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TR, The Conservationist
President Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most powerful voices in the history of American conservation. Captivated by nature as a child, Roosevelt cherished and promoted our nation’s landscapes and wildlife. After becoming president in 1901, Roosevelt used his authority to establish 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments on more than 230 million acres of public land.
TR, Fascinating Relatives - Saints and Sinners
Many assume that the Roosevelt's are a political family. In fact, Roosevelt's have been involved in every aspect of American life, both sunny and shady. This talk highlights sportsmen, soldiers, business people, artisans, religious figures, inventors, a candy maker, along with others who are less admirable but no less interesting, bringing to life many colorful Roosevelt's who have been overshadowed by their more famous political relatives.
TR, Literary Fella
Although Theodore Roosevelt was a remarkably influential politician, he actually made his living from his pen. His output was extraordinary. The account of what TR wrote, what he read, how he influenced other writers, and his impact on the intellectual life of America is full of surprising anecdotes and reveals much about TR’s mind, his leadership, and his intellectual influence.
TR, Master Diplomat
This little known area of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency probably did more to keep the world at peace than any other president has achieved. His approach is a blueprint for the best way to conduct foreign policy.
Down the Amazon
TR's Brazilian adventure, undoubtedly his most dangerous which he barely survived, juxtaposed with the journey Tweed Roosevelt made retracing this adventure through country as wild today as it was in 1914.
TR and the Navy
A story on how Theodore Roosevelt used naval power to make the U.S. a world power. This lecture includes a discussion of the current drama on the aircraft carrier named after him, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN17).
In The Badlands
As a young deputy sheriff in North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt hunted down dangerous desperadoes, almost got into a duel with a crack shot French aristocrat, and saved a saloon of drinkers by punching out a terrorizing drunkard.
A: All Roosevelt's pronounce their name the same way with a long “o” as in rose. The name is Dutch, where “oo” is pronounced this way.
A: The knife is owned by a family member. Some years ago, the Franklin Mint made a replica of it, and Sagamore Hill has one of them.
A: Many people believe that especially as a political wife, Edith was a much better match for TR, but keep in mind that Alice was very young and perhaps unformed. Who knows what she would have become?
A: Between 5’7” and 5’8”.
A: He had many favorites over his life and for different purposes. To learn more consult R. L. Wilson’s TR, Outdoors Man that treats TR and guns exhaustively.
A: This has often been suggested, especially when FDR was president. There is no evidence for this, and modern DNA testing does not support this theory.
A: TR thought he recovered due to his exercise regime. However, this is not likely. I wrote an article for one of the medical journals with a friend of mine who is a world-renowned expert on asthma. Our conclusion was that, as in a great many cases of Type-1 asthma, spontaneous recovery is common in adolescence or young adulthood. I will be posting many of my articles on our website, roosevelt.liu.edu, so keep an eye out for this.
A: Yes, pretty much his whole life. Many of them are published, including those from childhood. They were not very detailed, really mostly just notes. The diaries written during his many hunting trips are quite detailed as to what he shot, where, and biological details about stomach content and such like.
A: The first references I see are to when he was a late teenager and early young man. These were on Long Island, where for years he was an enthusiastic member of the Meadowbrook Hunt.
A: He wrote several. One of the best, in my opinion, is Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, but they are all fun.
A: Not only did TR write quite a bit about it, but also many others did. Notably, Hermann Hagedorn interviewed many of the participants and wrote a book called Roosevelt in the Bad Lands. Many others did as well, including Lincoln Lang, who wrote a delightful book. There are many other sources such as newspaper articles. Nowadays it seems at least one new book a year comes out on the subject.
A: TR’s sister took her over until TR married Edith, at which time Alice was brought back into the family.
A: TR kept many of them, and they are now at Sagamore Hill. Later, especially when he was in Africa, which was a collecting trip for museums, they went to many institutions. All over the country there are heads attributed to TR, but if all these claims are true, TR would have had little time to anything else.
A: 1883-1887.
A: Very important. It was here that he came to realize how bad the situation was. The best source for TR and conservation is Doug Brinkley’s wonderful The Wilderness Warrior, TR and the Crusade for America.
A: His full name was Antoine Amedee Marie Vincent Manca, the Marquis de Mores. His father had a number of titles including Duke de Vallombrosa, Duke de Asinara, Count de SanBiorgio and Baron de Tiese, Tissi Ossi and Usini.
A: At the time, she was too young to have any opinion.
A: They met when TR was Governor of New York. Apparently Churchill came away with a positive view of TR, but it was not reciprocated, perhaps because they were so alike in many ways. TR was a good deal older and maybe had less patience for a brash young man who was much like him at that age.
