The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-09-05

out he was very slight build and moi
in the best of health. He weighed
only about 40 pounds but he was and
is the gamest, nerviest man / ever
knew. He said to me. You are the
boss of this outfit and 1 am one OF
your -punchers. You are the one
to give orders and am the one to
obey them, and he certainly did.
ION the roundup, in roping brand :
ing or whatever work was to be done
he insisted on sharing every hardship
with the rest of the men and / didn't
| dare to show him any favoritism or
he would get sore In a minute That
was the only thing which would rifle
his temper. During roundup each
cowboy was supposed to stand a two
hours trick during the night and when
it was Mr.. Roosevelt's turn to crawl
out OF his blankets and spend two
hours, riding a restless horse around
big bunch of wild steers on a cold,
rainy night, he never whimpered. In
fact he called 1t fun.
Out Westerned Westerner.
He certainly was the earnest, nerv-
lest man / ever saw" said Joe Fer
ris, Sylvanes brother, who was also on
the Roosevelt ranch during the great
er part of the time that Roosevelt
spent there
Il remember well the first few days
he was out west He was small then,
slight of build and did not look strong.
He wanted to go with me one day on
long hard drive. l was rather afraid
that he would get tired out before the
trip was over and did not like to take
him.
Say, what do you think he did? BY
gosh, he played me out He sure did.
was so tired could hardly stick in
the saddle and. he was clipper as ever
and thought it was fun! And had
been out west two years then and
prided byself on being a westerner.
Used to the long rides on the prairies."
Sylyane and Joe Ferris are no longer
typical cowboys of the west, although
in their younger days they were more
at home In the saddle than anywhere
else. In that respect they are like
Roosevelt, they have entirely outgrown
those days and they are both dignifed,
quiet looking business men of an es-
pecially modest disposition They do
not like to talk OF the stories of the
days when Roosevelt was a cowboy
because those stories have been in the
past so greatly twisted and exaggerated
while Roosevelt was the gamest
man who ever sat saddle on a ranch"
said Joe Ferris, he was not a loud
mouthed swash- buckler. as some have
made out He did not chew tobacco
nor use tobacco in any way, although
/ do not know that he has anything
against smoking or chewing in par
ticular / am Just stating fact about
him. He did not use an oath with
every other word. as he has been rep
resented, and the stories about him
swapping lies about the camp fire are
all rot.
Thought Hardships Fun.
About the strongest expression that
Roosevelt ever used was BY Godfrey,
but this is fun
"That was his favorite expression
and no matter what happened, whether
1T was a hardship or lively gallop
across the prairies on bright sunny
day, that expression would be the way
he would put his pleasure into words.
II remember one day we were out on
the roundup, Roosevelt and I, and we
had to camp one might on the prairie.
We were laying In a slight depression
of the ground and during the night a
sudden shower came up. We were both
tired from long days ride and were
sleeping like logs. The rain came 90