b'hunting trip of this kind" (Di Silvestro, Theodore Rooseveltincidents caused them to think twice. The first when he in the Badlands, p.44). had downed a bully. Roosevelt entered the small Montana frontier town of Mingusville (now present-day Wibaux, They traveled westward (along a trail named after Custer,Montana) while on a cattle drive, and since it was getting who with the 7th camped along the very same trail on hislate, he decided to call it a night and went to the one way to a date with destiny at the Little Big Horn) enteringhotel in town. He had no sooner entered when he heard the rough pathways of the Badlands and much to thea commotion coming from the hotel bar. He walked in, surprise of Ferris and the Langs, who owned a cabin ononly to come to face with a sombrero-wearing wild-eyed the edge of the hunting grounds, Roosevelt not only tookCowpoke who had had a few too many shooting up the to the rugged trip with enthusiasm, but he was also quitebar\'s clock. The bespectacled Roosevelt tried to avoid this capable of carrying his own weight - and just as importantdrunken gunslinger but the man followed him, waving his in the Badlands, proved to be a relatively skilled horseman.gun, and hovering over Roosevelt bellowed, "Four Eyes is Ferris noted: "He was able to do for himself at every turn.going to treat! Set up drinks for the crowd!" Roosevelt sized Where he had learned to ride horseback I don\'t know, but Iup his erstwhile adversary and calmly said, "Well, if I\'ve got do know that he rode as well or better than I did and couldto, I\'ve got to."Then, still facing the gun-waving drunk, he stand more knocking around than I could. Where he didn\'tthrew two consecutive right and left punches. The man went know as the ways of the West he learned by observation,down fast, shooting off his guns as he flattened out, but and he paddled his own canoe from the start" (Di Silvestro,luckily for all present, the shots went wild and wide, hitting Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands, p.50). no one. When the subdued varmint came to his senses, he quickly got up and hightailed it out of town, much to the Ferris, his brother, and Merrifield were also surprised toamusement of all, including Roosevelt (Sprague, A Gallery learn that not only did the West not daunt Roosevelt, butof Dudes, pp. 228-230).even before he ever took a shot at a buffalo the cheeky Easterner suggested buying into their Maltese Cross ranchOn a second occasion, Roosevelt encountered another and becoming partners with them. They agreed to discuss it,drunken individual who had a way with words, those of the slept on it, and then the next morning they proceeded withflorid kind. This individual, aptly named "Hell Roaring Bill the hunt. Jones" just happened to have been Medora\'s sheriff but that 2 ROOSEVELT COULD "BOX ABOVE HIS WEIGHT."Marquis De Mores didn\'t stop Roosevelt from setting him straight. He calmly but firmly informed the sheriff that his way with words was DESPITE HIS DUDE LOOKS, HE HAD MORE STAMINAoffensive, that he needed to clean up his act. The sheriff not THAN MANY FRONTIER DENIZENS.HE HAD PLENTY OFonly did not get angry but he and Roosevelt became fast CONFIDENCE IN HIMSELF, AS SHOWN WHEN HE EXPRESSEDfriends, so much so that "Hell Roaring Jones" worked the A WILLINGNESS TO BUY INTO THE MALTESE CROSS, EVENdeaths of his wife and mother, so he sought refuge in thatMaltese Ranch in his spare time.It was also through his ON THOSE FIRST DAYS ON THE FRONTIER. enchanted Western land. He was back in Medora just fourassociation with Sheriff Jones that Roosevelt met another At first, Roosevelt was thwarted and frustrated in hismonths after losing the loves of his life, totally consumed inlawman who would become a lifelong friend of his, the then attempts to bring down not just a buffalo - the first one hefrontier work, the renovations of his ranch, and purchasingSheriff Seth Bullock of Deadwood.came across he failed to bring down - but also antelope thata cattle herd. Roosevelt would later write about getting(About 20 years later, when Roosevelt was President, he dashed across the rocky terrain. Finally, almost two weekspast that darkness in his life: "Black care rarely sits behindjourneyed out to Yellowstone National Park and found into the hunt on the morning of September 20th Roosevelta rider whose