Minnesota to Roosevelt National Park, ND

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Day 1-2: Cottonwood Campground: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We leave Minnesota early and drive through torents of rain for 12 hours across Minnesota and North Dakota on I-94. We find a great campsite and decide to stay for 2 nights. Don is feeling pretty good after his surgery to replace the bone marrow of his femur with a titanium rod. There are bison in the campground including the biggest bull we had ever seen. We enjoyed a 36-mile scenic drive full of badland formations and wildlife. We saw several groupings of wild horses. It feels so wonderful to witness the freedom on our cherished wildlife. Erosion has worn away sand and clay and only the hardest materials remain, leaving the maize of colorful buttes and canyons.

Roosevelt first came to the badlands in 1883 and became involved in the cattle business. He owned an open-range ranch here, which became his principal residence. By spending time in the Dakota Territory, he became alarmed by the damage being done to land and its wildlife. (The bison herds were gone having been decimated by hide hunters and disease.) Conservation became one of Roosevelts major concerns. When he became President in 1901, Roosevelt pursued this interest in natural history by establishing the U.S. Forest Service and by signing the 1906 Antiquities Act, which he proclaimed 18 national monuments. He also got Congressional approval for the establishment of the national parks and 51 wildlife refuges and set aside land as national forests.

We are so very fortunate to have people such as Teddy Roosevelt, who protected such treasures for generations to come.

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Photos

Bison Bull
This is not the huge bull we saw in the campground. He was just hanging around the scenic loop drive.