Theodore Roosevelt Signs a Color Image of His 1883 Ranch in North Dakota, Where He Learned to Be a Cowboy
No President is more associated with the West and the life of the American outdoorsman and cowboy than Theodore Roosevelt.
Roosevelt first came west to North Dakota in 1883 to hunt buffalo. Here he had a cabin on the Maltese Cross (also known as Chimney Butte) Ranch, which was located 7 miles south of Medora. He learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt. He had already begun his political career and...
Roosevelt first came west to North Dakota in 1883 to hunt buffalo. Here he had a cabin on the Maltese Cross (also known as Chimney Butte) Ranch, which was located 7 miles south of Medora. He learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt. He had already begun his political career and was a New York State Assemblyman. In 1884, TR's wife and his mother died on the very same day, which so devastated him personally that he left politics and headed back to the frontier, where he remained for a few years. He rebuilt his life, served as a deputy sheriff and hunted down outlaws. He also began writing about frontier life for Eastern magazines. This was a formative and legendary period of the young man's career.
While Roosevelt was President, tales of his Wild West past circulated and entered the public consciousness. His North Dakota cabin went on exhibit, traveling to St. Louis and Portland. After the tour, the cabin was moved to the state capitol grounds, where it remained until 1959, when the National Park Service moved it back to the Badlands. In 1906, a postcard was created of the Cabin where TR lived, and the design came from a painting by A. J. Rupert.
Color postcard signed, approximately 5.5 by 3.5 inches, copyright 1906: "Roosevelt's Cabin on Ranch Near Medora, North Dakota, where he lived from 1883 to 1886." This is signed "Theodore Roosevelt." The original owner has written in pencil the date it was signed – "June 1, 1916." This coincides with the Progressive Convention of the same year, which met in June in Chicago. TR received the nomination but rejected it to support Republican Charles Evans Hughes. Possibly the owner had it signed in Chicago.
We have never seen another such postcard signed, nor did a search disclose any.
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