pace is fast enough" (Geoffrey C. Ward and"Hell Roaring Jones" who, due to excessive drink had and Joe Ferris picked up a buffalo trail, followed it, andKen Burns, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, Alfred A.fallen on sad times, driving a tour wagon with a team of there, standing on the plain near a rocky slope they spottedKnopf/Random House, New York, 2014, p.35). horses. Roosevelt had heard that his old sheriff friend was a big bison bull. Ferris told Roosevelt where to aim; he firedin the area, and the two had a happy but very poignant once, and then fired twice as the bison tried to scamperRoosevelt put his all into ranch and community life, away. Following it beyond a rise, they found it lying on itspitching in whenever possible, side, dead. According to Ferris, Roosevelt made an Indianparticipating in round-ups, "war whoop" beside the carcass - then danced around it. Heattending city meetings, and had brought down his buffalo, which as events would laterrubbing shoulders with all prove, was probably the last buffalo in the region. he came across - with some humorous consequences as we His wife was pregnant with his first child, so Roosevelt cutwill soon note.He shut himself short his hunting trip and headed back east several days lateroff almost completely from the but before he left he had secured the partnership with thetragic past and looked to the Ferris Brothers and Merrifield of the Maltese Cross ranchfuture. He and his partners and had left quite a positive impression. Gregor Lang, whoseturned the Maltese Cross into a hunting lodge Roosevelt stayed over at on his way to theprofitable enterprise and were hunt made a very curious observation -"There goes the mostsoon looking to build another remarkable man I ever met. Unless I am badly mistaken theranch downriver.world is due to hear from him one of these days" (Di Silvestro,4Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands, p. 57). ROOSEVELT OVERCAME 3 AS WE\'VE ALREADY SEEN AND WILL NOTE TIME ANDTHE WORST OF ALL POSSIBLE EVENTS AND TIME AGAIN, ROOSEVELT ALWAYS LEFT A POSITIVE,WAS NOT ONLY ABLE TO IF AT TIMES SEEMINGLY ECCENTRIC, IMPRESSION OVERCOME ADVERSITY AND ON OTHERS. PREVENT DEPRESSION FROM It seemed that the young politician had the best of bothDESTROYING HIM, BUT HEOver the course of 12 hours on Valentine\'s Day 1884,worlds. A rising political career and a loving wife back inALSO SURVIVED, PERSEVERED New York and a new acquisition - a ranch in the DakotaAND PROSPERED. Roosevelt lost his young wife (left) to kidney disease, while in Badlands that would suit his Western wants and desires.In the meantime though,childbirth, and his mother (right) to Typhoid Fever. But a tragedy was just on the horizon, a tragedy that wouldRoosevelt had to overcome cause Theodore Roosevelt to set aside his political ambitionsanother "slight" problem. He and not only would bring him back to the West ninestill came across as a "dude," a months later but also cause him to throw his all into life as"greenhorn"-his mannerisms, his down-eastern way ofreunion, as Roosevelt was extremely saddened to see how a Cowboy. expressing himself caused much mirth, especially whenhis old profanity-spewing pal had fallen on hard times. during a round-up, when some cattle strayed off, he shoutedRoosevelt told his then-Secretary of State John Hay that Over the course of 12 hours on Valentine\'s Day 1884,to his ranch hands - "Hasten forward quickly there!"orhe later heard that "Hell-Roaring" rode out of town shortly Roosevelt lost his young wife to kidney disease, while inHarvardese for "head \'em off at the pass!" (Sprague, Athereafter, fell afoul of a blizzard, and died in the snow. childbirth, and his mother to Typhoid Fever. Devastated,Gallery of Dudes, p.228).(Henry Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt, Barnes and Noble Roosevelt left his newborn daughter with his sister andBooks, New York, 2004 (from the 1956 edition), pp. 70-71; for a time tried to forget it all through his political workHis appearance caused many of the rough element toTheodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, Charles Scribner but he couldn\'t shake off the depression he felt after theunderestimate this tough little cookie until two additionalSons, 1921, pp. 115-118).continued on page 46ArizonaRealCountry.com June 2020 45'