The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-11-24
RoosEvELT,s FIRST BUFFALO

| Of President Roosevelt's hunting exper-
| ienc in the Bad Land is told by J. \
Ferris of Medorz, Minnesota, who was
Teddys guide on his first hunt for buffalo
| He says:
'.RooseveIt's hrst trip TO Medora was
made in the fan of 1888 II was a pros
pect that wouid have dismayed less en-
ergetic and determined young man than
Roosevelt when he first stepped from the
train on a September day The buffalo
ranges were fifty miles away over d couu-
try exceedingly rough and unbroken- Sdo-
die horses We're few and untrustWor'hE
Chance led him to accost J. a FERRIS
a young Canadian who IS still at MedoTa
where he owns a herd OF cattle, operates
a general store and prides himself on be
ing the man who broke Roosevelt II
TO western life.
He was a rather thin young man
plainly dressed and when he asked me L
20 buffalo hunting with him. ! was sur
prised indeed" said Mr. Ferns, IN SPEAK
ing Of Roosevelt's first trip
I was considerably in doubt too, al
TO whether he would stand the trip II
meant lots of hardships and hard work
TO kill a buffalo al that time. But there
was something in the set OF the young
mans face that told me he was bound to
go, and finally / consented to be his guide
I'VE started ont with a hunting outfit
to the head of Bacon creek. about fifty
miles from the railroad crossing. Roose-
Welt was on horseback and he rode better
than 7 did, and could stand just as much
knocking about as I could.
ION the first night out when we were
twenty-five or thirty miles from a settle
ment we went into camp on the open
prairie. with our saddle blankets over US.
our horses picketed and the picket ropes
tied about the horns Of our saddles. which
we used for pillows. In the middle of
the night there was rush. our pillows
were swept out from under our heads and
our horses went tearing off over the prai-
RE. frightened by wolves. which were
prowling in the vicinity.
Roosevelt was up and off in minute
after the horse. Together we chased
those frightened animals over the prairie
until they slackened speed and We caught
up with them
con the fourth or fifth day out. 7 think
it was, our horses pricl1ed up their ears
and / told Roosevelt there was buffalo
close at hand. We dismounted and adj
vanced to a big wash out near. peered
over its edge. and there stood a huge
buffalo bun. calmly feeding and unaware
Of our presence.
Hit him where that patch Of red
shows on his side said I, and you've
got him
Roosevelt was cool as a cucumber
took careful aim and fired Out came
the buffalo from the wash-out with blood
pouring from his mouth and nose
1t was on this trip that that Roosevelt
saw the possibilities of the business of
maturing Texas cattle on the broad rang
es of the Bad Lands. While in the huff
"a h.
Ferris and A. w. Merrfield asking them
If they would consider proposition to
engage in the cattle business with him if
he furnished the animals to stock the
ranch, they to assume charge of them
While on the range. The result Of the
conference was that Roosevelt deposited
TO their credit sufficient funds to buy 500
mead OF steers and thus became ranch
man with cattle on a thousand hills
NO better illustration of the patience
and persistence of Theodore Roosevelt
IS afforded than the success with which
he was able to stalk the mountain ram.
He would crawl for hours to get within
shooting distance of a mountain sheep.
says Mr.. Ferris. and when his rife crack
ed ne was pretty sure to bring down
what he was after.
cattle growing in those DAYS was on
the bonanza plan. Thousands upon thous-
ands upon thousands of Texas steers
were turned out upon the ranges to seek
their own sustenance from the range
grass.
Morning and afternoon the riders cir
cied the country for distance of forty or
fifty miles, bringing into camp all the
cattle found. At noon and in the even
ing the calves were branded the beeves
cut out of the main herd and close herd
ed with the wagon until some shipping
point was reached. and the days work
ended for the cowboy with night watch
Of two hours about the beef herd. TO
guard against stampcdes. 1t was the
hardest kind of work
want TO work with my wagon as
CONVOY. he said to his foreman, s. n. !
Ferris, and I don't want to be shown
any favors I want you to treat me Just /
as any other cowboy with the wagon.
and III manage TO get along"
30 Roosevelt worked for a part of 2 /
season as cowboy. He had his own
string of horses and they were as ugly
and Hl-tempered as the majority Of COW 4
horses He was not broncho breaker. /
as he has been pictured to be and he took /
40 unnecessary chances in mounting or 4
andeaVoring to tame an especially ugly 4
morse But he did not shrink from riding
his own horses when they cut up the Gus /
-A--'-+e ~ PCS Va tHu5taitSS ana dlLnOuDn /
ne was sometimes thrown and on one OF /
-wo occasions pretty badly bruised ana I
hurt, he stuck to his mounts until he had 7.
mastered them
The men with whom Roosevelt hunted 4
and worked as a cowboy are among the
irmest friends he has in the world. and
never tire of telling what an aH-round
good fellow" the president was in the
lays when he shared their dangers and
Drivations