Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-13
R0OSEVELT'S RANCH
Experiences of the President
in Dakota Bad Lands.
LIFE AMONG STEERS
HOW CHIEF MAGISTRATE DEALT
WITH CATTLE RUsTLERs.
Scores a Deputy Sheriff for Dis
honesty-Runs Down Bad Man
From Bitter Creek.
LIFE AMONG STEERS
VIM. T. Dantz, in Harper's Weekly.

souri,. where, six hundred miles west of St
Paul the Northern Pacific railroad crosses
the river of that name in the heart of the
North Dakota bad lands
He was slender blue-eyed young nan
of twenty-six, quietly dressed. and carry
ing little baggage save fine collection or
rifles. 1t was no inviting sight that met
his eye. All about were towering buttcs
Of scorched clay and gumbo hiding in their
dark recesses. deep chasms as treacherous
as the silent. sullen. muddy river that
swept their feet.
Those who have never seen the BAD Lands
Of North Dakota and their seamy old
buttes. SCARED and precipitous, can ever
understand the loneliness and mystery
hidden in their depths. particularly in those
early days Long a rendezvous for bad
Indians and worse white men. the region
had been stunned a plague spot. Four
years before. hardy engineers and chain
bearers of the Northern Pacific railroad
had passed through under strong military
guard. and even the completion of the rail-
road did not warrant the removal of Major
CombaS little command. whose cant m
ment stood a few hundred yards east OF
the station.
At the time of the arrival of Theodore
Roosevelt from New York not more than
a dozen residents were there to give him
welcome. odd man Moore. who ran the
hotel and collected his bills with a cavalry
saber; Big Mouth Bob. who KEEP tne
saloon: Gary Paddock. hunter and trapper,
and Tom Stack. the station agent. who
was usually roaring drunk were the prom
inent citizens. Added to these were a
score of nondescripts - buffalo hunt erS.
mule skinners. bull-whackers and horse
thieves-who eyed the visitor with lazy in
difference, sizing him up as one Of those
predatory dude hunters. who. after
frightened existence of day or two, pull
ed their freight" for home.
1t was the time of the great and last
stand of the buffalo. when the countless
herds of these noble beasts. goadcd by the
hunters from the Black Hills. had pushed
north to the headwaters of the Grand and
Cannonball rivers, only to be mot by an
onslaught from the north. They were shot
down by thousands. All along the line OF
the then wobbly Northern Pacifc We're
stacked innumerable piles of hides that
only represented a fraction of the
slaughter.
Running of the Big Game.
1t was to be in at the running of this big
game that Roosevelt came to the Bad
Lands, then the paradise of this motley
crew of untamed humanity. Quietly he
evaded the bibulous crowd. and found a
couple of quiet young Canadians, who own
ed bunch of saddle ponies which graZed
on the sage brush flats below the town.
A bargain was struck. one of the brothers
TO act as guide The ponies We're
brought up. saddled. and with the extra
ones packed with provisions and blankets
the outfit started for the buffalo range fifty
miles to the south.
The guide, Joe Ferris. headed straight
through the almost trackless Bad Lands
to Pretty ButteS; here they ran into buffa
10, and even the seasoned Ferris was forced
to admire the grim and logged tenacity of
the stranger. Hunger. cold. wet, all uu
avoidable in such a wilderness. We're lost
J., 10 hot iephf r.n.ia .Fr ipbY
and took his medicine like a man.
They packed such meat they needed
and returned. AS they passed along the
fertile river bottoms, with their wealth Of
big game this thought occurred to Mr..
If this country will support
so many elk and deer why would it not
keep cattle?'
The Maltese Cross"
Eight miles to the south of Little Mis-
souri, the buttes receded, leaving a wide
stretch of bottom lands. Here was the
home of Joe Ferris, the guide; his brother
Sylvane and their partner, William Merri-
field. They had built q comfortable shack
of logs. and as professional hunters made
this their headquarters. They owned Sew
eral ponies and also small bunch of cat
tie that grazed about the valley close to the
ranch. These bore on their left hips the
brand of the Maltese Cross.
From this began the Roosevelt ranch. for
in those days the question of land owner
ship was never raised The Bad Lands
were unsurveyed. and he who would was
welcome to all free range desired So, pur-
chasing the brand cattle and ponies of the
Ferris brothers. Roosevelt returned to New
York, with a promise to come back in. the
spring. When he returned train after train
Of stock cattle rolled n after him. These
cattle, after being unloaded and branded
with the Maltese Cross, were driven to the
ranch
NH; tla
omnous signs in those days. Many and
oud We're the threats about Big Mouth"
3ob's saloon at Little Misery" over stuck
up tenderfeet shassayin' round, drivin' in
cattle, an chasin out game" The old
liners foresaw that the influx of cattemen
meant their doom, the end of rotouS law
essness, and their hearts We're bad. To
hem the young man was interloper a
enderfoot, although they confessed that
fer critter with a squirt he war plum
handy with a gun
1t was busy summer for the young
'aEchman. He took an active part in the
work of building and improving the ranch
with a grim tenacity and untiring
mercy, he was everywhere: down on the
ground struggling with a husky calf that
objected to the branding-iron. or out In the
Hills after deer or mountain sheep, always
llert, quick TO decide and act, he found in
hat life abundant opportunity to deveIop
hese natural characteristics
Good Shot.
He was a good, though not a fancy" |
not; his success as hunter was more due |
0 that logged teracity with which he fol- !
owed his game and which always wins in |
he long run. He was particularly good |
lowever, at long range and running shots |
II the more singular. as he sights through |
,lasseS. He had a beautiful collection of |
ffies, one of them-an eXpress-being inlaid |
Nth solid gold plates, exquisitely engraved |
Tith hunting scenes. This he rarely used
Cwever, his favorite being a plain Win |
hester of 45-caliber
In the meantime his cattle thrfyed and |
rospered. Other ranchmen began to come |
n, and soon the seamy old buttes held |
reat herds of cattle, which found there |
bundant food and shelter summer and |
winter
With the cattle came the cowboys-lean
aunt, young Texans half-breed Mexicans |
nen from the south and west slow of |
peech, quick in action, magnificent riders
Tho sat their sturdy cow ponies with that |
unconscious grace that comes only to those
orn in the saddle. Here Roosevelt found
ongenial spirits. He rode. ate and slept
nth them: sat at night by their camp fires
to their simply told stories that
ften spoke a world of tragedy; tales of |
Cimmaroon'' Bits desperate fight with
ustlers over on the Teton range; of how |
Jack. the horse thief. shot
hree deputy sheriffs and had nearly es-
a ned before he was surrounded and killed |
!. the Wind River mountains; for through
mt faf al |