Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1901-10-31


before he had gone many steps the
bull sank down and Roosevelt had
shot his first buffalo"
1t was on that trip that Roosevelt
formed the attachment for the wild
and rough conntry that led to his be-
coming a ranchman, with cattle on
many hills of the Bad Lands. The
value of that broken region, as matur-
ing country for Texas steers, driven
up across the range was just coming
to be realized. Before Roosevelt had
finished his hunting he sent for S. M.
Ferris and A. w. Merrifeld, then To-
Gated at ranch seven miles south of
Medora, in the shadow of an immense
clay butte, surmounted by mass of
scoria, in the shape of chimney, CIV
ing the ranch the name Of Chimney
Butte ranch" This is the ranch from
which Roosevelt dictated one of the
editions of his work descriptive of
hunting and ranch life in the west.
He asked the young men whether they
would engage with him in the ranch
business, and, if he furnished the
necessary cattle, whether they would
manage them for him. An agree
ment was reached without delay, and
when Roosevelt returned from his
hunting trip he had left them bank
credit sufficient to buy 500 head Of
steers.
When Roosevelt engaged in the cat
tie business, he determined to learn
from actual experience, and hence he
engaged himself as one of his own
cowboys, and for part of a season
worked with his own wagon, in the
same manner as any of his men.
II want to work with the wagon as a
rider" he said to his foreman, S. M.
Ferris, "and want no favo!s shown
me. For the time being l am the
same as any one of the men, and
want to do the same work as any of
them" With this admonition, he ac-
companied roundup outfit in 1885.
He had his own ''string" of horses,
to use the vernacular of the range,
anY they were as ugly and ill-temper-
ed as the majority of mustangs.
Roosevelt was not a "broncho breaker"
in the accepted sense of the work, and
he took no reckless chances in mount
ing ''outlawed" steeds. But he rode
with his men, covered the same
ground and did the same work. "He
learned more and faster by observa-
tion than any man / ever saw" said
his foreman, S. M. Ferris, in speaking
of the year Roosevelt served as COW
bow. "He learned to rope his his own
horse, and to hang on when the horse
endeavored to throw him. He watch
ed the men throw and brand calves,
and before long he was able to handle
calf with any of them. He never
complained of his bargain, was always
willing and ready, and was among the
last to go to bed and the first to get
up in the morning. He got one or two
nasty falls while working with us, on
one occasion being thrown from a
horse and breaking small bone in his
shoulder. He was plucky, though,
and it did not prevent his taking his
trick with the rest of US. At night
he stood night guard over the herd in
his turn, and when the seasons work
was over, he had earned the friendship
of every man on the roundup, as a
good square-toed, companionable fel-
low. He could stand as much hard
ship as the Oldest cowboy in the outfit
and he never complained"
a history of Roosevelt as ranch
man would be in the main denial OF
the many wild and fantastic tales of
his career in the west that have been
written and published wholesale. I'm
informed writer's have pictured him as
impulsive and impetuous, daredevil
iSh and reckless. In his case, careless
commentators upon his ranching ca
reer have mistaken earnestness for
impetuousity. "When Roosevelt does
anything he does it with all his might"
is the comment of the men with whom
he associated in the west and the men
who knew him as he was, and not as
poorly posted newspaper writer's have
pictured him. The cowboys who rode
the range with him and the hunters
who hunted with him do not recall
any instances in which recklessness or
lack of caution was apparent. They
recall him as man with an ample
store of patience, prudence and good
hard sense. The fact that Roosevelt
was a successful hunter of big game,
where prudence, patience and caution
are essentials, is evidence of his pos
session of these qualities. From
his Elkhorn ranch he was successful
in stalking the mountain sheep, the
wariest of big game, and the most diff
fcult of bringing within rifle shot.
Mounting the summit of the most pre-
cipitouS and inaccessible buttes, with