Evening star., 1934-10-28
RANCH LIFE OF 1T. r."
is DESCRIBED BY COOK
Employe Tells Some New and Vivid
Tales of Roosevelt in
Early Days.

Continued From First Page)
the ranch houses was to cut endles,
acres of prairie hay for the cattle
chat were soon to come. Three hun
dred tons of it fell before the moving
machines, and it was dried anc
stacked for the Roosevelt cattle.
Roosevelt went back East to attenc
to politics a while" Mike relates, "ant
in June he came back to the badlands
with two Yankee managers, Mr.
Sewall and Mr.. Dow. He went up tt
Iowa and bought a thousand head oi
young cattle. Shipped 'em out to the
ranch. He was a real rancher now
and eager as boy to see II he could
make go of it. Got himself five
riding horses-and good ones. They
couldn't fool him on horses. Nor men
He knew in minute when he could
trust a man.
Glasses Handicap.
"He hired a cattle puncher by the
name of Dick Little to act as foreman
under the two managers, and Dick
was as good as they made 'em in those
days. Several other cowboys, includ-
ing myself as general helper and cook
Now, one big handicap Roosevelt
had"-Mike insists on this-"was
those glasses he wore. How could q
man with glasses be much of a he
man? 1t didn't seem right. We hac
to get used to him wearing 'em. Teddy
explained he needed 'em, and that's
all there was to that"
Once the ranch got under way, with
the thousand head of cattle to brand
drive and tend, the daily routine Of
the ranch began before o'clock ir
the morning, with Roosevelt rolling
out with the first shout of the cowboy
who used lusty pair of lungs to cal
all hands "out of the hay"
Mike would have breakfast ready al
$50, and would warn all concerned
to come and get it before he threw
it out.
And they'd always come and eat,
Mike remembers, Roosevelt eating
with the rest, keen and alive, watch
ing the cowboys to learn everything
he could-excepting table manners
which we didn't have any of, ano
which tenderfeet from the East gen.
orally knew better than we did any
how! He'd ask questions-always
asking questions. He learned lot
that way"
Creek Was Bathtub.
Then legs booted and spurred were
thrown over the saddled horses and
the days work began. Lunch at high
noon, and at dusk the sweaty, tagged
horses were back in the corrals,
munching corn and hay, the men were
on the porch of the shack pulling of
their boots and washing the CRIME
from hands and faces, and Mike was
hurrying up the last preparations for
supper.
"Bathtubs? No sir. Roosevelt s
bathtub-and ours-was the creek
half a mile from the house! OF
course, some of the boys suspected
him of washing in tub in his shack.
but what he did was his own business
and no hard feelings.
In the quiet of the evening Roose-
welt would sit on his porch and look
out over the prairie, if he wasn't talk
ing to some of the men. Dark, and he
lit a kerosene lamp and read until
perhaps o'clock. Then to bed.
He had confidence in that fore
man, Dick Little, and Little never
dealt him crooked. They registered
Roosevelts brand-an elk horn with
the branches of the horn turned down
to stand for the name Of the ranch"
Water was the great necessity on
Western ranches in those days, just
as it is in ranching and farming
today. Cattle couldn't Craze far from
the creeks and rivers. That fact,
Mike recalls. led to the only trouble
Roosevelt experienced with any of his
near neighbors miles
away.
To the north the noted Marquis
de Mores lived in eccentric splendor,
spending as much as possible of the
S5,000,000 marriage money that fell
to him when he became the husband
of Medora Won Hoffman back in New
York and brought her West in 1888.
The marquis had fantastic dreams of
building great cattle empire. The
town Of Medora was named for his
bride and the marquis built there a
big packing plant which he boasted
would some day put Chicago out Of
business. The plant failed some years
later, and now, Of course, the marquis
Is only a memory among the oldest
ranchers of the Dakotas.
DiSpute With Marouis
But to get back to the dispute be-
tween Roosevelt and the marquis.
The immediate cause was trouble
over the grazing territory along the
river. Back of that, however, was
some bitter feeling which the marquis
held toward Mikes uncle Frank. Two
of Franks cronieS-of rather uncer-
tain character. Mike cheerfully ad-
mits-were Riley Luffsey and Dutch
Wannigan. After some trouble with
these three gentry of the open spaces
Mores ambushed them one day and
killed Luffsey. The marquis was tried
for murder, but was acquitted by a
jury that seems to have been pretty
well taken care of financially. Roose-
welt talked openly of the injustice of
the affair and the marquis heard
about it.
Trouble over the grazing land
brought things to head. The Mores
cowboys kept pushing down into what
the Roosevelt cowboys considered their
territory, Mike relates. The Roosevelt
ranch hands would protest and drive
the Mores cattle back. They felt that
Roosevelt was entitled to his division
Of the land each way along the river.
Things went on thus for several
weeks, eliminating in an open dispute
between the cowboys of the two
ranches, with ugly words and hands
slipping down toward the shooting
irons. Dick Little rode up and got
things quieted, but Marquis de Mores
came raging down to the Roosevelt
ranch house.
Wanted to Fight Duel.
Roosevelt met him and stood up to
him like man. Told him he wanted
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