The Dickinson press., 1905-06-17
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT IN NORTH DAKoIA.

Billings county, N. D., and was
talked of in the press of the state
as prospective candidate for
Congress. Mr.. Roosevelt came
to that region in 1883 on hunt
ing trip and, liking the country,
invested in it.
His fearlessness, daring and in.
tegrity, and the fact that he had
human heart, in the best sense
of that expression, won him the
love of all of the fronticrsmcn
who came to know him.
There was some trouble with
Mexico in those days and Mr..
Roosevelt came to Bismarck and
offered his services to Governor
Pierce and desired to raise a regi-
mcnt of rough riders for service
in the war with Mexico, should
the trouble reach an acute stage.
It was we'll said of Washington
First in war, first in peace and
first in the hearts of his country
men," President Roosevelt is
first in the heart of his country
men to-day. He is leader in his
efforts to promote the peace of
the world, and this early effort to
get into war shows that he was
ready to do some quick work in
emulating Washington in his first
quality, not to speak of his record
at Santiago.
The Roosevelt ranch in North
Dakota was in what is known as
the Bad Lands. They are situa-
ted along the Little Missouri river
and were formed by burning coal
mines followed by erosion. Pre-
glacial forests we're buried by
some change of the earth upon its
axes or other cause under 200 or
800 feet of deposit of clay and
DRIFT These coal veins were from
six to fifty odd feet in depth, and
have been burning probably for
thousands of years, with the flood
and frosts Of centuries completing
the work of erosion. There are
plots of meadow or rich grain
lands on the tops of many of the
buttcs, some of which are the
height of the original landscape.
Here are scoria-cappcd hills, the
clay being burned and left in frag-
ments of broken terra Gotta.
These masses of clay and sand
stone were fused and stand like
scntincls guarding some pass.
There are patches and piles of
unburncd clay, destitute of vcge-
tation, and patches of Stag, wide,
| rich grazing land all through the
numerous valleys now occupied
bv PROSPEROUS ranChcrs.
The writer recently met John A.
| Rca, now of Olympia, Wash, who
| was one of the speakers will,
Roosevelt at the 4th of July celc-
bration at Dickinson in 1884, who
in an interview on Roosevelt and
Marquis de Mores, who was a
ranchcr at Mcdora, said:
"Thc story of Rooscvclt's stay
in and journcyings through the
Bad Lands and country west has
| often been told and best by him
self. A short sketch by w. T.
| Dantz, a contemporary cattlcman,
| now postmaster in Chester
county, Pennsylvania, in recent
| number of Harper's Weekly, is
first class in every respect. 1t is
the best short story | have seen,
both in the art of treatment and
| the accuracy of his facts. 1t is
| not easy to recall in detail what
happened 20 years ago. | rcmem-
Der Rooscvclt's capture of Bad
| man Finnegan AN incident that
| brought him (Rooscvelt) to our
notice as man Of fine courage,
| and established his reputation
| throughout the Bismarck land dis
trict-thc last of the Public
Domain as | often called it for
advertising purposes. Finnegan
came into Mcdora one day in '8A
| or 'S5 and after a little sport with
| the town, including shot at the
Bad Lands Cowboy, a newspaper
that was established to advertise
Medora at de Mores' expense and
| get United States land office
notices from me, the terror
dropped down on the Little Mis-
souri, until he struck Roosevelt's
hunting skiff at the Elkhorn ranch
He liked it and without leave bor-
rowed it. Discovering the loss
the owner started in pursuit. 1t
was long and hot. My guess at
least. He overlook Finnegan
and a companion, who also trot-
ted in the bad-man class of those
|l,vc wac nOt DrpSent hut