The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-10-24
R%0OSEvELT'S0 GUIDE
Bill Sewall's Story Of the Presi-
dents Camping Days.
DECLARES He WAS "JLEAR GRIT"

How He Took the Chief Magistrate
In Hand Twenty-Five Years Ago to
Rough 1t In the Woods
lures In the bad Lands.
Bill Sewall, the Aroostook Planta-
ton postmaster, guide and woodsman.
who was the honored guest of Presi
dent Roosevelt at Bangor, Me-, the
other day, says the New York Jour-
nal, has had a long and peculiar &C.
qu%aintance with the president.
"If you want to ask me anything
about Colonel Roosevelt, you can just
go ahead, for I'm never tired of prais-
ing him-my best friend and the truest
friend a man ever had,'' said Bill
Sewall. 81 know him, for l have eaten
with him and slept under the same
blanket with him. They say that to
know much about a man you must
know him in that way.
II told him when he was only
eighteen years old that he'd sit in the
White House some day. Something
told me that he would, and you see it
has turned out true. He used to laugh
at me. He never wanted to be in pub
lie life then.
"How did come to meet Roosevelt?
Well, it must be some twenty-five
years ago that his cousins, DR.. j. West
Roosevelt and w. E. Roosevelt, the
banker, used to come here (Bangor) to
hunt in the fall. Once they told me
that they were going to invite a young
relative of theirs up here.
''They said his name was Teddy
Roosevelt and that he was a college
student. They cautioned me about
him, saying he al a gritty, head
strong youngster, who had more sand
in his crop than he had strength, and
they wanted me to take the best care
of him.
"Well, he came. He was a pale,
rather delicate young man of about
eighteen, but the toughest boy phys
ica1ly and the greatest mentally that !
ever met. He took the greatest inter-
est in the woods and never complained
of being tired, although l knew many
a time that he was hardly able to drag
himself home after a long tramp.
"That boy would never give up. He'd
always take the biggest end of the
stick, too, and many a time l was
afraid he'd collapse on me, but he
would cheer right up and say he was
as fresh as a daisy. Talk about grit!
He vas all grit.
"He came year after year, and we
went out into the woods. Among others
he met Bill Dow, the fairest and squar-
est man that ever lived and the best
shot in Aroostook county. We were
together on Roosevelt's ranch out in the
Bad Lands. and it was a toss up who
| was f~oreman-Bill or myself.
"Whcn Roosevelt started out on his
new career. he didn't forget us and
, asked Bill and me to go out to his
ranch in Dakota.
"The ranch was located on the Little
| Missouri, about thirty miles from Me
dora, on the Northern Pacific. Medora
was named after the wife of the Mar
;. quis de Mores, and the marquis owned
the lands on both sides of the RoOse-
welt ranch. Two of our men, named
Reilly and O'Donneil. were told by the
marquis that they We're encroaching
> Oll Ills llllu. oliS NlS lllSSC tWo ulC
were fired upon from ambush, Reilly
/, being killed and O'Donnell crippled for
5 life. The marquis was arrested and
l tried for the murder of Reilly. but his
: money saved him from the gallows.
"Soon after this Bill and l were mott
fed that if we didn't get east, where We
belonged, our bones would be found on
the ranch, and the life of Roosevelt
also was threatened. The De Mores
, crowd claimed that we were on their
land.
: "a. mar named Paddock was d.
f Mores' right hand man, and he made
3 the open threat that he would shoot
Colonel Roosevelt Oh sight. Roosevelt
was in New York at the time, but the
day he got back to the ranch and heard
what had been going on he mounted
his horse and hunted up Paddock and
said:
"'I understand you have threatened
to kill me on sight. l have come over to
see when you want to begin the killing
and to inform you that if you have
, time to say it,
paddock turned pale and suffered
out something about it being all a mis-.
!, take; that he had never made any such
threats. He made all sorts of apologies
> and then Roosevelt rode back to his
, ranch. The marquis sent a letter say
ing that the colonel had Influenced one
of the witnesses against him in the
murder trial and declaring that be
tween gentlemen such differences coul6
r be settled in but Il way, meaning, Of
course, by a duel. Mr.. Roosevelt sale
: to me:
t "'Bill, I'll just write to the marquis
saying that l have not done anything
to injure him, but if his letter is mean
as a challenge and he insists upon hav
ing satisfaction l will meet him will