12 ms·

What is a Teddy Roosevelt presidential library doing in North Dakota?

46 points by Thevet 3y ago

keiferski 3y ago
It was here that Roosevelt came in 1883 to hunt buffalo. And it was here that he returned a year later to recover from a devastating depression brought on by the death, on the same day, of his wife and mother. Roosevelt, who stayed nearly three years, found renewal and purpose in the area’s stark beauty. “I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota,” he later wrote. It was here “that the romance of my life began.”
- kylecazar 3y ago
  I'll never forget reading his journal entry on the day he lost his wife & mom -- just 'The light has gone out of my life.' Wasn't aware he found inspiration again in ND. Cool.
- adolph 3y ago
  And to add Roosevelt context for folks’ reaction to “hunting buffalo”: Roosevelt routinely used his position as U.S. President to help the New York Zoological Society and the American Bison Society secure land, procure buffalo and promote bison reintroduction projects. President Roosevelt even mentioned his concern for bison in his annual message to Congress in 1905. The first three premier bison restoration projects supported by President Roosevelt and the ABS included Wichita Mountains Reserve, Wind Cave National Park and the National Bison Range. As President, Theodore Roosevelt harnessed his passions into deliberate action and thereby changed the manifest destiny of the United States to ensure that there will always remain wild lands and wildlife, including the new National Mammal - the American bison. https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-8-25-16.htm https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-8-25-16.htm
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Because it came up here the other day, and I looked it up, the history of the National Bison Range is fascinating. It was ceded to Native Americans by treaty as a reservation, then the land in the middle of the reservation "bought" back (disputedly) for less than market value, set aside as a bison preserve, managed by the federal government (Fish and Wildlife?), management duties transfered back to the tribe, then back to the federal government, now finally back to the tribe.
- arrowsmith 3y ago
  > the death, on the same day, of his wife and mother. Specifically, his wife and mother both died of unrelated causes on the same day - and it was Valentine's Day. Talk about a shitty holiday.
  - klyrs 3y ago
    I bet Hallmark doesn't make a Valentines Day card for that. Missed opportunity.
    - processunknown 3y ago
      Market validation!!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
jfoutz 3y ago
I'm not a hunter. I grew up in a fairly rural area. I spent a fair amount of time fishing with grandpa, going camping, and just walking around in the woods. I don't do that as much anymore, but I probably should. From the hunters I've interacted with, there's a sort of convenient split. One has a lot of gear, pheromones, covers a lot of ground with trucks or atvs. Personally, I don't find this particularly sporting, but it's not really my place to judge. Some folks do (well, did, when I was a kid) this because that meat would save them a lot of money. The other kind of hunter will only take 3-5 bullets, but tell you if they use more than one, they messed up. From everything I've read, Roosevelt was very much the second kind. Go out in the woods. look around. Try to really understand what's going on, and figure it out. It shows in his legacy, the national parks, the conservation movement, heck, Teddy Bears are named after him.
- TheCondor 3y ago
  It’s an odd sort of cultural flaw. Archers seem to “get it,” you can go out, do everything right and come home empty handed and it is still a good day and good use of time. You can always learn something and grow. As a society, we tend to qualify the investment by the output alone. Aside from the tiny percentage of subsistence hunters, I’d say that if you feel it was wasted time or you’re frustrated after a hunt, you didn’t actually do it or do it right. The gear cost equation is dramatically out of sync with “saving money on meat” any more. You can buy years worth of beef for a family of four for the cost of a crappy used ATV. Now ATVs are fun, and shooting nicer weapons is fun, and there is a lot of cool gear and hunting and fishing can be a very very fulfilling hobby and use of time, but “saving money” is just a rationalization.
  - jfoutz 3y ago
    Well, yeah. Let me clarify a little bit. I think there are some folks that just like killing. And some of those folks have the money to spare. I can think of a family or two that didn't have a lot. But a truck and a spotlight, not to hard to come by. One guy driving and another shoots from the bed of the truck at 3 in the morning. Is that sporting? is it fun for them? Did the meat go to waste? Maybe they just like killing too. But internally I give a little more leeway.
linusg789 3y ago
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/oadyJ https://ghostarchive.org/archive/oadyJ
jkmcf 3y ago
Teddy remains, IMO, one of the best ~~Americans~~ humans. He started off as one person, learned, and grew into a better person.
zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
Here in ND, the tourism board loves Teddy Roosevelt. Most everyone else here doesn't care. We have a national park named after him. It's quite nice but not as spectacular as other places.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  As someone from ND, where would you recommend visiting? (Assume I like western landscapes, am iffy on people, and love nature) I've visited your southern neighbor, and would love to explore ND too. PS: I assume the ND perspective on TR is the typical western 'Decent fella, nice to have friends with money, but born in city is born in city.'
  - zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
    I really haven't spent much time in the western half of the state. TRNP and the Maah Daah Hey Trail would probably interest you. Little Missouri State Park is nice for camping. I grew up in North central ND by the Turtle Mountains (they're not mountains, just hills). It's nice up there, but I don't know about nice enough to go out of your way to visit. Further east there are a couple of state parks that are nice, Icelandic State Park and Turtle River State Park, but again, not worth traveling from out of state in my opinion. I've lived in Fargo for most of the past 15 years and it's a perfect small city to me. There's enough art and music stuff and outdoors events (in the summer) to stay interesting. Small enough you can get from one side of town to the other in 20 minutes. 3.5 hour drive to Minneapolis for any big city stuff. And in regards to Teddy Roosevelt, I think most people here just don't even have an opinion on him.
- ckrapu 3y ago
  First person I’ve seen on HN also from ND! And yes, TR National Park is a good one but a little hard to conveniently travel to unless you have connections to the state already.
ethbr1 3y ago
There's a reason why Teddy Roosevelt is an enduringly popular president -- he did so many things he didn't have to. Born sickly, he dedicated his early years to re-forming his body. Born into wealth, he joined the Army and commanded in combat. By all accounts both incredibly -stupidly and -bravely. Raised in the populous east (NYC), he set out for the barren west and tried to build himself a profitable enterprise there. Connected to power brokers in industry and politics, he nonetheless spit in their eye when they transgressed his morals (in the NY state legislature, as governor of NY, and as president). An avid hunter, he became a leading conservationist. At all stages of his career, he wrote and published books and articles constantly, on a diverse array of topics. Already a conservationist, he then shot his way across Africa and populated a chunk of the Smithsonian's natural history collection (11,400 specimens!). [0] After giving up the presidency because he believed in the idea of presidential term limits (then not law), he ran a third party campaign in 1912 against his picked successor (Taft) because he thought him ineffective. That's a lot to cram into an early-20th century life! Much less at the begining of modernity. (Mass mechanization, urbanization, corporate centralization, etc.) [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_African_Expedition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevel...
- arrowsmith 3y ago
  My favourite TR anecdote: in 1912 he was shot by a would-be assassin moments before he was due to give a speech - and then he still went on stage and gave the speech before accepting medical attention. His opening remarks: "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Presidents used to be made of much tougher stuff.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    My favorite: Until the 1930s, the White House was open to the public. Particularly on New Year's Day, when the president was expected to greet and shake hands with anyone who presented themselves. In 1907, Teddy Roosevelt shook 8,500+ hands in one day. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_New_Year%27s_Reception https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_New_Year%27s_Rec...
arrowsmith 3y ago
Fun fact: Theodore Roosevelt hated being called "Teddy". So let's not call him that.
- ecshafer 3y ago
  I doubt hell mind what we call him now.
hn72774 3y ago
[dead]
neonate 3y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20231104100006/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/arts/theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library.html https://web.archive.org/web/20231104100006/https://www.nytim...

