The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1919-11-27
ROOSEVELT WENT AFTER
THIEVES; SHOWED TEETH
DR.. Stickney Gives Interesting Ex-
perience of Former President
and Pioneer Rough Rider

dOre Roosevelt was strange ana
wonderful sight the day saw him for
the first time" says DR.. V. E. Stick
ney, pioneer doctor Of Dickinson.
In discussing Roosevelt recently, he
told one very interesting incident
chat occurred back in the. early days
in North Dakota. 1t was as follows:
at was in Dickinson in what was
then the Territory Of North Dakota,
40 miles east of the wild little frontier
town of Medora, where he made his
headquarters, and near which his
ranches lay, was practicing ply
stefan and was just leaving my office,
on my way to lunch, when, a block or
so away, l saw the most bedraggled
figure | had ever seen come limping
down the street.
GAS 1 approached him, he stopped
me with a gesture, asking me wheth-
er could direct him to Doctors Of
flee. | was struck by the way he
bit off his words and showed his
teeth.
~ told him I was the only practic-
ing physician, not only in Dickinson,
but in the whole surrounding coun-
"'By George he said emphatical-
~. "Then you are exactly the man
! want to see. I've just come 40
miles on foot from the Killdeer noun
tains, bringing down some horse
thieves at the point Of Winchester
and my feet are blistered SO badly
that l can hardly walk. want you
to fix me up"
Relates His Story
"I took him into my office and while
I was bathing and bandaging his feet,
which were in pretty bad shape, he
told me the story of the capture of
the three thieves. A desperate char
acter named Finnegan, with two ac-
completes, it seemed, had been steal
ing everything they could lay their
hands on in the country around Elk
horn ranch, which was Roosevelt's
place, and westward into Montana.
Finally, hearing that vigilance COM
mittee, was on their trail, they deter
mined to break out of the county, and
in March, after the ice started to go
down the river, stole the boat that
Roosevelt used for the purpose of
crossing the Little Missouri when it
was high, to make their escape.
Roosevelt, in addition to being the
owner of the boat, was deputy sher-
if, and he determined therefor that it
was his duty to capture those thieves.
He had Maine man in his outfit, a
fine old fellow named Sewall, who
knew something of boat building, and
three days after the thieves stole his
skiff he was floating down the river
with Sewall and another Maine man
named Dow, in pursuit.
The thieves, it happened, were held
up by an ice jam some 60 or 70 miles
down the river and after three days
Roosevelt and his men surprised them
in camp and captured them. But
that was not the end of the trouble
that Roosevelt and his party had to
meet.
Exhausts Food Supply
IF anything, it was only the be-
ginning, for the thieves had exhausted
their own food supply and the Elk
horn expeditionary force was nearing
the end of its own resources. The
ice jam held firm. There was no going
forward or backward and soon cap
tors and captives together were liv-
ing on baked flour paste made with
AHitibS "cCCl anu WltllOuG DdhlIlg
powder. Roosevelt and his men went
share and share alike with the
thieves. The average westerner, of
course, would have hanged the
thieves out of hand, but evidently that
did not occur to Roosevelt. His duty,
as he saw fit, was to land those thieves
in the county jail, which was in Dick
inson, and he determined to do it,
whatever the cost.
After two days exploration in the
cold March weather, Roosevelt came
at last to the ranch Of man named
Jap Holtz, west of the Killdeer noun
tains, and realizing that further trans
portation by boat would be slow and
tedious, determined to take the thieves
across the country. He sent Sewall
and Dow down the river with the boats
and, packing the thieves into wagon,
himself followed on foot. The
thieves were in an ugly mood. He
did not dare to put himself in posi-
ton where they might catch him
browsing. He ordered the driver,
therefore, to walk his horses, and,
with cooked Winchester in his hands
trudged for two days through the
sticky gumbo. He spent the inter
vening night at ranch home, but,