A: I have published an article about this that will soon be posted in the book section of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute home page, roosevelt.liu.edu. For the uninitiated, I recommend five books. To start, Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Then, Edward Wagenknecht, The Seven lives of Theodore Roosevelt, next Cowboys and Kings: Three Great Letters by Theodore Roosevelt, followed by Herman Hagedorn, The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill, and any number of recent biographies. Both Kathy Dalton and H. W. Brands have written good ones.
A: TR paid great attention to this. He worked with a number of artists over the years, but his favorite was Frederic Remington, who did most of his western books. As I mentioned, he staged photos of the capture of the boat thieves and then gave specific instructions to the artist how to block the image and what to include.
A: This is a matter of some debate, depending on how you count books, reprints, etc . The general number is 35.
A: A couple of months or so. He went back and forth from New York City quite frequently. In those days, it was a long trip--four or five days.
A: No. But I have written many articles, some of which will shortly be available on the website roosevelt.liu.edu.
A: He on several occasions said it was the Panama Canal, but he was also very proud of a number of other achievements, such as his conservation record and his balancing the relationship between business and labor. It was his progressive record that was important to him.
A: Yes, quite a few, but certainly he took many more which have disappeared. One hopes that they are in various attics and will some day reappear.
A: This was a formative period of his life. Two of the major lessons were his appreciation of the average American and the looming environmental crisis.
A: Yes, it has be beautify preserved and is open to the public.
A: The most valuable activity of DSU is the digitalization of TR materials. They are working away at this and making significant contributions.
A: When TR went to Harvard, students did not have majors. Roughly half the courses were prescribed. For the rest, about half of the courses TR took were it what then was called Natural History, and a third were in modern languages. The rest were in various subjects.
A: I don’t know of any record of their meeting, but it would not surprise me.
A: Shortly after returning from the Badlands.
A: There are many other badlands, a common feature in the West.
A: Different at different times. As a child, Teedie. Alice called him Teddy. After she died, he abandoned that name. Edith called him Theodore. As President he was, of course, Mr. President. In later life, he preferred Colonel.
A: A very difficult and complex subject. The fact of the matter is that early on the conservation movement was mostly driven by hunters. Even today, hunters are major force for conservation. Of course, it is a matter of self interest, but a great many hunters have a deep appreciation for nature and the natural world and want to preserve it. This is a fact than non-hunters often have difficulty appreciating.
A: Because Alice had very limited experience of this trait, and they were in the limelight period of their marriage, I don’t think it had become a problem. Edith knew what she was getting into and made the best of it. She realized she was not going to change him, and I think she appreciated how important it was for him. Nonetheless, it could not have been easy for her.
A: TR had a habit of giving away guns, often to the guides. Some are owned by various members of the family. Others are on public display at places such as Sagamore Hill, TR’s birthplace, the NRA’s museum in Virginia, and in Medora. TR’s famous Holland & Holland elephant gun is at the Frazier Museum in Kentucky.
A: For the most part yes, as have many in the following generations.
A: They are separated by many miles, with a postage stamp of property in between at the Elkhorn site location. The North unit, much more remote and less visited, presents a somewhat different experience.
A: I don’t know, but I doubt it, although he was delighted to be awarded it. The Nobel prizes were just starting out. TR was the sixth person to be awarded it.
A: I am very sorry that I did not credit the sources of most of the images. I had meant to do so. They come from two terrific books by Rolf Sletten, both of coffee table size and filled with fabulous images and great content. Roosevelt Ranches; The Maltese Cross & the Elkhorn, and Medora; Boom, Bust, and Resurrection. They are available only from the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation at https://medora.com.
A: The site of the Maltese Cross is currently in private hands. The cabin itself has had an interesting career. Many years ago it was moved to the North Dakota State Capitol grounds. Then it went on a national tour. Now it is behind the Theodore Roosevelt National Park visitor center in Medora. The site of the Elkhorn is now part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a small site halfway between the South and North Units but accessible by road, albeit unpaved. Only a foundation remains: the building itself was dismembered long ago wood being used elsewhere.
A: Profoundly. At college TR had a very narrow view of his fellow citizens, a privileged one at that. This was knocked out of him in the West, where he grew to respect and appreciate the ordinary American.
A: The Maltese Cross site is in private hands. The site of the Elkhorn is accessible by dirt road from the west side of the Little Missouri River.
A: At the time TR was at Medora, there was no distinction between North and South Dakota, the whole area being Dakota Territory. It is difficult to determine if he was ever in what became the state of South Dakota, but it is, of course, possible. However, certainly he was there later in his life when he met Seth Bullock. We also know he visited South Dakota at least once on campaign trail. Of course, he never saw the carvings at Mount Rushmore as they were started after he died.
A: Sagamore Hill on the North Shore of Long Island, now a National Park Service site well worth visiting, as the home is wonderfully preserved.
A: It is believed that Native Americans first used the name, referring to the difficulty of riding across this forbidding terrain. The name is also a reference to the dark nature of its appearance.
A: It was completed in 1885.