46 points by Thevet 3y ago

It was here that Roosevelt came in 1883 to hunt buffalo. And it was here that he returned a year later to recover from a devastating depression brought on by the death, on the same day, of his wife and mother. Roosevelt, who stayed nearly three years, found renewal and purpose in the area’s stark beauty. “I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota,” he later wrote. It was here “that the romance of my life began.”

kylecazar 3y ago
I'll never forget reading his journal entry on the day he lost his wife & mom -- just 'The light has gone out of my life.' Wasn't aware he found inspiration again in ND. Cool.
adolph 3y ago
And to add Roosevelt context for folks’ reaction to “hunting buffalo”: Roosevelt routinely used his position as U.S. President to help the New York Zoological Society and the American Bison Society secure land, procure buffalo and promote bison reintroduction projects. President Roosevelt even mentioned his concern for bison in his annual message to Congress in 1905. The first three premier bison restoration projects supported by President Roosevelt and the ABS included Wichita Mountains Reserve, Wind Cave National Park and the National Bison Range. As President, Theodore Roosevelt harnessed his passions into deliberate action and thereby changed the manifest destiny of the United States to ensure that there will always remain wild lands and wildlife, including the new National Mammal - the American bison. https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-8-25-16.htm https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-8-25-16.htm
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Because it came up here the other day, and I looked it up, the history of the National Bison Range is fascinating. It was ceded to Native Americans by treaty as a reservation, then the land in the middle of the reservation "bought" back (disputedly) for less than market value, set aside as a bison preserve, managed by the federal government (Fish and Wildlife?), management duties transfered back to the tribe, then back to the federal government, now finally back to the tribe.
arrowsmith 3y ago
> the death, on the same day, of his wife and mother. Specifically, his wife and mother both died of unrelated causes on the same day - and it was Valentine's Day. Talk about a shitty holiday.
- klyrs 3y ago
  I bet Hallmark doesn't make a Valentines Day card for that. Missed opportunity.
  - processunknown 3y ago
    Market validation!!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

jfoutz 3y ago

I'm not a hunter. I grew up in a fairly rural area. I spent a fair amount of time fishing with grandpa, going camping, and just walking around in the woods. I don't do that as much anymore, but I probably should. From the hunters I've interacted with, there's a sort of convenient split. One has a lot of gear, pheromones, covers a lot of ground with trucks or atvs. Personally, I don't find this particularly sporting, but it's not really my place to judge. Some folks do (well, did, when I was a kid) this because that meat would save them a lot of money. The other kind of hunter will only take 3-5 bullets, but tell you if they use more than one, they messed up. From everything I've read, Roosevelt was very much the second kind. Go out in the woods. look around. Try to really understand what's going on, and figure it out. It shows in his legacy, the national parks, the conservation movement, heck, Teddy Bears are named after him.

