hand, able to calm down and see things through with logic. Theand ever ready to hold myself accountable in any way for Marquis, on the other hand, was a hothead without theanything I have said or done.controlling factors that Roosevelt was fortunate enough toYours Very Trulypossess. The angry Marquis, an accomplished duelist, sentTheodore RooseveltRoosevelt a letter dated September 3, 1885: (Sprague, A Gallery of Dudes, pp. 238-240)My Dear Roosevelt, No written record of a De Mores response was ever found, My principle is to take the bull by the horns. Joe Ferris isyet if there ever was one it must have been conciliatory. Bill very active against me and has been instrumental in gettingSewall, Roosevelt\'s lumberjack friend, and partner at the me indicted by furnishing money to witnesses and huntingElkhorn would later recall hearing about an apology and a them up. The papers also publish very stupid accounts ofclarification coming from De Mores to Roosevelt. De Mores our quarreling - I sent you the paper to New York. Is thisknew that there were higher stakes for both men to deal with, done on your orders? I thought you my friend. If you arethe problem of rustling, of the falling cost of beef prices, and my enemy I want to know it. I am always at hand as youof a curious foreboding of dire events soon to come. know, and between gentlemen, it is easy to settle matters of7 ROOSEVELT WOULD NOT BACK DOWN FROM A that sort directly.Yours Very Truly, Mores(P.S.) I hear people want to organize the county. I amCHALLENGE, EVEN WHEN SEEMINGLY THE ODDS COULD opposed to it one year more at least. BE STACKED AGAINST HIM.When rustling directly affected him though, he was not averse to taking action. Consider the instance of the three Granville Stuart was confronting the ever- hooligans, who in fleeing from the law after absconding increasing menace of rustling by organizingwith some citizens horses, encountered Roosevelt\'s little blue boat tied up on the dock of his Elkhorn Ranch. The vigilantes, later known as "Stuart\'s Stranglers." three thieves were led by "Redhead Mike Finnegan, already notorious in the region as a drunk, a hothead who once shot 44 July 2020'