Description:
This excerpt from William Wingate Sewall's ledger book notes a trip to Little Missouri, Dakota Territory, and the beginning of the construction of the Elkhorn Ranch house.
Resource Type:
Other
Subject:
Travel; Frontier and pioneer life; Ranch houses--Design and construction; North Dakota--Elkhorn Ranch; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Date:
1884-07-24
Description:
William Wingate Sewall has 100 cattle to practice on during winter. He doesn't believe cattle are too hard to care for and the work hasn't been difficult. The country is "queer" and dirty but the soil looks healthy and the water is good. Sewall guesses there is a chance to make money with cattle and Theodore Roosevelt is optimistic. If he can make a profit, Sewall wants to get back to the "clear water and trees" soon. Overall, he thinks that Dakota Territory should have been left to the animals.
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Ranching; Ranching--Economic aspects; Cattle; Frontier and pioneer life; United States--Dakota Territory; North Dakota--Badlands; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; Dow, Wilmot
Date:
1884-08-17
Description:
Theodore Roosevelt stands in his frontier uniform holding a gun.
Resource Type:
Photograph
Subject:
Frontier and pioneer life; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Date:
1885
Description:
The weather is cold and the snow is over a foot deep. William Wingate Sewall isn't sure how the cattle can survive in such an environment. He accompanied a group, including James Watts a "genuine specimen of a frontier man," to a Native American village. Watts was with General Custer the day before the Battle of the Little Bighorn and claims to have been shot seven times and hit with arrows five times. They bought several moccasins, buckskins, and a buffalo robe. Sewall's long hair seemed to interest the Native Americans and they even braided his hair. There are opportunities in Dakota Territory but he still believes that Maine has better living conditions and hopes to return soon.
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Little Bighorn, Battle of the (Montana : 1876); Ranching; Cattle; Winter; Indians of North America; Indians of North America--Social life and customs; Frontier and pioneer life; United States--Dakota Territory
Date:
1885-02-18
Description:
William Wingate Sewall participated in a cattle roundup that lasted seventeen days and covered 500 miles. He describes the route they took and the country they traveled through. Sewall had a good time and enjoyed the trip but he wouldn't spend his life in Dakota Territory even if he could own the whole territory. The "poor settlers" in Dakota live very roughly and he thinks that when they can vote they will "cook" the cattle men until the territory is left to the "small fellows."
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Cattle drives; Cattle trade; Frontier and pioneer life; United States--Dakota Territory; Missouri River; United States--Little Missouri River
Date:
1885-08-16
Description:
Theodore Roosevelt in his frontiersman attire.
Resource Type:
Photograph
Subject:
Frontier and pioneer life; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Date:
1885?
Description:
Theodore Roosevelt relates the chase and capture of three thieves that had stolen his boat. The thieves were captured along the river and then Roosevelt took them overland to the sheriff in Dickinson, Dakota Territory. He read Anna Karenina during the trip and has mixed feelings about the quality of the book but enjoyed Leo Tolstoy's writing style. Roosevelt requests that Corinne Roosevelt Robinson deliver some flowers to Edith Kermit Carow before Carow travels abroad. Typed copy of original handwritten letter.
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Frontier and pioneer life; Theft; Russian literature; Karenina, Anna (Fictitious character); Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910
Date:
1886-04-12
Description:
Mary Alice Sherman Sewall describes life and ranch activities at the Elkhorn Ranch.
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Frontier and pioneer life; Ranching; Cowboys; Dow, Wilmot; Sewall, William Wingate, 1845-1930; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Date:
1886-06-13
Description:
Handwritten manuscript of The Winning of the West, vol. I with annotations and textual insertions. Volume I recounts the settlement efforts, fighting, and frontier life as Europeans moved into the Ohio River Valley and Alleghenies in the late 18th century. Blank manuscript pages were not included.
Resource Type:
Manuscript
Subject:
Lord Dunmore's War (1774); Frontier and pioneer life; Indians of North America; Ohio River Valley; United States--Allegheny Mountains
Date:
1889
Description:
Howard Eaton broke his leg a month ago and has been in St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. The cattle business is doing well and Eaton has heard that the hunting has been good. Theodore Roosevelt sold 500 cattle and intends to bring in Texas steers this year. Eaton concludes with updates on many people from the Medora, Dakota Territory, area.
Resource Type:
Letter
Subject:
Leg--Wounds and injuries; Ranching; Cattle trade; Frontier and pioneer life; North Dakota--Medora; United States--Dakota Territory; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; Ferris, Joseph A.
Date:
1889-01-09
