August 17--Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

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Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 Blue, blue, sky and 56 degrees. Starting mileage is 15558 today.

First thing we did this morning is move our site and re-register for another night. After we accomplished that task, we started out to drive the 36 mile Scenic Loop Drive which is paved road with interpretive signs that explain the park's historical and natural features.

One of the first things we wanted to do was to check out the prices to go horseback riding. On the way, we spotted two wild turkeys as we drove to the riding stables in the Peaceful Valley area of the park located about 3 miles from the campground. Here was an old homestead and horse ranch that was operational in the 1880 during the heyday of cattle ranching. The ranch house built in 1885 and the barns and outbuildings have been used for a riding stable since the area became a National Park in 1947. The park areas had been surveyed and set aside shortly after Roosevelt's death in 1919, however. We stopped to inquire about a trail ride and found that the price was only $35. for an hour and 1/2 ride. So, we signed up and paid for an early ride the next morning hoping that by being early we would see more animals. Signed all kinds of legal release forms before we left.

At the Scoria Point Overlook as well as other overlooks on this driving trail you can really view the infinite variety of buttes, tablelands, domes, cliffs, and valleys in a variety of colors. 60 million years ago sediment washed down from the Rocky Mountains and was deposited in layers upon the Great Plains. Water eroded the soil and then exposed these various layers. The colors can be caused by volcanic ash that is blue grey Bentonite and the red scoria is caused by coal seams that have caught fire and baked the surrounding clay and sand to make a natural brick-like material. The soft soil has eroded and left the bluffs and domes capped by this harder scoria.

As we came up one of the hills into a meadow-like area there was a herd of about 10-12 feral horses grazing. These horses have descended from escapees from ranches and have been in the area since the middle of the 19th century. There are about 115 of them in the park. The ones we saw were healthy and very pretty and looked like any horses you would see on a working ranch. Not at all the small and stocky build like the wild horses that range further west or on the coastal Georgia Islands who are descendents from escaped or ship wrecked Spanish horses.

Finished with the very scenic drive, we headed back toward the Visitor's Center and then the small town of Medora outside the Park gates. Looking out my window, and down in the valley, I saw a herd of buffalo along the river bottom, most likely the same herd as we saw the night before. As we came up the road and onto a flat area with a black-tailed prairie dog town through-out, we saw a herd of about 24 buffalo with a huge bull and 3 calves very close to the road. Of course we stopped to take pictures like everyone else.

At the Visitor's Center we got a more complete picture of Teddy's Roosevelt's relationship to this area of North Dakota. As a pampered rich and physically weak young man, he first came to the North Dakota badlands to hunt bison in September 1883. In that first short trip he shot his bison and fell in love with the rugged lifestyle and the "perfect freedom" of the West. He invested $14,000 in the Maltese Cross Ranch a cattle operation, which was managed by Mr. Ferris and Mr. Merrifield seven miles south of Medora. That winter, Ferris and Merrifield built the Maltese Cross Cabin for him.

He returned then to the East and shortly after the death of both his wife and mother on February 14, 1884, a few hours apart. Roosevelt returned to his North Dakota ranch seeking solitude and time to heal. That summer, he started the Elkhorn Ranch , 35 miles north of Medora, which he hired two Maine woodsmen friends to operate. Roosevelt took great interest in both his ranches and in hunting in the West, detailing his experiences in articles published in eastern newspapers, magazines, and books.

The time spent in the west were influential in his pursuit of conservation policies as President of the United States (1901–1909). He established the US Forest Service, 5 national parks, 51 bird reservations, 4 game preserves, and 150 National Forests, and proclaimed 18 national monuments. By the end of his presidency, he had protected 230,000,000 acres of public land. Behind the Visitor's Center is the one and 1/2 story Maltese Cross cabin that was moved from where it was original situated on the Little Missouri River several miles away. Here he actively lived the life of a working cowboy until 1887 and spent late nights working on his memoirs of badland life in this cabin.

We drove to a nearby ruins of a slaughterhouse that was part of the estate and business of a French nobleman, the Marquis de More who founded and named the town of Medora for his wife in 1883. Had lunch in Rosie under the shade of a big cottonwood tree in the little park before driving through the very quaint, touristy, small town of Medora. We found a wifi hot spot, but were unable to get connected.

Driving back to our campsite, the herd of buffalo that we originally saw in the prairie dog town flats were now standing in and near the road. The big bull, a cow, and a calf were standing completely still, in a row, blocking our half the road. We slowly, ever so slowly, eased around the three of them. The big bull was so close to Rosie's and my window that I could have reached out and petted him on his massive head. I refrained from doing so but did take his picture. As a full grown bull, he can weigh up to 2000 pounds and stand 6 feet tall. This park has about 325 bison, which is really one big herd, according to the park literature, and is led by the matriarchal females.

Back at camp, we decided that in order to possibly see more animals, we would take the same loop drive after dinner, around dusk, which is what we did. We missed seeing elk that the people in front of us saw, but we did see several herds of the horses and a number of deer. The colors of the badlands were different in the different light of dusk. The setting sun would highlight different hills and rock formations. Wouldn't want to live here, but really pretty place to visit. Got back to the campsite in the dark and settled in for the night as need to get up early for our horseback rides.

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