TheCondor 3y ago
It’s an odd sort of cultural flaw. Archers seem to “get it,” you can go out, do everything right and come home empty handed and it is still a good day and good use of time. You can always learn something and grow. As a society, we tend to qualify the investment by the output alone. Aside from the tiny percentage of subsistence hunters, I’d say that if you feel it was wasted time or you’re frustrated after a hunt, you didn’t actually do it or do it right. The gear cost equation is dramatically out of sync with “saving money on meat” any more. You can buy years worth of beef for a family of four for the cost of a crappy used ATV. Now ATVs are fun, and shooting nicer weapons is fun, and there is a lot of cool gear and hunting and fishing can be a very very fulfilling hobby and use of time, but “saving money” is just a rationalization.
- jfoutz 3y ago
  Well, yeah. Let me clarify a little bit. I think there are some folks that just like killing. And some of those folks have the money to spare. I can think of a family or two that didn't have a lot. But a truck and a spotlight, not to hard to come by. One guy driving and another shoots from the bed of the truck at 3 in the morning. Is that sporting? is it fun for them? Did the meat go to waste? Maybe they just like killing too. But internally I give a little more leeway.

linusg789 3y ago

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/oadyJ https://ghostarchive.org/archive/oadyJ

jkmcf 3y ago

Teddy remains, IMO, one of the best ~~Americans~~ humans. He started off as one person, learned, and grew into a better person.

zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago

Here in ND, the tourism board loves Teddy Roosevelt. Most everyone else here doesn't care. We have a national park named after him. It's quite nice but not as spectacular as other places.

ethbr1 3y ago
As someone from ND, where would you recommend visiting? (Assume I like western landscapes, am iffy on people, and love nature) I've visited your southern neighbor, and would love to explore ND too. PS: I assume the ND perspective on TR is the typical western 'Decent fella, nice to have friends with money, but born in city is born in city.'
- zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
  I really haven't spent much time in the western half of the state. TRNP and the Maah Daah Hey Trail would probably interest you. Little Missouri State Park is nice for camping. I grew up in North central ND by the Turtle Mountains (they're not mountains, just hills). It's nice up there, but I don't know about nice enough to go out of your way to visit. Further east there are a couple of state parks that are nice, Icelandic State Park and Turtle River State Park, but again, not worth traveling from out of state in my opinion. I've lived in Fargo for most of the past 15 years and it's a perfect small city to me. There's enough art and music stuff and outdoors events (in the summer) to stay interesting. Small enough you can get from one side of town to the other in 20 minutes. 3.5 hour drive to Minneapolis for any big city stuff. And in regards to Teddy Roosevelt, I think most people here just don't even have an opinion on him.
ckrapu 3y ago
First person I’ve seen on HN also from ND! And yes, TR National Park is a good one but a little hard to conveniently travel to unless you have connections to the state already.

ethbr1 3y ago

There's a reason why Teddy Roosevelt is an enduringly popular president -- he did so many things he didn't have to. Born sickly, he dedicated his early years to re-forming his body. Born into wealth, he joined the Army and commanded in combat. By all accounts both incredibly -stupidly and -bravely. Raised in the populous east (NYC), he set out for the barren west and tried to build himself a profitable enterprise there. Connected to power brokers in industry and politics, he nonetheless spit in their eye when they transgressed his morals (in the NY state legislature, as governor of NY, and as president). An avid hunter, he became a leading conservationist. At all stages of his career, he wrote and published books and articles constantly, on a diverse array of topics. Already a conservationist, he then shot his way across Africa and populated a chunk of the Smithsonian's natural history collection (11,400 specimens!). [0] After giving up the presidency because he believed in the idea of presidential term limits (then not law), he ran a third party campaign in 1912 against his picked successor (Taft) because he thought him ineffective. That's a lot to cram into an early-20th century life! Much less at the begining of modernity. (Mass mechanization, urbanization, corporate centralization, etc.) [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_African_Expedition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevel...

arrowsmith 3y ago
My favourite TR anecdote: in 1912 he was shot by a would-be assassin moments before he was due to give a speech - and then he still went on stage and gave the speech before accepting medical attention. His opening remarks: "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Presidents used to be made of much tougher stuff.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  My favorite: Until the 1930s, the White House was open to the public. Particularly on New Year's Day, when the president was expected to greet and shake hands with anyone who presented themselves. In 1907, Teddy Roosevelt shook 8,500+ hands in one day. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_New_Year%27s_Reception https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_New_Year%27s_Rec...

arrowsmith 3y ago

Fun fact: Theodore Roosevelt hated being called "Teddy". So let's not call him that.

ecshafer 3y ago
I doubt hell mind what we call him now.

hn72774 3y ago

[dead]

neonate 3y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20231104100006/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/arts/theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library.html https://web.archive.org/web/20231104100006/https://www.nytim...