A young and skinny Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. made his way to the North Dakota from New York in 1883 to hunt bison. His time and experiences there shaped his perspective and the national conservation policy for decades to come. He was traveling to a place where he was an unknown and would not likely be warmly welcomed as he was an outsider, an Easterner and a “city slicker” to boot.

During his hunting trip, he expressed an interest in cattle ranching and eventually made an investment in that endeavor. In that year, the men who tended the cattle investment also built the Maltese Cross Cabin. Roosevelt’s investment of $14,000 (more than his annual salary at the time) was seen as an admission ticket to a different way of life in the wide open spaces. Dakota-grown cattle were seen as a solid investment partly because of the variety of grazing foods available and also because of the efforts of the Marquis de Morès to establish a meat packing industry to packing the meat in the Dakota territory and ship the meat in refrigerated rail cars to the markets in the east.


Roosevelt suffered double personal tragedies in February of 1884 when both his mother and his wife died the same day. The tragedy struck him hard (as to be expected) and he returned to his Dakota cabin for a period of mourning and introspection. He wrote a book about his hunting exploits and becoming a cattleman and expanded his holdings. He threw himself into his cattle raising business, becoming president of the Cattleman’s Association and stepping out to make peace with his neighbor, the Marquis, who was in jail on charges of murder. He also expanded his land holdings to include the Elkhorn Ranch.
Despite his personal warnings about overgrazing the territory, he also expanded his herds. In 1885, thieves stole his boat and he gave chase with two others eventually capturing the thieves downriver. He chose to walk the thieves back to authorities in Dickinson. The story is told in some places that he did so for the reward money or that he did so because they deserved a trial. In either event, his multiday walk to Dickinson with the perpetrators added to his reputation and helped dispel the view that he was a soft Easterner.
The seasons of 1886-1887 would prove disastrous to the cattle industry in Medora and eventually the town itself. The summer was brutally hot and dry with temperatures reaching 125F. Then after the grasses had been so devastated by the heat, the winter was equally extreme with temperatures as low as -41F. The cattle starved or froze that winter.
Although Roosevelt had been hit hard financially, he had grown tremendously in the eyes of the locals and eventually the nation. His embrace of the cowboy life contributed to his formation of the Rough Riders which brought him fame during the Spanish-American War and his experiences with the cattle contributed to his beliefs in conservation and management of our natural resources which carried into his Presidency. Although he would not return often or for long periods after 1887, the experiences shaped his actions later.

During Roosevelt’s presidency, the Maltese Cross cabin was exhibited at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, MO and at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, OR. Later it was moved to the state fairgrounds in Fargo, ND and then eventually to the state capitol grounds in Bismarck where it remained for 50 years. In 1959, the cabin was relocated to its present site and renovated. The most recent preservation work occurred in 2000.
Fellow travelers onboard the SS Matanuska, the ferry we rode along the Inland Passage recommended that we include the North Dakota Badlands as part of our journey east as they are indeed different than the South Dakota Badlands.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is really three geographically separated areas of badlands in western North Dakota. The park covers 110 square miles of land in three sections: the North Unit, the South Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit.
We visited only the park’s larger South Unit which lies alongside Interstate 94 near Medora, North Dakota. The smaller North Unit is situated about 80 mi (130 km) north of the South Unit, on U.S. Highway 85, just south of Watford City, North Dakota. Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch is located between the North and South units, approximately 20 mi (32 km) west of US 85 and Fairfield, North Dakota. The Little Missouri River flows through all three units of the park. The Maah Daah Hey Trail connects all three units.
We started our visit in Medora at the South Unit Visitor Center. Located outside the visitor center is Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross cabin. The cabin has been expanded since its original building to include an upper half story and additional rooms on the main floor.

From there, we drove along East River Road alongside the Little Missouri River through the buttes. The topography of the North Dakota badlands seems almost to rise above the surrounding landscape while the South Dakota badlands seem to drop down into valleys and canyons below the surrounding landscape.
Generally the road was paved although we were stopped early on for construction ahead and the wait for a pilot car to guide us through the single lane in the dirt.


In our first stop, we were in the prairie dog area and they showed up for a few pictures. As we moved on again, we wound down to the waters edge and very soon were stopped for a view of the bison alongside the road.
As we continued on, we were stopped further along by more bison along both sides of the road and in the road itself. There were several calves in the group and the interest at this particular spot seemed to include the water alongside the left side of the road. There were probably about 6 cars stopped to wait and it seemed almost as if the bison were playing.



Three or four would be in the road and would finally start to move off to one side but before the first car could move, one or two more bison would come from the side. As they would move on, a couple would come from the other side of the road. Eventually, we would move on to more scenery.


The earth showed the layers of different colors. The reds reflecting the iron content, the grays of granite-based soils, the blacks and browns of the thin layer of topsoil. There are veins of black coal. Fires in the veins of coal over the years have baked the sand and clay to a substance much like a clay brick in appearance and hardness which helps to hold the buttes and spires in place even as the lower, softer soil is eroded through the action of wind and water.


The road is a 36 miles long scenic loop which climbs and dips through all kinds of scenery as well as passing near recreation areas and hiking trails. Near one of the overlooks, we saw a quartet of horses off in a field. Chances are they were feral (of domesticated breed yet born in the wild). Towards the end, it drops again down near the river and a field where bison and prairie dogs seem to rule. The field, of several acres, included some dust wallows where the bison rolled around. You could also see that the older larger bison ruled, often causing the younger smaller ones to leave as they saw the large ones coming.


We circled on back to the visitors center where we got involved in conversation with other travelers. One was from northern Virginia and was just making their way west for this trip. Another was an old sub sailor who had served on the Nathaniel Greene and was meeting his former shipmate in the campgrounds later.
We went into Medora in search of a meal and to peruse the shops and then continue on our way to Ft. Yates for a night on the reservation.
You can see all of the pictures from this leg of the trip here.
We invite you to continue along with us and hope you enjoy the account!
Don’t forget the trip calendar we put together at CafePress. We think it turned out pretty well and would make a great holiday gift.