Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-10-24
ROOSEVELT The RANCHMAN
Medora Correspondent Writes of Some
. H. =. .EE. Ss1=-
II of the Experiences of President
Roosevelt in the West.
Came to Medora to Hunt Buffalo and
5H Engaged in the Cattle
q Business. u - .-.
Quiet, Determined and CompanionabIe
y. y. Young Man, Who Made Friends
Wherever He Went.

= Wherever He Went.
Medora, North Dakota, October 20 |
--(speciaD-On a bright September
day in 1883, "a clender, simply dressed
and active young man stepped from |
transcontinental train of the Northern
Pacific road at ,Medora, a village nest
led among the shadows of the Bad
Lands hills. It was a remarkable
town, in the eyes of the young man of
the east. About, on all sides, rose
fantastic, bare clay buttes. almost per-
pendioularly, to q height of several
hundred feet, forming a great, circular
wall about the settlement. The clay
cliffs were destitute of vegetation save
occasional gnarled cedars which eked
out an existence from the clayey soil.
Where the Little Missouri river drag
ged it's sluggish and tortuous length
along there was a slight fringe of
scrub trees and patches of "buck
brush A little distance from the
railroad station were to be seen num-
ber of low, log buildings, occupied as
temporary 'icantonment'' for the ac-
commodation of United Statese troops,
who were guarding the construction
crew of the Northern Pacific road
from the attacks of predatory Indians,
who Toamed the fasltnesses of the
Bad Lands in search of the game which
abounded everywhere. There was an
immense ramshackle structure desig-
mated the pyramid Park" hotel, where
eastern tourists were entertained at a
stiff price and guides could be, found
to the buffalo country. Local guides
did a thriving business in escorting
tourists to the scenic wonders the
locality boasted. Not far from the
station was an immense Ignite coal
deposit which had been burning from
time immemcrial, and from which rose
sulphurous smoke and flame. This
was a favorite attraction, and hundreds
of, strangers stopped Off the train and
paid a visit ito the burning mine"
1 Medora, or Little Missouri" as it
was then termed, had molly popu-
lace. There was the cowboy with i'm
mense broadrim and leathern ''chaps,"
jingling. spurs and unmanageable sad
die beast; soldiers there were in mill
tary blue and buffalo hunters in buck
skin; local saloons did a thriving
business in tie settlement, which was
full of bad men and worse liquor.
It was in, every way a typical frontier
{ town and it endeavored to live up to
its name. &@.4 .r..s.. ,.r. x
Among the early settlers at the rail-
road crossing OF the Little, Missouri
were three young Canadian boys, who
! had come out from the Canadian
woods to seek fortune at hunting on
the buffalo ranges. There were
Joseph A. and Sylvanus M. Ferris and
A. w. .Merrifeld. They were hardy
young men, and at that experienced
plainsmen. To the first named Of the
i three, commonly known as Joe, \, the
stranger young man made his way
and signified his desire to do some
buffalo hunting. This was not an or
dinary request, coming from one who
bore the appearance of a "tendeIfoot." ;"
The ordinary tourist was, satisfied
with a visit to some one of the neigh
boring attractions in blackboard, a
d brief ride of al few miles over steep
NJ hills and rough roads. Buffalo at that
time were becoming scarce and hunt
ing them involved a long trip from the
settlernent, with its attendant diff
ctllties and priYati ons-far2 beyond the
81 endurance o the ordinary tender
& foot. BuE the young man was deter
q mined, and there was something in
8 the set of his square jaw. that be-
Il tokened more than ordinary resolution
@ and courage Joe' Ferris, notwith-
standing was a little III doubt as to
the ability of the young man to with.
stand the rdships of such q trip as
was involved ia q buffalo hunt. He
admits today that he looked with much
doubt lposl ~ buffalo hunting trip II
& & comp with q '1tendesfo ott. 4 Never,
theIess he assented I'd the request d
! the young man, made The necessaT,
arran gaanetlas, and III = few days tht
TIVE were bound for the buffalo ranges
distance of fifty miles, over rough
& roads canpin out at night in the
ana endiring all the discom.
Forts and pTivations attendant upor